DGA Inks Deal - But Hardly Generous

Thanks for the update Odo, it's concessions at least.

the Oscars are suppose to air on Feb 24th. i know they don't want to cancel that like they did the globes.

they're anxious. only a handful of tv shows had enough scripts to keep new eps on this long or had their mid-season shows ready and waiting.
the upsurge in game and reality shows is getting way outta hand.

but the more anxious the better it is for the writers. and the actors want the writers to get a good deal so when their contract comes up in june then they won't have so much fuss.

Rumors of dissension have been circulating since the strike started and, luckily, they were mostly exaggerated if not outright wrong. Hopefully, the trend will continue.

I can understand wanting to get back to work ASAP, but if the deal is reviewed and is determined not to meet writer's needs well...it doesn't meet writer's needs. Each day the strike goes on is painful for everybody, so I hope this gets settled and settled soon. But I also hope the it's not settled so quickly that, in a few years, people will look back and say "Idiots...they already held on for so long. If a few extra weeks would have gotten us X, and X is incredibly important, why didn't they keep at it?"

Wait a minute!

I'm reading the terms of the DGA agreement. And it ain't so good.

While THIS is an objective/quanitfiable amount of money:

The Guild has also won jurisdiction over shows on the Internet that are produced at a network level budget. That means shows that cost over $15,000 per minute to produce, or cost more than $300,000 per show, or more than $500,000 per series (which ever figure is lowest).

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This is NOT:

Directors also won an increase in the rate for paid downloads of both features and TV shows when they are hits.

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"When they are hits"???? Hah! Can you say "creative bookkeeping" ??

Plot Device said:

Hah! Can you say "creative bookkeeping" ??

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Come on, you can use that argument for any part of a contract.

LIVIN said:

Come on, you can use that argument for any part of a contract.

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Most (if not all) of Hollywood's creative bookkeeping artificially INFLATES the price of a production. It's a lot harder to say something cost less to make than to claim it cost more. So the first provision I highlighted is almost un-fakable. But the second one is subject to the infamous James Garner/Rockford Files treatment.

Remember kids, no one has seen the deal yet, just a murky press release ABOUT the deal (I'm always suspicious when the deal sounds mediocre in the PUBLICITY).

Let's all keep our skirts on and wait until the fine print gets read, until then, it's all smoke and fluffernutters.

cynicallad said:

Remember kids, no one has seen the deal yet, just a murky press release ABOUT the deal (I'm always suspicious when the deal sounds mediocre in the PUBLICITY).

Let's all keep our skirts on and wait until the fine print gets read, until then, it's all smoke and fluffernutters.

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I like fluffernutter sandwiches!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluffernutter

Yum!

I look at this as bittersweet. The strike may come to a close, but the tactics the AMPTP use against the WGA (taking the demands off the table and wanting to "negotiate") really stinks.

Reflecting on this recent turn of events in Hollywood, and the (freelance) print journalists' action some years ago, I can only say what I think about my so-called profession -- it ain't. The reality is that in the print journalism field, writers don't count for sh!t. Things are better for f-t journos, than freelancers, but overall, both are treated and compensated abysmally.

It is all relative of course, as it is said.

Have the Hollywood screenwriters' pay scale rates remained static or depreciated over the past 30 years, as the National Writers' Union claims it has for freelancers? And how many of the AW freelance forum members are paying close attention to this situation with the studios and WGA? How many of them are, like the WGA members, FT writers? How many of the freelance forum members even care?

The realisation has been late coming, but the only way out for writers of all commercial and artistic endeavours is to move up the 'value chain', and in anyway possible, stake out a claim on the 'means of production'...

I'm sorry ATP it's probably from my lack of sleep due to sick kids, but I didn't understand your post at all. Can you break it down for me??? I don't get the connection or lack thereof between freelancers and scriptwriters and the problem? Are you talking about the method of reporting or...

Conditions for the WGA members are comparatively better than for print journalists. This may have something to do with their position in the 'value chain' in relation to the overall 'production process' or 'means of production'.

Okay, I just couldn't wrap my head around what you were trying to say.

So you're saying print journalists don't really care about the writers strike and may even feel negatively toward script writers because script writers have a better deal to begin with than they do? Do I have it now?

icerose said:

Okay, I just couldn't wrap my head around what you were trying to say.

So you're saying print journalists don't really care about the writers strike and may even feel negatively toward script writers because script writers have a better deal to begin with than they do? Do I have it now?

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No. I am saying a number of things.

-though the 'worlds' of print journalists and WGA screenwriters are far apart, when taken as a whole, print journalists' (f-t and freelance) terms and conditions are (much) worse than that for FT screenwriters.

-those print journalists who do care about the writers strike are likely to be very sympathetic towards /supportive of the NWU and its efforts to improve the lot of freelancers, whose rates of pay have remained pretty static over the past thirty years, while their incomes in real terms have declined

-WGA screenwriter earnings I am sure (surmise) have not been subject to the same conditions mentioned in the paragraph just above this one. If this is true, then I suspect this is because in relation to their place within the feature film industry, the type of industry this is,and the earnings of that industry, their earnings are better. Perhaps within the industry, the WGA writers' earnings are considered 'low' (for example); yet, comparatively speaking, they are much better than that for print journalists.

