Hollywood writers’ Net triumph
p2pnet news | TV:- What’s the really big news item today?
Not the US presidential elections. Not Iraq. Not "Dozens of charges in huge kid porn ring".
It’s that the Hollywood writers’ three-month-old strike may be over.
Their union has approved a tentative labor contract with film and television studios, says Bloomberg News, going on:
"Writers Guild of America boards on the East and West coasts are asking members to ratify the agreement during the next 10 to 12 days, union leaders said at a press conference yesterday. A separate vote on whether to end the strike is taking place within 48 hours, meaning writers may return to work Feb. 13.
"The union held meetings in Los Angeles and New York over the weekend and urged members to endorse the deal, while telling them that the agreement is ‘neither perfect nor perhaps all that we deserve’.” "The three-year contract, which includes a pay raise and compensation for work used on the Internet, is similar to the one studios reached with Hollywood directors last month."
TV writers may be back on the job by tomorrow, say various reports.
"Never mind the percentages, fees and rerun royalties," says Forbes.
"By gaining jurisdiction over any original material Hollywood produces for the Internet, the Writers Guild of America has ensured its survival. ‘It’s a toe-hold; we placed a flag on the Internet,’ says Charlie Craig, whose TV credits include X-Files and the Sci-Fi Channel’s Eureka, of the agreement. ‘We claimed part of it as our own, and that’s a gain for the future of the guild’."
Ah well. It was good while it lasted.
Entertainment rules, as it’s done ever since the Romans started gladiatior fights to keep the unwashed masses amused and under control.
Also See:
Bloomberg News – Hollywood Writers May End Strike; Union Approves Deal, February 12, 2008
Forbes – ‘Strike’ One for the Web, February 11, 2008
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February 12th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
What possible logic made the studios think it was OK to not pay the writers royalties for internet distribution? I suppose it was the old, “We knew they’d probably kick up a fuss, but we had to try…” Big media treats is creative personnel with the same bare faced contempt as it’s customers.
February 12th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
While I do sympathize with the ideas behind this strike, I also know that the people behind this strike, I feel the the writers may have lost respect from the industry at the same time (except for the SAG, who is looking to score a similar deal this summer).
While it is true that it’s not fare for the networks to hoard the profit from the internet distribution, I can’t help to ask- What profit? I know that Apple is selling TV shows for a ridiculous price, and that some networks offer a premium web streaming service, but considering the cost it takes to maintain Video Streaming, most of the online distribution of the shows, do not turn a profit for the networks.
Now the key word here, is “most”. There are, however, a few shows that do pull a profit, and end up supporting the shows that just “make it by”. And it is the writers from shows like these, who are wanting their cut. This is, of course, not wrong and in a capitalistic society, a natural thing to request.
The problem in this strike, arises from the fact that this “pay raise” has and continues to cripple the industry as a whole, with related businesses (catering, props, film stages, etc…) closing down do to the lack of work. Many people have also lost their sympathy for the writers, with their popular shows getting canceled, due to this strike.
So what has this strike brought the industry? More cash to writers who are already rich from the money they make from their popular shows? Maybe… But when it come time to film again and the industry wakes up to the hard fact that they can’t film because the actors, catering services, prop rental companies, etc. have either gone out of business or have found a new job, I wonder how much sympathy people will has for these writers.
And by paying royalties to all internet renditions of their show, I wonder how the public will react to having to accept a price hike for a online video, to cover this cost.
Just my two cents