2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike


2007 Hollywood Strike  

282 members have voted

  1. 1. Who do you support in the strike?

    • The AMPTP
      35
    • The WGA
      140
    • Undecided/Don't Care
      107


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I've been working on a few screenplays myself which is why I sympathize with the writers on strike. Some of you criticize what's coming out of Hollywood, but you do nothing about it. If you don't like the film either shut up or try working on a screenplay you feel is better. That's why I ultimately hate critics, because most of them haven't done any creative writing like what the guys behind Heroes, Lost, Saw, etc. have done. It isn't easy trying to hash out an idea and then turn it into a full blown screenplay and please everyone. Regardless of whether or not their work is crap, they still deserve to get paid.

Writers' Strike: The Show May Go On

Driving around Los Angeles these days, it's hard to pilot your car without running into a striking picketer. The whole town, it seems, is in the thrall of the writers' strike, as picketers from the Writers Guild of America gather outside the studios. Jay Leno shows up, handing out boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts. Julia Louis-Dreyfus makes an appearance, same for Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria. This is great theater, but as for getting results? It's hard to imagine that this strike will end anytime soon, at least from the saber rattling that's coming from the writers' camp and that of the producers. "Nine months," says one source close to the studio brass. "That's how long we're figuring."

Even discounting for the bluster typical of early negotiating tactics, this walkout isn't going to be short and sweet. There's too much at stake: the future of new media, with the writers eager to make sure they get a cut of the action when their work is translated into TV shows, shorts, or any other format winging its way across the digital wires. What's more, there is some genuine bad blood between the Writers Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, aka the Hollywood suits. If you're hoping to see Leno and Letterman yucking it up anytime soon, maybe you'd better head to iTunes. As for sitcoms, enjoy 'em while the supply of scripts lasts (and that won't be more than another month or two).

Directors' Cut

Perhaps I'm being a bit of a Pollyanna, but I think there will be a little sunshine breaking through the clouds before too long. Within weeks, the Directors Guild of America, whose contract expires in June, could come to the bargaining table as well. They're the trade union made up of the folks who sit behind the camera and say "cut!" The directors, all 13,400 of them, may just be the calm and reasoned voice in all this. Maybe.

If history is any guide, the directors tend to set the pattern for the type of settlement that usually wins out in these negotiations. Maybe it's the fact that directors are closer to the business side of things since they have to balance artistic quality with the reality of staying somewhere close to budget. They tend to be easier for the Hollywood biggies to deal with. In 2004, the last time both guilds had a contract come up for renewal, the directors struck a three-year deal to boost pension and health care benefits—at that time, the issue of the day—a month after sitting down with the studio and network brass. No walkout, not much fussing and fighting.

Better yet, when the directors struck their deal, the writers seemed to see the agreement as a blueprint they could work from. Within two months of the directors signing their deal, the writers signed onto a similar deal, even though one of their top executives was quoted as saying the new contract "falls far short of what we had hoped for and what our members feel they deserve." Still, the writers acknowledged that the 2004 deal boosted their retirement and health care plans by $58 million, or roughly twice what the writers say they had been offered five months earlier.

Pennies per DVD

So are we looking at history repeating itself? Maybe. In 2004, no one went out on strike (in fact, the writers worked for six months without a contract, while still negotiating). This time, the writers have been clamoring for months for a strike, and have worked up a pretty good head of steam. And the writers haven't always followed the lead of the Directors Guild. Still, studio executives tell me they clearly want the directors to come to the table soon, even if their contract isn't up for another eight months, and have been told that it's likely to happen sometime in November. A spokeswoman for the directors would only say that the union "continues to evaluate the situation."

The parameters of the situation are known. And even though the directors have for years refused to negotiate in the press, it's pretty clear they will want the same general things as the writers are seeking: a piece of the revenue stream for digital downloads of their work. Before they broke off talks, the writers and the suits took some baby steps in that direction. The producers offered for the first time to establish a framework that would pay the unions a percentage of the revenues for "derivative works"—that is, works for TV or movies that end up being downloaded or streamed on the Internet, or cut up into smaller bit-sized mobisodes for cell phones. The writers bolted before they could hear what percentage of the money the producers were willing to give up. I suspect the directors will stick around to hear the number.

There's still a ton of work to be done, even if the directors hear a number they like. A proposal to hike the amount of money from DVDs that writers would get was taken off the table so the two sides could concentrate on new media. (Want a trip to fantasy land: The writers want a hike from the 4? they say they currently get per DVD to 8?. The producers, using a different method of accounting, say the writers already get 6?.) Still, if you have to start somewhere, I'd like to start with the idea that maybe getting the directors into action might just jump-start what seems to be an intractable situation. Then again, maybe I've been living in the fantasy capital for too long.

Source: BusinessWeek

Studios move to halt production deals, which would hit rank and file.

A day after Hollywood's writers went out on strike, the major studios are hitting back with plans to suspend scores of long-term deals with television production companies, jeopardizing the jobs of hundreds of rank-and-file employees whose names never appear in the credits.

