WGA strike taking its toll

[MarkG]

South Park Rocks!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Dis
and tv writing isn't that bad. People act like all new shows suck. I think you guys fail to realize the old days had some pretty crappy shows. Wasn't there some old show called my mom the car? or something like that.

Today we have well written shows such as the office, scrubs, frasier, arrested development, etc. 2 are off the air, but are fairly recent. We have some pretty good drama shows as well.

The problem is with the number of networks and channels we have now days, there are a multitude of crappy shows. Everyone and their mother thinks they can write a sitcom.

Exactly. It's like the new music sucks argument. Everyone always remembers the best of the best from the past; the stuff that stuck around because it passed the test of time. They fail to realize what utter crap there was as well.

[snoopy369]

I still can't get over $20,000 per rerun... $20,000!!! Write a half dozen star trek episodes and live like a king forever after...

[Zoid]

Looks like this won't be resolved some time soon. The two sides are still miles apart...

As talks between the scribes and the studios resumed on Tuesday, fear is mounting in the biz that the sides are running out of time -- and still far apart.

Negotiations resumed Tuesday ayem at an undisclosed location in Los Angeles following a four-day break, with the Writers Guild of America presenting a counteroffer to last week's proposal by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

The WGA's proposal included "tiered" compensation -- based on how many times a program is viewed -- for Internet streaming of TV dramas in addition to the fixed annual $250 residual offered last week by the AMPTP.

By its own admission, in a lengthy analysis of the AMPTP offer that the WGA distributed to its 12,000 members midday Tuesday, the sides remain nearly $120 million apart on economic terms.

In the words of one industry vet who has been plugged into the negotiations, the sides are "not even speaking the same language" in their volleys on complex issues like new media residuals and guild jurisdiction for original material produced for the Internet.

There was no official word from either side as of Tuesday evening, but signs continued to emerge that the two sides aren't making much progress. In the WGA's statement Tuesday, guild insisted that the AMPTP's math is deeply flawed in its proposal that claims to offer the guild a $130 million increase in residual payments over three years.

Such disagreements will likely try the patience of CEOs of AMPTP's congloms and may push them to make a "last, best, final" offer to the WGA within the next week or two. And if the WGA rejects that deal, the AMPTP would likely launch negotiations shortly thereafter with the Directors Guild of America.

The accusation that the AMPTP's cooking the numbers was contained in a report to WGA members released Tuesday by negotiating committee chief John Bowman. The report, described as taking a "comprehensive" look at the WGA and AMPTP proposals, concluded that the AMPTP's proposed increase to scribes is actually $32 million -- not $130 million .

Still, Bowman struck a mildly conciliatory tone in his report to the scribe tribe.

"So while we don't see how their proposal adds up to anywhere near $130 million, we greet their public willingness to make such an offer with real interest," he said. "If the AMPTP is serious about this figure, the WGA is confident we are closer to a deal than anyone has suggested, and we are hopeful that the companies will respond positively to our proposal, which is a serious, reasonable, and affordable attempt to bridge the gap between us."

The AMPTP offered no immediate response although one exec said company toppers are frustrated over the continued inability to find common ground. And key areas of disagreement remain on non-economic issues such as the WGA's demand for jurisdiction over original programming for the Internet, as companies have offered only to grant jurisdiction to derivative programming.

"We are not even speaking the same language," the exec said.

The WGA's report also calculated that the companies would have to pony up an additional $151 million hike over three years if they agreed to the guild proposal. The guild costs break down to $33 million in the first year, $50 million in the second year and $68 million in the third year -- a "modest" 3.9% annual increase -- with the top gains coming in Internet re-use ($88 million) and minimum increases ($29 million).

The WGA also noted that since 2000, entertainment segment revenue for employers has grown from $63 billion to $95 billion for an annual growth rate of 7%.

The report also warned that the AMPTP's streaming proposal won't work in its current guise.

