Cinematical

I like how you guys pretend that DH consists of more than one person.

Reply

A shame, the Globes are always more entertaining than the Oscars. Especially towards the end when the booze has been flowing for hours.

Reply

Great! I was looking forward to the Golden Globes. They are always fun to watch. The Writers Guild has a lot to answer for and looks like they will be out of work for a long time. Anyone with half a brain knows that there are no profits from current internet download revenue streams.

Reply

We picked up the ball and ran with it over at Media Morgue as well. Finke seems to know whats going on, which makes me wonder if he works for NBC or something.

As for the Globes, its much ado about nothing, but we all know that.

Reply

Marty, you make a good point. Currently, no one possesses a business model that has them making money off of TV downloads. The major downfall thus far has been pricing. No one seems sure what it's worth. That's why I've thought the WGA's attempt to ask for any set amount is somewhat ridiculous, when there is no way to know exactly what the business is worth. Is 5 cents of a Heroes download good? If so, then is 5 cents for a rerun of "The A Team" good too? No? Then how much? Obviously, there is more to the strategy than just pricing, but no good businessman is going to give you "X" percent of a potential sale when he doesn't know what to sell it for, himself. Certainly there's a lot of money to be made in downloads, but I think it'll be in the form of downloads to your TV. From a set-top box, not your laptop. And as with every great technology, it'll be OEM crap all the way, as CD burning was back in the day, till they all got together and adopted the Joliet system.

There's plenty of time to negotiate that kind of deal with the studios, if you ask me.

Reply

I hope the WGA is proud of itself. I don't see the harm in them putting some writers to work one night for the Globes. They are making deals with TV companies and other movie companies, they couldn't just write for the Globes?

The awards are a big deal for the actors and the actors have supported them throughout this stupid strike, they should have returned the favor and write for the show.

I think it would have made the WGA look better it they wrote for the awards.

Reply

This is exactly what the strike is designed to do. Its designed to be as obvious and disruptive as possible.

Yes the writers want money, but thats not the whole point. Who cares whether internet streaming is profitable or not or any content delivery method is profitable or not. The point is that the studios should NOT BE ABLE TO DO IT FOR FREE. The writers are arguing that they have rights. If the studio plays their content on TV, they get paid every time it shows, no matter how small the amount of money is. So why is the internet exempt? The answer is "no good reason." The studios do not have the right to indefinitely "test the waters." I think it was NBC that said they "only" made 15 million from the iTunes TV deal... Well that sounds pretty quantifiable to me. Do I have the right to shoot a movie, use some Rolling Stones song in the soundtrack, and then decide that since I didn't make enough money on the movie, I don't have to pay Mick, et al. for their song?

The WGA HAS to ask for a specific amount otherwise the studios don't have to pay. Hey get this...maybe if there's an associated cost to the business model, maybe it'll force the studios to come up with a profitable one. Or how about this, with the exception of delivery mediums like iTunes its not profitable because its not meant to be directly and it never will be, because thats not the point. The point is to get people to watch the show on TV and increase its ratings.

And as a final note, I could really give a damn about an actor that cares more about his/her award then the people who supply their story/dialog. If the actors really cared they would strike as well.

Reply

I don't see why the Globes had to cancelled. They could have still had them and then when the winner was announced, they can make a spontaneous joke about why they were not there to collect the award. With a comedic host, it would have been hilarious and stuck it back to the WGA. Now, WGA are working out separate deals with the indies which is great but please let the Globes go on, in any format, I don't care.

Reply

Jimosai:
What studio is avoiding overhead costs when making TV and movies available for download? That would be the definition of "free" in your example right? Your post missed a crucial part of the business equation: Why should studios be able to test the waters indefinitely? Because it's THEIR CAPITAL that provides the access to WRITERS WORK. Not vice versa. The big thing I get from listening to the writers, and the one thing I just can't get behind, is this idea, that somehow the writers are the source of all things great and honorable in movieland. Sorry, no can do. Writers don't have a monopoly on originality. In fact, judging from the movie sequels we're seeing in Hollywood, the writers are more than willing to sell their "artistic credibility" for a few good bucks. So save the starving artist routine for someone else.

Reply

Phillip:
I agree 100% with you that the studios are the ones putting up all this money, they have to pay the smallest job to the top of the line actors. The writers are important but lets not forget the cinematographers, the directors, the actors, technicians, etc... who are good at what they do.

Reply

Excellent! The Golden Globes are out for this year, and I can only hope they do the same thing with the Oscars. They should just hand out the awards and leave it at that, spare me the idiotic banter, tired unfunny monologues and montages.

Reply