Assistants, development executives and production managers will soon be out of work, joining their better-paid bosses who opted to sacrifice paychecks as members of the Writers Guild of America. At some studios, the first wave of letters are going out today, hitting writer-producers whose companies don't currently have shows in production.

"Anyone who's not working on pilots or shows is going to get suspension letters," said one top studio executive.

That the studios are unleashing these rapid suspension notices so early into the strike underscores just how hostile their relationship has become with the writers who supply them with a steady stream of TV programs.

Now, in addition to having writers going without pay, many other entertainment industry employees will have to worry about their car payments and rent. That is likely to have a broad impact beyond Tinseltown, rippling across the Los Angeles region's entire economy.

The Writers Guild, whose 10,000 members began picketing Monday morning, decried the studios' tactic. "This is an industry based on talent, and to break relations with the most talented people in town is not a very good business plan," said Jeff Hermanson, assistant executive director for Writers Guild of America, West.

These suspensions stop payments to production companies that are largely bankrolled by studios, which count on them to come up with the next "Grey's Anatomy" or "House." Under multi-year deals, studios such as Warner Bros., Walt Disney Co., and 20th Century Fox pay for the salaries, the office space, the project development costs, even the utilities whether these entities generate hits or not. Producers and writers typically serve as creative heads of these companies, which vary in size from a handful of employees to hundreds, most of whom do not belong to the WGA.

The major studios that have issued or are planning suspensions include Fox, CBS Paramount, Disney, Warner Bros. and NBC Universal. Sony has yet to act, two people familiar with the issue said. Not all production companies financed by the studios will be cut off. The most prolific ones, run by such high-profile figures as David E. Kelley ("Boston Legal," "The Practice") and John Wells ("ER"), are unlikely to be touched, according to studio executives.

If the strike continues for long, some studios are expected to follow suit with their less fruitful movie production deals, using the same escape clause. The employment contracts that studios have with talent contain a provision known as force majeure that allows them in a crisis situation such as a strike to suspend and terminate deals. Before a deal can be ended, a studio must first suspend it for a period of time, typically for four to eight weeks.

Some studios are using this clause to purge expensive and unproductive arrangements, according to industry executives.

"It's so sick," said one television writer worried about getting a suspension letter who asked not to be named for fear of losing his job. "The studios are using the strike to clean their books, getting rid of the writers they don't want and keeping the ones they do."

Dana Gould, a former writer on "The Simpsons," described the studios' tactic as a "controlled burn" strategy that would save these giant companies millions of dollars. He said the timing couldn't be better, amid television's recent poor ratings.

"It's a reboot. They want to hit Control-Alt-Delete on the fall season," Gould said.

Studio executives said the writers have no one to blame but themselves, though they declined to be quoted by name.

"In firing the bullet from the gun, they've declared war," one top executive said.

The collateral damage is likely to include people such as a 30-year-old assistant at a TV production company who depends on a weekly check of about $600 for food, shelter and gas.

"Everybody's worried," he said. "We live check to check and hope things pan out. None of us want a strike." The assistant, who asked not to be named, works at a company that hasn't been suspended yet because it's still producing a show.

Dawn Parouse, an executive producer of "Prison Break" for Fox, said she assumed she would get a letter ending her production deal after seven years at the studio -- as soon as her company finished shooting the episodes that have been written. Barring a settlement, her head of development and two assistants also would have to hit the street.

"I'm completely bummed," Parouse said.

"Not only does it affect my show but someone who's worked with me for five years," she added, referring to her vice president of development. She said he received a form letter Tuesday from Fox warning that his job might be suspended within the next 60 days.

This week, the studios also warned writer-producers in charge of current shows that they must carry out their production duties or face termination. That can put such show creators as Shawn Ryan ("The Shield"), who is a WGA member, in an awkward position. Should they picket with other members or cross the picket line to run their show?

At least two studios have threatened to sue these top producers, known as show runners, but most of them are staying off the job.

"Should you refuse to perform your show-runner or producer duties because of a WGA strike, please be advised that your refusal may constitute a legal breach under your contract with the studio entitling us to take legal action against you," ABC Studios wrote in a recent memo.

"If you have an episode that's mostly been shot, they expect you to edit," said Marc Cherry, executive producer for ABC's hit show "Desperate Housewives," who refused to cross the picket line Tuesday outside Universal Studios. "It's kind of an ugly situation."

"The show-runners are caught in the middle," said Steven Katleman, an entertainment attorney at Greenberg Traurig. "They're stuck between going against their guild and exposing themselves to sanctions, as opposed to breaching their contract as producers."

[Source]

Why The Writers Must Win

Hollywood scribes had to strike, and now they have to prevail.

When 12,000 Hollywood writers traded pencils for picket signs this week, they took a huge risk. Even riskier: not striking. Losing to the studios now could doom their union as television gives way to the Internet.

?We know that the future of the industry is the Web, and that in the near future television sets and computer monitors will merge into the same screen,? says Kate Purdy, a writer for CBS' Cold Case and a blogger behind a new strike-related writers' blog, United Hollywood.

