Directors/Writers/SAG Contracts & The Effects

Re: Writers Strike - Is it going to have an effect on TV sho

They will negotiating on Nov. 26, they are ready to talk for contract to the writers. I saw it on Yahoo this early morning.

 

Re: Writers Strike - Is it going to have an effect on TV sho

Here is something that may be worth checking out. In short it's an effort to force the execs hands by bombarding them with pencils the way they were for Jericho with peanuts

Again, the link to send pencils to media moguls in honor of you favorite show(s) or writer(s) is: http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/

 

Re: Writers Strike - Is it going to have an effect on TV sho

I think this YouTube video (courtesy of part of the "Daily Show" writing staff) sums up my POV on the whole mess.

"Not The Daily Show"

 

Re: Writers Strike - Is it going to have an effect on TV sho

I'm always amazed that people equate wanting to be adequately paid with greed. If people knew the "by the seat of their pants" existence most writers live, then greed wouldn't even enter into the discussion.

Also, network TV is on the way down. Not because of this strike, but because of the Internet and DVDs. Look at the overall ratings figures; TV ratings are way down from what they were just five years ago, and they will continue to go down. We're not going back to the halcyon days of the '70s and '80s when TV-viewing audiences were huge. Those days are gone and aren't ever coming back.

Writers can see the handwriting on the wall and know that they need to access the stream of income that networks get via the Internet because that will be their future source of income, and may be their only source of income. If people really view writing not just as a "hobby" but a true profession, then what the writers are asking for is nothing less than what authors and songwriters receive via royalties. In their case, it's called residuals. When writers write so-called "promotional" material and it generates income for the networks, then it should also generate income for the people who created those pieces. That's all the writers are asking for. That's not greed; that's treating them like the professionals they are.

 

Re: Writers Strike - Is it going to have an effect on TV sho

Just to be clear, I didn't specify a level of greed. I realize that big moneymakers like the studios have much, much more of it.

My biggest problem is this: Okay, so the writers need these residuals as their future source of income. But you know what? They should count themselves lucky. Compared to the crew members, writers are rich. And the crew members are the ones that are suffering right now, as a result of this strike. The actual writers, the people who caused this strike, won't see the fallout for years if they don't win. You can't ask me to be okay with that.

 

Re: Writers Strike - Is it going to have an effect on TV sho

I back the writers on this. I think it's stupid that everyone is saving money on not having to produce DVD's because of internet streaming, but they refuse to pay the writers for it.

Without writers, there is no show. Period.

 

Re: Writers Strike - Is it going to have an effect on TV sho

Indeed, I really hope that both sides are there today with the real aim of resolving this as quickly and painlessly as possible. *crosses fingers*

 

Re: Writers Strike - Is it going to have an effect on TV sho

I am crossing my fingers too! If everything goes okay I also wonder how long it will take to get everything down on paper and signed. Hopefully we get some more epi's this season as now is the case. The summer hiatus is always to long already without some new epi's. Let alone from januari to september!

 

Re: The Writers Strike - What's your opinion?

Many posts I read offer an opinion of whether the writers deserve what they are asking for. We are all very subjective creatures with our own biases. I don't think any of us can say what they deserve, or what any other worker in any industry deserves. Therefore, the best way to determine just compensation is (drumrole please)... the free market!

Our labor is a commodity, just like anything else. When an employer sees that they can't find qualified workers, then they raise compensation. When they find that there are too many qualified workers, then they lower compensation. This is the inconvenient but honest truth.

Unions were useful at one time to alleviate gross injustices, but much of the reform that was needed has been codified into law. Now they are just an excuse to not compete.

Oh, and for those who chastise corporations for their greed... last time I checked, their profits go to shareholders, which includes most Americans (anybody have a 401K plan?)

 

Re: The Writers Strike - What's your opinion?

And last time I checked, profits were calculated after deductions for management/director salaries, bonuses, pension plans, etc. Look at the big companies and see how much the people who run them are making. Now see how much a shareholder gets by comparision.

 

Re: The Writers Strike - What's your opinion?

Well, you and I can sit here all day long and decide how much is appropriate for the management of a company to make. In fact, let's create a giant government agency that decides how much everybody makes. They'll decide how much I make (a computer programmer), how much you make, how much the plummer who comes out to fix my toilet makes.

If the shareholders are getting little from their stock, then they trade it for more profitable stocks or other investments, and the price of the stock goes down because there is now more supply then demand. Then the management is fired, because the price has dropped. See how they got what they deserved using a free market model?