2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike

[Hurmoth]

I found this article funny. It compares how much the actors get compared to the writers and some of you think the writers are greedy!

Report: Studios operating at a loss

Back-end participation deals with top directors, producers and actors, in which they receive a percentage of a movie's gross -- regardless of whether it is profitable -- have been principally responsible for pushing the movie industry into an annual loss, according to a report produced by research company Global Media Intelligence and Merrill Lynch and reported by today's (Monday) New York Times. In its report about the study, the newspaper commented that it may be particularly relevant during the current writers' strike. "As it turns out, the pot of money that the producers and writers are fighting over may have already been pocketed by the entertainment industry's biggest talent," the Times said. The study examined releases last year that yielded $23.7 billion from sales to domestic theaters, foreign theaters, home video, pay television and every other source of income. Total costs for those films, however, amounted to $25.6 billion -- or a combined loss of $1.9 billion. The loss, the study determined was due partly to a 15.5-percent decline in foreign DVD sales, but "the real killer," said the Times was the growth in participations, which totaled an estimated $3 billion. By comparison, the newspaper noted, citing WGA figures, total residuals for the year amounted to $121.3 million, while a single actor could easily earn $70 million from a so-called first-dollar gross deal on a hit movie. And such deals amount to super-residuals. As Steven Blume, CEO of Content Partners, a company that buys participations for cash, told the Times. "These participations are paid in perpetuity."

Source: http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/artic...0report_1049728

[Hurmoth]

CBS News writers expected to strike

Writers at CBS News are expected to vote for strike action this week.

Staff at the news division who are members of the Writers Guild of America, East will cast their vote in a strike authorisation ballot on Thursday with the result announced on Monday.

Should strike action go ahead, it will disrupt CBS News at a busy news time, with America's presidential campaign making domestic headlines and the ongoing constitutional crisis in Pakistan garnering international news attention.

It could also have a wider impact given that news programming would have been one genre turned to in the event of a protracted WGA strike forcing scripted shows off the air.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS told WGA, East members yesterday: "The question now facing each bargaining unit member is whether the terms being offered are so onerous and unacceptable as to warrant participation in a strike and the loss of pay that participation in a strike entails. CBS does not want you to strike, and we hope that you will carefully evaluate the terms of our final offer against the uncertainty of a strike in determining what is best for you and your families."

CBS and the WGAE have not negotiated since January, making strike action likely.

Source: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/a79733/cb...-to-strike.html

[Hurmoth]

Week two: Strike gets down and dirtier

Just a week ago, America's TV and movie writers and the producers seemed close to reaching an agreement that would have kept writers churning out scripts for the top primetime shows. Then the producers asked for more time, and the writers, having already worked beyond the deadline, said, no, we're walking. Walk they did.

Now, going into the second week of the strike, neither side is asking anything of the other. Both are appealing to the public for support of their position.

The chance of the two sides going back into talks now seems slim, as does any hope of the strike ending anytime soon.

The best hope is that the sides are talking somewhere far away from the negotiating table, but there's no word such talks are taking place.

A week ago, it was about residuals on DVD sales and internet downloads. Now it's about rhetoric, which side can carp the loudest.

Yesterday that carping and posturing reached a pitch, with writers? tykes joining the lines to pull at the heartstrings of passersby. Parents lettered signs for their kids, some as young as 2 or 3, as families walked the lines together.

The producers also made their own bid for public sympathy. They placed ads headlined ?Setting the Record Straight? in the Hollywood Reporter and Variety saying that writers? claims that they receive no residuals from online TV episodes are incorrect and that they had offered to pay fees for streaming online episodes in a proposal earlier this month.

Writers are demanding a 2.5 percent take on revenue from their original or rerun work online.

At Fox studios, whose shows include ?How I Met Your Mother? and ?Back to You,? parent company News Corp. has suspended the producer-writers who refused to cross the line to do non-writing duties such as editing. Fox has also suspended the writers? assistants, with News Corp. executive Peter Chernin recently telling reporters that the strike could actually benefit the company financially.

It?s not just the writers who are out of work. NBC said it will begin laying off non-writing staff of ?The Tonight Show with Jay Leno? and ?Late Night with Conan O?Brien.?

Meanwhile, writers are looking to their union brethren for support.

