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Beginning with this advisory, DHD will allow comments that relate to the pre-strike stories I’ve been posting here. Since the current Writers Guild of America agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers expires tonight at midnight, and this is so important to everyone connected with Hollywood even in a remote way, I want to provide a forum to express your opinions, rants, sorrows. You can comment on every pertinent post.
But I own this website, so I also reserve the right to enforce some rules: Keep it pithy. Stay on topic. Be intelligent. Agree or disagree but don’t make it personal. Don’t impersonate Jeff Berg or Steven Spielberg or Barry Meyer or make wild unsubstantiated claims. Remember that your comments will reach a big national and international audience of DHD readers so don’t just argue one-on-one. Fine to post anonymously, but try to ID yourself generally, like, “I’m a writer”, “I’m a producer,” ”I’m a wannabe” so people know your POV. Your comments won’t be edited but they also won’t post automatically. I have to approve them first. And I plan on being picky. There may be some unavoidable delays…
Finally, I wish to thank all my wonderful tipsters who keep updating DHD on the WGA-AMPTP news, and all those kind people who have praised DHD’s even-handed coverage during this pre-strike. (Roger Ebert is worried I’m working too hard!) So, now, be the first to opine … and click ”refresh” to see the latest comment.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Union Member since 1991. Big project with big star will go down the tubes if we strike. Striiiiiiiiike!
My Grandfather was a founding member of the IBEW (electrical workers). My Uncle, no high school or college, took my dad’s slot and had an Upper West Side condo and long career wiring NYC skyscrapers. He retired to HIlton Head South Carolina with full union health care.
That’s a union. That’s what the WGA must aspire to and fight for. My granddad had his head busted open a few times walking the picket. Does anyone think Jeff Zucker will draw blood?
I’m walking the picket.
Uh, Mike S., the decrease in manufacturing costs of home videos has decreased WAY more than 50 cents per unit since the DVD (VHS) formula was first applied. They would still be way ahead. Oh, and the manufacturing costs for downloads? Zilch.
A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine heard the following from his lawyer. That the DGA had already told the Companies that their residual rollback plan was a dead letter. They wouldn’t even come to the table as long as it was on it. But he also heard that the Companies had already decided they would not give one penny on DVD residuals. Not one.
Rock. Hard place. We all know the drill.
Let’s review the producers’ negotiating strategy:
The producers spend all but two weeks before the contract expiration with the following proposal on the table: Roll back the residuals system, to be replaced by one that depends on the same funky studio accounting that makes net points a running joke in every Hollywood office.
Then, the day before contract expiration, state that they will not negotiate on the three fundamental points of contention between the two parties.
Sounds to me like a de facto lock-out.
Klaatu, manufacturing coasts for downloads are indeed ‘zilch’ but hosting costs are not, especially once you’re talking about movie-length HD video with millions of simultaneous streams, which consumers will expect to be glitch-free.
Again, I don’t disagree that the WGA deserves more, and I think the AMPTP should negotiate. I’m just trying to inject some real-world financial perspective, which I sometimes think is missing from this conversation.
Klaatu: another thing, while you are correct that the manufacturing costs of DVDs has decreased by more than 50 cents since the introduction of this formula, the wholesale price of VHS/DVDs that the studio earns has plummeted even more, proportionately speaking.
A key stumbling block of the (non-)negotiations over the past few months has been that the WGA proposals have been rational (e.g. “four more cents”), while the producers’ have been ludicrous (no residuals of any kind until the unicorn-like “net profit” appears).
So now that it’s time for each side to pull back “one of yours for one of mine,” as a writer I lament that we didn’t put AMPTP-style crazy-ass rollback-y stuff on the table to begin with:
1. Writer will own the copyright of the tv show or movie after one year.
2. Writer’s fee will be 25% of the production budget; 22.5% on budgets over $200 million.
3. Writer can move the production to another studio or network at any time if writer feels that the project’s artistic integrity is in danger.
Then, just as the producers got the big PR boost last week from their “grand” gesture of leaving the residuals alone, the WGA could have gotten screaming headlines with “Writers to Concede Ownership of Copyright to Studios”
I’m a reader and can tell Hopeful but Worried that yes, writers are thinking about collateral damage as much as those of us who work on the fringes. (And don’t forget, a lot of studios still use non-union readers.) Those of us who have been around for awhile remember 1988. And remember that bookstores closed, restaurants closed. A lot of people lost their livelihoods and then their houses. And in the end, the same issues that are cropping up now were tabled. Can you say “The Missouri Compromise?” Producers seem to think that writers (and actors and directors) are expensive inconveniences. I hope they find out differently. I may not have a job tomorrow morning, but I support you my brothers and sisters. Strike.
I’m a writer. First, your reporting has become an indispensible resource — the only reliable place to go.
As for the negotiations: what we are seeing here is a subset of the wildly skewed version of free market capitalism that now exists in the United States. If management were really concerned with the welfare of “the town,” they could take, I dunno, a $40 million bonus instead of a $48 million dollars one and pay the writers and extra penny or two on the digital downloads. But they have been infected with a sickness, the sickness of greed, for which there is no cure.
