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[SCULLIBUNDO]

http://deadline.com/2017/02/writers...oach-wga-members-ready-for-strike-1201989113/

The threat of a writers strike continued to mount today as the WGA held the last of 11 membership informational meetings in advance of next month’s negotiations for a new film and TV contract.

“We’re always ready for a strike,” a TV writer laughed as he left the meeting at the Beverly Hilton. “Television is in another Golden Age and the companies are reaping record profits, but writers aren’t sharing in that. Our incomes are going down, so it’s going to be a tough negotiation.”

“Writers deserve more and the companies can afford to pay it,” said another TV writer who attended the meeting, “and we may just have to fight for it.” As for a strike, he said: “I pray that there will not be one, but I fear that there will be one.”


“The general feeling is that everybody would prefer to work,” said another writer, “but given the companies’ profits and our declining wages, it’s now or never. This meeting was not a strike vote, but we have certain needs that have to be met. Nobody wants to strike, but we are willing to if we have to.”

“We are all standing strong for the union,” said another writer.

Another added: “We have a unified guild.”

Solidarity and the credible threat of a strike are certainly helpful going into any contract negotiation, and many of those interviewed today said they hope the companies recognize that they are united behind the union’s “legitimate” and “reasonable” demands, and will make a fair deal to avoid a strike.

Guild records show that “overall median earnings increased 17.4% between 2008 and 2014,” but guild leaders say that “the average income of members in both features and series TV have actually decreased over the (last) decade.”

There’s no doubt that Hollywood’s film writers have seen their wages steadily erode over the past two decades, largely due to a decline in the number of films being released. According to the WGA West’s annual reports, screenwriters earned less in 2015 ($362.1 million) than they did in 1996 ($364.4 million) – and that’s in real dollars. Adjusted for inflation, they collectively earned about a third less in 2015 than they did in 1996

 

[Finaj]

I thought that tv shows usually treated writers/showrunners pretty well.

I always assumed film was the worst as that's where most scripts/screenplays usually get butchered.

 

[blame space]

do writers make money on steamed shows?

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

I thought that tv shows usually treated writers/showrunners pretty well.

I always assumed film was the worst as that's where most scripts/screenplays usually get butchered.

This isn't about creative freedom/control, so much as the age-old story of writers getting royally cactus'd when it comes to getting paid.

 

[Makonero]

Is it bad that I'm scared we will get another year of half finished tv shows? The last one killed Heroes and a few other shows badly. They should be compensated and I hope the big bosses give in to their reasonable demands.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

The last writers' strike gifted us the murder subplot in the second season of Friday Night Lights. And all of Heroes Season 2. Oh, and CBS airing those edited episodes of Dexter. Crazy times.

I found this section particulary interesting

The leading cause for the downturn is the shortening of many shows' seasons, with fewer episodes meaning fewer dollars for writer-producers. In years past, writers might be paid for 22 episodes strung out over 44 weeks, but it's now not uncommon for seasons to last for only 10 or 12 episodes.

Now that I think about it, most of the shows I watch now are on the shorter side. Every network and their mother has their own original programming now, and most of them are 13 episode deals.

 

[Sectorseven]

We already get remakes, now we'll just get them with the original script.

 

[wanderingprostheyltite]

do writers make money on steamed shows?

Yeah curious how royalty structure is figured (if at all) for streaming content. If it applies I bet those working on Netflix and Amazon originals make bank since those licenses don't expire. Well, the successful shows anyhow.

 

[The Faceless Master]

crazy how BET recently got sued for making a season longer

 

[polyh3dron]

Oh fuck the fuck off. The last writer's strike ruined my career trajectory in the picture editing side of things and I spent years to get into the sound side of post-production, and am finally hitting something of a stride after a few major setbacks. If writers strike again, fuck them.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Oh fuck the fuck off. The last writer's strike ruined my career trajectory in the picture editing side of things and I spent years to get into the sound side of post-production, and am finally hitting something of a stride after a few major setbacks. If writers strike again, fuck them.

Yeah. It's the writers' fault that they're paid shit compared to every other guild! Fuck them for wanting fair pay!

 

[Dash_Riprock]

Cause you know, the last one worked out SO well for them...

 

[gspec]

I feel for the writers but most of the tv shows and movies I seen the last five or more years have been horribly written.

 

[ZeroX03]

Now that I think about it, most of the shows I watch now are on the shorter side. Every network and their mother has their own original programming now, and most of them are 13 episode deals.

It's a particularly big deal, because you're not making enough to sustain yourself for a year if you're doing half the amount of episodes than usual.

Spoiler

I know a few talented writers who are on 22 episode shows doing stuff that's a waste of their talents but pays well

Also a shift to cable where they pay writers less than usual.