The Writers Guild of America?s East and West branches sent letters of support to Broadway stagehands involved in their own debilitating strike yesterday. They also invited members of the Screen Actors Guild, whose contract expires next year, to picket along with them today, including one demonstration planned for Wall Street.

The WGA has protested loudly against those who do cross the lines, most notably comedian Ellen DeGeneres. She returned to tape her syndicated show earlier this week, saying that while she supported the writers, she had a contract to honor. The WGA sent out a stinging statement on Friday denouncing DeGeneres and promised to picket her studios, while actress Keri Russell canceled an appearance on the show to protest DeGeneres? decision.

And there could be yet more writers on the line by week?s end. CBS News? some 500 writers will vote on whether to authorize a strike this week, though the sides still have some hope of hammering out a deal. CBS insists it will continue to air the news even if the writers, whose contract expired two years ago, walk off.

With all the escalation of rhetoric, the strike is now expected to last into December, January or later. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been urged to mediate the dispute, spoke to the writers? union Monday and will reportedly meet with some producers today, but it?s doubtful anything will come of it.

Source: http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/p...and_dirtier.asp

[draklin]

So I would assume that this means that the new shows in the 2008 Fall season will be 100% reality shows.

[Rappy Veteran]

Yep pretty much which is crap and I just read that Home with the Kardashians has been giving a new season :ermm:

[Hurmoth]

Damning Evidence In Their Own Words

[spenser.d]

So I would assume that this means that the new shows in the 2008 Fall season will be 100% reality shows.

That'll suit my mom fine :laugh: She watched some normal shows, but I can't believe when I go home on break from college how many reality shows she makes time to watch. It hurts my head.

Damning Evidence In Their Own Words

:rofl: Great video.

-Spenser

[Hurmoth]

The Strike, Day 10: Blacklists, Fear, And Tiny Penises

As the writers strike creeps into double digits (we wish we had a photo of the WGA Ring Girl defiantly holding up a DAY 10 sign, but we suppose one of Kathy Griffin with a dick joke will do for now), here's today's morning round-up of news:

• The WGA responds to the "Setting the Record Straight" ad the AMPTP has run in the trades over the past couple of days (we posted the text of it here, or you can see it here), clarifying the "misleading statements" the studios made about the payment of digital downloads (not zero, but close!) and residuals: "However, the reason for this message is the AMPTP has been making some misleading statements. I want to make sure you know the truth. They say writers are already paid residuals for digital downloads. That's true. We are paid one third of one cent per dollar made by Studios for digital downloads.
  One third of a cent. This is a paltry amount for work that we have created. We are asking for 2.5 cents per dollar, which is what we currently make on ad-supported TV programming. The AMPTP says that we were given $260 million in residuals in 2006. This was our contractual share of a record setting twenty billion dollars the studios earned from reruns of the work we created. The companies' rollbacks would cut our residuals in half." There's more, of course, but you'll have to follow the link to read the rest. [WGA.org]
  
• Always-quotable AMPTP president Nick Counter once again unloads on the Guild, which it accuses of using scare tactics and blacklists to keep its red-shirted footsoldiers in line: "The WGA is using fear and intimidation to control its membership. Asking members to inform on each other and creating a blacklist of those who question the tactics of the WGA leadership is as unacceptable today as it was when the WGA opposed these tactics in the 1950s." [AMPTP]
  
• United Hollywood's Laeta Kalogridis counters by claiming that it's the Companies who are the ones threatening to kneecap writers if they speak up during the strike, and notes a rumor that the networks may be planning to string up one particular showrunner in front of WGA headquarters as an example to all the others who refuse to cross the picket lines. [United Hollywood]
  
• The Governator seems to be stuck in the early stages of backchannelling, making it unlikely that he'll soon ride into Hollywood on his Harley, flick a half-smoked cigar into a stream of gasoline leading to a 76 station near a WGA picket line, and declare in monotone as a searing fireball rises behind him, "This ends now." Sayeth Schwarzenegger's people: "'Both the studio side and the writers side asked to talk to the governor,' press secretary Aaron McLear said. 'So he is talking to both sides individually to get a sense of what the issues are and what if anything he can do to be helpful.'" [THR]
  
• Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane recognizes that Fox would be within its rights to finish up still-incomplete episodes of his show without him, but that doing so would "just be a colossal dick move." [Variety]
  
• The Get Back in the Room blog is compiling the names of those who've lost their jobs because of the strike, promising to send an updated list to the WGA's Patric Verrone and AMPTP's Nick Counter "in perpetuity" to try and get them back to the negotiating table. [Get Back In That Room]
  

Source: http://defamer.com/hollywood/hollywood-str...ises-322658.php

[ThePitt]

for the crap they are writing... sequel after sequel. they could strike forever if they want.

