Can anyone explain to me what the writer's strike is all about?!
Question: I know this may sound a bit stupid - but I keep hearing about the writer's strike and have no idea why they are striking?
Answers: I know this may sound a bit stupid - but I keep hearing about the writer's strike and have no idea why they are striking?
First, a little background.
Screenwriters make very little money and they may not get a job but once every few months. For those of them who screen-write as a career, they live off of residuals, quarterly payments they receive that give them a small amount of additional money every time an episode they wrote is aired on television again, or put out on commercial DVD.
The problem the Screenwriters' Guild is having is that they are not receiving enough money to get by for DVD releases (such as tv-on-dvd) and etc, and they are usually not receiving any money at all when the station has the episode available for download or streaming online.
The station is making money through commercials which riddle these online views and the actors are making money for online views already.
It seems only fair that the Screenwriters' Guild allows its members through striking to make residual income off of these views and also, more off of DVD sales.
After all, as inconvenient as not seeing the next episode of your favorite show might be, because the writers are striking, just think--
What would you watch if they weren't writing at ALL?
They are striking because, the company isn't paying them more money
money
the writers want more money to come out of the productions on the internet
They want to be paid for their shows when they are ran any time.as reruns and such.
they want more money and benifets
The writers for the office feel they are being payed to less witch they prabobly are. So they are going on strike.
P.S. they still have some shows that they already made.
The writers feel they should be paid more for DVD sales and the stuff on the internet.
the greedy want more.
They're striking because the studios refuse to pay them the residuals that they deserve on new media. Ever catch your favorite show online because you missed it when it aired? Those online viewings are filled with ads, so the studios make a profit for them, but the writers don't get a single cent out of that... and if the studios have it their way, the writers never will. This means in five years time when the majority of people just watch shows online instead of tuning in to the television set, the writers annual salary will take a drastic cut.
( i got this from a media relatled newsletter)
"he writer's strike has been ongoing for almost two weeks. The primary
issue is that of residuals, the small fee paid when movies or
television shows that a writer has written are repeated either on re-runs or on
DVDs. Residuals are an important part of a writer's earnings and are
received quarterly. The complaint of the writers is that the residuals
rate paid for DVDs is too low and should be adjusted upwards. Moreover,
it is realized that downloads will supplant DVDs in the future and the
writers wish to iron out residuals details before the fact and not
afterwards (when they would be losing potential money.)"