WGA Strike
11/9/07 | Awesome, Business, Movies, The Industry, TV Shows | 0 Comments
Something has been going on this week that will affect my future (at some point). The Writers Guild of America is on strike. I had to put together some information on this topic for one of my classes, so I’m going to put that here now (so you’ll know the facts):
As of 12:01AM on November 5th, 2007, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike for the first time in almost 20 years. Writers had been in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP, which represents studios) since July of the same year, though terms for a new three-year contract were unable to be reached. The WGA ordered all of its 12,000 members to put down their pens and take up their picket signs.
Two of the biggest issues are as follows: higher residuals for DVD and New Media sales. The WGA is seeking to double residuals for DVD sales, which are currently at $0.04 per DVD (average retail price $19.99-34.99). Also under negotiation is the percentage of revenue from New Media, which refers to newer ways of displaying video, such as the internet, cell phones and mobile (iPods). The current residual for New Media is 1.2% of revenue, which the WGA is looking to increase to 2.5%.
“It’s an extremely volatile industry,” said Diana Son, a writer for “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”. “There’s no job security. Residuals are an important part of our income. There’s no cushion.” The battle also has big repercussions for the way Hollywood does business, since whatever deal is struck by writers will likely be used as a template for talks with actors and directors (whose contracts expire June 2008), one of the reasons why the AMPTP is being so cautious.
In 2007, consumers are expected to spend about $16.4 billion on DVDs, and studios could generate about $158 million from selling movies online and about $194 million from selling TV shows online.
According to several sources, the AMPTP does not want to agree to the increase in New Media residuals because the market is untested, and they unsure how profitable or unprofitable the new ventures will be. Producers say that they want “the economic flexibility to experiment as consumer habits change in reaction to technology,” which they would not be able to do with the added burden of increased residuals.
The first paragraph of the official 2007 strike rules, as laid out by the WGAe (east region), states that all members “…must immediately stop writing for any and all struck companies. [Members] may not continue to write or complete writing started before the strike for a struck company. [Members] may not start writing on a new project during a strike. [Members] may not perform writing services even if [s/he] work[s] at home or at [his/her] own office rather than at the company’s premises. This Rule also prohibits [members] from attending meetings, or engaging in conversations, as a writer concerning new, pending or future projects or writing assignments with producers, directors or other representatives of any struck company. [Members] may not attend pitch meetings or communicate with a company representative to receive notes on literary material even if [s/he] intend[s] to wait until the strike ends to make any requested changes.”
The above mentioned “struck companies” include all of Hollywood’s major studios, including the “Big Five”: News Corp (Fox), Universal (NBC), Viacom (Paramount, CBS), Time Warner (WB, New Line Cinema) and Disney (Pixar, ABC). The strike will not immediately impact production of movies or prime-time TV programs. Most studios have stockpiled dozens of movie scripts, and TV shows have enough scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year.
The last WGA strike was in 1988 and lasted 22 weeks (five months), resulting in a reported $500 million loss for the entertainment industry. A similar strike in 2007, according to Los Angeles economist Jack Kyser, could result in over $1 billion in economic losses. These losses would be the result of television shows being forced into reruns, which, for many networks, will happen in early 2008. Talk shows (such as Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jon Stewart), which rely on current news events, will be affected immediately [and they were, all are off the air as of now]. Losses will be in the form of advertising dollars, which will shrink due to declining viewership due to the reruns.
Here’s a short video to explain all that to you:
As of right now, five days after the strike started, negotiations have not restarted. Bill Clinton has even offered to mediate the process to try and resolve the issue.
People seen on the picket line with the writers: Robin Williams, Jay Leno, the casts of Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs, and Desperate Housewives, Julianne Moore, Tina Fey, Tim Robbins, David Duchovny, Roseanne Barr, Ellen DeGeneres, Eva Longoria and Julia Louis Dreyfous. Jon Stewart is paying his writers for the next two weeks… out of his own pocket.
According to an article from The Hollywood Reporter, democratic Presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are also behind the writers:
Said Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York: “I support the Writers Guild’s pursuit of a fair contract that pay them for their work in all mediums. I hope the producers and writers will return to the bargaining table.”
“I stand with the writers,” Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois said from his campaign headquarters in Chicago. “The guild’s demand is a test of whether media corporations are going to give writers a fair share of the wealth their work creates or continue concentrating profits in the hands of their executives… I urge the producers to work with the writers so that everyone can get back to work.”
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards also backs the strikers.
“These writers deserve to be compensated fairly for their work, and I commend their courage in standing up to big media conglomerates,” he said. “As someone who has walked picket lines with workers all across America and as a strong believer in collective bargaining, I hope that both sides are able to quickly reach a just settlement.”
I completely agree. It is ridiculous that studios are not paying writers adequately for their work. Did you know that they are not compensated for episodes of TV shows aired online? The same goes for the actors and directors of the shows as well, not just the writers. Studios are screwing everyone. It’s disgusting, it’s amoral, and it’s about time that it stopped.
If it were feasible, I would be on the line with them. As many of you know, it is one of my dreams to write screenplays as well as books. This is my future at stake here, too.
I wish all of you the best of luck, and hope that the studios will see sense. Stay brave and stay strong.
Until next…
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