It's too bad that Hollywood doesn't have the balls to break the strike and bring in new writers. Likewise it's too bad that these writers, some of whom are very rich, don't have the balls to start their own studio and risk their own money to produce their scripts.

More to the point, Mel Gibson already proved that one good movie produced outside the studio system can generate half a billion dollars or so in profit. If these writers are really as good as they think they are, it should be no problem to raise the capital to film one or two great movies that would essentially bankroll a new studio freed from the oppression of the current studio bosses.

yeah.

fuck no!.

It's damn near impossible to make it out here without being in a union, and it's hard to get into a union without getting some experience. It can be really frustrating, which makes it hard to sympathize.

And what about all the crew out of work now cuz of these guys striking? 22 weeks is a long time with no job. I'm torn. I just want my shows back. But hey, maybe this will mean Richard returns to LOST!

Also, Moore can picket his ass off. BSG doesn't come back for like 5 years anyway, so we've got time.

It sort of makes you wonder how creatively invested these people are in their shows if they're willing to kill them over getting residual payment down the line...

But by all means, you keep striking. Maybe you can add a clause to your contract that guarantees lattes will be delivered to you on a silver platter by naked, well-muscled slaves.

Me? I've got to go in to work tomorrow night (my day off) and move an entire holiday kiosk (which includes a few thousand pounds of metal, wood, and merchandise) because some schmuck gave us the wrong lot designation. Since you're all out of work for the time being, how'd you like to come and help me out? I was going to sit at home and write, but I've got bills to pay and can't get paid for writing like some people.

Keep looking that gift horse in the mouth, guys. The rest of us admire your work, but can't really sympathize with your angst. We're all busting our balls in jobs that make yours look like a vacation, and getting paid a LOT less to do it.

"They deserve to be paid for what they do" -- Yeah, and they ARE paid. They sell a script, and they cash some SERIOUS checks. What they're saying here is "The studios found a way to make more money off the project I worked on, and I want a piece of that pie, too." -- Nevermind that you've already been paid for the job (writing the script), but now you want a paycheck every time they put it on a different form of media?

I don't know how it is for other people, but when I get paid for a job, there's no option for me to get a second paycheck for the same job just because it's later found to be more far-reaching than initially believed.

And for the record, I am a writer and a musician. A paid one. I've been published, and the understanding is that once the publisher buys my work, they can reprint it in whatever format they desire-- I already got paid for it when they bought it. I'm not famous enough to get a sweet royalty deal, so like most non-famous artists who just want to be paid for their art, I have to take a freelance, work-for-hire deal. Frankly, I'd be THRILLED if something of mine made more money for the publisher than originally expected-- because that means my NEXT project could be a lot better for my pocketbook.

I'm sorry, but if NBC slaps old episodes of Knight Rider on iTunes, that doesn't mean that the writers who penned those scripts 25 years ago should automatically get another payday-- Unless they specifically worked out a royalty deal that allows those kinds of residuals.

Again-- I'll gladly trade situations with ANY writer working on a television show. I'll even take a PAY CUT from what they're making, and it will probably still be more than what I can make in any other job. I respect them, but they really need to see that what they do, and the amount they already get paid, is pretty fucking awesome. There are millions of talented writers who would love to just make what we're making now in our normal jobs, but for writing.

As it stands, you can either get the big bucks as a writer, or not get paid at all. There doesn't seem to be very much in-between. Show me a writer's guild member who works for minimum wage. They. Don't. Exist.

Specifically, how will this affect my beloved Dexter?

Take money entirely out of the equation. Then you'll see who's right in this argument.

Me. Kring/NBC, call me baby, we'll do lunch.

http://tinyurl.com/2ep6k6

Now I'm bored and don't care. Seriously, if there anyone here who doesn't have an internet connection, shelves stacked with movies and TV shows on tape or Disc, albums, cassettes, CDs, boxes full of old comic books and magazines, bookcases packed with hardcover and paperback books and graphic novels, piles of unread magazines, and who haven't been bemoaning the lack of free time to actually sit down and write, draw or paint something or do some major house-cleaning or yard work?

Pull the plug, disconnect the cable, tear down the satellite dish. when the strike is over everyone involved will discover that a portion of their audience has moved on and can get along fine without them.

[I haven't been to a movie theater since "Rocketeer" so the screenwriters strike totally doesn't affect me.)

I know less about staff and long-term freelance writers, but I do know the compensation is probably part-salary (low of course) + residuals, a royalty of sorts for creating the work. It is actually mutually beneficial for studios and writers to have blanket terms by negotiating with the union. In cases involving high-powered writers (like Fey or Abrams), they could likely negotiate far higher residuals than other writers and the studios would make less money. If these writers adhere to terms negotiated by the WGA, the studios are actually profiting more.

Now, restaurants are iffy -- they're not a coal mine, but they're not a cube farm either. I could see how unionization might not be a bad idea there, but at the same time I'd be concerned with how the union was run. If all they cared about job protection, then you'd get some lousy food and service at the restaurants as incompetents wouldn't be fired and the competents would leave so they didn't have to deal with the incompetents any more. If the union was more concerned with environment, then that's ok. Although to be honest, stuff like sexual harassment is protected by the law, not every issue brought up requires a union to deal with.

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I'm all for writers being adequately and properly compensated, but at the same time, the guilds can be bullies. They make it so hard for non-union writers to get work, which in turn makes it harder for non-union members to become part of the union, and so on.

That would just fucking suck.

Actually i guess not as long as the same industry people are still the ones making and producing the shows. Oh well, let the moron massess have their TV and TIVO it too. I'll enjoy books and a very few worthwhile movies each year.

strike!

In what other field do people expect to be paid for the rest of their lives for shit they create once? Not software development. Not scientific research at university. Not the doctors who cure shit. Their creations and discoveries belong to their school or company when they create it and they ACTUALLY PRODUCE SOMETHING.