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Another Writer's Strike looms in Hollywood

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T

ToraShiro

NISA
blame space said:
do writers make money on steamed shows?
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This was a HUGE part of the last strike, since streaming was just coming up and with that and reality TV's emerging popularity, new media had to be written into contracts. Ultimately it was pretty much a wash and I hope this time we get a real long-term fix.

Makonero said:
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.
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I feel for you, but yeah, let's hope. But I will choose a fair wage over a year of flubbed storylines.

wanderingprostheyltite said:
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.
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Yes, but if I remember it's far, far less generous than physical sales. I would compare it from CDs to streaming music. Lots more people listening to that music, not as much money coming back per unit. And the same old problems with company accountability on projections and tracking. I knew someone who was working for a company who didn't (or forgot) to account for tens of thousands of sales of a movie that was only revealed after nearly years (and it was from an unrelated lawsuit), it can be hard to keep the companies honest, they aren't obligated to give you sales data on demand.

border said:
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?
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Almost always the latter.

If they do wind up striking I hope to strike with them again as I did in '08. The important thing to remember is that this is about every writer. The guys at the top will always be OK, but there are so many more writers than just the blockbusters and prime time. Reality TV, animation, web series, on demand and others should get a fair shake, too.
 
M

mre

Golden Domers are chickenshit!!
SCULLIBUNDO said:
From the article:


So, the latter.
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While the average income of the guild members has gone done, I can't imagine that this is because of an actual decrease in the rate they receive. Others have mentioned that many shows have gone to shorter 10-12 episode seasons. Are the writers being paid less for their work than they were before, or are they simply doing less work (i.e., writing fewer scripts) than they were?
 
C

Chumley

Banned
polyh3dron said:
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.
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That's kind of just how it works. Supply and demand, the more skills you have in Hollywood the more valuable you are, unless you're famous. Writers are more difficult to replace than post production people. A strike is justified.
 
S

#sorrynotsorry

Member
I seriously doubt Hollywood will like this a second time. I expect they'll get a lot of pushback on this and the higher revenue vs. lower pay stat is meaningless.

And median incomes increased. The lower average just means less extremely high paying jobs.

Would also be interested in knowing how many writers in 96 compared to now and how much content was produced in hours. Those are important bits of information. That they're not included is worrisome.

Chumley said:
That's kind of just how it works. Supply and demand, the more skills you have in Hollywood the more valuable you are, unless you're famous. Writers are more difficult to replace than post production people. A strike is justified.
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A strike may be justified but we certainly have no idea.

mre said:
While the average income of the guild members has gone done, I can't imagine that this is because of an actual decrease in the rate they receive. Others have mentioned that many shows have gone to shorter 10-12 episode seasons. Are the writers being paid less for their work than they were before, or are they simply doing less work (i.e., writing fewer scripts) than they were?
Click to expand...

And median went up.
 
B

BruceCLea

Banned
Good. There are so many talented people who just want their work seen. Now with companies taking more chances with TV they are. Naturally writers aren't getting paid. Fuck that. Strike. Such an unappreciated craft
 
C

commedieu

Banned
polyh3dron said:
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.
Click to expand...

I'm in vfx. It's not their fault they are getting fucked. They've got actual power and organization. I admire that. It's definitely going to suck if it goes long. But someone will always need sound and vfx in the downtime. It's the price paid for being part of "Hollywood." Lol. If I had a time machine...

We should be blaming our representation for lower wages. Not writers. Imo.
 
P

polyh3dron

Banned
commedieu said:
I'm in vfx. It's not their fault they are getting fucked. They've got actual power and organization. I admire that. It's definitely going to suck if it goes long. But someone will always need sound and vfx in the downtime. It's the price paid for being part of "Hollywood." Lol. If I had a time machine...

We should be blaming our representation for lower wages. Not writers. Imo.
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Out of curiosity, what were you doing when the last strike hit?
 
J

Jon Carter

Member
Finaj said:
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.
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I had a professor who was a TV writer and she told us it was ridiculous how well it paid. She really made it sound like a fantastic job.
 
Z

ZeroX03

Banned
Media said:
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)
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First of all, your degree has basically nothing to do with you breaking into any screenwriting. You could be screenwriting and honing your craft right now. Then start submitting for the various things there are, see: Screenwriting OT.

Second, Supernatural will never die. It survived the last Writer's Strike, and it'll survive this one, and the next one, and the one after that.

Finaj said:
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.
Click to expand...

Jon Carter said:
I had a professor who was a TV writer and she told us it was ridiculous how well it paid. She really made it sound like a fantastic job.
Click to expand...

In the nineties it was a TV writing boom. Big, big money. Pick a legendary sitcom, it probably paid very well.

And film, yeah your script gets butchered but you still get paid. Creative control for writers is in TV.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
polyh3dron said:
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.
Click to expand...

One way of looking at this is that writers are to blame for your career interruption, and for subsequent negotiations.

Another way of looking at this is that studios being unwilling to offer a better deal without a strike, drawing out the strike, and then trying to exploit job interruptions to screw over unrelated people by invoking force majeure clauses or just for negotiation leverage, are to blame.

It's not clear to me why we would blame the less powerful group between the two.
 
M

mariachi507

Member
I'm all for writers getting their fair share. The selfish side of me hopes that they hold off until the final season of The Americans is in the can.
 
