My take on the WGA strike? The thing is, obviously, –
(a) I’m not a WGA member, and
(b) I live a quarter of the world away.
There’s a lot of stuff on the web about it, and the screenwriting blogs have a screed of information to choose from. I’ve found Shawn Ryan‘s guest post on why he’s joining the strike despite being a multi-hyphenate, Josh Friedman‘s succinct report on standing for what’s right, and John Rogers‘ overview all particularly enlightening.
As a card-carrying screenwriter, I wholeheartedly exhort the strikers onward to victory.
I wish them luck. I would agree that writers generally struggle to get paid a reasonable amount of remuneration for their part of the creative process.
Although, given the parties and issues involved, I do not imagine a quick or simple solution.
Certainly, writers seemed to have missed out on a cut of residuals from the DVD format. The “reality†based entertainment format has also cut into the earnings of the writers. As for the Internet, well this seems to be a can of worms. For example, just ask the musicians about what they think of illegal copying. Or more generally, how many businesses are making money from the net? The entertainment industry may have to be truthful about what they actually earn from the net. The reality may not match the hype. Of course, I have not even mentioned the peculiar practice of “Hollywood†accounting.
Of side interest is the relationship between the writers and the other trades in the entertainment industry. Some of the stars in front of the camera do find themselves in awkward positions. For example, one radio commentator mentioned that the residual earnings from a number of the top earning film stars outnumber the total residuals of all writers. Maybe, the dispute could be resolved by some of the actors-producers taking a small pay cut?……..not?
Speaking of writers, on a lighter note the following link from Imdb.com may prove to be of interest:
The Most Memorable Screenwriter Characters from Cinematical.com
http://www.cinematical.com/2007/11/09/cinematical-seven-most-memorable-screenwriter-characters/
and it was sad to hear of the recent passing of a great writer:
Norman Mailer
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/11/10/mailer.obit/index.html
ttfn