non WGA support

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!


I think as the strike goes on, spirits are naturally going to dampen so a supportive letter or email sent to the guild or an individual would be a real shot in the arm.



(ETA - the post before me mention Ellen but it's been deleted now)

Oh, and you can hear all about Ellen's "support" here...

It seems that as long as you deliver your scripted monologue in a different location, everything's OK. This has exposed a loophole in WGA protocol, allowing writers to work on screenplays during the strike, as long as they do it from the other side of the office.

In this link, she claims that she is not performing her monologue as a show of support. Someone should tell Ellen that speaking directly to camera and to the audience of a daily TV show for a couple of minutes, complete with Johnny Carson wise-cracks, is what almost everybody else calls a monologue whether you're talking about the strike or Iggy, the wonder-dog.

Letters to network execs informing them of your dislike of reality TV (which is what they'll be programming as the strike continues) would also be a good idea.

I'm not well informed about the issues involved, but it always comes down to leverage. On one of the threads here I read how much the average writer depends on his/her income from writing to pay the rent, get the kids through school etc. That's leverage for the studios and works against the writers.

When I read about share prices going down because less movies may be made because of the strike, that's leverage against the studios etc. (at least when the entity is traded publicly) and also hits people whose income is unaffected of residuals.

In the end it may come down to how much the deal preferred by the writers is going to cost the studios over the next 10 years or so. I'm sure that's the first thing they have their accountants calculate, before they go into a meeting with writers. Compare that with what the strike cost the studios per month. Make a similar calculation for the writers' side. Ethics may be important, but I have a feeling that the stronger one will win this.

The Writers' Guild (like every guild) is a way to increase leverage while being dependent on a job.

It's easy for wannabes (like me) to say - obviously I'm staying alive without a writer's income - but in addition to increasing their leverage while being dependent, may be writer's can find a way to become less financially dependent on writing income from a steady job. Brainstorming here: A spouse's job can provide some independence, for example. In one of my scripts I have a major supporting actor engage in online currency trading to provide the funds for his 'supporting actor activities'.

Obviously, you can't just quickly write a novel instead of a movie over the coming months to make up for the losses. But what about teaming up with novel writers to convert semi-finished, unsold scripts or treatments to a novel? On some other thread I read that might substantially increase the value of the entire package (novel, movie, script etc.) and each component in it. I read somewhere else that Border Books (some UK publishing house) voiced the idea to prop their struggling share price by making books based on successful screenplays/screenwriters (Forgot the details). There's still a gap here, but with a mid-range view and plan of action it might be one way to increase writers' leverage.

One could also start that kind of an entity from scratch, writing novels based on treatments with the intention to make a movie. I admit that's not coming to anybody's help next month, just some vision for a mid-range change of power.

Picket lines in front of studios - in my eyes - are the most ineffective means to influence balance of power. Even if you had a million people march down LA at rush hour - just one evening's news, may be.

For me it is a minor nightmare, when I imagine ending up in a situation dependent on a single employer without second and third options. The internet has broken up - and continues to do so - an entire culture of working and living. Parallel developments in societies contribute. The good job no longer is the holy grail that our parents had us look for. I never believed it anyway. (I'm not pretending I'm out of the water here, yet, BTW.)

These things come to mind when I read about the strike. Even the Guild has its limits. Just like with the individual's situation it's predictable when the funds run out there.

My five cents. (Of course, those here who are on top of the details will have to add their grains of salt to make this a palatable meal.)

Here's another suggestion. Maybe write or email some of these corporations who advertise on the big networks, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, CW etc. Tell them if the strike isn't resolved, we'll boycott their products. Write the networks, tell them if the strike isn't resolved, we'll boycott their major programming (luckily I can't stand reality TV because it isn't "real"--you want a real "survivor" program, set up a thousand camaras on an island and leave the contestants there for a year with no outside contact, only the real "survivors" win).

Anyway, these companies who advertise, will complain to the networks and studios if they start losing sales, the networks will start losing advertising money when they start losing ratings and have to charge less for commercial spots. The networks will complain to the studios if we boycott the only programming they have left "reality TV" and they lose ratings.

Boycott, and not just by ourselves, but get your families and friends to write in and threaten to boycott as well. That's my 2cp.

P.S. I'm not a screenwriter. But to all you other novel writers, what if the publishing companies said, from now we'll only be publishing people with at least 3 books out? What if the publishing companies said, from now on, we'll only be publishing people with absolutely no writing credits whatsoever? Wouldn' you want the support of the writing community?