[Hurmoth]

for the crap they are writing... sequel after sequel. they could strike forever if they want.

This isn't just film. This is TV too. And I've already addressed this. A lot of times it isn't the writers fault when it comes to that. A studio will hire the writer to write a sequel. It isn't always the writers who start that. Sometimes they're under contract to do that if they wrote the first one.

[Rappy Veteran]

I see you have the sign sig Hurmoth, I saw those the other day and wondered in getting one!

Edited November 14, 2007 by Rappy

[Rappy Veteran]

[goji]

Damning Evidence In Their Own Words

I haven't been following this at all, as those who know me will tell you I don't watch TV. Little did I realize this affects the entire industry. As of today the strike has my 100% support.

[Hurmoth]

Directors uncertain about their contract talks

As film and TV writers are walking the picket line, the directors who bring their scripts to life are walking their own fine line.

Directors are in a quandary over when to begin their contract talks with the major studios.

Historically, directors have begun negotiations six to eight months before their contract expires. By that measure, they would have begun negotiations by now to replace their contract, which expires June 30.

But that option is fraught with complications now that writers are in their second week of a strike against the studios that has generated deep animosity between the sides.

In such an emotionally charged climate, directors have so far been reluctant to pull the trigger on their negotiations because the move probably would be perceived by writers as undercutting their fight.

Writers fear that directors might accept pay terms, especially in the area of Internet residuals, that are less favorable than those they are demanding in their own deal, setting an undesirable precedent.

The Directors Guild of America, which represents 13,400 members, is said to be concerned that starting talks now might short-circuit efforts to end the strike quickly and get writers and studios back to negotiating.

"The directors do have a bit of a dilemma," said entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel, former associate counsel for the Writers Guild of America, West. "They want to make a deal, and it's to their advantage to be the leaders. By the same token, directors don't want to appear opportunistic and look as though they're swooping in on the writers guild during their hour of distress and cutting the legs out from underneath the strike."

Directors hope writers resolve their dispute first, letting them set the template for contracts that they and actors could subsequently adopt.

In a recent letter to its members, the DGA said that in deference to the writers, no talks had yet been scheduled with studios.

But the directors' negotiating committee has met three times this fall, most recently Saturday.

On Wednesday, negotiating committee Chairman Gil Cates said in a statement: "We are carefully evaluating the current very fluid situation at this time, and no dates for our negotiations have yet been scheduled."

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers declined to comment.

For their part, studio executives appear ready to begin bargaining with directors, but the parties haven't discussed a timetable and are waiting for directors to initiate the process.

Bargaining with directors during a strike, however, could be just as tricky for the studios. The move would undoubtedly inflame the writers, possibly making the prospect of a resolution even more elusive.

On the other hand, an early deal with directors could give studios more leverage in their negotiations with writers.

"We're now focusing on what kind of deal we can get with the directors," one studio executive said. "They want to make a deal."

Directors have typically been able to negotiate deals without the kind of rancor that leads to work stoppages.

In fact, in their 71-year history, directors have struck just once, in 1987 -- and it barely qualified. Responding to a cut in residual payments, the walkout lasted five minutes on the West Coast and three hours and five minutes on the East Coast. The lack of labor unrest is hardly surprising, given that directors are inherently closer to management than writers by virtue of their jobs.

"The nature of the director is different from a writer," said director Martha Coolidge, a former DGA president. "Writers end up being creative alone in a room. As directors, once we're hired, we're always looking at what we do from both sides," referring to their dual creative and financial responsibilities.

Similarly, in contrast to writers, directors are known for their less combative approach to negotiations. "Directors make very tough deals with us but they're not as confrontational," the studio executive said.

