Thursday, November 01, 2007

Good Luck WGA

Just a word of support for the American readers. I know no one wanted this strike but if it has to happen then it has to.

From this side of the pond it seems the AMPTP has taken a belligerent stance from the outset forcing the WGA into a corner. For a long time, almost since the inception of movies and TV, writers have tended to be the least well paid and least regarded of the creative forces. Odd when without a script everyone else would be sitting around doing nothing. But there you go.

I've been on various websites and there always seems to be a screed of ''so called' writers almost apologising for being writers and saying things like ' a screenplay is worth nothing without a director and actors because without them you just have a script.

Horseshit. I think they are AMPTP aggitators.

If a studio is willing to spend a million dollars buying a spec script, then that screenplay is worth a million dollars. I don't see any visible director or actor making it worth that at the point of sale?

If the studios are making 80% of their revenue from DVD and TV sell through then the writers of that content deserve a fair share of that.

If a formula for payment of download and streaming content has to be negotiated it shouldn't be tied to rollbacks of existing payments for non downloaded content.

Nick Counter's days are numbered. He will be the AMPTP sacrificial lamb. More power to you WGA and the brave members willing to take a stand.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

i think we british writers should walk out in sympathy.

I'm about to miss my deadline and, frankly, I need a new excuse. A wild cat strike would be perfect.

English Dave said...

My sympathies anon. have you tried 'The dog ate my hard drive'?

Lucy V said...

The baby poured yoghurt in my touch button phone this morning, though the broadband still appears to work. Which is interesting.

And English Dave, don't you know anything? Us writers suck because directors are auteurs ; )

English Dave said...

Ah yes ther auteur theory as in ''some auteur bastard stealing all the credit'' lol