I’m an avid or “rabid” fan of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. I believe that a long strike could have a negative affect on the 2008 elections. I believe they have had a tremendously positive impact on this nation’s psyche. They’ve kept us sane when we wanted to go beserk during the last 7 years. They’ve given us an outlet for our extreme frustration with our “leaders”. If you go on strike, you take away the little ray of sunshine that we have. Yes, I believe you should get paid more, a lot more. Stephen and Jon are writers too, but for the good of our country, I beg you to to continue negotiating if at all possible. If you strike, I support you and wish you a speedy return.
Nikki,
I’m a writer. Today I spent an hour in my dentist’s chair getting my teeth cleaned. I b*****d and moaned about the possible strike. He removed plaque from my molars. At the end of my garbled monologue my dentist, who is a conservative Republican born under Communist rule in the former Eastern Bloc and a man who cleans the teeth of many Hollywood producers and executives, nodded his head and said, “Sometimes it’s right to take a stand and this is one of those times.” I proceeded to rinse out my mouth and pay him with my WGA insurance. He wished me “good luck” and told me to check out the latest Harry Potter movie.
Rock on, Nikki. Rock on.
What other line of work has “strong” unions and then requires you to have an agent?
Um, I’ve always thought that the Major League Baseball Players Association was the strongest/most successful union out there, and I’m pretty sure most baseball players have agents.
Nick Counter has been doing this for too long, if the CEOs were allowed to negotiate directly then a deal would get done, that’s why there’s so much dissension on the producers’ side.
Point taken, however I said “strong” union, meaning not strong. Baseball players and sports agents in general are there for their clients and work hand in hand with the union. Our industry is not like that. Pitchers, short stops, catchers, national and american leauge all share the same union. We on the creative are split. Writers are so happy to get signed and so happy to get what money they can, I am afraid we don’t confront our reps enough and demand to have over all better representation, hence my goal of getting rid of them and designating this power to our Union, manager and lawywers. If our Union can set the rules for how and when we work, then let them also get into personal contracts for each job. This way they will have more power and we will have more say in our own unions, this will also make it easier for us that are hyphinates to make deals and create an work place that is rewarding for people who write, direct, edit, compose or any mix of those. And it will make sure you can keep more of your earnings, when you have more than one union, a manager, agent or even two if you compose, you lose a lot of you money and don’t get the bang for your buck.
“There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part, you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop! And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!”
Mario Savio, 1964
True then, true now. I’ve been a professional screenwriter for 30 years, and Mario was a good friend of mine at Cal Berkeley way back when. The Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers are clearly forcing this strike, so what’s the point of putting it off for another week or two? If the WGA thinks that will help us win the PR war, then they are wrong. If we intend to stand up and fight for our rights, then the sooner we strikek, the better. Aside from Nikki’s columns, we will never get a fair shake in the media, so we’re only kidding ourselves. If we blink, then the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers will own us forever. Let’s strike now and let them know that we are serious. If the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement by now, another week or two won’t help. We need to clog the wheels of the machinery that Mario spoke so eloquently about.
Pat, are you speaking from experience? Are you a part of the dissension?
Klaatu, manufacturing coasts for downloads are indeed ‘zilch’ but hosting costs are not, especially once you’re talking about movie-length HD video with millions of simultaneous streams, which consumers will expect to be glitch-free.
That is why we are only asking that ourpercentage be based on 40% of the gross revenue (up from 20%). We’re not even asking for a percentage of the total.
An, in the case of iTunes, the hosting is paid for by Apple and we’re asking for a piece of the studios’ portion only. So, yeah, costs are zilch. It’s extra money for the studios.
Klaatu: another thing, while you are correct that the manufacturing costs of DVDs has decreased by more than 50 cents since the introduction of this formula, the wholesale price of VHS/DVDs that the studio earns has plummeted even more, proportionately speaking.
Yes and sales have increased astronomically. The bulk of the DVD business is sales now, not rentals. They are making more money from DVDs than ever. Plus, TV shows weren’t even sold on DVD back then. More extra money for the studios.
I am tired of hearing the “impact on the industry” argument used against the WGA. Do not blame writers for the collateral industry damages connected to the strikes. Blame the studios. They have the money. They have the power. And without the writers to begin with, there would not be an industry. Nearly everyone works off script – anyone who does should be fully supporting the writers who craft the stories on which they work.
And for the record, pennies on the DVDs should not be the issue stopping negotiations. Shame on Nick Counter. And shame on the studios. I’m about to lose my job, and I’m not alone. I’ll get you a g*dd*mn chair myself.
Without agents, you would all work for guild minimums because so many of you are so desperate to work and take any job and any money offer that comes your way.
Do the words “I just want the work” sound familiar?
Here’s a question for writers: If you know the potential for a strike is coming why do you take so many more jobs leading up to the potential strike date? Doesn’t that empower the people you are striking against? Aren’t the studios in a position to say: go strike, we’re set with material for 4 months. Call us then when you’re broke and ready to cave on every one of your demands.