The guild's executive director, Jay Roth, who has been the union's chief negotiator since 1995, has a strong working relationship with Nick Counter, the studio's chief negotiator. Roth has been an advocate of early negotiations, reasoning that studios are more apt to give ground if they don't have to prepare for a strike by stockpiling scripts and accelerating production.

Even before negotiations, directors have had an informal, ongoing dialogue with studios in the last year on a number of issues, including the changing economics of new media.

Like writers and actors, directors have voiced concerns about getting their fair share of revenue from digital downloads of shows and movies. Last year, the three unions criticized the ABC television network for using a controversial pay formula that applies to DVD sales for determining residuals on TV episodes sold through the Apple iTunes store.

"I don't think they're going to have an easy time of it," John Wells, writer-director ("ER" and "West Wing"), said of upcoming negotiations. "These are issues that affect all three guilds."

Still, directors may be willing to accept a lower rate for Internet residuals than writers want, analysts say. Typically, directors rely less on residuals than writers because of their higher initial pay. About 40% of the members are not directors but are unit production managers, assistant directors, associate directors and stage managers who get mostly small residual payments.

In previous negotiations, the union has put greater emphasis on getting increases in its health and pension plan. In 2004, for example, the guild negotiated the largest benefits package in its history, worth $60 million.

That enabled the writers to go in a few weeks later and get the same deal. Even so, writers complained that directors had undercut them by refusing to push for higher home video residuals. That formula gives writers about 4 cents for every DVD sold and has been a major source of friction between the unions dating to 1985.

Writers had been seeking a higher pay rate and felt undercut when directors agreed to the formula the year before. When the home video and DVD business boomed, writers thought they had been shortchanged.

Now, many writers feel a sense of deja vu. Striking writer-director Paul Haggis ("Crash") said he was not counting on the DGA to do the heavy lifting.

"The DGA has never been supportive of the WGA," he said. "But the writers will be fine being out there on their own."

Source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-dire...1,3151603.story

[Rappy Veteran]

^

Like the sig (Y)

[Hurmoth]

^

Like the sig (Y)

Thanks. Get it and more here. :D

[Hurmoth]

Still aren't convinced the writers deserve more money? Take a look at the following graphic:

The severance package of Viacom's former chief Tom Freston was $60 million. The writers guild, which has more than 10,000 members, made $264.3 million. That's an average of only $26,430 per member. So one person gets $60,000 just for a severance package while the actual creative minds behind the shows and films we watch make less than $30,000 a year. Sad isn't it?

[Hurmoth]

Striking Hollywood Writers Agree to Reopen Negotiations on Nov. 26

Hollywood film and TV writers who've been on strike nearly two weeks will return to contract negotiations on Nov. 26, their union and producers said Friday.

In a joint statement, the Writers Guild of America, West, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said both sides had agreed to return to formal negotiations.

The statement said no other details would be released.

Meanwhile, the writers, who went on strike Nov. 5, would continue on the picket line, said Gregg Mitchell, a spokesman for the guild.

Some writers applauded the decision to return to talks.

"That's fabulous, that's great," said Sean Jablonski, a writer for the FX drama "Nip/Tuck." "You can't get a deal until two sides sit down and talk about it."

"It's a good message to hear around the holidays," he said.

At the core of the contract dispute is compensation for shows offered on the Internet.

The producers group has said it's offering writers a share of licensing fees paid by Web sites to stream shows.

However, the union rejected the offer, saying the payments wouldn't begin until six weeks after a show goes online and viewer interest is nearly exhausted.

Writers also want a cut of revenue from non-skippable ads contained in many shows streamed free online. The alliance slammed the door on that demand.

Since the strike began, late night talk shows and some sitcoms have gone to reruns. Officials at other shows are counting down the number of episodes they have left before running out of scripts.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312019,00.html

[Rappy Veteran]

^^

Lets hope we get somewhere! tho thats a while off.

[Hurmoth]

^^

Lets hope we get somewhere! tho thats a while off.

I hope the writers can get what they want, but I honestly don't expect the suits to move any on that, so I doubt the strike will end anytime soon. But who knows? I might get surprised.

[Doli]

For all you Family Guy Fans out there.

The overlords at Fox have announced plans to air an original Family Guy episode this Sunday and move forward on three more without the participation of mastermind Seth MacFarlane, who not only serves as show runner but supplies many of the key voices.