F

friskykillface

Banned
Rise of the YouTube/ streamers

That'll be what happens if writers strike, television companies will get them to make/write their shows
You heard it here first, angry joe will write for shows
:p

Just have a body swap episode for every show during the strike, and have it be an arc where they don't swap back
There, an original idea for free Hollywood
 
D

DeaconKnowledge

Member
Durock said:
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.
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They should have killed him off. He didn't evolve at all as a character after the third season.
 
P

Pluto

Member
friskykillface said:
Just have a body swap episode for every show during the strike, and have it be an arc where they don't swap back
There, an original idea for free Hollywood
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That's not original, Xena did that when Lucy Lawless broke her hip or something. They had an episode where Xena and her enemy Callisto switched bodies, they changed the ending so that they didn't switch back and had Hudson Leick play Xena for the next episode to give Lucy Lawless time off.
 
M

Media

Member
Durock said:
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.
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I guess my biggest advantage would be that I have a keen understanding of the inner workings of fandom and could mercilessly exploit it. That or that I've been writing since I was 9 and have experience in creating ARGs.
ZeroX03 said:
First of all, your degree has basically nothing to do with you breaking into any screenwriting. You could be screenwriting and honing your craft right now. Then start submitting for the various things there are, see: Screenwriting OT.

Second, Supernatural will never die. It survived the last Writer's Strike, and it'll survive this one, and the next one, and the one after that.





In the nineties it was a TV writing boom. Big, big money. Pick a legendary sitcom, it probably paid very well.

And film, yeah your script gets butchered but you still get paid. Creative control for writers is in TV.
Click to expand...

SPN will be here until I'm old and gray sure, but as I'm not young I doubt I'll get anything like that :p

Thanks also for the link, subbed :)
 
F

friskykillface

Banned
Pluto said:
That's not original, Xena did that when Lucy Lawless broke her hip or something. They had an episode where Xena and her enemy Callisto switched bodies, they changed the ending so that they didn't switch back and had Hudson Leick play Xena for the next episode to give Lucy Lawless time off.
Click to expand...

Damn, hmmm
How about permanent body swap D:
 
J

Joni

Member
I hope it gets resolved quickly or that at least ABC and the CW give in quickly to the writers so I don't miss my shows.
 
R

Razgriz-Specter

Member
Joni said:
I hope it gets resolved quickly or that at least ABC and the CW give in quickly to the writers so I don't miss my shows.
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Well at least we know what we can expect of a Writer Strike Arrow...
Supergirl on the other hand
can't be worse... can it?

Agents of Shield would likely just close up shop, if it isn't over as is.
 
andythinkpad

andythinkpad

Member
polyh3dron said:
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.
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Yeah, keep blaming the writers for your major setbacks.
 
B

Back-In-Black

Banned
I can never cheer any side of these types of Hollywood strikes when all the information is shrouded in mystery. I can't sympathize with you if I don't know the economics behind what you are doing, ie what is the average salary for a writer? Work hours? Royalties? Profit ratio of TV shows? Etc.

I don't trust vague generalizations from one, clearly biased, side.
 
C

commedieu

Banned
polyh3dron said:
Out of curiosity, what were you doing when the last strike hit?
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Pirates of the carribean , bedtime stories, meet the robinsons, a independent film coyote, bladrs of glory, and possibly some gi joe, and I think some commercials in between. For 2007-2008. Going off my imdb and foggy memory.

Stayed busy. Supported the strikes.

Edit @ black,


You could just read the article in op to reveal some of the mystery...
 
O

old manatee

Banned
Goddamn I hope this doesn't happen again. It was shocking how bad some movies and tv shows ended up because of that last writer's strike. You could still see the effects of it years later.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Media said:
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.
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A famous gaffer became a successful screenwriter well into his thirties in his second career.
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
SCULLIBUNDO said:
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.
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A strike is ultimately a self-interested action, so I don't see where it's not fair for people to be upset about that.

ToraShiro said:
Yes, but if I remember it's far, far less generous than physical sales. I would compare it from CDs to streaming music. Lots more people listening to that music, not as much money coming back per unit. And the same old problems with company accountability on projections and tracking. I knew someone who was working for a company who didn't (or forgot) to account for tens of thousands of sales of a movie that was only revealed after nearly years (and it was from an unrelated lawsuit), it can be hard to keep the companies honest, they aren't obligated to give you sales data on demand.
Click to expand...

Yeah this is where the Hollywood accounting comes in. Only real option is better contracts in that respect; our production company for instance reserves the right to audit viewcounts for the educational courses we put out on a online training platform X number of times, and ended up invoking it when a new title put out suspiciously low numbers.
 
S

Shanlei91

Sonic handles my blue balls
I kind of want the strike to happen so I can watch all of our favorite well-written shows spiral into utter insanity. Give Game of Thrones the Heroes Season 2 treatment.

giphy.gif
 
M

Makai

Member
Illucio said:
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.
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The story goes that Aaron Paul's character on Breaking Bad was destined to meet a grisly end in the ninth episode of the first season. But the 2007 WGA strike got in the way

Oh I see someone brought that up
 
T

TyrantII

Member
border said:
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?
Click to expand...

The latter. It's always the latter.

If you're not living off investment income, you're probably underpaid in 2017 America.
 
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