Hollywood writers want compensation for work on new media platforms like the Web--the central fight in three-plus months of acrimonious negotiations with the studios and networks. But as scripted television sheds viewers and work jurisdiction to other genres (like reality) and media (like the Web), they continue to lose leverage at the bargaining table. That's a harrowing prospect for a union that's already been fighting for nearly two decades to overturn a stingy VHS/DVD residual formula negotiated in 1985.

Worse, the guild is no longer squaring off against a cadre of studio heads as it did during the last strike. Now it faces media giants like News Corp., Walt Disney, with massive pockets and businesses big enough to withstand a walkout.

The companies are equally desperate to keep the Guild from grabbing jurisdiction--and profits--from a new medium with unknown future revenues. They see the union's efforts as prohibiting them "from experimenting with programming and business models in New Media," according to Nick Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.

The way Jonathan Handel, an entertainment industry attorney with TroyGould in Los Angeles and a former associate counsel for the Writers Guild, sees it, the stakes are huge: "If the guild does not succeed in cutting an effective deal, it loses leverage, stature and will suffer continued erosion," he says.

Reality TV shows, not covered under current contracts, already occupy 35% of broadcast networks' primetime schedule, according to TVtracker.com. Most cable providers offer packages with well over 100 channels filled with content unaffected by the labor strike: news, news magazines, sports, movie channels, cooking shows. What's more, nearly 20% of homes are equipped with DVRs, which allow endless reruns for viewers, and Netflix and Apple's iTunes serve as supermarkets of entertainment.

And that's just TV. ?Will they flee to the Internet? A lot of kids are already doing that,? says Kevin Falls, whose TV credits include Sports Night, The West Wing and the General Electric-owned NBC freshman drama, Journeyman.

Americans now spend nearly 27 hours a month online, up 8% from just two years ago, according to comScore Media Metrix. And advertising dollars are following: Internet ads registered a 17.7% increase in the first half of 2007, to $5.5 billion, while the broadcast networks saw ad spending slip 3.6%, to $11.8 billion, during the same period, according to TNS Media Intelligence, a division of Taylor Nelson Sofres that tracks ad spending.

"It's all about the Internet, it's the big Kahuna, and both sides know it," says writer/director Josh Pate, whose credits include Friday Night Lights and Surface. "The deal that's made this year is the most important for both sides in decades."

Source: Forbes

Rappy make sure you give your ideas to "FOX" ok?!?!??! Anyways, whats it about?

That would be leaking ;)

Its a horror based mini series tho I never really completed...now I have the time I should!

Writers seen turning to animation if strike long

Cartoon characters may come to the aid of striking Hollywood screenwriters if the Writers Guild of America's two-day-old walkout turns out to be prolonged.

Most animated shows are covered by a different union from the Writers Guild and are unaffected by the WGA strike. In addition, the WGA has withdrawn objections to its members working in animation.

Some 12,000 WGA members went on strike against film and television studios on Monday, jeopardizing America's hit TV shows including some animated programs like "The Simpsons," which are covered under WGA contracts.

But many other animated films and TV shows are covered by a separate union whose members remain on the job, said Steven Hulett of the Animation Guild Local 839, part of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).

The two guilds clashed recently when the WGA proposed a strike rule threatening members who entered a writing contract on animated features with fines and loss of membership. After protests, the WGA said the proposed rule was modified.

"Now writers can write for animated features," Hulett said, adding that many writers are still nervous. "I suspect we'll get more (calls) over the next few weeks, if the strike goes on for long."

"A GREAT RELATIONSHIP"

Hulett said various WGA members have made and renewed deals to work at DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. and other animation studios in recent weeks.

"We have a great relationship with animation writers under the IATSE and we are fortunate that it is business as usual for us," a DreamWorks spokeswoman said. "This means we can continue to offer opportunities to the writers with whom we've been working for some time now on existing DreamWorks Animation projects."

The Animation Guild also has pacts with animation divisions at Walt Disney Co, Time Warner Inc and Sony Corp.

"We have contracts with various animation studios, which could engage any number of Writers Guild writers legally during the strike," Hulett said.

One studio executive said while writers could seek work in animation, he did not expect big-name writers to risk the negative perception that may come with it.

"It's kind of like crossing the line," he said, noting that it might be seen as weakening the position of striking WGA members or competing with existing animation writers.

Some WGA veterans say writers will take their pens far and wide to earn a buck if the strike persists.

"I've been through five Writers Guild strikes and I've never been out of work during any of them," said WGA member Mark Evanier, 55, who is working on an animated "Garfield" series for Europe.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/id...640254920071107

Oh my! What is with some of you? This is their livelihood we're talking about. Who cares about us right now! Our lives will go on, but out of the 12,000 members most don't make $30,000 a year, why can't these writers try to better themselves? They haven't gone on strike since 1988, they deserve this right now. Why do the companies have to be so greedy?

yep and without them, as the studios will find out, the show can't not go on.

If you needed confirmation that this strike was going to last long, then here it is...

