Do You Support the WGA Strike?

[Claudio63]

I support it on principals. All professions have the right to protest with strikes to better their situation.

On the other hand, writers aren't exactly essential in today's U.S. movie/television making. Between reality TV, plotless blockbusters like "The Transformers" or crappy comedies like "Talladega nights", all of which were popular, it would seem they have a losing battle. The audience certainly doesn't give a damn about the scripts.

Of course there are exceptions and there is quality scripts out there - I'm basically talking about what sells, and good scripts aren't necessary for box office or ratings.

Rant aside, yes I support the strike.

 

[Spiff]

Fuck no. They don't give a shit about their fans. So why should the fans give a shit about them getting more money? I'm used to the real world, where management always gets all the extras while us worker bees get underpaid for doing all the hard work. Yet, I still am happy with my job; if I wasn't I'd find a different profession.

Hey writers, welcome to the real world!

 

[-Volta-]

I support the writers, the [STRIKE] bourgeoisie[/STRIKE] producers have the money to pay them for the use of online media. But I do feel even worse for the lower industry workers; at least the writers are still receiving royalties from DVD's and reruns, but the writers seem to care about them more than the producers since they have held charity drives and stuff for them.

 

[darcey]

How shocking that so many offer no support because the great "I" is inconvenienced !
That same focus on the "I" is what has driven jobs away from major industrial countries to countries with cheap labor. Instead of seeing a larger view (those who produce the work should receive some of the profit), the short term view says (basically) "I want what I want when I want it" & fuck the people who made it !
The writers are NOT saints, but neither are the members on the management level. I wonder how many people who are carping about the strike would be willing to have their pay reduced so their employers could have greater profits ?

 

[eddielee]

If the studios would just agree to pay the writers a fair share, that would be fine.

But here's what bugs the living crap out of me, if they do they'll increase the price to cover it. We'll be the ones footing the bill.

I agree on both statements. I want the writers to get a decent amount, but I don't want to pay through the nose for it.

 

[tdguru]

Gentlemen, allow me to give you a brief history of TV and why the writers are distrustful of the studios.

When Beta/VHS came out, it was the 'new medium', just as the internet is now. The writers strike in 1983 and 1988 brought attention to the 'new medium'. The studios response? We don't know what beta/VHS is. We promise to reopen the contract when we figure it all out. Guess what? 20 years later and the studios STILL have not gone back to 'reopen' that contract.

So now its 20 years later, and the distrust held of the producers/studios is so thick you can walk on it. The writers are just in not believing all that the studios tell them. As an example, I work for Fox Internet as a director. At a staff meeting we were told that we had to contain costs and cut where we can. At a conference call with Rupert Murdoch, we were told that the Internet was still in its infancy so we could not exceed our budget by more than 5%. Later that month Murdoch told our shareholders that the Fox Internet Group stood to earn more than $450 million in 2007.

So who does one believe?

 

[Kulindahr]

Gentlemen, allow me to give you a brief history of TV and why the writers are distrustful of the studios.

When Beta/VHS came out, it was the 'new medium', just as the internet is now. The writers strike in 1983 and 1988 brought attention to the 'new medium'. The studios response? We don't know what beta/VHS is. We promise to reopen the contract when we figure it all out. Guess what? 20 years later and the studios STILL have not gone back to 'reopen' that contract.

So now its 20 years later, and the distrust held of the producers/studios is so thick you can walk on it. The writers are just in not believing all that the studios tell them. As an example, I work for Fox Internet as a director. At a staff meeting we were told that we had to contain costs and cut where we can. At a conference call with Rupert Murdoch, we were told that the Internet was still in its infancy so we could not exceed our budget by more than 5%. Later that month Murdoch told our shareholders that the Fox Internet Group stood to earn more than $450 million in 2007.

So who does one believe?

That sounds familiar....
Walmart saying it couldn't afford full health coverage for its employees, so they'd have to pay the premiums themselves... state and local governments footing the $48 million Walmart "couldn't afford"... Walmart announcing a $300 million quarterly dividend....

Someone asked if any of us would be willing to take a pay cut so our employer could make more. My thought was that if I was making as much as the writers, I wouldn't even know what to do with the money.

If I was a writer, what I'd be striking for isn't more money, but slabs of stock, so I'd be getting paid from both ends. But being me, I'd want to be striking to get the studios/etc to build basic housing for the poor and homeless....

 

[drhladnjak]

But too often they write shit, make a few episodes of it and then try to ram it down our throats. If it really sucks they run it 3 nights a week to shove it even further down our throats. When we decide to go to the gym or something useful instead of watching useless programing they introduce something else to tease us into watching.

See, that's why it's important to just put down the remote and walk away when there's nothing good on. Forget foolish consistency--watching TV for the sake of watching TV is the real hobgoblin of small minds. Or at least of wasting time

 

[Diodorus]

It is more involved that I care to get into but a lot of it has to do with future revenues and the writers not getting screwed out of their residuals. I believe this is the main thrust of their negotations. And ....Hell yes I support them. I'd be willing to support a boycott on DVDs if it would help.[B

 

[levenshulme31]

Quote:
Originally Posted by levenshulme31
If you invented a new gadget would you be happy if you only received a royalty from physical store sales but nothing from online sales? The company which makes and markets your gadget gets paid wherever it is sold but you don't. Fair?

If that's supposed to be an analogy, I'm not seeing it.

OK, how about this one: If you wrote a hit song would you be happy if you got a royalty from every physical CD sold but nothing from every itunes download sold?