The move has angered MacFarlane, who stopped work on the series last week to join the picket lines with other WGA members. Film and TV writers whose union went on strike Nov. 5 to force Hollywood studios to negotiate a bigger cut of the profits from DVD sales and other future digital media platforms.

"It would just be a colossal dick move if they did that," Family Guy's creator told Variety, noting that the next three episodes of the animated comedy are "relatively close to completion, but they have not had a final pass."

MacFarlane acknowledged that both the network and producer 20th Century Fox TV are "legally within their rights" to finish new episodes without his input, but doing so, he said, could not only affect the show's creative direction and thus alienate viewers but also harm the successful partnership MacFarlane and Fox have built up over the years.

"They've never done anything like this before, in which they've said, 'We're going to finish a show without you,' " he said. "It's really going to be unfortunate and damaging to our relationship if they do it."

Fox declined to comment. It was known before the strike that only one episode had been completed before MacFarlane walked out, and Fox had the difficult choice of going into reruns during November sweeps or finishing the incomplete shows. The first of those was sent to the network yesterday to be vetted for this weekend.

Still, MacFarlane?who also said he won't voice Family patriarch Peter Griffin, Brian the dog, and evil baby genius Stewie until the strike is over?implored Fox to scuttle the idea.

Given that he's been in talks with the network for a new long-term contract for the past year, MacFarlane does have a little bit of leverage.

"I'm technically in breach of nothing," he added.

Fox has a tough balancing act producing the show and keeping MacFarlane happy. Aside from solid ratings, Family Guy was one of the first TV series to do blockbuster business on DVD, becoming the top-selling TV DVD of the year for 2003. That success led Fox to revive the series after canceling it. On Nov. 4, Family Guy celebrated its 100th episode.

While MacFarlane addressed a group of picketers in front of the Fox lot, hundreds of film and TV actors showed up on the picket lines outside Universal Studios Tuesday to lend their support to the WGA action.

"There isn't an actor I talk to who hasn't felt what the writers are going through," said CSI star William Petersen, who was there with costars Marg Helgenberger, Wallace Langham and other show folks.

The Screen Actors Guild has quite a bit at stake in how the current work stoppage shakes out. The acting union's contract is due to expire in June (as is the Directors Guild's), and they want the same thing as writers?a larger share from the burgeoning new-media market.

"Everyone knows the Internet is the future," said Two and a Half Men's Jon Cryer. "If we don't get a piece of that, we're doomed."

Added Seinfeld's Jason Alexander: "This is not about some big star's salary. It's about big company profits. It's high time writers shared in a percentage of the profits."

Also on hand to support the scribes were castmembers of Grey's Anatomy, including Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight, and stars of Desperate Housewives, Big Love, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Cold Case, Without a Trace, Numb3rs, The Big Bang Theory, Dexter and Mad Men. Others, including Sopranos star and writer Michael Imperioli, marched in front of Wall Street.

Meanwhile, the stoppage appears to be taking a toll on NBC. The Peacock became the first network to withdraw from January's Television Critics Association's winter press tour, which showcases midseason series. Others are expected to follow.

Yahoo TV!

[Hurmoth]

What's making writers and studios so nervous

Damon Lindelof got a sobering glimpse of his future as a television writer two years ago as he strolled through the Grove shopping plaza in Los Angeles.

Hanging in the window of the Apple store was a gigantic poster for "Lost," the hit ABC show on which he serves as executive producer. Just days before, ABC's owner, Walt Disney Co., had announced that "Lost" and other TV programs would be sold through Apple's iTunes store.

Though Lindelof was thrilled that his show was at technology's vanguard, he was dismayed that Disney had not consulted him about either the program's digital debut or the pay he and his fellow writers would receive.

"I felt like somebody was trying to pull the wool over my eyes," Lindelof said Friday, as he picketed outside Disney's gates.

Such suspicions are widely shared by many of the 10,500 members of the Writers Guild of America, who have been on strike for two weeks. Talks between the writers and the major Hollywood studios about a new contract are scheduled to resume Nov. 26, but the walkout will continue until a pact is finalized. The parties remain far apart -- particularly about compensation for new media.

