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All of Hollywood is talking about this video. And the reason why is because of the growing phenomenon in this strike that the Big Media moguls keep talking out of both sides of their mouths. I’ve posted previously about how, one minute they’re using the media to plead that gross participants or deficit financing in the entertainment business is bleeding them dry, and the next minute they’re boasting to Wall Street about incredible earnings and the unlimited future of the Internet.
What the fuck?
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BRAVO, BRAVO, BRAVO. Nail on the head brilliant. The sheer, unbridled GREED and unwillingness to do the right thing is utterly appalling. How can anyone negotiate with this attitude?
“What the fuck,” indeed. What the fuck, everyone.
If the heads of the studios really believe movies and TV are not profitable, and yet they’ve all led their entertainment divisions for years, shouldn’t they all be fired? Immediately, before they cost their stock payers more money.
Well ok, powerful and true! I would be curious to see the dates, when they said such. Les Moonves has always been a buffoon to me but in that clip he came across as a mobster, a evil, greedy mobster!
If they are lying to writers, that’s unethical.
If they are lying to investors…isn’t that illegal?
I wish more journalists would sum up their argument with “What the fuck?”! No other phrase properly captures the only rational reaction to what these fuckers are saying.
This is really quite simple, Nikki. The reason their profits are so terrific is that they aren’t paying the writers. If they start paying us, then they’d be broke. Duh.
The Internet is the future. If writers don’t strike to define the payment scheme for this medium we will be back in the 1970s when we didn’t see the VHS and cable market. It’s insane. Writers – the creators of this entertainment – our largest export behind Aerospace – should be able to share in the billions of dollars that the studios make from our efforts.
Brett
Oh, what “WEBs” they weave…
Absolutely Brilliant, thanks Nikki. Made my Day.
Truth shall overcome.
Well, if it were a trial, (and it wasn’t fixed), that would be it, game over. Hubris, arrogance, double-standards — and I keep being told to be more moderate and conciliatory – wow. wow. wow.
Exactly.
Well, I gotta hand it to you Nikki. What used to be a site where you can get balanced news about the strike has now become a shill website for the WGA. Are you getting paid by the guild? Maybe we should have someone look into that..
God dammit I love that video. There is no way they can backpedal from this!! I am renewed for another day on the picket lines and will send that link to everyone I know.
The showrunners need to buy airtime during Sunday Night Football, or during the three top shows on television, and air this as an ad.
The controversy alone of the networks not allowing this ad over the airwaves would cause more people to want to see what the ad is about.
Shawn Ryan, Steve Levitan, Shonda Rimes, David Kelley, put you money on the line and buy an ad during one of your shows…this will get the public talking.
Haven’t the last seven years been the EXACT same thing? Lies, damn lies and statistics! Well, there hasn’t been much I’ve been able to do about W & Co., but, as a member of the WGA, there’s certainly something I can do here – NOT GIVE IN, NOT GIVE UP! Not now, not ever.
Good video, but one thing jumped out at me as a little misleading. I’m not saying studios aren’t making money on online video….but when they say “digital,” it doesn’t mean just online video. It means any ads online, and I would wager that the bulk of those advertising dollars are from banner ads, not ads running in online video content.
Has anybody shown that video to our local parakeet cage liner, the LA Times? Or any of the other oddly misinformed mainstream media outlets?
Believe it or not, the whole question comes down to faster internet connections. In your last post, Mr Diller is being a bit disingenuous. Almost anyone can see what is about to happen on the internet. The video pictures are going to get bigger and better. In Japan, internet connections are 30 times as fast as the U.S., and you can put the video onto wall screens. And that will change Hollywood radically. So the technology is available. Why isn’t it here? Because they have to rewire the last mile into your house: make that wire bigger, upgrade it. How do you do that? By creating consumer demand to get it done. More about that in a moment.
But once it is done, anybody can phone in high-quality screen entertainment. All you have to do is make it. Google has an advertising revenue system ready to go. You will get paid automatically from ads placed automatically over your videos. People will see different ads based on what they like, what they have been looking for — but you will get the revenue. Google wants to be in the ad-to-eyeball matching business, in order to take a cut — a completely new sort of business, worth gazillions. Google isn’t going to control content. The more, the merrier.
It’s going to put the studios out of business. Production and post-production technology are already getting cheap. Distribution and revenue will be taken care of automatically by the internet. That’s the end of the need for the studios. Writers, directors, actors, producers, will form around projects and do them. Financing will be ready to follow proven results. You will have to do your own advertising and marketing, but hey, that shouldn’t be too hard.
All that is needed are faster internet connections.
In the interim, the studios are going to screw the unions for the last drop until the studios themselves are obsolete. I am not a writer, but in my opinion, the WGA ought to do two things at the same time: (1) authorize its members to do little YouTubes right now and ask SAG to collaborate. And (2) go to YouTube at the same time and ask for revenue sharing for a strike fund. This would scare the hell out of the studios, and at the same time it would give YouTube/Google the “promotional” boost THEY need to get consumer demand to take the web to the next level.
nyguy123, Nikki isn’t a shill for the WGA. She’s a shill for the truth, justice & fairness (sounds patriotic and it’s true) and the little guys/gals. (Yes, there are a lot of struggling writers in the WGA.)
Do you really think the 2 sides are equal? Tell you what, maybe Nikki will shill for the producers (aka Big Money) if we (I’m not a writer, I just support them) can take over the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, NY Times, etc. Fair exchange, right?
I would happily contribute to a fund to get this on the air.
These guys are no better than the CEOs at Enron and World Com. Same exact people, different companies.
Agreed- For instance, I actually saw the Rupert Murdoch interview the clip is from, and he was clearly talking about MySpace.
Honestly, I don’t care! They know it, they’ve said it elsewhere, they’re saying it behind closed doors right this minute. And they’re not negotiating in good faith because that implies they’re capable of good faith. Just what I needed to refresh my feet for another week of walking in circles. A-holes.
When was that Rupert Murdoch interview?
Has anyone got the numbers for what part of all this digital profit is due to scripted programming produced by WGA members?
How much internet content is now generated by non-professional internet users? Most of youtube, myspace, etc, etc. You think this will change?