Union orders writers to turn over scripts

Striking Hollywood screenwriters must turn in their unfinished projects by Friday so that union officials can ensure they don't secretly work for studios during the walkout, which is expected to be lengthy.

Their counterparts on the East Coast must also turn in their work, although a deadline has not been set.

The Writers Guild of America, which went out on strike against the studios on Monday, has used such script-validation programs on at least three other occasions. But as a practical matter, there's little guild officials can do to enforce participation in the program.

On the TV side, an enforcement committee will attempt to correlate the number of scripts turned in and the number of episodes going before the cameras during the strike.

But WGA West general counsel Tony Segall acknowledged Wednesday that participation by screenwriters is "kind of an honor system."

The Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP), the bargaining arm of the studios, sent a letter to the West and East Coast branches of the WGA on October 19, ordering officials to cease and desist all efforts connected to their script-validation programs.

Segall said the guild will ignore that demand.

"They sent the same letter back in 1988 (the last time the guild went on strike)" he said. "We didn't comply then, and we won't now."

Separately, several AMPTP member companies sent letters to WGA members urging them to disregard the script-validation mandate in situations where the materials were written under a studio contract. That caused the guild to file an unfair labor practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, contending the letters attempted to intimidate guild members.

"These are our properties, and for competitive reasons we don't want them circulated, especially if they say unfinished scripts," AMPTP spokeswoman Barbara Brogliatti said. "You don't want unfinished scripts in third-party hands -- I don't care how trustworthy you think those people are."

Segall said the security concerns are overstated.

"We offered to talk to them about any security concerns," he said. "But we're not going to let works that are proprietary get out there and circulate. They will be kept in envelopes and locked up and then will be destroyed after the strike."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainme...860218220071108

Rerun season may hit sooner

Television's top writer-producers threw their collective weight behind the striking Writers Guild of America on Wednesday in a move that could accelerate the disappearance of some of the nation's most popular prime-time shows, including "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "The Office."

In staging a very public rally in front of Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, the 100 or so writer-producers of some of TV's highest-rated programs ratcheted up the pressure on the studios and producers who only a day before had threatened to withdraw scores of lucrative contracts with writers.

The support from the top was crucial since these writer-producers -- or "show runners" as they are called in the industry -- have the dual roles of determining a show's creative direction and answering to the studios. Without the cooperation of the show runners, networks were forced to shut down or sharply curtail production of series they had hoped to keep going for weeks or even months.

"When we're off the job, pretty much everything stops," Marc Cherry, creator and executive producer of "Desperate Housewives," said on the picket lines Wednesday. "We are the people who keep the product coming out of the factory, and they literally can't do it without us."

The networks had estimated that a backlog of finished scripts and completed episodes would keep most series on the air until early 2008. But with numerous show runners refusing to supervise nonwriting services on their programs -- duties that include overseeing casting, editing and directing -- production has stopped on several leading series, and the supply of new episodes of a number of shows will dry up around Thanksgiving.

"For years, the industry has tried to divide show runners from the rank-and-file writing staff," said Patric Verrone, president of WGA West, who joined the picket line outside Disney Studios. "And this time, we're just not buying it."

NBC's "The Office" will air only two new episodes, and new installments of ABC's "Desperate Housewives" will disappear in early December. The makers of "Grey's Anatomy" are filming their last episode (which will run in December or January), the final new episode of the CBS comedy "The Big Bang Theory" will be broadcast Monday, and the last new episode of Fox's animated series "Family Guy" may run as soon as Sunday.

The networks declined to comment on Wednesday's actions. Jeffrey L. Bewkes, who will become chief executive of Time Warner starting Jan. 1, said Wednesday that the writers strike should have "no material adverse financial impact on us this year," but that he hoped the walkout would be resolved quickly. Time Warner owns HBO, Warner Bros. and New Line movie studios, and cable-TV channels including CNN, TBS and TNT.

The three-hour WGA demonstration, at which writer-producers carried protest placards with the names of their shows scrawled across them, came right after several top studios said they were suspending payments to the staffs of numerous writer-producers.

Even though the show runners, who are WGA members, are contractually obligated to perform producing services on their programs, many choose to honor the picket lines and do everything in their power to bring production to a halt. For example, the 10 writer-producers on "The Office" set up picket lines as early as 4 a.m. to block the hit show's actors and crew from going to work. When star Steve Carell refused to cross the picket lines, "The Office" had to turn off its lights.

The writer-producers hope that by forcing the networks to fill their schedules with reruns and other programming -- which will probably result in losses of viewers and ad revenue -- they can help compel the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to return to the bargaining table.

Carlton Cuse, a writer and producer on "Lost," said that fewer than half of the 16 planned episodes of his ABC series had been filmed, meaning the fate of the air crash survivors will be unresolved when the last new episode is shown next spring.

"It will be a little like buying a Harry Potter book and having someone rip it out of your hands about halfway through," Cuse said.

"What the companies probably underestimated is just how emotional and important this issue is not only to writers but all creative people," John Wells, an executive producer on "ER," said outside Disney Studios. Wells estimated that the last new episode of his hospital drama would be broadcast in January. Coupled with the loss of "The Office" and other NBC shows, Wells said, "It's going to be very painful for NBC in the fourth quarter."

