Man the Geek Barricades: Hollywood’s Digital Strike
by Kara Swisher
Posted on November 1, 2007 at 1:26 AM PT
The talks between Hollywood studios and the Writers Guild of America ground to a halt as of last night and a strike could happen anytime, since the contract between them expired at midnight.
The big problem? Digital issues, which are sure to be an increasingly vexing issue for the entertainment industry, as more and more content moves or is even born online.
At issue are low-ball DVD residuals that writers also fear will be replicated in the digital arena, such as Internet downloads. They also want a piece of the online video ad market, which is still in its formative stages.
In a statement, the Writers Guild noted: “Every issue that matters to writers, including Internet reuse, original writing for new media, DVDs and jurisdiction, has been ignored.”
Studios, repped by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, argue that the nascent digital entertainment industry, which so far is paltry in comparison to other distribution methods, needs time to breath before being pummeled by higher costs.
What NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker said the other day, referring in this case to its not-so-lucrative deal with Apple’s iTunes (only $15 million in video revenue in a year), is perhaps apt: “We don’t want to replace the dollars we were making in the analog world with pennies on the digital side.”
Except that might actually be the case for a while until Hollywood figures out a low-cost, high-standard way of producing for the digital medium. Instead, the industry is beset by piracy (which, sad to say, works well) and ever-higher production costs it seems unable to control.
In the new paradigm, one might assume that the creators of content–i.e., the writers–would have more power, as the proliferation of distribution platforms of all kinds continues.
No longer under the stranglehold of clueless and most definitely overpaid studio hacks, oops, executives, one might imagine a future where the creator and the distributor are one and the same.
Well, not yet, as creators still remain largely overpaid minions to the Hollywood machine, held in place by a system that seems sure to fall apart just as soon as a Google of the entertainment industry is created.
That is, a method for paying these creators and also for the production of content that rivals the current and obviously broken way it is now done.
Many years ago, writer Herman Mankiewicz wrote to Ben Hecht about Hollywood: “Millions are to be grabbed out here and your only competition is idiots. Don’t let this get around.”
That moment can’t come too soon for digital Hollywood.
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Comments
Ah, my dear Kara, you left out the most interesting Zucker quote from his interview:
“Apple sold millions of dollars worth of hardware off the back of our content, and made a lot of money,” Zucker said. “They did not want to share in what they were making off the hardware or allow us to adjust pricing.”
Now that’s a situation that resonates with us writers. When someone makes a lot of money off the back of your content and doesn’t want to share with a reasonable and fair formula, well, it stings doesn’t it? We’re with you, Jeff!
Kara, I am a Strike Captain for the WGA, and I encourage all your readers to check out our side of things at United Hollywood, the new blog about our contract fight and why it matters to EVERYONE in the entertainment business. As our contract goes, so go the contracts of all the other guilds and unions. The Teamsters recognize this, and that’s why they’ve chosen to put their own livelihoods on the line to help make this strike as effective and short as possible.
The distribution of entertainment over the Internet is not the future, it’s NOW. If the producers succeed in gutting our right to compensation for digital reuse and delivery, that is income that’s gone forever. And a lot of people’s ability to work will be gone forever. Everyone who hopes to make a living in Hollywood is counting on us to get this right and win a fair contract.
As the writers go, so goes the rest of the town. Again, that blog is United Hollywood.
Posted by John Aboud at November 3rd, 2007 at 12:57 amAnd as for your characterization of content creators as “largely overpaid,” well, if only that were true! That would be great.
In fact, the median earnings of all members of the Writers Guild is only $5,000.
How can that be? About 48% of members do not earn any money from writing in a given year.
Of those writers who do make some money, one quarter earn less than $37,700 a year.
A recent study concluded only 20% of writers already employed would be employed on a TV series for all of the next five years. Another 20% would not be employed at all in the next 5 years.
Overpaid? Nope. This fight is not for the elite writers who are household names. This is for the average writer who just wants to make a living in what is a thriving and growing industry.
Posted by John Aboud at November 3rd, 2007 at 1:10 amJohn,
I appreciate your info. I will incorporate your thoughts in a post I am doing this week.
Posted by Kara Swisher at November 7th, 2007 at 1:52 amBy the way, I did a longer post chastising Zucker for that comment and others, which I posted more fully about here:
http://kara.allthingsd.com/200.....to-lemons/
Posted by Kara Swisher at November 7th, 2007 at 1:55 am