Should the Screenwriters Blame the Stars?
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Scripts, Newsstand, Politics
So, the strike continues. Each day, writers are hitting the pavement with their nifty shirts and signs. They chant, elicit honks, and try to slow down those who haven't stopped in solidarity. As I mentioned last week, Diablo Cody has hit the lines with her coiffed energy. She's also creating a little confusion now. See, a friend of mine, who is another striker, also has a black bob and funky fashion sense, and others are starting to confuse the two. I guess things could be worse!Like, oh, I don't know... How about this -- The New York Times is reporting that there is a new study out which might change the pay drama at the root of this strike. A new financial assessment conducted by Global Media Intelligence and Merrill Lynch has concluded that a lot of the films income isn't going to the studios, but to the big names attached to the project -- stars, directors, and producers.This is because of participation deals. Instead of just getting a nice, neat sum of money when they make a film, many are not getting into the action, sharing in the gross revenue. That's right -- the revenue, NOT the profit.
So, if a movie makes boatloads of money, there isn't a problem. However, many productions are struggling these days and the stars and filmmakers are till getting the big bucks even if the film loses money -- the study found that there was an approximate $1.9 billion loss last year amongst the big studios. You can check out all the particulars over at the article, but what do you think? "Big mess" is coming to mind.
Our Favorite Summers: 1981
To the Calendar! Comic-Con 2009 Schedule Released
Exclusive: Eli Roth Talks 'Thanksgiving'
Raja Gosnell to Direct Live-Action 'Smurfs'
First Look: Ellen Page Ready to 'Whip It'
_thumbnail.jpg){kind=spacer}
_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg){kind=spacer}
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-12-2007 @ 8:50PM
Philip said...
Another day, another strike update.
Here, let me write the rest of this week's strike updates for you, in advance. Oh, and free of charge, no residuals necessary.
Tuesday: The Weinsteins serve hot coffee and bagels with bacon to hungry studio execs.
Wednesday: Robin Williams whips out his handy flask of bourbon at a picket line in NYC. Riot ensues as people beat him with picket sticks for a drink.
Thursday: Anonymous "letter from a janitor of an assistant of the secretary of a big studio" arrives in Cinematical's inbox. It garners the most attention of all articles to be published that week.
Friday: Larry David makes an appearance "in character" at a Los Angeles coffeeshop in support of the striking writers. His motivational speech is drowned out by chants of "WE WANT CHERYL HINES".
Saturday: Some progress is made in meetings when writers agree to invest as much of their money in a movie's success as the studios do. The studios, in turn, agree not to tamper with submitted scripts.
Sunday: The whole agreement is rendered null and void when the studios realize what gullible fools the public is for unscripted shows such as "Dancing with the Stars" and "Survivor: Harlem". Hilarity does not ensue, but Cinematical is granted yet another week of scraping the barrel for strike news.
Reply
11-12-2007 @ 9:27PM
Angelo said...
Next Monday: Phillip is still wasting his time reading and commenting on movie blogs he swears to his friends he would be a nerd if he read them.
Go ahead and be your little pretentious self, but at least the people spending their time aren't unoriginal.
Reply
11-12-2007 @ 9:54PM
Philip said...
Speaking of being original, did you just steal that insult from a Cinematical post right here? Haha I think you did. Angelo, I'm 37, completely confident in my social abilities and would find admitting to my friends that I'm a fanboy not even in the least bit bothersome. My wife and kids know I'm an unabashed Dark Knight fanboy. If there were indeed some way to filter out strike news from my version of Cinematical, I would do so. Hell if the news from the strike was any different than YESTERDAY I'd be interested. The point of my post has been proven. I basically copied the last week of "strike news", paraphrased and included it in my post. I see you found it trite and pretentious. Which proves my point about reporting on a subject that doesn't change daily. To your insult, I add this reply: I wasn't speaking to readers of Cinematical. I'm sorry Angelo that your comprehension skills failed you.
Reply
11-12-2007 @ 10:23PM
Marty said...
I think it's ironic that the stars are out there supporting the writers when it is the exorbitant salaries paid to the actors which cause the escalating production costs. Also, this ia another example of writers being only good at one thing and that is writing. They have no financial know-how at all. To think there is a goldmine of revuew being generated by online distribution via downlaods is ludicrous. Every company suppling content via VOD is losing money.
Reply
11-12-2007 @ 11:22PM
Marty said...
As I am from Australia, I know of a VOD company which has raised capital in excess of A$35m and the first quarter revenue for 2007 was a paltry $26,000. That is the total revenue (not profit!) for the first THREE months this year!!!
Reply
11-13-2007 @ 6:39AM
Kevin said...
I'm not sure what exactly the strike is about, so please just correct me if I get something wrong.
Blame the studios. I barely watch TV, but I'd watch it more if I had an alternate method other than sitting down at a designated time or paying money for it, even if I had to watch twice as many ads. Problem is, I live outside the US, so my only methods for such a thing are illegal... Once in a while I will buy a season of TV on DVD, but I'd prefer an online method. Perhaps if the studios did this sort of thing better, and for people outside the US, then perhaps they could make more money.
I also say: Base the writers' pay on the success of a show. If a series is based on a good idea and has good writing, surely it will be more successful than that with bad ideas and writing. Weed out the writer who create the same old crap we've been watching for the past decade or 2.
Reply
11-13-2007 @ 8:17AM
KMF said...
If you think about it, sure stars get paid too much sometimes, but they are the ones who take a hit when the movie fails. You can have a stellar cast but if the writing sucks it's not the writer who gets all the blame it's the stars saying the lines.
Everytime a movie where you know the star got a huge paycheck make little money I always tend to joke. "X million? That just covered so and so's salary for the movie."
Again I just want it to be over that is until the actors and directors strikes this summer, I'm sure. . .
Reply
11-13-2007 @ 11:34AM
Yates said...
I just deleted a huge comment I was about to submit because once I think about it, who cares? These are the same studios who gave us Cavemen and the same writers who wrote it. So I think I'll be fine without it for now. As long as the videogame ppl don't go on strike, I'll be fine. =) 360 4-Life!!!
Reply