Among the key issues dividing the WGA and the producers alliance are payments for new and repeat showings of scripted shows on the Internet and mobile electronic devices.

"We have had 7 million iTunes downloads," said Greg Daniels, the show runner for "The Office." "And we get the biggest traffic on NBC.com. As this business grows, they are going to make more money than they ever made on TV. There's a huge pot of money out there."

Negotiations between the WGA and the producers alliance broke off late Sunday, and no new talks are scheduled. The last WGA strike, in 1988, lasted 22 weeks and cost Hollywood an estimated $500 million.

"Showrunner Day" wasn't planned long in advance, although many writer-producers were wearing neatly embroidered "United Showrunners" baseball caps. The coalition began forming Saturday when show runners on the negotiating committee called a meeting, at which they decided they should not work at all.

"What prompted this is that in the '88 strike show runners were disenfranchised because they were almost seen as management, and that was a mistake," said Kari Lizer, the creator and show runner of CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine." "By not doing our [producing duties], we realized we could potentially shorten the strike."

Initially, some show runners intended to fulfill their contracts by performing the producing part of their jobs, but that plan was quickly abandoned.

"It just really became clear that we depend on them to distribute our work and work very collaboratively, but they need us too," said "Law & Order: SVU Special Victims Unit" writer-producer Neal Baer, who is also on the negotiating committee for the 10,000 WGA members covered under the guild contract.

"We have a pretty good track record of making high-quality television, and it's not going to be so easy to find other people to do what we do."

The public display by the show runners was not limited to Burbank. In New York, writer-producer Tom Fontana said he had stopped work on his new show, "The Philanthropist," which was supposed to debut on NBC in January. Fontana had written the first script and outlined stories for six more episodes when the strike was called Sunday night. "I canceled everything," he said.

The show runners who rallied outside Disney on Wednesday were among Hollywood's wealthiest employees and could better afford a strike than many rank-and-file screenwriters. But they were still conflicted about letting their shows essentially die from neglect.

"This is heart-wrenching," said Bill Prady, executive producer on "Big Bang Theory." "I've worked 22 years and I finally with Chuck Lorre have my very first show, and we are at our most vulnerable, just as audiences are starting to discover us."

"Pushing Daisies" show runner Bryan Fuller was on top of the world when the TV season began. His ABC series about a pie maker who can bring people back to life was a critical hit and building a loyal following. With Fuller on the picket lines, his cast and crew were making the final new episode without him.

"As a writer and a creative person, I really do feel like each of these projects is my child that I'm trusting for people to take care of," Fuller said. "Now, I feel like my child is in school but there's a restraining order that I can't come within 500 feet of it. I have to look at the bigger picture and say, 'How much can I do without betraying the guild and how much can't I do without betraying my show?' It's a horrible position to be put in."

Source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-stri...a-home-business

I just read an article that states 24 season 7 is postponed because of the strike.

<sarcasm>I know hate all hollywood writers for being a bunch of whiney babies. Thanks for ruining my January.</sarcasm>

edit: fixed for the people who don't like to laugh.

Edited by spacer
I just read an article that states 24 season 7 is postponed because of the strike.

I know hate all hollywood writers for being a bunch of whiney babies. Thanks for ruining my January.

I have to say I was looking forward to it!

I just read an article that states 24 season 7 is postponed because of the strike.

I know hate all hollywood writers for being a bunch of whiney babies. Thanks for ruining my January.

You just don't get it do you? Have you not read anything I've written about this? Stop being selfish. Would you work for $.04 per DVD with no residuals from "New Media" when the studios make millions?

Ok...apparently you people don't know how to take a joke.

I actually agree with why they're going on strike. I don't think it's fair that they get weaseled out of their due shares. However, they could have picked a better time to do it so as not to cause this much frustration to their fans.

Ok...apparently you people don't know how to take a joke.

I actually agree with why they're going on strike. I don't think it's fair that they get weaseled out of their due shares. However, they could have picked a better time to do it so as not to cause this much frustration to their fans.

By the way next time, you could say nah, just kidding, or some other way of dropping a hint if your joking.

I get that it's gonna frustrate fans, but it's they're life thats sucking at the moment, not ours.

