Bored of the Writer's Strike

Anyone getting a bit pissed off at the situation in America? How long can these strikes go on for? Its obvious that the studios aren't going to budge and to be perfcetly honest the WGA only has themselves to blame. If you sign away your rights then you can't moan when you decide you want them back.

Also its affecting TV Shows which affects the viewers who fund them both directly and indirectly. The self righteous twaddle that the WGA members are spouting on the internet is just irritating. What do they want the public to do? Boycott goods? Sign petitions? The only way this is going to be settled is if one side backs down or the US Government intervenes and we all know that the US Government only intervenes in foreign countries.

No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

Adam, as an almost-communist, I'd have thought that you'd support them fully.

It's difficult, I've never been in a union and striking has never come up in my working life but I defend the right of folks to withdraw their labour when they feel they are being treated unfairly.

But are they really being treated unfairly?

Anyway, that nice looking Eva Longoria lady reckons she can write her own scripts for that awful program she's in.. I also reckon it's a great opportunity to 'can' a lot of crap shows like hers! But I wonder if that's the answer, only allow shows on telly where the performers have done the writing!?

Good programme, awful woman.

Quote: Frankie Rage @ November 17, 2007, 12:13 PM

Anyway, that nice looking Eva Longoria lady reckons she can write her own scripts for that awful program she's in..

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programme*

Well spotted!

Programme!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRHlpEmr0w

Thanks Stuart, I'll have a listen to that later ... can't now, no audio at work...

Cant say Im 'bored' by it, whats to be bored about exactly?! Anyway, i think the writers should stick up for themselves and certainly shouldnt back down; theyre treated terribly and are only trying to get what is fair and right.

Well, let's not go crazy. They're not treated terribly, my little brother is treated terribly but it was his choice to go and live with Uncle Tommy. You makes your bed...

Well from what I understand they are treated pretty badly, seeing as how they actually write the product they are very low down on the totem pole and, as I understand it, dont even make money off DVD sales of the stuff theyve written! That seems to me like very shoddy treatment and I can understand them being pissed off. Without someone writing, there would be no show!! They can also be thrown off a project they created, set up and developed without a seconds notice!! I think what theyre asking for is only fair really and overdue. And no,its not like theyre being bummed by their Uncle on a nightly basis, or having to walk 80 miles for clean water each day, but the way writers are treated by the American studios is far from right and fair either.

Quote: Frankie Rage @ November 17, 2007, 12:13 PM

Anyway, that nice looking Eva Longoria lady reckons she can write her own scripts for that awful program she's in.. I also reckon it's a great opportunity to 'can' a lot of crap shows like hers! But I wonder if that's the answer, only allow shows on telly where the performers have done the writing!?

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I'll write for you Eva for a tenth of the pay plus bonusses of my choosing.

Quote: David Chapman @ November 17, 2007, 2:53 PM

I'll write for you Eva for a tenth of the pay plus bonusses of my choosing.

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Sadly, she reckons she can do it herself mate!

Quote: Matthew Stott @ November 17, 2007, 2:49 PM

Well from what I understand they are treated pretty badly, seeing as how they actually write the product they are very low down on the totem pole and, as I understand it, dont even make money off DVD sales of the stuff theyve written! That seems to me like very shoddy treatment and I can understand them being pissed off. Without someone writing, there would be no show!! They can also be thrown off a project they created, set up and developed without a seconds notice!! I think what theyre asking for is only fair really and overdue. And no,its not like theyre being bummed by their Uncle on a nightly basis, or having to walk 80 miles for clean water each day, but the way writers are treated by the American studios is far from right and fair either.

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Some good points Matt but you are only as good as the deal you agree to!

Not getting at you here btw!

All writers own what they have written unless they sign away their rights. If I write a report at work I only get paid once because I am employed and what I write belongs to the company in return for my monthly pay. I don't get paid everytime somebody reads a report I've written!

I think writers who sign their rights away contractually and become 'staff writers' should accept the conditions of the contracts they have signed. If you want a steady pay cheque as a 'staff writer' then you can't expect to be treated like you are a self-employed person who has 'ownership rights'.

And if you don't like the contract you're offered - don't sign it - negotiate - and if you can't negotiate a better deal, either sign it and live with it until you can find/negotiate something better or go and work somewhere else... or strike, I guess! If you're big enough to strike and win, then you'll get a better deal. Law of the jungle applies here, NOT what is fair!

If I were the employer in this case I'd replace the striking writers (if I could) with new upcoming writers and offer them the same contract. Reasonably good writers are pretty much 'ten a penny' in my view. Obviously, truly great writers can (and do) command big bucks! BUT you don't NEED great writers or TO PAY BIG BUCKS for most of the crap that's written for the telly, I reckon!

Maybe the strike will work for these guys and they'll get a better canteen or something. I don't have much sympathy for 'staff writers', that's just like being a supermarket shelf filler! If they are 'staff writers' then they are NOT my kind of writer. My kind of writer would not consider being a 'staff writer' and holds out for the 'real deal', i.e. a piece of the action (ownership) and the repeat royalties that goes with it!

Also, if you're employed companies can make you redundant legally. If you want to change contractual law about redundancy then you need to protest to the government ultimately, not the employer.

As John Lennon said to people who wanted the fame and money he'd got as a song writer: "If you're big enough, come and get it!"

Of course, they shot him..

No, come on. The dispute is over the shift in where the employers get income. Due to the huge success of DVD and internet distribution the producers are making huge amounts of money. However the current royalty deals in place were agreed before the explosion in popularity of the new media.

Therefore they are entirely justified to want a fairer proportioning of the money. This is an entirely fair and reasonable request, especially considering the level of money that is being made. If we want a society where rich f**kers can do whatever they want just because they are rich and because they can make out that a bunch of writers are whinging tossbags then why don't we all get on a plane now and try and take advantage of the gap in the market. I bagsy writing for The Daily Show. It may be 'just' writing but it's important to make a stand and show that power isn't the domain of a select few.

Go writers!