WGA - Take 1
November 10th, 2007Watch with Kristin - Strikewatch: Heartbreaking Office News
Greg Daniels, executive producer/showrunner and writer of The Office on the Writer’s Guild strike. Of note:
“The Office is a perfect example of a show that has a vested interest in the issues on the table. We’re one of the highest downloads on iTunes. We made a lot of money there, and the creative people didn’t see any of it. And this is the future of the television business. People are going to sit in front of a box that has computer guts inside and watch their shows, and just because it’s not called a TV, it doesn’t apply to our contract. All we’re saying is that it’s the same thing. We’re watching the same show from our couch or from our chair on a screen, and just ’cause it’s delivered through the Internet, we’re not [being compensated for it].”
and
“You know, we had 7 million downloads on iTunes. We are the big draw on NBC.com. We did webisodes before anybody did webisodes. We won the Daytime Emmy for our webisodes. None of this stuff did we get paid for and, you know, this is the future of TV. We’ve seen the future because we’ve kind of lived it, and so we’re very much aware that the business model is fantastic for the companies. The ad rates are much higher for Internet ads than they are for TV ads, because you can’t skip ‘em. You have to watch ‘em, and they can tailor them to the consumers. So, they’re very valuable ads.”
Here’s hoping that this dispute can be resolved intelligently. Nothing is more awesome than getting paid for online content. o
-
This entry was posted on Saturday, November 10th, 2007 at 11:14 am and is filed under culture, link, tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Please read the Terms of Service before leaving a response.
November 10th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
I wholeheartedly agree with you. And I’m sure there’s nothing worse than NOT getting paid for online content. Are the webisodes in question the same as the hilarious PSAs they did? I assumed that the writers were being paid for any work they did with the show. I hope they fix this soon (for the writers and the viewers.)
November 10th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
I fear this dispute will not be settled any time soon. It’s about the future of the industry, and nobody is in a compromising mood.
Luckily, I’ve got a TiVo full of good stuff that I haven’t had the time to watch. So I’ll wait out the storm that way.
If I still lived in LA, I imagine I’d actually head out to the picket lines with the writers. Because 1) I think they’re right, 2) they’re welcoming outsiders, and 3) you get free doughnuts. I love doughnuts.
November 10th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Also of interest:
Joss Whedon (of Buffy and Firefly fame) on the strike:
http://whedonesque.com/comments/14639#195462
And really intelligible commentary by Mark Evanier explaining residuals:
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_11_05.html#014307
The rest of Evanier’s blog is totally worth checking out as well. His strike comments put a lot of things in perspective. I occasionally see people saying stupid things like, “Well, if the writer’s make such crappy TV shows, then I think it’s okay for the producers to pay them crap wages,” and other such BS….blaming the quality of entertainment on the writers, or totally just not getting that the writers aren’t being paid for work distributed online. So his blog is a repository of easy explanations which debunk a few myths about writing for TV and movies.
November 11th, 2007 at 12:12 am
I refuse to watch any shows on the web. I have the televison on when I am surfing. I multitask. Superwoman!
Besides, we have all that yummy Canadian content here to choose from. Laugh not! We have some decent programming here.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:52 am
I did my take on the strike as a satirical look into the the negotiations between the two sides:
http://tinyurl.com/yw5se9
I know this is overly simplistic, but if you create something that has value, you should get paid.
November 11th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I think the writers should stay out on strike until they get the compensation they deserve. The only television shows I watch are those with great writing. If you don’t have great writers, you don’t have great shows.
Compensate the writers!
November 11th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Living in the UK having enjoyed the original and seeing the US version of the office the writers stike is giving you guys a break.
Seriously I think creative talent should be recompensed but so many others get their cut. Particulary in the UK we have been over paying for DVD’s CD’s it is tempting to go down the illegal route. How much is going to the actual talent.
November 12th, 2007 at 8:49 am
Suddenly wishing I hadn’t just bought all those boxed sets or watched so many “free” downloads from the networks’ websites. The good news is I’ll be getting a lot of reading done while the strike is on. Pay the writers - and you can sign the petition here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/WGA/petition.html
November 12th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
ABC has just released the “Lost” webisodes [http://tinyurl.com/2hmbpc] that apparently their writers negotiated pay for. [http://tinyurl.com/2hn8sb]
ABC scrambling to keep viewers happy during the strike?