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Anyway, as already mentioned, what we have today is the ZimaBoard 2 Starter Kit, and here are the full specifications: ZimaBoard 2 Model 832, 1664 CPU Intel Core N150 (4x E Cores/Threads, Max burst up to 3.6 GHz) TDP: 6W (Base) 10W (Max) Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 24 EUs (1.00 GHz) Memory 8 GB, 16 GB DDR5 4800MT/s non ECC SODIMM (soldered) Disk Capacity 60 TB (30 TB x 2) Supported RAID Types TRAID, TRAID +, RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, RAID 6, RAID 10 Storage 2 x SATA 3.0 6Gb/s Ports with Power Bootloader 32 GB, 64 GB eMMC Network 2x RJ-45 2.5 GbE PCIe 1 x PCIe 3.0 (via LPC) USB Ports 2 x USB-A 3.1 (5 Gbps) Display Mini-DisplayPort 1.4 (4K@60Hz) Hardware Transcoding Engine H.264, H.265, MPEG-4, VC-1 Maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); Maximum FPS: 60 Virtualization Intel® AES New Instructions Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) Size (H/W/D) 140mm x 83mm x 31mm Weight 0.4 kg (only ZimaBoard 2 device) Power 12v 5A Power Supply Warranty 1 year (Global) 2 Years (EU) OS ZimaOS v1.6.1 MSRP $339, $399 ($548.60) As you can see above, there are two variants of the ZimaBoard 2. The lesser variant has half the eMMC storage and 8 GB less RAM, although it also costs $60 less than the top variant we are testing today. The above pricing is only for the ZimaBoard 2. I put the MSRP of the Starter Kit next to it in brackets, although as of publishing, it is discounted to $534.50. The ZimaBoard 2 started life on Kickstarter and shipped to backers in August last year. It became available via the official website in late 2025 and Q1 2026. This hobbyist NAS contains the still relatively new N150 Intel CPU released in the first quarter of 2025, with support for DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1, although in this case, the memory is integrated into the board itself, so it will not be possible to upgrade or expand the amount. It also supports AV1 decoding, as well as H.264, VP8, VP9, H.265 (8 bit), and H.265 (10 bit). The different capabilities in the Alder Lake-N (and Twin Lake) series are listed below. Processor E-cores L3-cache Turbo clock GPU GPU-clock TDP Intel N355 8 6 MB 3.9 GHz 32 EUs 1.35 GHz 9 W Intel Core 3 N350 3.9 GHz 1.35 GHz 7 W Intel Core i3-N305 3.8 GHz 1.25 GHz 9 W Intel Core i3-N300 3.8 GHz 1.25 GHz Intel N250 4 3.8 GHz 1.25 GHz 6 W Intel Processor N200 3.7 GHz 0.75 GHz Intel N150 3.6 GHz 24 EUs 1 GHz Intel N97 1.2 GHz 12 W Intel Processor N100 3.4 GHz 0.75 GHz 6 W The CPU is part of the Twin Lake series that sits near the bottom of the N-series, designed for low- powered systems and entry-level laptops, and as such has a base level TDP of just 6W. As I have noted before, we are seeing another NAS with a great amount of RAM. It's important to mention that the ZimaBoard 2's memory is integrated into the base board (which is why they have two variants of it). As a reminder, up until a couple of years ago, it was commonplace to only get 2 or 4GB max on a flagship Synology or QNAP home NAS. Ever since the likes of TerraMaster and more have entered the market with ample RAM sizes included in their NAS offerings, it has gone a long way in forcing the hands of the traditional makers to up their game a bit. First impressions The Starter Kit came in one outer box with several packages inside it (shown above). I forgot to take pics of it because when it arrived, it wasn't clear what was inside, and I had to confirm with my contact that I received the entire Starter Kit. In the box ZimaBoard 2 ZimaBoard 2 HDD Expansion Bracket + PCIe card frame Zimaboard Mini DisplayPort Male to HDMI Female Cable 4K 60Hz Zimaboard PCIe 3.0 x4 to Dual NVMe M.2 SSD Adapter Card Quick guide [full online guide] Limited warranty notice Screws Design Where to start? You'd be forgiven for mistaking it as an SSD enclosure if not for all the ports on it. It is completely made out of metal, and the top is an entire heatsink. It has a premium feel about it, but it definitely looks like a hobby device. As you will see, the completed build looks like it belongs in a server or meter closet rather than as a showpiece on someone's desk. On what I am calling the rear, there's a Mini DisplayPort (1.4), two 2.5 GbE ports, with Type A 3.1 USB ports, and then the barrel connector port. Around the front, there are two SATA6 ports with a power connector in the middle. Left side Right side One side is completely free of ports. On the other there's a slit that allows for the feed of a CPU fan cable, and a PCIe 3.0 X4 slot. Top Bottom The top is entirely made up of a heatsink except for the extended height for the I/O on the rear. Around the other side, you can find the ZIMA branding and some regulatory information stamped near the bottom. As you may see from the bottom of the ZimaBoard 2, it scratches quite easily from just moving it around on my Ikea island. Teardown Before we get started, let's have a look at this thing on the inside. The steps to get to the board are as follows: Remove the four smaller Torx screws on the bottom of the ZimaBoard 2; Remove the four larger Torx screws on the sides of the device; Carefully unstick the CMOS battery from the PCB; Remove two Phillips screws on the PCB; Lift out the PCB. Yes, as you can tell from the instructions, you need three different tools to remove Torx and Phillips screws (10 in total), and unhelpfully, one of the screws is located under the CMOS battery, which is stuck onto the PCB. Building Now comes the fun part. Because the ZimaSpace website does not provide any guidance on how to put the Starter Kit together. They only have guidance for connecting the CPU fan. However, they did upload a video to their YouTube channel that shows the entire process. To install the fan, first remove the