Comments on: Striking Writers as Guy Fawkes

By: Mostly Muppet Dot Com

Mostly Muppet Dot Com — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:46:56 +0000

WGA, Google and the futulity of playing futurist…

Earlier this week I posted on the WGA strike in a vain attempt to make a funny, topical observation, that being that the striking writers were like Guy Fawkes and his attempt to blow up Parliament. Now it wasn’t the perfect analogy, but I though…

By: Will

Will — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:03:29 +0000

Hi Seth. My reply to you got out of hand, so I made it a full-on post on my site, here:

http://wordstudio.net/thegist/?p=155#more-155

By: The Gist

The Gist — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:02:57 +0000

[...] Media or Old Culture? The mostly muppet Seth Miller raises some terrific questions about the future of new media and the relevance of the strike in the [...]

By: Seth

Seth — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:15:21 +0000

http://newteevee.com/2007/11/06/to-break-or-not-to-break-through-pickets/

By: Seth

Seth — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:05:24 +0000

Will, I guess I’m talking about the sinking ship that is middlemen and “networks” aggregating content.

I’ll agree that writers should be compensated fairly for their works, but I think the real sticking point in negotiations will be what is considered “promotional” and what is considered “episodic”.

And what about writers’ blogs like those for Grey’s Anatomy? I’d kill to have some of the talented writers for our TBS & TNT original series blogging for us and I think we’d happily (and perhaps handsomely) pay them.

Where the trouble all started, in my mind, is with The Office and their webisodes. Since half that cast are also writers, I’m sure they spurned one union or another to help their show, choosing to forego digital money for (hopeful) linear success, which is cool if you’re BJ Novak, less so if you write, as you mention, for The Daily Show.

You’re right on the DVD front, bully for WGA.

But I still think the biggest opportunity here is for WGA writers (whom I’m sure are employed at roughly the same ratio as SAG/AFTRA actors, which is to say mostly unemployed) to do creative works and go directly to consumers. My example of The Guild (no pun intended) is really key here. Funny people with a good idea don’t need a network.

There’s a link to a speech by Larry Lessig making the rounds that’s important here (http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187). What we have now is Read Only TV and we’re moving to Read/Write TV, so the WGA should pursue broader rights and compensation collectively and more expressive, niche products individually.

My two cents.

By: Will

Will — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:33:13 +0000

I’m not sure what sinking ship you’re talking about. The writers want a share of the money the studios are making “promoting” their shows on iTunes and web-delivery sites like thedailyshow.com, which isn’t exactly an outmoded business structure. The problem isn’t that they’re ignoring the Internet, it’s that the guys who wrote the shows being delivered through the Internet aren’t getting a share of the money it makes the studios. The guys who write “webisodes” of shows like THE SHIELD and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA are not getting paid their Guild-negotiated rates or residiuals on those segments because they’re not “television” or something.

The WGA is calling bullshit on that, and trying to correct a mistake (regarding DVDs) that it made 19 years ago.