Writers fear they are being shortchanged as the studios rush to distribute their TV shows and movies on the Web, cellphones, video iPods and other devices. The payments they receive when their material is reused, known as residuals, help writers weather the feast-and-famine cycles of Hollywood. As a result, they view this is as a seminal moment to claim their fair share of new-media revenues, not just for themselves but for future generations of writers.

The studios, however, are worried about committing to the guild's new-media pay demands when the economics of the Internet and other digital technologies are uncertain. Sales at the moment are minuscule, amounting to millions, not billions, of dollars. Internet video advertising is also in its infancy, and no one knows just which format will click with consumers. Will they pay to download movies or insist on watching them free?

Still, entertainment industry executives have touted digital media as a key driver of future growth. "Even the most ardent DVD supporter at a studio would have to admit that a good proportion of the content is going to be delivered electronically," said Kurt Scherf of Dallas-based Parks Associates.

In fact, the current stalemate between writers and studios is based in part on their shared nervousness about the toll new media is taking on their traditional sources of income. The Internet has lured away younger viewers and advertisers from television while threatening to make movie studios more vulnerable to piracy and to gut their lucrative DVD business, which has recently peaked.

"The writers and the producers are in the same boat," said David W. Rips, director of Deloitte & Touche's media and entertainment practice. "Writers want to know what their percentage of residuals should be, but they don't know what the total market size is or the profitability of that market. And the producers are in the exact same position."

Writers have seen the sea change coming as the consolidation of media companies left fewer content buyers. The $2-billion-a-year syndication market, in which TV studios sell reruns of their prime-time hits to TV stations and cable channels, has been in decline. The most popular shows no longer fetch the premiums paid a decade ago.

Some of TV's biggest hits, serialized dramas such as "Lost," don't repeat well -- further reducing their value in syndication. "All of the supplemental viewing of 'Lost' has gone from traditional media platforms to new-media platforms -- DVDs, digital video recorders, downloads of the show and online streaming," said Carlton Cuse, an executive producer and a member of the WGA's negotiating committee.

Though the dispute between writers and studios centers on future revenues, the roots of the conflict date to 1985 and a much-maligned pay formula for home-video residuals. Under the arrangement, 80% of the wholesale revenues were taken off the table to cover manufacturing and other costs tied to the fledging home-video market. Writers and other talent unions receive residuals based on tiny fractions of the remaining 20%. For the writers, that amounts to 0.36% of wholesale revenues, or about 4 to 6 cents for every DVD sold.

At the time, guild officials say, studios contended that the royalty was crucial to getting the fledgling videocassette business off the ground. The guild was embittered when VHS tapes, and later DVDs, became a multibillion-dollar business.

But studio executives say the royalty was market-based and no one anticipated the home-video boom.

Guild leaders have tried repeatedly to increase the DVD rate, but studios stood firm, pointing to the rising production and marketing costs of TV shows and movies, including the salaries of stars like Johnny Depp, marquee directors such as Steven Spielberg and top writers like J.J. Abrams ("Lost," "Alias").

Studios note that 6 out of 10 movies don't make a profit and 80% of new TV shows fail. Still, writers have vowed to avoid repeating the same mistake with the Internet.

Such feelings boiled over in February 2006 when ABC said it would pay residuals on the sales of downloaded TV episodes using the DVD formula.

The writers guild was joined by unions representing actors and directors in complaining that the network had violated collective-bargaining agreements by unilaterally imposing terms. Applying the DVD formula was especially unfair, they said, because the cost of a download is much less than that of making and distributing a DVD.

Executives at ABC and other networks and studios note that the download business is hardly the financial windfall that writers suggest, citing the low retail price of $1.99 per episode, indirect costs such as building Web players and creating digital files, and the small sales volume.

Adams Media Research projects that paid downloads on iTunes and other services will more than double to $194 million this year -- roughly the cost of a big-budget movie.

Among the most popular downloads have been of "Lost." Lindelof said he received his first residual check in June for the eight episodes he wrote for the initial season. The total for a three-month period in late 2005, after the iTunes launch: $455.05.

"Profitability is next to nothing," said one studio executive who asked not to be named. "The notion of taking out more money from a business that's nascent just seems crazy to us. The problem is, we said the same thing about DVD and it became a $10-billion business."

Initially, many writers embraced the Internet as a way to connect with devoted fans who chat online about their shows. They crafted short features known as webisodes based on their programs.

