If this report seems dark and sinister, blame it on this horrific head cold that has me firmly in its grip, but you will find that the facts bear me out — flu or no flu.
While support within the inner flow of the rank n’ file is still strong, some signs that support along the periphery for the writers, now in their 10th week of the WGA strike, might be starting to show signs of weakening.
While the effect of the strike is hitting the financial wallet of networks and studios to the tune of multi-millions of dollars per day, the personal cost of the work stoppage is also really hitting hard for those small businesses that gain much of their revenue from television and filmmaking. Businesses that employ workers who are now loosing their own jobs, health benefits, and food on the table as a result of the inability of the AMPTP and the WGA to find common ground in their bitter dispute.
Signs are also beginning to show that those outside the WGA who have been strong supporters of the WGA cause may not be so inclined to show that same kind of support if the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) can’t come up with a contract with the AMPTP. Another prolonged strike from either or both of these organizations would cripple the entertainment industry to the point of collapse, and is a sure indicator that any support from fans and others will dwindle to nothing.
The AMPTP should not see these indicators as a show of support for their ideology. Support for that group of studio and network owners is at its lowest point since the organization was formed over 20 years ago and this hardlined tactic they have been using against the WGA hasn’t endeared them to anyone’s heart.
A recent survey from Daily Variety has shown that 26% of those who responded to their questionaire have lost their jobs because of the current strike. That’s up 10% over the same survey done just a month ago, showing that the inner-squabble between the two main parties has reached well beyond their boundaries and is now significantly affecting those with no dog in this fight. This could bode badly for the WGA since they have the most to loose in this image war.
While I still stand behind the WGA, I don’t see any light at the end of this tunnel coming anytime soon as both sides have become firmly entrenched and wrapped themselves in their own cloak of righteousness. But, a remedy must come sooner than later or faith in an industry designed to bring pleasure and entertainment is quickly becoming just another bitter and dark machine of doom and gloom, like so many other things have become in the world we currently live in.
I don’t support the WGA, either.
http://www.scifistudios.com/community/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=6&
As much as I hate this strike, I can’t bring myself to dismiss the concerns of the writers involved. I’m not sure how else they were supposed to fight for better and fair compensation, since maintaining the status quo would have gotten them nowhere.
I really don’t know how the writers could have gotten their point across about not being fairly compensated for online work and for DVD sales, especially when the corporations running the studios are not transparent about how much money they are bringing in for those sales, and for other sales. The way things are currently set up, it’s sad that only an all or nothing position were the only choices available. Maybe contracts need to start having different wording in them, to allow for some stuff to be agreed on, and other stuff to continue to be haggled on in good faith?
The current studio system, both for film and tv, needs an overhaul, but unless big changes happen on many sides, and both sides are willing to continue to talk about some issues while working out others, it’ll take the entire system crashing down go boom and smarter people who actually love creating entertainment stepping in and picking up the pieces to put together something new.
Why yes, I am a dreamer… why do you ask? 🙂
No, I don’t have answers, but I can see that the current method of striking every few years because taking your ball and going home is the only way to get attention isn’t working very well anymore either.
It bothers me to think that a lot of good shows may have died before their time because of this, and with no end in sight, who knows what we’ll miss out on over the coming year?
I agree 100% that wording in these contracts needs a drastic overhaul to prohibit this kind of lengthy stoppage in the future. No one stands to gain if this continues.
I am in full support of the membership of the WGA and they certainly deserve all they are asking, which, by the way, is not at all unreasonable. But this way of doing business needs to see change…perhaps contracts could be made with something akin to a line-by-line item veto type of negotiation which would allow networks and studios to bargin more freely with the writers, actors and directors without being strong-armed by a powerful group like the AMPTP. Letterman’s company has already proven it can work. It is time others drop out of the AMPTP and start rethinking the hold they THINK they have over everyone in the industry.
I’m a fan, not a writer and not a major stock holder in any entertainment company. Does it matter which side I support in this strike? I don’t think so.
Whether I believe the writers should be properly compensated for internet downloads or I see a writers victory as just adding to my cost of entertainment does not help one side or the other.
Just to clarify my views; while I think the WGA arguments are sound, I don’t see that my opinion or the great mass of consumer opinions matter at all in this strike. One could argue that failure to settle this strike could ultimately cost networks a higher viewer loss rate then they were previously suffering. However, I doubt that network execs are smart enough to factor this into their deliberations. Both sides have dug in their heels and whichever side has the most will power will win. Though I think it may be a pyrrhic victory for either side.
Here’s the deal, The writers allowed themselves to get shafted last time around. They are refusing to budge on ANYTHING. The WGA wants to set a specific residual per download regardless of whether any money is actually being made. The WGA loves to throw out the whole 2 cents versus 4 cents per DVD out there as one of their core issues but they don’t mention that the AMPTP was to tie this number to the profit from each DVD sale. A lot of the shows that you see on DVD only turn a meager profit after all production costs are weighed against revenue.
I agree with summer, nothing these guys are asking for is anything they don’t already deserve. Movie ticket sales have been down for years now, while on line dvd sales and downloads have gone up. the same goes for television, dvd sales in box sets are on the rise. (of course the canceling of shows left and right is helping that along.) The studios are making a mint either way, but the writers? They never have gotten a fair deal. I think getting what they are asking for is long over due myself. That why I support them.And Kurt, with all due respect; I have to disagree. We do have a say in this. All you have to do is look what we are getting without the writers. More reality tv. Is this what we really want? I really don’t think it is. You can’t change the world by giving up and hoping someone else “fixes things.” Sooner or later you have to speak up and take a stand. If you don’t, then don’t bother complaining about what you get as for as programing.
And Sam, hang in there. Sorry to hear about the cold. There are still some of us out here that are supporting the cause.
Tim
Any of you out there griping about how terrible it is not to have new episodes filling up your TiVo should consider the following…
You create a product that is sold worldwide, but your employer dictates that you will only be compensated for sales in 1/3 of the markets where your creation is sold, because those other markets are “new” since the time you were hired. Your employer, of course, recieves compensation for the sales of your creation in every market. Your employer even expects you to create some additional products with NO compensation at all for “promotional” reasons, so that more sales can be made in those markets that won’t benefit you.
Anyone with half a backbone would find another employer who would fairly compensate them for the work they do and tell their prior boss to &%#@. Unfortunately, the writers don’t have the option of simply switching companies like the rest of us do. Walking the picket line until fair compensation is available from the media conglomerates is the only alternative until the AMPTP decides to be reasonable and negotiate in good faith. The fact that both Worldwide Pants and United Artists have succeed in reaching agreements with the WGA after a fairly short period of negotiation is proof that the WGA’s position is not unreasonable and they are actively trying to get people back to work. The AMPTP are the ones preventing this sad situation from being resolved by refusing to even return to the bargaining table.
And no I’m not a striking writer. I’m a fan who supports them 100%.