four screws on the bottom of the ZimaBoard 2, then on the inside, there is a CPU FAN connector where you can attach the fan, reattach the ZimaBoard 2 frame, and feed the fan cable through the provided slit. Then remove the nearest screw on the side and attach the fan frame to the side of the device using the same screw. ZimaBard 2 screws Aligning the screws Bottom view Remember those four screws we removed to access the CPU FAN? Longer screws are provided in the box with the HDD Expansion Bracket, which is what you will now need to attach the ZimaBoard 2 to it. Helpfully, the orientation on how to attach it is made obvious when the frame can only be screwed on at the same overall length as the ZimaBoard 2. If you do it the wrong way around (which is what I did initially) one side hangs off the frame, and it becomes difficult to attach the PCIe Adapter Card cable. PCIe card frame Other side PCIe slot connector Next, it's time to attach the PCIe card frame, which is fastened with the help of 3.5-inch SATA HDD (3 screws). These are toolless screws that you can just use your fingers to fasten them with. Then it is time to connect the provided PCIe cable with the slot connector on one side of the ZimaBoard 2, feed it through the bottom of the HDD frame, and fasten it with two standoffs. Both bracket options 2280 standoffs with 2x 4TB MP44Q The PCIe 3.0 X4 card comes with a short bracket option, handy if you decide to place it inside a different NAS or rack server, but here we need the long bracket. Oddly enough, the M.2 standoffs were preinstalled into the 22110 position, but extra standoffs are included in the box, which I installed at the 2280 position for our use. I added a couple of MP44Q M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSDs (2 x 4TB) that can be availed on Amazon for $478.99 (the lowest price for 3 months) that TEAMGROUP supplied us with Then we have the almost completed build, you just need to push the card into the PCIe slot. Unfortunately, IceWhale Technologies did not provide a screw for the PCIe card frame (this is also apparent in their own video). Here it is at several different angles, with the last pic showing the SATA Y-Cable connected to the two WD Red Plus 4TB drives. Setup and Usage Next, you connect your cables to the I/O, and the ZimaBoard 2 powers on automatically, as there is no power button on the device. Power is controlled through the Settings in ZimaOS. BIOS The ZimaBoard 2 includes an Aptio BIOS from American Megatrends [1, 2, 3], and you can setup pretty much everything here including the boot order, which is locked to the UEFI OS, however above that choice you can enable or disable booting to a SATA/USB bootloader so this would still allow you to switch to an alternative bootloader and boot from it, or disable it to instead always start from the first disk with an OS installed on it. Initial Setup Upon connecting to the LAN and booting up, the ZimaBoard 2 can be reached by navigating to the IP address (shown if you have a monitor connected), or you can find it using the ZIMA Client desktop application, which is essentially a Zima device finder. Initializing the ZimaBoard 2 The ZimaOS setup process is pretty straightforward, through a wizard, and in full above, it basically consists of setting up an account and some handy tips, and that's that! Post Setup (ZimaOS update) Upon first boot, you are alerted that there is a ZimaOS update from 1.5.0 to 1.6.1, which I applied; the full process is shown above with the changelog. ZimaBoard 2 Storage Setup Next, it is time to set up the storage. ZimaOS actually throws everything onto the eMMC flash drive; it is also the default location of AppData, which is definitely something to be wary about, as the 45GB available storage could fill up quickly. HDDs I first attempted to create a Storage Pool using the two 4TB WD Red Plus NAS drives, and got an error message: After several attempts and then looking online, I discovered it was a bug with ZimaOS where the fix was simply to reboot ZimaOS and then try again, this time I was able to create a RAID mirror using the two drives. SSDs I did the same for the SSDs, as you will see in the above gallery, when I created the second Storage Pool, it only allowed me to select available drives. ZimaBoard 2 AppData ZimaOS comes with an App Store that includes a repository of almost 400 apps, so you will be able to find most of what you'll need for a NAS (although after a quick search, I wasn't able to find a Surveillance Manager), and now comes the important part: moving the default AppData location off the 45GB eMMC and onto a larger volume: Open Settings Then Apps Then, in the Select a new location field, click on the new Storage volume you want to move it to (in my case, the Apps Storage Pool), which is the SSD RAID mirror. Confirm the Migration warning Be praised! You can also do this for Docker (which by default installs onto the 45GB eMMC flash drive) and the User database. Plex Setup Next, I tested the configuration by installing the Plex Server app from the App Store. The library folders must already exist (which I placed into the Storage Pool). Plex Server setup is straightforward and requires very little configuration. In my case, all I had to do was add the media path I just created, which you can also browse to using the folder icon in the path field. In addition, you can now map the new Media library in Windows Explorer using the Zima Client. Oddly enough, it is not possible to access the ZimaBoard 2 over the Network Neighborhood; you must map drives using the client, which is shown in the last image in the above gallery. I watched one of my Blu-Ray rips, which is Dolby Vision with Dolby Atmos, and the content played fine with no stuttering or buffering, which is what anyone needs in this scenario. ZimaBoard 2 Zima