Having skill and be willing to work as a scab are two different things.
Apologies for coming off that way. I suppose I lumped my reply directed towards you in with my feelings towards the strike in a way that, upon reflection, was a poor choice of words and should have been omitted entirely, as how the WGA feels about viewers doesn’t affect my opinion of their strike in the slightest.
SORRY MUCH.
Every single person who would be willing to take a job as a scriptwriter just so happens to be on the WGA’s side? That seems pretty unlikely to me.
Ok. Sorry to be so bitchy. I was just shocked that someone would take my posts and use them to tar and feather the WGA, when for all I know every single member of the WGA is desperately worried about public opinion. I have no idea what they think. The only WGA member I even “know” is Elenfair (only from her posts), and for all I know she probably wishes I’d shut the fuck up.
I am interested in knowing how anti-union people think the writers are going to get paid for their work on Internet material. The production companies are against paying them a thin dime for Internet work because it’s an “unproven medium.” Just not write for the internet? And then get shitcanned for not being willing to write for free?
I swear, y’all are yelling at the people who make them new-fangled motor cars because they’re putting all the poor buggy whip manufacturers out of business.
Anti-Union folks don’t care about anybody getting paid. They’re quite happy to watch Reality TV & hope another union is broken…
What “internet work” do they do? My understanding is that they somehow think they deserve to get paid for clips or promotional material that gets pllayed on the interenet. I basically don’t care if they don’t get paid for that. Not my problem and it’s highly questionable whether they deserve it anyway.
And, yeah, they have the choice of just not writing for the internet. If they get fired, that’s fine with me. It sounds like Elenfair is admitting this is just a hobby for most of them anyway, not something they can really make a living at. They should be happy just to get their stuff on the air. I certainly can’t support their position that extorting a few extra dollars for their hobby is more important than hundreds of other people’s livelihoods. It’s not like we’re talking about factory workers trying to feed their families. It doesn’t bother me if some crap writer for ER has to get a real job. I find myself really put off by the WGA’s self-righteous assumptions that everyone should just agree that they’re victims and that they deserve whatever they want or that the studios weren’t offering them their “fair share.”
I’d like to see THIS union get broken. I can’t see any reason for it to exist.
THe AMPTP doesn’t want to hire scabs…at least not at this point. Of course we all remember how great the quality of the NFL was when they went to scabs.
But playing in the NFL actually does require a special, elite level of talent. Writing crap for television does not.
That’s what you’re asking of the writers. The primary leverage any employee has is the threat that they’ll simply walk out the door. But you seem to think the writers are in the wrong for doing so.
Suppose you think your boss is underpaying you. But you also know that if you walk the project you’re working on will be cancelled and your two assistants will lose their jobs. How many years would you be willing to suck it down for their sake?
I’d find a different job if I really thought it was so damned important to get paid more.
They want to get paid for PROGRAMMING that airs on the internet. It’s clear that as online distribution continues to expand the studios are going to see a significant cash flow from it. Over the next 10 years it may even replace broadcasting as their primary source of revenue. All the writers are asking for is to get paid the same amount for shows that air on the internet as they do for shows that air on broadcast or cable.
But what about your poor assistants? Don’t you owe it to them to stay on the job no matter what?
Oh yeah, if you think it’s so easy why don’t you give it a try, hotshot.
(I keed, I keed)
What programming gets played on the internet. All I’ve ever seen is replays of the broadcast shows or maybe some deleted scenes. I’m not aware of anything being produced specifically for the internet. Calling that stuff “programming” is kind of a stretch.
I don’t have any assistants.
Seriously, one person quitting a job does not cause layoffs.
Reruns are programming.
Shows being sold on Itunes is programming
Any OnDemand shows being pushed out there is programming.
Why does it matter that it was showed already?
New Media programming is in it’s infancy. In 10 years it is not unfeasible that a majority of programming will be pushed out over the internet. Or in some other not over the airwaves ways. This union is attempting to protect itself from the change in technology, so they are still earning the money they have always earned. And, this will set it up so the other guilds can also continue to earn their share as well. The actors, directors, lighters, gaffers, anyone unionized gets residuals, either directly or indirectly into their health plans or pensions.
pat
It’s not NEW programming. They aren’t writing for the internet. They’re writing for broadcast. They get paid for the broadcast. Transaction over. The internet stuff involves no new work on their part, so why should they get paid for doing nothing?
Because they already get paid for it the first time. as far as I’m concerened, that’s all they’re entitled to, if that.
Why on earth should lighters and gaffers get residuals?