Okay

ATP said:

No. I am saying a number of things.

-though the 'worlds' of print journalists and WGA screenwriters are far apart, when taken as a whole, print journalists' (f-t and freelance) terms and conditions are (much) worse than that for FT screenwriters.

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Actually, there's a world of difference between a full-time journalist and a freelancer, just like in any other writing job. A full-time journalist's benefits and salary are in fact better than the average working WGA member, even if just slightly ($47K/yr vs. $40K/yr). As for freelancing, there just isn't an equivalent, as a freelancer journalist can actually make a decent wage, whereas a spec writer will be lucky to sell a script.

-those print journalists who do care about the writers strike are likely to be very sympathetic towards /supportive of the NWU and its efforts to improve the lot of freelancers, whose rates of pay have remained pretty static over the past thirty years, while their incomes in real terms have declined.

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Actually, even though it relates to writing, it's not at all the same nor applicable. The WGA strike only affects how script-writers are paid, not how all writers are paid. It's not going to affect how other writers are paid, especially as they usually have better deals in place.

-WGA screenwriter earnings I am sure (surmise) have not been subject to the same conditions mentioned in the paragraph just above this one. If this is true, then I suspect this is because in relation to their place within the feature film industry, the type of industry this is,and the earnings of that industry, their earnings are better. Perhaps within the industry, the WGA writers' earnings are considered 'low' (for example); yet, comparatively speaking, they are much better than that for print journalists.

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Again, the WGA writers are actually doing worse than print journalists. You need to keep in mind that, whereas print journalists are generally respected (entertainment journalists being the obvious exception), screen writers are considered low man on the totem pole. There is the joke about the blonde that slept with the writer which pretty much says it all.

In all honesty, if the director's hadn't have helped out, the producers would probably have had no problem seeing how far they could have taken it.

On the other hand, freelancers are basically screwed because of competition from India and other outsourcing, and because it's assumed that anyone can write, and that it's assumed to be an entry-level job, or something people do for extra money, not an actual job or one that actually takes skill to do.

In essence, freelancing != scriptwriting...

FR

FinbarReilly said:

Actually, there's a world of difference between a full-time journalist and a freelancer, just like in any other writing job. A full-time journalist's benefits and salary are in fact better than the average working WGA member, even if just slightly ($47K/yr vs. $40K/yr). As for freelancing, there just isn't an equivalent, as a freelancer journalist can actually make a decent wage, whereas a spec writer will be lucky to sell a script.

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This is interesting. I would like to enquire as to your source of information about the annual salary earnings (and conditions) for US(?) print journalists and the WGA screenwriters?

FinbarReilly said:

On the other hand, freelancers are basically screwed because of competition from India and other outsourcing, and because it's assumed that anyone can write, and that it's assumed to be an entry-level job, or something people do for extra money, not an actual job or one that actually takes skill to do.

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Unfortunately, this is all too true.

Salaries: The $40K figure for screenwriters has been published a lot lately (the actual range is $40-$70K, but I was looking at entry-level specifically). The $47K for print is from an article on newspapers, and, again, I'm looking at entry-level....

It should be noted that calculating salaries for more experienced writers gets more complicated because of residuals, as well as other deals (print writers, for example, write books)...

FR

FinbarReilly said:

Salaries: The $40K figure for screenwriters has been published a lot lately (the actual range is $40-$70K, but I was looking at entry-level specifically). The $47K for print is from an article on newspapers, and, again, I'm looking at entry-level....

It should be noted that calculating salaries for more experienced writers gets more complicated because of residuals, as well as other deals (print writers, for example, write books)...

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Thanks very much. However, I would really appreciate specific references-links etc.

As Yahoo! Jobs, an LA reporter can earn $34K-$55 with less than five years of experience (the range depends on amount of previous experience).
According to the NY Times a television writer can expect $50K. According to the AMPT, the average is $200,000 (no source cited).


However, this comes with a MAJOR caveat: Reporters can basically count on that salary. A television writer can't (bear in mind that 48% of the WGA's rolls are unemployed).

[Our local paper reported $40K-$47K, but I decided to some digging around. Because of the nature of TV, however, there are a lot of variables. The basics are that a producer can reasonably count on their salary, but a writer can't.]

I hope that helped....
FR

(Redacted) - I posted a link to a study, but apparently it wasn't ready to go out yet.

+++

The good news is, there's been an inarguable value to the strike, and our time has been well spent. We can use the DGA deal as a starting point and hopefully achieve something that's closer to our gains, but we're within "shouting distance" of something resembling a deal (as Gil Cates might say).

Not really any bad news, now it's a matter of keeping the membership united and negotiating a deal that will put off a SAG strike.