Inform Yourself: Why are our Writer’s Striking?
A powerful video of actor/actress supporters of the strike, demonstrating what happens without writers. This video includes appearances by Demi Moore, Martin Sheen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Olivia Wilde, Marcia Cross, James Franco, and more. This was put out by speechlesswithoutwriters.com.
Should we be surprised that people are not truly educated about the basic facts of what is going on with the Writer’s Strike? I was talking to my Mother the other day and she started talking to me about it. My Mother is a busy woman - she volunteers her time at a local nonprofit art gallery/school, is an artist, and takes care of her household (and the million things that entails). She is a TV fan, although she isn’t a die hard fan of too many shows. If she misses the occasional episode, that’s okay with her. But she does like to be able to unwind at the end of the day by watching TV.
And while she does go online, and she does read articles - and she also watches the news, she still did not have a grasp on what the Writer’s Strike is really about. With that in mind, I’ve decided to write a piece here that will hopefully educate anyone on what it’s all about, in easy to understand terms. I will be providing links to more information, should you want to delve into more extensive reading. No matter when this ends, you should know a few key facts.
The people on strike are members of the Writer’s Guild of America, otherwise known as the WGA. These are the writers for TV and film. (Writers not on strike include most writers for animation, reality TV, commercials, and sports programs. ) They are on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, otherwise known as the AMPTP. We probably shouldn’t call them evil, but what we can call them is cheap.
The contract the WGA had been under was instated in 2004, and expired on October 31st of this year. The WGA and the AMPTP were in negotiations over the new contract for approximately three and a half months. When it became apparent things were not going to change without speaking up, the WGA went on strike, effective Monday, November 5th, of this year. Some of you probably remember the day the strike happened, some of you don’t.
This is another video from speechlesswithoutwriters.com,
put out just today, December 11th, 2007.
What is the WGA striking over? Mainly, one very simple concept: fair compensation for their work. Instead of receiving a mere .3%-.36% of receipts of DVDs sold and TV shows re-aired (a rate that was put into effect back in 1985! I was still an only child!), they are asking for .6%-.72%. While the studios make money from DVDs sales, the writers do not. When you buy a DVD you are paying more for the services of whoever made the plastic case the DVD came in, than the writers who carefully wrote the script for what you’re about to enjoy. So, instead of receiving $.04 for every DVD sold, they are asking for $.08.
Something really bugging writers is that shows they write are being streamed online, and they aren’t getting paid, even though you are often paying for this (on iTunes or Amazon) and there are advertisers. You would be asking for the same thing if you were in their place.
There is so much more information, but I don’t want to overload anyone reading this, especially if you’re reading this to get a basic understanding. So let these words sink in. What you should know is that the writer’s are not being paid fairly so they are on strike. Yes, this does, and is already, affecting your favorite TV shows. Reruns and reality TV is going to take over for a while. In other words, it might be time to find a good book.
“Because this IS a union issue, one that will affect not just artists but every member of a community that could find itself at the mercy of a machine that absolutely and unhesitatingly would dismantle every union, remove every benefit, turn every worker into a cowed wage-slave in the singular pursuit of profit. (There is a machine. Its program is ‘profit’. This is not a myth.) This is about a fair wage for our work. No different than any other union.”
- Joss Whedon on Whedonesque.com
(Writer, Creator, Overall outstanding human being)
Links:
You can find all of the videos from speechlessswithoutwriters.com: here
Find tons of info about the strike at fans4writers.com’s faq section. (I would also like to mention that this is the site I used most when writing this entry, it is very informative and I highly recommend it.)
Learn about the WGA 2007 strike on Wikipedia.com.
About the Author: Your above-average sweet, smart, and snarky Girl Friday. Impeccable taste. Analytical. Liberal. Friend to animals. Always found in cute shoes. Check the Sofachip 'About' page for more (classified!) info.
VDO Vault | Dec 12, 2007 | Reply
As far as new DVD purchases are concerned I am not making any.
I have been fortunate enough to speak with members from both the WGA East and WGA West and they have told me that they would prefer people not buy any new DVDs until the new Minimum Basic Agreement is completed. If there is any chance at all of the writers receiving more residuals for DVDs that won’t happen on any DVD bought while there is no contract in place nor do they believe that the studios and networks will award them an increased payment retroactively for DVDs already sold. So I am waiting on buying any new DVDs.
I know a lot of other people think they are doing the writers a favor buying DVDs now because 4 cents out of $20.00 is better than nothing (especially if they have been either watching streaming media or downloading TV episodes & movies online rather than buying DVDs), but instead I am making a special effort to watch reruns of my favorite shows and movies on broadcast & cable networks…there is no dispute that the writers are paid fairly for TV reruns, so that is my way of supporting them.
I’m holding off on my DVD purchases waiting for the writers to get (ideally) four more cents per $20.00 DVD sold.
Amanda | Dec 12, 2007 | Reply
Agreed with VDO Vault. Personally, I believe that it’s better to “make” the writers take a bit of a hit right now to prove to the networks/production companies that we find their work to be important. If we continue buying DVDs like nothing has changed, I don’t think it sends a clear message like a boycott does. They don’t see “oh, look, the fans are buying to help the writers get what residuals they can”, they see, “money! Hooray!”
That’s a good point on reruns. I also made a point of un-subscribing to the shows that are now in reruns from my Windows Media Center (it’s like Tivo). I want to make sure I send a message that I’m not willing to just watch any show that pops up at 7pm on a Tuesday or whatever. I’m not sure how much they track traffic on WMC, but I figure it can’t hurt.
I totally don’t want to steal Jessica’s spotlight, but if people want more info or to see what other groups are doing, the WGA Supporters community on Livejournal is an excellent source of information.
JessicaRae | Dec 13, 2007 | Reply
VDO Vault, and Amanda - I would like to include your opinions/quotes in an upcoming post I’m making on this blog.
I already have Amanda’s info, but VDO - if you can provide me with your first name, last initial, state, and age - that would be great.
I have gotten some other quotes, and I am hoping to maybe get this post up tomorrow.
Thank you for sharing your opinions!