Writers Prepare to Get Their Strike On

Their contract officially expired at midnight on Halloween, and now Hollywood's film and TV writer's say they're going to strike on Monday morning. However, negotiations will continue through the weekend between the WGA (Writer's Guild of America) and AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers), but some folks, like Nikki Finke (who's been covering the ordeal non-stop), feel a long, hard-fought strike is all but certain. No one really knows what's going to happen; the WGA are pushing for more residuals from new media distribution (films or TV shows sold online, etc), while the studios would rather wait and experiment a little more before handing over the dollars. The writer's feel that's bullsh*t -- everyone knows the future of distribution will live online, and feel the studios are just being greedy. The studios, on the other hand, are, well, being greedy.

For us, a movie blog, we've already begun to feel the impending strike's sting. It's been quiet, a little too quiet, and a good majority of our audience are made up of writers, producers, directors, publicists, actors, etc -- all of which are too busy focusing on the strike to read our crummy "Should Macaulay Culkin Play Superman in Justice League" posts. Now that I know a bit more about this strike, having spoken to several writers throughout the month, I feel for them ... I really do. Basically, they're getting f**ked ... hard. Without them, there would be no film, no TV show, and they've been treated like the piece of crap you accidentally step on while out walking the dog for way too long. I've included a funny little short, written, directed by and starring a group of well-known writers, that shows you just how far some writers will go to find work during the strike. Support the writers, and enjoy!

UPDATE: The Mayor of Los Angeles wants to step in and help mediate. That won't happen. And apparently, the studio and network big-wigs are meeting in private this weekend (like some sort of all-family mafia sitdown) to discuss God knows what. Over at Nicki Finke's blog, I found a comment from someone calling themselves Writer/Director. For those of you who are not part of the WGA, and would like to understand more about this entire situation, this comment is all you need to read. Check it out after the jump ...

[video via Slashfilm]

Comment from Deadline Hollywood:

"For all you non-WGA folks reading this site and wondering why writers and their union (WGA), and come June, actors and their union (SAG), are willing to strike over, here's the big answer...

Acting and writing is no a steady job for most. In fact, most of the writers and actors who are lucky enough to make a living off their craft, live middle class lives. If you do those professions, much of the income you expect to live on comes from residuals... money that is paid when your film or tv episode is screened some where in the world.

But here's the problem. The way the world watches movies and tv is changing. A year ago, you may have watched Grey's Anatomy on TV, but this year you watch it on DVD. In two years, you may only watch it by downloading from the internet - basically what happened to music with iTunes.

The way the studios want the contracts, writers and actors will only earn residuals if Grey's is aired on broadcast TV. If you buy the DVD of that episode, the writers makes 4 cents. If in two years, you download the episode, the writer and actor gets nothing. zippo. nada.

Hence, the WGA estimates that as technology changes, writers' residual income will drop 80%. Imagine if your employer was asking you to take such a pay cut. 80%!!!!!!! (also imagine if your employer at the same time was demanding again to cut back on health and retirement payments - but that's whole 'nother dispute happening simultaneously)

That's why writers are striking. And that's why the actor's union is backing the writers 100%, - come June, actors will get screwed the same way if the situation doesn't change.

It sucks that other professionals in the entertainment industry will suffer because of this. Even many studio execs will even suffer. (Some studios are telling their execs that if the strike lasts more than 8 weeks, the execs pay will be suspended.) But as everybody gripes that they're not earning money because the writers are striking, keep in mind, writers aren't making money either. We're all suffering together.

Let's just hope the "Counter Strike" is settled quickly and we can all get back to doing what we love."

Posted by Writer/Director