The writers strike
Who will break first, the writers or the producers?
From the Los Angeles Times
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ALL writers should be paid for time worked and all aired productions which would not EXIST without them.The AMPTP doesn't write its own productions yet they withhold fair profits from the writers;the backbone and foundation of all production!Isn't THEIR talent the vehicle by which revenues are obtained? Are they to be kept like chattel while others rake in addt'l profits from the fruits of their talents? Shame on those who pay out paltry pennies while gleaning millions. Anyone not supporting the writers in this struggle should be denied access to anything except infomercials and pre-60's re-runs.
Susan @ 10:42 AM PST, Dec 28, 2007
Who cares who breaks first?!!! The pride and ego involved with all this nonsense makes me wanna' scream. For every WGA member that's walking the picket line there are fifty guys (like me) who've watched their jobs evaporate. If the writers get everything they've asked for TOMORROW I don't even know if I'll have a job to go back to. 12,000 members are ransoming this town!!! Only 12,000.... since 1942, not a very welcoming organization. When I think of the WGA I see SMOG guarding his gold.
Tom @ 11:52 PM PST, Dec 27, 2007
Ha Ha writers. You went on strike and now you are getting burned. I dont feel sorry for you. Try getting a real job where what you do TODAY matters not what you did in the past. The producers take all the financial risk on films and tv shows. Do you pay them if what you write ends up losing them money?
No sympathy for writers @ 6:52 PM PST, Dec 27, 2007
Do people really think writers do nothing while they wait for their next gig? How clueless are people? If a writer doesn't work every day then they don't get paid every six months. Other people get paid twice a month or more. What are you complaining about?
joezen @ 12:38 PM PST, Dec 27, 2007
I don't see anything wrong with the AMPTP not paying writers to show tv on the internet with advertising. After all how is that different from television? As long as the writers get paid if it is rerun or syndicated to internet then they should not expect anything for new shows being shown on internet just like TV. However when stuff is purchased on iTunes they should definitely get the same as DVD sales.
Showing internet tv shows @ 12:33 PM PST, Dec 27, 2007
Thousands & thousands of people are out of work, the WGA believes in what they are doing. Why should the producers or SAG negotiate their contracts when there is no one to write for them? I think we are headed for a media revolution. Independent films, web cast shows...etc. Good for you WGA, don't give in just because they are treating you like children who want their desert but won't eat their supper, show them that plenty of people eat dessert FOR supper. Just because they say they wont come back unless you take it off the table, doesnt mean that if you do they will then play fair. They had their chance to negotiate, & they declared war!
Brittony T. @ 10:45 AM PST, Dec 27, 2007
All the striking writers, such as myself, should start seeking out Indie producers, directors and financiers. I have never believed in the war cry, "Pencils Down!" Continue writing, continue selling and never forget the independent avenue. The money will follow the talent into new and varied revenue streams that will spring up while the studios crumble in our wake.
How Striking @ 9:24 AM PST, Dec 27, 2007
Number three, you think like number two. It's about residuals sure, if the studio gets paid for work they did ten years ago, why shouldn't the writer? If the writer's work still adds value to the company ten years later, he or she SHOULD be compensated. Second, the strike is does not only concern residuals, it concerns new media format not covered by the present contract. Do you work for free? Third, as far as 'greedy?" Read. Wall Street: Congloms Let Town Suffer Rather Than Make Fair Deal
David Duval @ 8:08 AM PST, Dec 27, 2007
Interesting to note that Wall Street also thinks the AMPTP is not conducting good business by refusing to come back to the table in good faith. But how can we expect them to act in good faith when their agenda seems to have been written long before the strike started? Their walkout was surely a planned event, and its timing shouldn't suprise anyone as it came from people who have lost their morality and professional ethics. I stand beside the WGA in support and have from Nov 5. I *trust* their strategic thinking.
WGA Friend @ 7:31 AM PST, Dec 27, 2007
This strike would be over in one minute if the producers would simply sign over a percentage of Internet sales to the writers. That they haven't shows either the producers are lying about how much money they're making (it wouldn't be the first time), and/or they haven't figured out how to fudge the numbers to show that they haven't made any "profit". One drawback (for the studios) of Internet sales is that there's a trail from consumer to cash register; hard to lie when you start with those.
RobMcMillin @ 10:09 PM PST, Dec 26, 2007
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