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A senior television literary agent in a major agency used to get at least 300 in-calls a day. On Friday, he receive 4. So what are the tenpercenters doing? They’re making calls, not getting them. I’m told, “The clients often need more communication and handholding now than they did when they were working…”
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Trust me. They’re making calls – the calls are to non WGA and British writers. The whole idea that studio execs and agents are just sitting in their offices crying is crazy. They are developing plans for how to work outside the union. This strike was a ridiculous move for the writers: 1.) Scripted television is in the dumpster right now and needs all the support it can get – not one of this seasons new shows will return if this strike lasts another couple of weeks. 2.) The studio doesn’t receive the ad income from streamed television on the internet – it’s the network and the networks are trying to supplement income for the high license fees that they have to pay for big shows (Back to You, Cavemen, etc…) that don’t even score double digits in the ratings. 3.) The AMPTP has to negotiate a new SAG agreement in June. Do you think they’ll give into this tactic and risk having the actors perform the same stunt in June? The more support you get from the actors the less likely the producers are to settle with the WGA. 4.) The entire studio business model is defunct at this point but everyone was pushing forward because noone knows what the new business model is – the studios were patching the leaks in the boat. By striking the WGA has pulled the boat out of the water and now it’s time to scrape off all the barnacles and rebuild. 5.) These studios are housed by large corporate conglomerates with diversified income streams. Ironically, this will be a very profitable year for the studios because they will not be spending enormous amounts of money on development. 6.) All these WGA tactics – rallies, lying in the streets, posters with rude sayings, and badmouthing studio execs are not aiding the cause whatsoever and the American public at large feels no pity for people who earn six figure incomes. 7.) The viewing public is not going to cry their eyes out over the loss of scripted television – when American Idol returns to televion more people will just watch that. I hear great buzz about a ton of unscripted programming which I haven’t watched before but I will – Meerkat Manor, Rock of Love, Intervention, Dancing with the Stars, etc. Good luck with this battle!
The posting above – Good Luck 1:04 – isn’t true – it’s studio propaganda calculated to alarm and divide
Yeah, the audience for CSI and SVU is REALLY going to tune into extended episodes of DANCING WITH THE STARS.
:rolls eyes:
I can tell you that top-tier agents I know on both sides of the pond are NOT currently trying to recruit scab writers. They know I and others would dump them in a heartbeat if they got into that game, and we are the clients who pay their bills. And British agents are very reluctant to recommend that their clients should strikebreak because of the possible damage to their careers if they hit it big.
They are confused and afraid and they want the strike to be over.
By the way, Good Luck!, I love the smell of astroturfing sock puppets in the morning. It smells like victory.
Quote: “The viewing public is not going to cry their eyes out over the loss of scripted television – when American Idol returns to televion more people will just watch that.”
Wow. You don’t really know the viewing public then, do you? You are right, though. We aren’t going to cry our eyes out. We simply won’t watch. The people who watch high quality dramatic shows are not just going to switch the tube on to whatever reality show might be on air.
Do you remember when reality tv first really caught on? The next few seasons there was an overabundance of them. After that, most of them went away.
Studios can bank on reality being the wave of the future, but the overall reality genre just doesn’t have the consistent ratings to back these predictions.
The American public might be pretty fickle, but the entire history of society has shown the need and purpose of the storyteller. We won’t just “forget” about these wonderful tales we’ve had, and numb ourselves with overprocessed glurge as some sort of amnesiac.
Also, please don’t ever try to associate “Rock of Love” with “Meerkat Manor” again.
Disclaimer: just a fan, not in the industry.
This member of the viewing public, as with most of my friends, is already sweating what is going to happen when “Lost” has to postpone their season start because they only have 8 episodes in the can. And I am already mourning the loss of not being able to watch new episodes of “The Office” after this week. So, I think that scripted television will be sorely missed. There is no way that watching some bald-headed (he covers it up with those bandannas) has-been rock star choose between tramp 1 and tramp 2, is ever going to be my idea of a good time. There are so many great scripted shows out there that have just debuted, that I am afraid we are going to lose when this is over. I think that with the change in times, the writers should definitely get a percentage of what is made off of online sales (iTunes) or viewing of their product. After all, they labored over the creation of the product. It is irrelevant what they actually make (although I have to say that I think most writers do not make six-figures), the fact of the matter is that the studios make money off of the writers’ backs. I have watched shows online, and I know that if I attempt to watch on the network’s site, be it ABC or NBC, I am going to have to watch commercials. Every time I watch a commercial, the studio gets paid, and since I am watching a show, the writers should get a share of that.
Yawn.
Scripted will always have a market. The previous poster reminds me of the early days of Rap. “Oh, Rock is dead. Rap is here, that’s it.” Blah, blah, blah.
The rumor about agents looking for clients in foreign lands is just that. Rumor. Spin it all you want. It is a lie. Another pathetic move by the other side. Their small tactics show their weakness.
Can someone send them The Art of War so that they can at least not look so pathetic.
WGA is galvanized and will not be toppeled by such weak manipulations.
Response to ‘Good Luck!’
1.) Nothing is nothing and if the studio alliance wishes to unplug this season let them explain that to advertising and foreign markets.
2.) True about the studios but that only goes for Time Warner, all other studios have broadcast outlets and the division between these two media sectors has disappeared a long, long time ago.
3.) Do you honestly think SAG is going to back down due to the treatment to the writers. All the guilds and their members understand the here and the now is at stake.
4.) Do you think the studio alliance will ‘give back’ re: New Media…Judging by their display of greed over DVDs the WGA should not take any chances and not give an inch and be taken for a mile.
