Writer's Guild Is on Strike

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Right, because they don't make enough money as it is.

I have no sympathy for them when I earn $8.10/hr (minimum wage here in Canada), and I am only ever scheduled for 10 hours a week.
 
Not only internet videos. but DVD and digital download profits as well.
Ben
 
It's "new media," which is not only streaming internet videos, but DVDs, cellphone downloads, and podcasts.


So... The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are playing repeats. Other than those and perhaps Rules of Engagement (all three of which I don't mind too much anyway) and maybe The Soup (which I mind slightly more but still not that much) and I don't even know about Mythbusters, I don't think I watch anything that's affected.

As long as the remaining episodes of Ergo Proxy, Avatar, and Queer As Folk are played, Pokémon continues to be dubbed into English, and Countdown and Chaotic are unaffected, I don't care much.
 
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Kthleen said:
It's "new media," which is not only streaming internet videos, but DVDs, cellphone downloads, and podcasts.


So... The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are playing repeats. Other than those and perhaps Rules of Engagement (all three of which I don't mind too much anyway) and maybe The Soup (which I mind slightly more but still not that much) and I don't even know about Mythbusters, I don't think I watch anything that's affected.
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*DIES* Not The Soup! Joel, NOOOOOO!
 
Well, that's just it. I don't know how much/if The Soup is being affected. If it is, oops.

Lou is so cute! Wookit da squeaky puppy! :awww:
And Mankini. Man. Ki. Ni. :naughty:
 
It's basically writers wanting royalties. Not exactly an unfair thing to want.

Means good news for me, though. A lot of these guys who also write comics are forced to put their TV work first (since it pays the bills). Thanks to this, we comic fans might see an upswing in stories from these guys. C'mon, Alan Heinberg, use the break.
 
It's not unfair, but a lot of less successful shows have been making up for commercial losses with DVDs, and they can't afford to pay their writers those royalties.
 
Matkin22 said:
Right, because they don't make enough money as it is.
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They don't.

Writers' work is now being distributed in ways that no one had imagined when their contracts were first drafted. But now that things like DVD sales, streaming Internet content, and iTunes (among other things) are being used to make the TV production companies huge profits, the writers want their fair share as well.

The Futon Critic said:
In total there's about two dozen areas being negotiated however the focus seems to be on three major issues:

a. The home video residual formula. WGA members currently receive 0.3% of the distributors' gross for the first $1 million and 0.36% thereafter. This translates to about 5 cents per unit in most cases. The WGA is seeking to double that rate. The often mentioned rationale is that novelists receive up to 15% of the publisher's gross, literally 500 times that of TV and film writers.

b. Non-traditional media residuals. WGA members are not compensated for use of their work on cell phones, online streaming, etc. when the user doesn't pay for them. If they do (pay-per-view, video-on-demand, etc.), the residual rate is the same as the home video one - 0.3%. The guild is pressing for the following: "1.2% for features whether streamed or downloaded, 1.2% for TV product when the viewer pays, and 2.0% for post-1984 TV product or 2.5% for pre-1984 TV product when it is free to the viewer."

c. Jurisdiction and terms for made-for new technology. Writers working on content specifically created for the internet or other non-traditional media aren't subject to the same MBA standards as those who work on traditional media. The WGA hopes to close the gap.
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They're not asking for a whole lot of money here.

Matkin22 said:
I have no sympathy for them when I earn $8.10/hr (minimum wage here in Canada), and I am only ever scheduled for 10 hours a week.
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Are you a college graduate with years (maybe even decades) of experience? Do you have an impressive resume with high-profile projects on them?

Kthleen said:
As long as the remaining episodes of Ergo Proxy, Avatar, and Queer As Folk are played, Pokémon continues to be dubbed into English, and Countdown and Chaotic are unaffected, I don't care much.
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Anime dubs won't be affected because they're covered by the Animation Guild, not the Writer's Guild. Same thing with children's programs such as Avatar. In fact, the only animated programs that will be affected will be the prime-time animated shows (The Simpsons, Family Guy, maybe South Park) since those programs are covered by the WGA. But since production on animated shows generally take around nine months, we won't see the first signs of a strike until later next year.

Queer As Folk...I don't know. If it was a regular network show, then yes, it would most certainly be affected. But since it airs on a premium cable network, the rules may be different. None of the quotes I've read from the various networks have been from any of the premium channels, so they may not be affected.
 
Me too, but realistically, this thing will probably drag out for a while. The last time there was a writer's strike (during the late '80's), it lasted 20 weeks. This strike is expected to last longer since networks have more reality shows to fall back on than they did during the '80's.
 