I’m a screenwriter who discovered this website two weeks ago. Since then, I have read it occasionally, then daily, and now hourly. I just finished reading all the comments to all the articles. Ms. Finke, thank you, not only for your fine fair and balanced reporting but for creating a forum in which the common working men and women of the disparate unions and varying points of views can express their opinions.
I have no idea how I will get through the next six months, but I know this: Mario Savio had it right, and Story Writer Guy has it right. No one wants a work stoppage, but the untenable demands by the AMPTP have made every writer I know, including the reclusive and passive, sick at heart. Like it or not, it’s time to lay down our pens, raise up our voices and strike.
On the DVD issue, “A Screenwriter” wrote in one of the other forums:
“Hey – you’re all missing the point on the DVD download argument, and looking at the wrong thing.
“This isn’t about movie downloads.
“It’s really about TV show downloads: Currently, when a TV show goes into repeats, there’s an established formula for what writers get paid, which is a fairly healthy second payment on the episodes they wrote, and so on, into syndication.
“As TV moves into streaming media – where first run shows are available on the net either simultaneously, or a few days later, the producers are suggesting that these fall under the category of DVD sales – a mere pittance per sale – as opposed to the “real” money paid for either a rerun, or syndication.
“So what you’re not taking into account here is the real economic picture, which involves not just the WGA, but SAG and the DGA as well: As all TV goes online (and/or on-demand,) the syndication and second-run payments that used to help keep the gardeners, restaurants, talent agencies, dentists, stock brokers, valet car parkers and insurance agents afloat will disappear, or be severely reduced, under the DVD formula.”
He’s so frickin’ right, it’s scary.
Agent: We take the jobs because we hope there won’t be a strike. While negotiating and under contract we continue to work hard and in good faith.
We don’t want a strike. We want to work. We like to work. And we work hard. Writers are the only people on a TV show with no turnaround times in their contracts.
And yes, we may go broke. But the studios may run out of material first and get a lot of pressure from their shareholders. Despite the success of American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, simply plugging in cheap reality fare isn’t a surefire workaround. The biggest reality hits of the new season are Kitchen Nightmares
and Child Abuse Nation with 6-7 shares. What was the last hit reality show to launch?
Excellent job reporting this. You deserve major kudos for your tough frankness and truthful reporting. (Maybe some sort of Pulitzer or something..:)
I think the WGA has failed. Yes, I support them as a writer but they lost the negotiations. I believe writers are naive if they believe they can “bring the studios to their knees” as I’ve heard many mutter through bitterness. It is wishful thinking and imho, will never happen. The studios have always held the power – for the past 80-100 years and will continue to do so. There is a slight chance the writers may get some of what they want at the end of this, but my gut tells me they won’t.
A strike hurts the writers more than it hurts the studios. They lose jobs, homes, families, careers. I wish for the best but I am just skeptical.
I think the WGA needed much more savvy negotiators, obviously. Negotiating 101 says to ask for wayyyyy more so then it can be knocked down to what is acceptable. Don’t start with your floor because you have nowhere to go (DVD 8 cents). I don’t know the ins and outs, but I do know that since there’s a strike the negotiations failed.
Also, the WGA is very exclusionary. There are tons of writers, some good some bad, who are on the fringe of the WGA and have ZERO loyalty to them and see them and the writers as elitist and exclusionary and have no problem “scabbing.” (Although not technically a scab since not in the WGA). The WGA stopped their new writer training program. The studios could tap into this and who knows — maybe it will lead to not another SAW XV or comic book adaptation (although that’s probably more the studio’s fault than the writers)…
This feels like it could be historical. Unless there’s a last minute hail mary and one side capitulates and resolves it quickly. Who knows what will happen? Maybe the WGA will be destroyed, maybe a new, second guild will be created, maybe the studios will say — here you go, here’s your 8 cents… maybe the WGA will grandfather in all the non-WGAers who don’t scab this time (instead of what they did in ’88– the other way around).
In this town, it’s everyone for themself and it will be interesting to see what happens.
Klaatu: but that’s iTunes, which offers such a woefully small licensing fee to networks that NBC has left, and I suspect others may follow suit, since they are making so little off of it. (See the recent article in THR about this.) Meanwhile, the broadcast TV industry is hemorraging audiences, and if there’s any chance that television can support the kinds of expensive scripted shows that employ WGA members, it’s going to be through massive development of an online infrastructure (which will probably be ad-supported, not pay-per-download). This is going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and will take maybe five years.
None of which is to say that there isn’t a number above the AMPTP proposal that would be fair and sustainable. My point is only that a) scripted television is in deep crisis, with audiences dissolving and syndication value eroding; 2) Online distribution might be able to save it, along with the thousands of WGA members it employs; 3) this transition will entail a lot of upfront costs without much immediate return. And all of this should be taken into account in the WGA’s negotiating position.
Gene Gauntier II
AMEN. Preach on. I believe if the union is destroyed (something I DO NOT WANT), we can still then create a much more inclusive and powerful model. It’s outdated and just not equipped to deal with these big global companies. Right now we have something interesting a shifting of power, where it goes who knows. But when you shake a tree all sorts of things drop to the ground and often end up growing up to be stronger than the tree they came from. Let’s hope that happens