Kaylee ,'Out Of Gas'
[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.
I don't really think a lot of the public knows there's showrunners with $20m development deals.No, there's definitely a perception that Hollywood is full of a bunch of rich power players. People in Middle America don't stop and think about the journeyman TV writer who may wait a season or so in between work. They just see one group of "Hollywood" folks picketing against another group.
And I still have issues with how both the pencils campaign and ME Day have been presented.
Hollywood does have a bunch of rich power players, but personally I believe people are smart enough to know that doesn't apply to either everybody or most of them.
personally I believe people are smart enough to know that doesn't apply to either everybody or most of them.
In my experience, not that much.
personally I believe people are smart enough to know that doesn't apply to either everybody or most of them.
Ooooooooooookay.
In this country there are a LOT of people who will angrily berate television stars for things their characters have done in scripted television shows, as if they're actually those characters in real life. Rational understanding of how the industry works behind the scenes probably isn't a feature of the baseline average.
Yeah, but people work in the real world. Most industries have a topology where people at the top are paid extremely well, and people towards the bottom, not so much. This isn't like the strike lines are 2500 people they recognise from TV and movies.
I could be wrong, obviously. The latest polls tend to show good support for the WGA from the public, but I think two things will change that: talk of people getting laid off, and (critically) shows going off the air. People can be very selfish when something they love is taken away from them.
Seriously, the most disenfranchised group in all of this is the crew, and if anything it appears to be that the WGA management is either ignoring them, or telling them to shut the fuck up.
Most industries have a topology where people at the top are paid extremely well, and people towards the bottom, not so much.
Maybe it's different in the UK--the entertainment biz isn't as sparkly and as faux-royal there, IIRC. Just like it's hard to convince some people that there are athletes not rolling in dough, all published authors are rich, and all actors make mad bank.
While it's a step in the right direction for people to think of the existence of writers, given the instances I know of people making it as an actor or writer and then going "Wait, wasn't I supposed to be richer?" I'm not going to give the benefit of the doubt to people who don't spend any time thinking about where their entertainment springs from.
You guys, I am the worst volunteer ever. I can't figure out when I'm going to deliver stuff to NYC picketers! This week, I could basically only do Friday, but it doesn't look like they are picketing anywhere on Friday! And then I'm out of town most of next week. As long as they don't settle next week, I am on it, but I'm getting a little worried. And feeling lame. It doesn't help that they only do 4-hour pickets and not every day.
I've been trying to explain the strike to various family members and co workers and sometimes I have to explain things that seem simple to me. I run into people who don't know what a residual is much less how it works and why there would be a fight over it. And these aren't stupid people, just people who watch tv but aren't interested in/don't know the mechanics of how it works.
I try to explain that, yeah, there are really rich people out there, but there are a lot of people who aren't. I try to talk about the writers of shows that get cancelled after 1 or 2 episodes and how it can be a long time before a writer can find another job and the residuals can make the difference between them getting a pay check or not (I realise this is probably a simplification).