That's what the writers want, a fair share of the spoils from all outlets. More and more people are getting their media from downloads. As it stands, only the studios will get the cash, not the wroters. This is simply unfair.

 

[blackbeltninja]

^Not sure I agree with that entirely.

Does an architect get a percentage every time a house he designed gets new owners or is resold? Car manufacturers get nothing from the used-car market either. They don't down here in .za, that's for sure.

Surely whoever makes the initial investment - pays for everything, basically, aka the studio - should get the royalties. Unless the writers want to get involved in producing their won material - and yes, some do, like Seinfeld as an example - once they are paid for their services, I'm not sure they are getting screwed at all.

-d-

 

[Kulindahr]

Quote:
Originally Posted by levenshulme31
If you invented a new gadget would you be happy if you only received a royalty from physical store sales but nothing from online sales? The company which makes and markets your gadget gets paid wherever it is sold but you don't. Fair?



OK, how about this one: If you wrote a hit song would you be happy if you got a royalty from every physical CD sold but nothing from every itunes download sold?

That's what the writers want, a fair share of the spoils from all outlets. More and more people are getting their media from downloads. As it stands, only the studios will get the cash, not the wroters. This is simply unfair.

Okay -- I see your point.

 

[quasar]

^Not sure I agree with that entirely.

Does an architect get a percentage every time a house he designed gets new owners or is resold? Car manufacturers get nothing from the used-car market either. They don't down here in .za, that's for sure.

Surely whoever makes the initial investment - pays for everything, basically, aka the studio - should get the royalties. Unless the writers want to get involved in producing their won material - and yes, some do, like Seinfeld as an example - once they are paid for their services, I'm not sure they are getting screwed at all.

-d-

If I do a corporate re-design (logo, font, general design style) I get a one-off payment. This buys the copyright from me, and anything further that an individual wants to do ie use the logo on new literature, websites, products etc is down to them - I get no further payment.

Writers are contracted to do a job and receive a contracted payment for this. They KNOW that their work is being sold to more and more countries so they really need to re-negotiate their contracts. If the production company won't budge, then go find another job with another company. If these writers are as good as they say, then they'll easily find work.

As has already been said, if they 'win', the production company will still take the same cut of the profits, and to do it, they'll shove the costs onto us through higher cinema tickets, DVDs, etc.

 

[Kulindahr]

If I do a corporate re-design (logo, font, general design style) I get a one-off payment. This buys the copyright from me, and anything further that an individual wants to do ie use the logo on new literature, websites, products etc is down to them - I get no further payment.

Writers are contracted to do a job and receive a contracted payment for this. They KNOW that their work is being sold to more and more countries so they really need to re-negotiate their contracts. If the production company won't budge, then go find another job with another company. If these writers are as good as they say, then they'll easily find work.

As has already been said, if they 'win', the production company will still take the same cut of the profits, and to do it, they'll shove the costs onto us through higher cinema tickets, DVDs, etc.

Nicely put. I was thinking in that direction last night after reading blackbeltninja's post.

It's the same as when I once wrote a piece for a collection: I got paid, and the piece belonged to the collection.
The other way to do that is to write it, copyright it, and offer it on your own terms, but it's a lot harder to get published that way.

 

[Patience]

We need writers that don't recycle the same fucking plots for movies...how many goddamn times are we gonna get the shitty plot of plague wipes out all humans but one lucky guy.

 

[Kulindahr]

With all due respect, Kenny...

My major experiences with unions:

When I worked at a grocery store, they insisted I join the union. If I joined, they'd have gotten 15% of my piddly little paycheck. I still see that as total tyranny; they were essentially using the job I needed as an instrument of extortion. And I understood suddenly why there's a high turnover in grocery store positions: the only way to avoid the union rip-off is to quit just before three months is up.

When my cousin worked for the railroad in Nebraska, the union decided to go on strike because they "didn't have enough to live on". They had enough to buy $250k houses, a vehicle per driver in a family (plus some), boats, and more, and send kids to college without financial aid -- but that "wasn't enough to live on". Jim said most of them already had enough socked away to retire with $40k+ a year on top of the pension plan.
And they mostly lived just up the hill from the "grunt" rail workers who could barely manage houses big enough for a family, drove beat-up vehicles, and thought that getting to Texas for a vacation was traveling far.

So... excuse me for thinking unions are tyrannical, arrogant outfits bent on enriching themselves at everyone else's expense.
I've crossed a picket line... with pride.

 

[Kulindahr]

We need writers that don't recycle the same fucking plots for movies...how many goddamn times are we gonna get the shitty plot of plague wipes out all humans but one lucky guy.

Didn't they do that one in ancient Greece?

 

[RationalLunacy]

Remember when the Air Traffic Controllers went on strike and they fired the lot of them? Well, considering the bullshit that's been churning out of Hollywood of late, I think they should can all the writers and hire those who can truly write -- not just imbeciles who clack their tripe on typewriters to entertain the sheeple.

 

[darcey]

But can any one of us do their job as well, or better ??

The dispute is over who gets the profits

The networks (like the studios of old) view the writers (actors) as serfs who produce the goods.... but the profits go to the networks !

All the networks need do is say "ok, you'll get X percentage of any on-line profits", but they don't want to do that !

Again, I ask, how many of you are willing to take a pay cut so your bosses can report higher earnings ?

**chip chirp**

 

[dontask]

I don't even give a flying fuck. More power to them....