Client mobile app There's also a client for mobile. It is pretty barebones, as shown in the above gallery, for example, the Apps screen launches the WebUI for that app, and the Backup must be done manually. On opening Backup, you can select internal storage folders on your phone to backup to the ZimaBoard 2's storage, and although this is constantly scanned, the backup action itself must be manually triggered. There is an option to allow foreground backup (last image in the above gallery), but this basically means the queued backup gets triggered when you manually open the app. Benchmarking SATA PCIe 3.0 X4 A CrystalDiskMark test on a mapped network drive from within a Windows 11 25H2 PC (image above) connected over a 2.5 GbE was well within acceptable ranges. Writes were generally better on the SSD RAID mirror. SATA PCIe 3.0 X1 I also ran the NAS Performance tester, which tests the link speed performance. As you can see, it pretty much maxes out the 2.5GbE connection. Of course, you can also opt to bond the two 2.5 GbE connections for a bit more umph, but I didn't do that. Thermals Top PCIe card SATA HDDs Next, I measured some hotspots while playing content on Plex. It's fair to say this will perform better than a NAS that is enclosed in a metal or plastic case, as almost everything storage-wise is exposed! Anyway, the ZimaBoard 2 did not break a sweat with Plex streaming or disk benchmarks. ZimaOS Factory Reset ZimaOS does not include a factory reset option. Instead, you have to download the ZimaOS image and flash it to the eMMC manually. The flashing process is shown in the above gallery. The steps to do so are listed below: Download the ZimaOS image here; Open BalenaEtcher (Run as Administrator) and select the image; Select your inserted USB drive (min 8 GB) Flash to it; Connect your USB drive, monitor, keyboard, USB hub (optional), mouse (optional), and network cable (recommended) to the ZimaBoard 2; Connect power and press F11 continuously; Select your USB drive starting with UEFI in the boot device menu; Press Enter on the Install ZimaOS option; Select /dev/mmcblk0 (MMC) flash drive as target; Confirm with (three times) to wipe the target disk; Wait a couple of minutes while ZimaOS installs; Remove the USB drive and confirm with a reboot; Your ZimaBoard 2 has been factory reset. However, you don't have to stick with ZimaOS, in fact the company also offers official CasaOS images, that are based on Debian; or as they say themselves, put anything you want on this "hackable single board server" it's up to you. Conclusion I had a lot of fun putting this together. I've custom-built all my own PCs and servers since the 90s, and this is the first time I have had to put a NAS together. Even if the actual base ZimaBoard 2 was already a completed build, it still feels pretty custom. I just wish that IceWhale Technology included a getting-started guide in the box for the Start Kit, which would have really completed this kit. Instead, I had to search for the official video on the YouTube channel to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong. So who is this for? Definitely the hobbyist who is comfortable building their own PC and servers. It also has a much smaller footprint than its nearest equivalent (in terms of specs), like the Beelink Me Pro, which is another NAS I will be testing soon. Although the Beelink does not come with the PCIe 3.0 X4 expansion, the ZimaBoard 2 Starter Kit suddenly looks to be a great bargain, even if it only offers the two 3.5-inch bays over the four in the other example. It makes a lot of sense to use Intel's N150 chip inside a NAS; it is more than capable of doing what the ZimaBoard 2 is intended for, media streaming and backup. It also looks like the IceWhale Technology staff are quite active in the official forums helping people with issues they come across with ZimaOS and the devices, peer support seems to be good as well, I was quickly able to find why I was not able to create a new Storage Pool in ZimaOS v1.6.1 even though that is quite a serious bug, hopefully it will be fixed in the next update. If you are comfortable with the command line and Docker, you'll be fine. You can do great things with this hardware. This was my first time with ZimaOS. It seems a bit barebones in comparison to the likes of Synology DSM, TOS, and UGOS, but it has a ton of apps to get you started with your home or small business NAS. Where to buy As of publishing, IceWhale Technology is running a discount of up to 5% for the Starter Kit. If you opt to get just the ZimaBoard 2 itself, it does come with a SATA Y-Cable, so you will be able to connect up to two 3.5-inch HDDs to it. ZimaBoard 2 1668 Starter Kit for $534.50 on Amazon US (was $548.60) ZimaBoard 2 832 Starter Kit for $372.88 on Amazon US (was $390.60) Zimaboard 2 1668 (16GB+64GB) for $419.90 on Amazon US Zimaboard 2 832 (8GB+32GB) for $359.90 on Amazon Disclosure: IceWhale Technology provided a free sample without any editorial input or review pre-approval. Good to know The Amazon link is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. 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    • It's in the Insider's group so yes it's technically beta, though these days it's hard to see much of a difference unless you opt for the most extreme beta builds, which I don't. When I moved here from the Release Preview channel I did so primarily because I wanted to see how well the restored taskbar functionality (restored from Win10, and earlier) is working and whether it was time to finally abandon SAB--and it is--working fine, so far. Not as polished as SAB, but it'll do for me.
    • I've been using MWB Premium for a number of years so that along with Windows updates and updated browser should be fine. Thanks for that.
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