5.) How are those media conglomerate stocks doing? Time Warner breaking up? GE going to sell NBCU? Viacom/CBS has volumes of issues starting from the top…Short term maybe okay, long term…I would short every single one of them.
6.) The studio alliance lies doesn’t work either.
7.) You mean hype or spin…The buzz you hear are the chainsaws of angry viewers who will be on the web or game consoles before they watch the studio alliance’s alternative drek.
As a former assistant to one of the more powerful people in this town, I think it’s time to elicit the help of the fans of Movies and TV. What can they do? They can call the offices of Les Moonves, Bob Iger, Brad Grey, Dick Cook, etc. and clog their phones. Most of these offices cannot let calls go to voice mail during the 8a-8p shift and if there was a massive campaign to target one per day, it could literally shut down the office. Who else is on board?
Unfortunately, I completely agree with most of these commments. Except number 6. The strike is extremely worthwhile – as residuals are essential to the long term livlihood of all writers. It’s not just about streaming – it’s about dvd’s, downloads, etc. Furthermore, streaming will become a revenue source at some point. To this degree, everything about the strike is important and beneficial, if writing is how you make a living.
Big Media MAY be making one huge miscalculation or – at least – a dangerous leap into a financial abyss. What’s the business going to be when they return from the strike? It is very difficult to see how reruns and reality stem the overall erosion of viewership.
At precisely the time, when broadcast television needs exciting programming to entice audiences they are letting it go completely – at least for time being. Now, would be a great time for a BIG NEW MEDIA competitor to come in and cement deals with big name talent, catering to a slightly younger, new media saavy demo. Of course, it would need to be a completely different business model. But I think many top tier talents would bet on themselves if they felt they had the money to make their show and the backing to promote. Younger audiences will go to the right show, regardless if it airs on tv or not.
If I worked for one of those companies, it would be great to promote a first run show while the nets are airing reruns. I think there would be a lot of fun free press there.
Here’s another few thoughts.
What if the strike is a way of resetting Hollywood? That is to say, writers make X amount per week on top of the script payments they write for a show. But so many sitcoms and dramas have so many high level writers, Co-Producer, Co-Executive Producer, etc… the above-the-line budget becomes TOP HEAVY and then it’s very hard to have money to make other shows. If the strike is prolonged, a lot of writers will leave the business, because there won’t be a business for scripted TV. When the strike resolves, you’ll have a bunch of new writers who will be making significantly less, but more manageable for overall scripted show budgets.
Scripted television hasn’t been doing well for a long time and the reason? Ratings have continued to erode. People watch shows via DVRs or the internet or don’t watch TV like they used to.
Let’s not forget other reality shows that continue to do really well in the ratings besides AMERICAN IDOL and DANCING WITH THE STARS. Ever watched BRAVO’s shows? Project Runway, Top Chef, Real Housewives of the OC, etc.? These shows come back year after year because there is an audience… the numbers might not equal network TV’s… but guess what… CW’s ratings are terrible now anyway and Bravo shows score higher than CW.
The truth of the matter is… if the strike lasts through January… there will be no time to get new shows made for this season and air then in the ’07-’08 season. Another hard reality… if the strike lasts until June… pilot season is shot for ’08-’09 and could ruin network TV for that season as well.
I understand writers want more money and want some of the new media pie… but if this strike goes through next June… are the writers going to still be here… or will they have defaulted on their houses and moved back home… wherever home is? The entire industry will be crippled.
Meerkat Manor?!?!
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Ah. Hahahahahahaha. Done now. Nope. Hahahahahahahahahaha.
Somebody call 911. Hahahahahahahahaha…
Enjoy the show, d-bag. Jesus wept. “Meerkat Manor.”
You know, no one seems to be addressing this other issue of the strike, and that’s the fact that these “reality shows” are indeed scripted. VERY scripted. Do you think the narrator of MEERCAT MANOR makes up his comments as he goes along? A few honorable production companies acknowledge this and we union reality/doc writers work for them.
If the “scripted” writers had supported us as members of the union from day 1, the networks couldn’t be using the excuse of “reality” shows as subs for scripted comedy and drama. Reality writers should be covered, just as animation writers and news and radio writers should be. The guild has been behind our petitions for coverage for at least ten years, but when it comes to evil greedy reality producers like Mike Fleiss and Mark Burnett, it’s too little too late. These guys have made the incredibly profitable field of network reality TV into the wild wild west.
Happily, reality – guild-covered or not – will never entirely replace scripted. In the meantime, give us some love, dramatic writers – we are out there on the picket lines with you this time!
I think the point is that of course there will always be a market for scripted drama, but with the current crop of reality shows and other devices, the studios can prolong this strike for months. It will end of course like they all do, the question is who will still have jobs? It seems like the studios are willing to cut costs to offset reduced advertising (and yes, millions of people will watch reruns and the studios will sell advertising for that) and come out maybe even. Compare this to a struggling writer who has a mortgage and mouths to feed. Its not hard to tell who has the upper hand here. I appreciate all the solidarity and “we’ve got them on the run!” talk, but I think the sad truth is this stike will hurt the writers more than it will help them.
NO-ONE has pointed out that Brit Union Writers get more than double the Residual rate we get — somewhere around 5.5%.
I disagree, the studios can not prolong the strike because of their reality programming. They can only prolong it if they have Highly desired reality program. If they have warmed over, quickly put together, left over summer reality programming…then no, it can’t be prolonged. If they lose a great bunch of viewers who realize they can live their life without turning on their channel…then they’re done and they know it.
PJ,
The Brit writers may get higher residuals, but their shows generate a fraction of the revenue of American shows.
Maybe that’s why no one is mentioning it.