Willow ,'Empty Places'
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls, The Inside and Drive), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
One of the things I'm personally pissed about is this: I got a battering on here a while ago for Aheming TV shows. So I went and got a proper US iTunes account, and started paying to download TV shows. I thought I was giving Tim and friends money for my downloads. That was my only interest in doing that. It cost me a lot of money.
And? It looks like I gave none of the creative people actual money.
Response to the digg comments...
There is Amazon Unbox, CreateSpace, Associates combo.
It is possible to upload original content onto CreateSpace so that it would be available on Amazon Unbox for pay download, and create a widget that you could embed in your blog that would show teaser clips, and so that clicking on it would bring you to the Amazon Unbox purchase page. By setting up CreaeSpace account you can also sell hardcopy versions (DVDs) through Amazon.
It would take time (Amazon asks for 2-4 weeks to put up content) and money (Probably less than $50), and Amazon takes a good bite of it, but that can probably be negotiated if you can deliver eyeballs.
Put it up on one the WGA websites, and say that money will be for the strikers. That would a) support the strikers and b) remind the studios the future is coming in one fell swoop...
I got a battering on here a while ago for Aheming TV shows
It was a little bit more complicated than that, IIRC.
Kevin, I have a response to that, but I fear it is antihistimine speaking and not me. So I'll wait for coffee and a shower to clear it.
I wrote a blog post about the strike, and supporting it as a writer. And wanting to kick the NYT andc Variety writers who sneered at the WGA writers right in the teeth.
And then I didn't post it because it was too angry, and I'd like to dial it down to shriftian levels of rage.
I think that was more about protecting this site from liability.
Cause, you know, when you download something for free, it's piracy.
Of course, when the studios give it away for "free," it's "promotional."
Well, I think they're actually justified in taking that position with the end users/viewers (though not with denying the writers their fair share). There's a world of difference between me offering to give someone a roll off my plate and them snatching it without asking as they pass by my table.
It was a little bit more complicated than that, IIRC.
It was, of course - I should have worded that better.
What's interesting about the WGA video explaining the strike is that I had thought the AMPTP wasn't offering anything for new media, but it looks like they are offering the DVD rate of four cents, but the WGA isn't taking it. And understandably so, because the AMPTP gets to reap a higher percentage of profit than they do on DVDs while not giving the writers any more. Fair share, guys! Fair share!
Also, can someone explain the four cents to me? I bought Season Three of The Office for whatever it was, thirtysomething dollars. Now, how does the four cents work? Is it four cents per purchase that gets distributed equally to all writers whose work is featured? Four cents that gets distributed to individual writers based on number of episodes they wrote? Four cents for each episode's writer (so that Aaron Sorkin would make, like, a whole dollar from a Sports Night set)?
Well, plus, dvds are probably going to be phased out - so it's easy for them to let them have dvds. And easy to see why the writers don't want to be screwed over for rights on internet and on demand plays.
dvds are probably going to be phased out
In what time period? I'd think (assuming Blu-Ray and its ilk are covered) they'll be around for at least the lifetime of videos...and it seems silly to have to renegotiate for each technology breakthrough, I just realised.
Slow.