"If you factor in their regressive proposal on "promotional use" (streaming TV shows and feature films in their entirety for free) writers could potentially lose $100 million in income over the course of this contract," the missive said. "So we call on the AMPTP to provide specifics on how this 'New Economic Partnership' would truly benefit writers."

With the strike about to enter its second month, picketing continued at all major lots Tuesday in Los Angeles with temps reaching into the 80s. And in New York, where temps were around freezing with snow squalls, almost 300 strikers braved the cold to picket in front of News Corp.'s HQ.

Among those on the picket line in Gotham: Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, Richard Belzer, Seth Meyers, Warren Leight, and members of the writing staffs of late night shows including "Saturday Night Live," "Late Show with David Letterman," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report."

Terry George, screenwriter and a WGA Eest rep on the negotiating committee, offered an update on the negotiations at the rally.

Source: Varitey.com

[Zoid]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I still can't get over $20,000 per rerun... $20,000!!! Write a half dozen star trek episodes and live like a king forever after...

It can't be $20 000 per episode. It must be for the entire show (all 7 seasons) or something... Otherwise noone would afford to show it...

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


Exactly. It's like the new music sucks argument. Everyone always remembers the best of the best from the past; the stuff that stuck around because it passed the test of time. They fail to realize what utter crap there was as well.

You must have missed my post. TV has always been utter crap.

[Dis]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


Exactly. It's like the new music sucks argument. Everyone always remembers the best of the best from the past; the stuff that stuck around because it passed the test of time. They fail to realize what utter crap there was as well.

actually new music does suck.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I still can't get over $20,000 per rerun... $20,000!!!

Link?

[snoopy369]

It was in this post:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?postid=5128950#post5128950

It's indeed not clear what 20,000 means (per show, per rerun, per episode rerun over the course of a year, etc.) but the way I first read it was 20,000 per time reran... which is admittedly rather silly, but even 20,000 per year reran is rather large... the comparison to $250 per streaming made me think that way though (or will it be $250 per year streamed, which is silly also).

I am curious how much money the networks make from reruns, however. If they make $80,000 from a rerun or something like that, it's not quite as silly (though it's silly to strike for this tiny amount from online streaming if reruns get you that much!).

[Zoid]

In the article quoted above the WGA calculate that their members might lose $100 million dollars with the latest proposal from AMPTP... That is a lot of money... Consider also that since 2000, entertainment segment revenue for employers has grown from $63 billion to $95 billion for an annual growth rate of 7%. Not all of that is reruns, but it's a big part of it...

[snoopy369]

'Lose' is a relative term, and used quite incorrectly. He suggests that the writers would stand to gain $100m as opposed to what the AMPTP will offer, not that $100m will leave their pockets. They're still making $30m more than they are now in that contract (and the studio number is $130m, so I imagine the real number is in between).

That's a standard negotiating tactic, to act as if your proposal is the SQ and any smaller proposal is a 'loss' rather than a 'failure to gain'...

[Zoid]

Yeah, 'lose' is the wrong word...

[snoopy369]

Frankly I think the wga is using very poor publicity techniques on these things... "We want $150m over three years" sounds a lot like A-Rod asking for the same, which as we all know generates **** in public sympathy.

I suspect if they continued to focus on the studios paying them little to nothing for online stuff, but also made it clear how much this was per person instead of aggregate, they'd be better off... unless the per person numbers are problematic of course (Say, if the senior people were making off like fat cows at the expense of the young guns... nah, unions never work that way ... )

[Zoid]

Well, they still have a majority of the public on their side. Which is why the AMPTP's not bringing in the big guns IMO. It's hard to union bust when they've got the sympathy of the nation...

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by snoopy369
... (Say, if the senior people were making off like fat cows at the expense of the young guns... nah, unions never work that way ... )

There's no seniority in the WGA. The biggest compensation packages go to the "hottest" writers, who tend to be young. The union contracts deal more with minimum compensation, i.e. "working for scale."