2008 Woodie Awards
Writers coming to agreement
Scott Brady/Online Reporter
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Arts and Entertainment
- Page 1 of 1
Hollywood came to a standstill on November 5 when the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike. The strike came after three months of unproductive negotiations.
The main demands of the WGA were higher royalties for DVD and to be paid for the television shows that are posted on official network Web sites. The day before the strike went into effect the guild dropped its demands on DVD royalties.
The WGA represents writers who make anywhere from $50,000 to $5 million a year. It also says that about 48 percent of writers on the west coast are unemployed.
Most writers earn a living script to script, and therefore rely on the royalties from reruns and DVD sales to feed their families for long stretches of unemployment.
The last strike happened in 1988 when the guild was on strike for five months costing the movie and television industries about $500 million combined.
Now it might seem unfair to many that the writers are complaining about money when the reported average writer takes home around $200,000 a year, but that is not every writer in the guild. Also the amount they receive is pittance compared to the actors and studio executive's salaries.
According to the WGA the salaries of the writers, without whom the shows would not even exist, have increased less than half of the amount of industry profits. That seems to be a fairly large bookkeeping mistake.
The writers are only looking for what they are entitled to. They wrote the script, they created the characters. It is their work and they simply want the money they have earned.
If the studios and networks have found ways to make more money via the Internet, the writers should be in on the action. They should be able to earn royalties on the properties they create.
The writers are the backbone of the industry. As soon as the strike went into effect many shows were forced to go to immediate reruns. "The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report" and many other daily television shows that require current events for their material have been put on hold.
Next on the chopping block are daytime talk shows like "The View." Prime time television shows have most likely till early in January before they will go to reruns. The only programs not affected are the news and reality television shows.
Before we worry about being stuck with channels showing nothing but "Survivor" knockoffs, the WGA and the studios have resumed negotiations on Nov. 26 for the first time in 22 days.
Hopefully the writers and the studios can come to a quick agreement before "House" runs out of new episodes and reality TV becomes even more rampant and widespread than it already is.
The main demands of the WGA were higher royalties for DVD and to be paid for the television shows that are posted on official network Web sites. The day before the strike went into effect the guild dropped its demands on DVD royalties.
The WGA represents writers who make anywhere from $50,000 to $5 million a year. It also says that about 48 percent of writers on the west coast are unemployed.
Most writers earn a living script to script, and therefore rely on the royalties from reruns and DVD sales to feed their families for long stretches of unemployment.
The last strike happened in 1988 when the guild was on strike for five months costing the movie and television industries about $500 million combined.
Now it might seem unfair to many that the writers are complaining about money when the reported average writer takes home around $200,000 a year, but that is not every writer in the guild. Also the amount they receive is pittance compared to the actors and studio executive's salaries.
According to the WGA the salaries of the writers, without whom the shows would not even exist, have increased less than half of the amount of industry profits. That seems to be a fairly large bookkeeping mistake.
The writers are only looking for what they are entitled to. They wrote the script, they created the characters. It is their work and they simply want the money they have earned.
If the studios and networks have found ways to make more money via the Internet, the writers should be in on the action. They should be able to earn royalties on the properties they create.
The writers are the backbone of the industry. As soon as the strike went into effect many shows were forced to go to immediate reruns. "The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report" and many other daily television shows that require current events for their material have been put on hold.
Next on the chopping block are daytime talk shows like "The View." Prime time television shows have most likely till early in January before they will go to reruns. The only programs not affected are the news and reality television shows.
Before we worry about being stuck with channels showing nothing but "Survivor" knockoffs, the WGA and the studios have resumed negotiations on Nov. 26 for the first time in 22 days.
Hopefully the writers and the studios can come to a quick agreement before "House" runs out of new episodes and reality TV becomes even more rampant and widespread than it already is.
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