Writer’s Piece of Pie Already Gone
Posted on November 13, 2007 - Filed Under Consumerism, Current Events, Writing/Editing |
Last week I discussed the idea of why the Writer’s Guild is striking in Does This Mean Bloggers are Scabs? In light of week two of the Writer’s Guild strike, I wanted to find out where the negotiations stand regarding the writer’s request for a larger portion of the digital media products such as DVDs and downloads. Logic being that since the advent of these newer technologies, the companies that the writer’s work for are now subsequently making more money, money that needs to be divided more fairly to include the writers. The Writer’s Guild request of going from three-tenths of a cent on the dollar to six-tenths of a cent seems pretty minimal compared to the monies made by these corporations, but as the events unfold it’s becoming apparent that this money many already be promised to someone else.
The New York Times wrote yesterday that the highly sought after profits have already been promised to the actors, directors, and producers that sign on to participate in movies and television, often before the writing have even started. The incentives that actors receive to even become a part of a production takes a huge chunk out of the would-be profits. Further investigation by a former film executive determined that six major studios, including the giant DreamWorks, actually lost about $1.9 billion dollars when they collected profits during their first cycle. Contrary to the appearance of growing pockets, the studio costs have actually increased due to more executive hands in the pot of money, if you will. Nowadays, it takes more to convince an A-list actor and director to become part of a project, and the increased profits are promised to these individuals in the form of first-dollar gross deals, often receiving loads of cash on the front-end that the film or tv show may never make back.
So the larger payout residuals that the Writer’s Guild are seeking may not even be possible in the short-term depending on the projects each individual writer is working on, and this strike may be far from over.
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