In case you wanted to know, ABC has enough soap opera scripts stockpiled to last until the end of January.
Ben
 
Dogasu said:
Queer As Folk...I don't know. If it was a regular network show, then yes, it would most certainly be affected. But since it airs on a premium cable network, the rules may be different. None of the quotes I've read from the various networks have been from any of the premium channels, so they may not be affected.
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Oh, its production is already finished. I was just hoping the station didn't mix up their schedule for whatever odd reason. I was also saying that since most of the things I watch either are unaffected or are not cared about enough by me to have me upset much at their loss, I'm lucky.

I didn't know about the Animation Guild, though. Thanks for telling me.
 
As long as it doesn't effect Heroes, well... I don't care if season 3 gets delayed into 2009 or the second half of season 2 is delayed into the summer as long as they don't try to improvise the writing...

To me, this strikes me as a little soulless. How can you just stop writing, especially if it is something you like, writing is more of a craft job than a service job so I find it hard to believe that someone can just stop doing something they are suppose to be stopping so suddenly. And they say games shouldn't be considered an art..

Maybe not submitting it is one thing, but I know myself I could never stop myself. I have a hard enough time turning myself off in my free time (just ask my friends). Maybe I'm looking too much into what was said.
 
Bell02二世 said:
As long as it doesn't effect Heroes, well...
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EVERY show that relies on a script and isn't covered by a different guild (such as the Animation Guild) will be affected.

That's why this story is such a huge deal. ALL of TV is affected by this.

I don't care if season 3 gets delayed into 2009 or the second half of season 2 is delayed into the summer as long as they don't try to improvise the writing...
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"Improvise the writing?"

The thing about this is that no writing is going to take place during the strike. Studios can't just hire anyone off the street because most people don't know how to write TV scripts. The people who do know are currently on strike and don't want become scabs ("strikebreakers") because that would essentially prevent them from ever rejoining the WGA once the strike is over.

To me, this strikes me as a little soulless. How can you just stop writing, especially if it is something you like
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Because the writers need the money. Simple as that.

You'd be surprised at how shitty writers' pay is. They don't get paid nearly as much as the other members of the production staff. And while the production studios are making all this money off of DVD's and whatnot, they're not willing to share it with the people who actually made it for them.

The current WGA contract is over twenty years old and is in desperate need of an update. This strike hopes to make that update a reality.
 
Matkin22 said:
Right, because they don't make enough money as it is.

I have no sympathy for them when I earn $8.10/hr (minimum wage here in Canada), and I am only ever scheduled for 10 hours a week.
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look at it this way Matkin.
how much do the actors get a season or seasons say several million each.
same with producers and directors.
meanwhile the writer get paid shit compared to them. when in essence if there were no writers those actors, directors, producers and crew would be out of a job.

however in saying that the crew are aslo paid poorly.

and as for the reasons actors and sportsman etc get paid so much is marketability. say lebron james is on like 20 million a year for the cavs and then 90 million+ in sponsorship. is because they want there fair share in what they would make. says lebron gets 20 million a year from nike. nike would makle 400 million+ from that sponsorship.

and thirdly if you or anyone else here was in their position you would be complaining to.
 
gorurk said:


look at it this way Matkin.
how much do the actors get a season or seasons say several million each.
same with producers and directors.
meanwhile the writer get paid shit compared to them. when in essence if there were no writers those actors, directors, producers and crew would be out of a job.

however in saying that the crew are aslo paid poorly.

and as for the reasons actors and sportsman etc get paid so much is marketability. say lebron james is on like 20 million a year for the cavs and then 90 million+ in sponsorship. is because they want there fair share in what they would make. says lebron gets 20 million a year from nike. nike would makle 400 million+ from that sponsorship.

and thirdly if you or anyone else here was in their position you would be complaining to.
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I actually hadn't looked at it that way. My thought process didn't include TV scriptwriters. I'm ashamed to admit it but I'll be honest and say that I never even read the article. I read a different article and it basically just said that Hollywood writers were going on strike because they weren't getting enough revenue. I made an automatic connection with "Hollywood" and "writers strike", and assumed that it was talking about the writers for films such as Lord of the Rings or King Kong, who do earn a lot more money. I shot for the moon and ended up inside a nebula instead.

Having said that, I apologize; I shoudl have looked at the issue more in depth before making assumptions like that.
 
"Rules of Engagement, starring David Spade and Patrick Warburton has officially shut down as well. Their last episode was filmed Sunday night instead of the usual Tuesday night according to AICN."

Dang. ...Oh well.

Also:

"Tim Kring [creator of Heroes] wouldn't comply with a weekend rewrite that would tack a season ending onto the last script written and is now off NBC Heroes."

For those who care, there you go.



Dogasu said:
"Improvise the writing?"
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That was actually one of my first thoughts as well (though concerning only The Daily Show and The Colbert Report): what if the host and other staff members tried to write the shows on their own? I figured it likely wasn't happening (and that it wouldn't last long if it did), but the thought still crossed my mind.
 
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