Yeah curious how royalty structure is figured (if at all) for streaming content. If it applies I bet those working on Netflix and Amazon originals make bank since those licenses don't expire. Well, the successful shows anyhow.

Yes there's supposed to be residuals on 'new media' but I don't think it's great or paid too consistently.

 

[Media]

The last writers strike sucked, but it also gave us Dr. Horrible. So...

 

[UrokeJoe]

do writers make money on steamed shows?

Broccoli not much.

 

[Chezzymann]

Dr horrible 2 please

 

[RareFantasy64]

Couldn't we pitch in and help Hollywood out if their writers go on strike?

 

[Durock]

The last writers strike sucked, but it also gave us Dr. Horrible. So...

Last writers strike also gave us Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad. They were going to kill him off but somehow the writer's strike prevented that from happening.

It sucks work wise and will definitely have an effect on my own career, but I respect the decision of the writers and understand where they're coming from. I hope everything can be resolved without the need of a strike happening.

 

[Hazaku]

The last writers' strike gifted us the murder subplot in the second season of Friday Night Lights. And all of Heroes Season 2. Oh, and CBS airing those edited episodes of Dexter. Crazy times.

I found this section particulary interesting



Now that I think about it, most of the shows I watch now are on the shorter side. Every network and their mother has their own original programming now, and most of them are 13 episode deals.

Did it give us the traveling to Mexico for Shark blood/stem cell treatment in FNL as well?

 

[Media]

Last writers strike also gave us Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad. They were going to kill him off but somehow the writer's strike prevented that from happening.

It sucks work wise and will definitely have an effect on my own career, but I respect the decision of the writers and understand where they're coming from. I hope everything can be resolved without the need of a strike happening.

I'm actually studying (at 34 mind, so it's unlikely I'll find work, but wtf right?) to be a screenwriter. So I'm very interested in this.

 

[commedieu]

but I just work on TV shows. God dammit... just got staff too.. come on, give them what they want.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Well guys if you got shows you currently like hang on to your butts.
Last one ruined hundreds of shows and the effects lasted years.

 

[shwimpy]

the only positive is Conan will be good again.

 

[Dryk]

Now that I think about it, most of the shows I watch now are on the shorter side. Every network and their mother has their own original programming now, and most of them are 13 episode deals.

I empathise with the writer's positions but shorter seasons have, on the whole, been great for television

 

[A-V-B]

Maybe they'll revive Heroes for a 2nd time just to bring back Caitlin from limbo lol

For real though I hope this doesn't suck.

 

[border]

Are writers being paid less because Hollywood isn't making as much as it used to? Or are studios still raking in money, underpaying writers, and pocketing the difference?

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Are writers being paid less because Hollywood isn't making as much as it used to? Or are studios still raking in money, underpaying writers, and pocketing the difference?

From the article:

Guild records show that “overall median earnings increased 17.4% between 2008 and 2014,” but guild leaders say that “the average income of members in both features and series TV have actually decreased over the (last) decade.”

So, the latter.

 

[border]

From the article:


So, the latter.

I couldn't tell though, is that adjusted for inflation?

It's a little weird that they are comparing median earnings to average income.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

I couldn't tell though, is that adjusted for inflation?

It's a little weird that they are comparing median earnings to average income.

Yup. Again, in the OP.

There’s no doubt that Hollywood’s film writers have seen their wages steadily erode over the past two decades, largely due to a decline in the number of films being released. According to the WGA West’s annual reports, screenwriters earned less in 2015 ($362.1 million) than they did in 1996 ($364.4 million) – and that’s in real dollars. Adjusted for inflation, they collectively earned about a third less in 2015 than they did in 1996

 

[tearsintherain]

Can't blame em if they aren't sharing in the record money being made. Hope it goes well for them. Honestly i probably have 10 years worth of shows queued up ready to watch so a few years of no new TV would frankly be a godsend. Couldn't give a shit about movies, I only think 2-3 movies a year are any good.

Some of the most interesting late nite TV was when Jon Stewart, Colbert, Ferguson and Conan did their late night shows with no writers. I know that sounds mean but no bits or pre written jokes really made them more human and introspective.

 

[polyh3dron]

Yeah. It's the writers' fault that they're paid shit compared to every other guild! Fuck them for wanting fair pay!

You're talking to someone who has been working in post-production sound, we don't get residuals or any of that other stuff writers get. Last time around the strike hurt a lot of people in the industry like myself that aren't writers, as well as younger writers whose careers were in the budding period. They got their new agreement, and I'm not too enthused to see the industry get upended again because of them.

Sound budgets have gone way the fuck down since the last writer's strike, and the desperation that said strike inflicted upon us was used as leverage for the producers to pay us less.

