This NYT article talks about the conflicted role that show-runners are in.
During the last Hollywood writers’ strike, which lasted for five months in 1988, it was the show runners who played a major role in ending the walkout, in part through their threat to secede from the writers’ union, according to news reports at the time.
Those show runners — also known as “hyphenates” because of their dual roles — often own production companies that are under contract with television studios, which are themselves often owned by the networks. Some writer-producers have privately expressed nervousness that if they do not come to work in any capacity, they could be in violation of their broader contracts and risk losing their production deals, which are essentially retainers that typically pay hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
The studios were stockpiling scripts, but originally the strike (if there was one) was planned for spring, to coincide with another guild's ending contract (directors, I think?). The WGA switched gears recently and, if they strike (have they voted affirmatively yet?), will now do so on Nov 1, which will screw with the current season, and theoretically improve their chances of success.
So... what do they want?
signed, I really should get some kind of news sometimes, huh?
So... what do they want?
Actually, not a clue. It never really came up in the discussions I've had with members. Huh.
Ah, that makes more sense, Polgara. If you are gonna strike, you should at least do it in a way which fucks things up. The NYT article is certainly something to chew over, Tom.
Rob Thomas actually talked about this in a recent interview:
Ok, so shifting gears a bit, everyone right now is talking about the potential writer’s strike. Do you think it’s going to happen and how do you think it would affect TV this season?
I think it will happen, and I’m not sure anyone knows how it will affect TV. It depends on how long the strike lasts. You know, if the strike is a couple of weeks, no one will even feel it. If it’s three months it means, look for a lot of repeat and reality on television.
Do you think that there’s any way that they would allow it to go that long?
Um... Yeah, I mean, we are far far far apart on the issues. It could be pretty contentious.
And what exactly are the issues? I know it has stuff to do with the online rights and stuff.
Yeah, you know, their -- the studios’ current position is that writers would not receive any residuals for any new media, ala iTunes and downloadable content. And they want to rollback our already miniscule DVD residuals. And then there are other issues like bringing reality under the Writers Guild tent, which, strange as it sounds is actually good for writers because people are certainly writing reality shows and constructing stories on those and yet they get paid so much less than we do, which makes those shows cheaper and it also makes it easy for networks to overwork and underpay those people.
And then there are other issues like bringing reality under the Writers Guild tent
I'd been kind of assuming this was inevitable, but I'm not surprised it's also a very contentious issue.
I think the quote means to say that the studios' position is that the writers would NOT receive any residuals for any new media...
I think the WGA is asking for 8 cents per DVD instead of the current 4 cents as well.
I think the quote means to say that the studios' position is that the writers would NOT receive any residuals for any new media...
Yeah, that makes more sense to me. I was reading it again and not seeing the sense. Probably a transcription error. Because it doesn't make any sense for writers not to get residuals off that, as it's no different from getting DVD residuals.
Hollywood Producers Drop a Key Demand
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 16 — Trying to break a three-month impasse in contract negotiations with Hollywood’s screenwriters, producers withdrew a contentious proposal on Tuesday that would have retooled the entertainment industry’s decades-old practice of paying so-called residuals for the reuse of movies and television programs on DVD and elsewhere.