But even that became a source of conflict.

NBC Universal last year tapped writers of prime-time shows such as "The Office" and "Heroes" on NBC and "Battlestar Galactica" on its Sci Fi cable channel to create webisodes. "We said, 'Great. That sounds like a cool idea,' recalled Ronald Moore, writer and executive producer of "Battlestar Galactica." "Then they said they considered them promotional and that they weren't going to pay actors, writers and directors for working. At which point I said, 'Thanks, but no thanks.' "

After the writers balked, NBC filed a complaint in August 2006 with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the guild was improperly holding up Web productions. The board later sided with the guild, although it did not address compensation.

As writers and studios repeatedly clashed on the new-media front, anger swelled across the union.

"There's been a tin ear at the companies to the growing level of frustration within the Writers Guild about how the companies have dealt with these new-media issues," said writer-director and past guild President John Wells of "ER" and "West Wing." Barbara Brogliatti, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, responded: "We have a tremendous regard for writers and their contributions. . . . We were willing to share revenue from Internet streaming even before we had recouped our costs. We had a proposal to that effect on the table when they went on strike."

Guild officials, however, said the proposal was unacceptable because residual payments would kick in only after six weeks of Internet play, and they objected to sweeping promotional language that would allow studios to stream full-length movies and TV shows without paying. "That would be like going to see the movie "Beowulf" and then saying, 'Hey, I just saw the trailer for "Beowulf," and it was two hours long and contained the whole movie,' " Lindelof said.

Those and other differences led to a breakdown in talks Nov. 4, paving the way for the strike.

Still, some modest headway could provide the basis for a deal when talks resume Nov. 26.

Writers, for example, dropped their demand for doubling DVD pay, and studios agreed to pay for Web episodes derived from scripted network shows.

"Producers and writers alike," said Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey, "are desperate to make sure they don't accidentally give the farm away."

Source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-newm...=la-home-center

[Hurmoth]

CBS News Workers Vote to Authorize Strike

CBS News employees who are members of the Writers Guild of America voted by a majority of 81% to authorize a strike against CBS, the union said Monday.

The overwhelmingly strong vote gives the WGA East and WGA West authorization to call a strike at any time. Almost 300 WGA-CBS members voted in the special election, held on Nov. 15 and 16, in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington

CBS officials couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

WGA-CBS members, working in television and radio, on the national and local levels, in those four cities have been working under an expired contract since April 2, 2005 -- without pay raises since April 2004, according to the union.

The news regarding CBS comes as the WGA, which is already is striking against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, is set to resume negotiations on that front next Monday, Nov. 26. That strike, of TV and movie writers, kicked off Nov. 5.

In November 2006, the WGA-CBS membership voted by an overwhelming 99% to reject CBS's contract offer. Since that time, the union claims that CBS has refused to put forth any new proposals, insisting on the offer which membership rejected. CBS's continued demand that membership accept its offer spurred the employees to overwhelming vote to authorize a strike, the WGA charged.

According to the guild, key elements of CBS's last contract offer, which was rejected by the membership, include a two-tier wage package " television and network radio members in one tier and local radio members in another " far below the cost of living with no retroactive pay. The proposal offered 2.2% raises for television and network radio, and 1.48% raises for local radio.

CBS was also seeking the right to assign current WGA responsibilities at KNX radio in Los Angeles to non-WGA employees; and the ability to merge or combine Guild shops with non-Guild units, and in doing so potentially force the Guild out of those shops. Stations affected may include WCBS-AM and WINS-AM in New York, and KNX and KFWB in Los Angeles.

The WGA-CBS national agreement covers news writers, editors, desk assistants, production assistants, graphic artists, promotion writers, and researchers. More than 500 WGA-CBS employees are covered under the contract that expired April 1, 2005. The two sides last met at the negotiations table Jan.8.

Source: http://radio.broadcastnewsroom.com/article...e.jsp?id=237388

[Rappy Veteran]

Not long now till they sit down and talk and hopefully something will come from it!

[Mathachew Veteran]

So one person gets $60,000 just for a severance package while the actual creative minds behind the shows and films we watch make less than $30,000 a year. Sad isn't it?

Er, that was $60 million, not $60K, but it's very clear where the problem lies.