 

[Zelenogorsk]

I'd be fine with a writer's strike so long as whoever wrote the Elektra/Hand stuff from Daredevil Season 2 was a part of it.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

You're talking to someone who has been working in post-production sound, we don't get residuals or any of that other stuff writers get.

Yes, but your role is fundamentally different to that of a writer. They can't be paid the same way because their craft is different. They're never going to get an hourly rate of pay. They're also more directly responsible for the content you're working on existing at all.

 

[Game-Biz]

the only positive is Conan will be good again.

Wow, I forgot about Conan during the writer's strike. That was great tv.

Man, now I kinda want this to happen.

 

[Media]

Off topic, but there are a lot of writers in this thread, so...

Any advice from yall on getting into screenwriting?

 

[Dishwalla]

But we need our Trump jokes. How come these things only happen when we have shit presidents in office?

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Off topic, but there are a lot of writers in this thread, so...

Any advice from yall on getting into screenwriting?

Yeah. Lube up, then start inserting progressively larger pineapples into your asshole. Then start doing it without the lube.

 

[sirap]

You're talking to someone who has been working in post-production sound, we don't get residuals or any of that other stuff writers get.

Preach. Post-production guys & girls are the most underappreciated and underpaid workers in the industry. Our budget/schedules are the first to get cut whenever shit happens.

Not saying writers shouldn't go on a strike. Every grunt deserves more tbh.

 

[Durock]

But we need our Trump jokes. How come these things only happen when we have shit presidents in office?

Trump is joke incarnate. One look at him and the jokes come naturally.

 

[polyh3dron]

Yes, but your role is fundamentally different to that of a writer. They can't be paid the same way because their craft is different. They're never going to get an hourly rate of pay. They're also more directly responsible for the content you're working on existing at all.

I'm not exactly ignorant to a writer's role in filmmaking, I've got a couple family members who are highly successful ones. One of them wrote a film that got completely destroyed by the strike.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Welp, time to brace ourselves for another half-year of some of the ugliest hyperbolic campaigns to come from the major studios.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

I'm not exactly ignorant to a writer's role in filmmaking, I've got a couple family members who are highly successful ones.

And that's all well and good. It sucks how the writer's strike would affect you. But putting the blame on the writers like they're self-entitled assholes for not wanting to get fucked over at every single turn isn't the answer.

 

[Prompto]

the only positive is Conan will be good again.

Conan during the last writers strike is what got me starting to watch late night talk shows.

 

[polyh3dron]

And that's all well and good. It sucks how the writer's strike would affect you. But putting the blame on the writers like they're self-entitled assholes for not wanting to get fucked over at every single turn isn't the answer.

An entire generation of people in the industry had their career paths damaged by the 07-08 strike and I saw a lot of the damage first hand. A lot of millenials whose careers were just starting at that point, from post-production people, to assistants working their way up in the various agencies, studios, and production companies, most of whom saw their careers derailed. I still supported the writers then, yet the cost was largely paid by people who did not benefit from the new deal that was made. Now to see that this deal wasn't apparently good enough to the point that they want to do this all over again angers me.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

An entire generation of people in the industry had their career paths damaged by the 07-08 strike and I saw a lot of the damage first hand. A lot of millenials whose careers were just starting at that point, from post-production people, to assistants working their way up in the various agencies, studios, and production companies, most of whom saw their careers derailed. I still supported the writers then, yet the cost was largely paid by people who did not benefit from the new deal that was made. Now to see that this deal wasn't apparently good enough to the point that they want to do this all over again angers me.

The deal they got after all the huffing and puffing was garbage. If anything, they should stick to their guns. But the fact of the matter is that the DGA and SAG have little resistance in negotiating new deals. While the writers continually fight for scraps. Their demands aren't unreasonable in the slightest, but the resistance is still there.

 

[Media]

Yeah. Lube up, then start inserting progressively larger pineapples into your asshole. Then start doing it without the lube.

Damn it. I just want to write for tv. (My dream would be to get a job on a show like Supernatural, but I doubt I'd finish my degree in time anyhow)

 

[Illucio]

Man last strike ruined a lot of our shows and films for a good while. Granted it also opened up opportunities for new talent to enter the industry.

Its a real lose-win-lose situation.

 

[Durock]

Off topic, but there are a lot of writers in this thread, so...

Any advice from yall on getting into screenwriting?

I think just like anything else in this industry, you just need to put in the work, be highly motivated, have some luck and don't ever give up. It's highly competitive with many, many others wanting exactly what you want. So what makes you better than those others? That's what you need to show and prove. Set yourself apart from everyone else.

 

[GK86]

This thread is fascinating. What else did the last strike ruin?

The last writers' strike gifted us the murder subplot in the second season of Friday Night Lights. And all of Heroes Season 2. Oh, and CBS airing those edited episodes of Dexter. Crazy times.

That explains so much lol.