The Writer's Strike: Another Viewpoint

As most of you know the Writer's Guild of America is on strike. That means television shows (with the exception of reality tv shows, but I would like to note that many of them have writers in their staff rosters) have had their production halted. Yes that means that some shows have already run out of new episodes, and most shows will be out of new episodes within the next few weeks. I support the strike. I was already pretty anti reality TV, but now I am boycotting it. I've signed the petition in support of the WGA, and I am hoping for a positive result of the strike.

One big question is why are the writers on strike? Basically television writers really do not make a great deal of money. Most succesful TV writers fall into the middle class. Yes the middle class. Admittedly, there are some writers who make a great deal more. However, these cases are few and far between. Yes, while the actors (who would have nothing to read with out the writers) make a good chunk of change per epi, the writers make much less. That is not why they are striking. Writing for TV is like going into education, you know it isnt going to be a job that brings in big bucks. The strike revolves around residuals.

Lets say I write for a sitcom that runs for five seasons. Of course I get paid for writing the script for the first viewing of each episode. Plus I get additional payment for each time the network re-runs the episode, or the episode is run in syndication. Yay me, right? Plus, if the show is released on DVD, the union has ensured that I also get 4 cents per DVD. Okay, this is still sounding like a good thing.

Why is this a good thing? Okay, I'll be the first to admit that probably about half of the unemployed writers in Hollywood are unemployed because they are bad writers. It happens. However, even the good (and even established) writers, can go with lulls between gigs.Do you know hard is to get a show picked up by a network??? Even if you are picked up, you still need to establish an audience. Your show can be well written, innovative and have great actors AND all the critical acclaim in the world (Arrested Development anyone? hell they won EMMYS), but if no one watches it...the show goes buh-bye. Plus with the network saving money by flooding the airwaves and cable with reality TV, finding a job is even harder. Residuals help writers make ends meet between jobs.

Okay so now what is the big issue all us writers are whining about now?? Ok, now we all love that you can catch episodes we missed on the internet. Most network channels have it so you can view the shows for free on their website, and many more shows are available for download for a set fee. Why is this bad for writers? It is 2 fold. One, there is nothing on the books that states the writers are to earn residuals off of the internet viewings. Two, if they are showing the episodes online, that creates less of a demand for re-runs (meaning it will be aired less you know the whole supply and demand thing) and less DVD production. Yes so the production companies can save on materials and shipping and what not. That equals the writers getting less residuals. Now do you see where I am going with this?

Sadly yes, the work stoppage means that actors and all crew memebers are not getting paid either. Which does suck for them. Most crew members make even less than the writers...so this is a huge hit for some of them. There have been layoffs and other issues. That is very unfortunate. Hopefully the strike will end soon, and everyone will be back to work.