Support our cousins, the screenwriters!

I personally never go to a movie theatre. People with germs go there. I might catch something - no thank you.

People also talk, laugh out loud, break wind, eat and drink. Probably make out as well. Not my idea of a fun night out.

I have my own home theatre and almost two thousand dvds. Plus a 78 channel satellite feed. So I would like to see the writers get some of that action.

If you're interested, you can go to unitedhollywood.com for updates, videos and petitions from the guild.

Smiling Ted said:

Letters to network execs informing them of your dislike of reality TV (which is what they'll be programming as the strike continues) would also be a good idea.

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I'm for that. Also the ads for other shows when placed as a crawl with a show pays. Annoying, man.

NikeeGoddess said:

* personally, i don't understand why the need to download a show that you've just seen. why watch it on your computer screen? or am i technologically confused about this?

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I believe the thinking most of the time is that you missed the show, that's why you downloaded it. You're out at night or working or having dinner or something and if you don't have a TiVo then you can watch it when it fits your schedule.

Also, lots of people have bigger computer monitors than televisions. Or don't have televisions. Think: College students.

Or, you like two shows and they are on at the same time. You can't watch them both.

Or, your friend tells you a show is really good but it's serialized and you've missed the first 3 episodes, so you download them.

Or, you went on vacation out of the country for a week and want to catch up on your shows.

I don't think most people are re-watching shows they've just seen.

I've watched shows I've missed on ABC.com and such. If I forget to DVR them.

I think the writers definitely should be paid for those, even if I don't have to pay for them. After all, the networks sell ads on them, so they're making money, right?

Christine N. said:

I've watched shows I've missed on ABC.com and such. If I forget to DVR them.

I think the writers definitely should be paid for those, even if I don't have to pay for them. After all, the networks sell ads on them, so they're making money, right?

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But what if I work as a consultant for some company and develop a piece of software for them? I get paid for the job and then they use it as often as they want, presumably making money with it.

Is there a difference? Where?

azdak said:

But what if I work as a consultant for some company and develop a piece of software for them? I get paid for the job and then they use it as often as they want, presumably making money with it.

Is there a difference? Where?

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The difference is the rights that are sold. If your contract with the company states that they own all the rights to the products you help develop in exchange for a flat rate, then that's, as they say, that. That is not to say that in an ideal world you shouldn't receive residuals based on sales revenue; in fact, maybe you should (talk to the former intern who wrote MS Windows solitaire and received not a penny for it). But I think it's fair to say that in exchange for residuals writers endure a higher level of job insecurity than most other industries (talk to those of us who still have day jobs in other fields, which is the grand majority).

RainbowDragon said:

The difference is the rights that are sold. If your contract with the company states that they own all the rights to the products you help develop in exchange for a flat rate, then that's, as they say, that. That is not to say that in an ideal world you shouldn't receive residuals based on sales revenue; in fact, maybe you should (talk to the former intern who wrote MS Windows solitaire and received not a penny for it). But I think it's fair to say that in exchange for residuals writers endure a higher level of job insecurity than most other industries (talk to those of us who still have day jobs in other fields, which is the grand majority).

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Right, it always depends on the deal one makes. For the intern at Microsoft it was probably a career move. He had bigger things in mind when he signed the deal. Anyway, a deal is a deal.

But consulting/freelancing is better paid than a steady job, precisely because of the job insecurity. After the job they don't have to and probably won't keep you until they need you again.

I read that writing is better paid than other jobs in the business. Shouldn't that compensate for reduced job security? Isn't that a similar situation? (Let's keep the Eisners and Sumners out of this for the moment.)

I don't mean to pass any judgment here, as to the justification of the strike. I just want to know what the positions and arguments are exactly.

I don't mean to pass any judgment here, as to the justification of the strike. I just want to know what the positions and arguments are exactly.

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John August explains it all.

Also, an interesting if basic analogy from Artful Writer, if you haven't heard it before:

Why We Fight - Or - The Magic Cake
http://artfulwriter.com/archives/2007/11/why_we_fight_or.html

-Derek

azdak said:

But what if I work as a consultant for some company and develop a piece of software for them? I get paid for the job and then they use it as often as they want, presumably making money with it.

Is there a difference? Where?

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The difference is that they could pay someone else (any number of someone elses) to write that piece of software. You can't pay someone else to write 'The Shawshank Redemption'.

zeprosnepsid said:

The difference is that they could pay someone else (any number of someone elses) to write that piece of software. You can't pay someone else to write 'The Shawshank Redemption'.

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Exactly!