(no subject)

[dewinged]

*throws up his hand*

Oh, it fucking figures. We get the writer's strike. You know, the ones that we had articles all over the new for months beforehand with writers saying "Oh, we're going to strike" and little to no information about what they were doing to, you know, stop it from happening. No one came out and said "Holy crap, remember last time this happened? We need to fix this soon!" but were all pretty much saying "La la la I can haz pick3t linz plz?"

So, as someone who was around for and remembers the last writers strike...and the fact that there's actually shows on I'm watching on TV this season, I'm pretty much screwed over. But of course, all I see are things in support of the writer's strike. And, naturally, nothing about what they're doing to stop it.

I've even seen 'I support the strike!' icons.

And I've been in enough situations in the last week that the whole 'Be patient, Kyle' and 'Accept what others are doing no matter how fucked-over you feel, Kyle' stance Does. Not. Wash. I've had enough of being the one to cave, to give in, to accept, when so little of the same is ever given to me.

Naturally, I don't support the strike. I want it over and done with, so we can get back to normal. The last time, it was really annoying. It still is.

Comments

[shinyandnat.livejournal.com]

Ok, sure. The writer's strike is a big conspiracy to piss you off.

Have you done your own research into the strike? Honestly? Because I've just spent about 10 minutes doing some reading on the WGA (http://www.wga.org) and AMPTP (http://www.amptp.org) websites and learnt more about what is going on than I have from the few news sites I've tried to read. BOTH websites have 'Negotiation Timelines' explaining what's been going on, and negotiations were still happening right up to the 31st. So maybe before you get on your high horse and assume things about the way the negotiations are/were going, you should actually find out.

[sanspantalons.livejournal.com]

But of course, all I see are things in support of the writer's strike. And, naturally, nothing about what they're doing to stop it.

Well, it's a strike. Being in support of it does stop it. The only thing that can stop this strike is the writer's demands (which, last I checked, was a raise of four cents) being met. Throwing as much support as possible behind the writers in effect serves to shorten the strike, because it shows that the public, who are losing out on their programming, are behind the writers and don't find their demands to be unreasonable.

The strike does suck, yes. But the fault doesn't lie with the strikers. And the best thing to do at this point is to support the strike.

[fobok.livejournal.com]

The producers *aren't* doing anything to stop it, as you can see here: http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/11/chief_negotiator_writer_talks.php

It seems the producers want the strike. They want it, and they're going to let it go on a while, to try to bully the writers into capitulating. Then they'll have precedent when the actors and directors come after the same issue come June.

And the key issue isn't a raise. They dropped the raise on DVD sales from the offer. It's being paid period for net broadcasts and downloads. The networks are expected to make 46 billion dollars in the next few years on internet broadcasts/downloads alone, and the writers (and actors, and directors) don't get paid anything of that. That even goes for webisodes, like the Office and Battlestar Galactica has. Actors, directors, and writers don't get any money for their work making those.

Given the amount of work that goes into writing, they should at least get a small cut, shouldn't they?

[helvetian.livejournal.com]

I'd be more annoyed if they were asking for lots of unreasonable things. From what I can tell, they really aren't. For me, it's a few hours of entertainment a week. For them, it's their livelihood. I can find other entertainment for a while. Netflix'ing older series I've missed can keep me in fresh material for a long time. It's inconvenient, sure. In the end, though, it's just TV. Great entertainment, sure, but still not *that* important. Maybe some of the general public will get so bored they'll open a book, or spend more time playing games with their families or friends.

[gamerguy.livejournal.com]

Go read the links I had in my blog entry about the Writer's Strike. The upshot of this is that producers are denying writers royalties on DVD sales so, yes, even though I'm watching a record five shows on TV now, I support it. These people work their ass off creating these shows - indeed are the primary creators of the shows - but they get no money at all from future DVD sales. The writers on Heroes - they don't get jack shit right now from the Season One DVDs. The producers do, though. The actors do. The directors do. The writers - already the least paid tier of those mentioned - get shit.

DVD sales have gone through the roof to a degree that no-one really predicted. I have seen people in the industry say that theater releases are really now just big splashy advertisements for the DVD release, which is where the big, big money is at. Right now, writers's get a pittance from that, if anything.

[fobok.livejournal.com]

They get 4 cents per DVD, flat rate. If they're charging $28, or $14, it's still 4 cents. I'm hoping they put the raise for that back on the table, but they took it off in last-minute negotiations. The *big* issue is the net.

[gamerguy.livejournal.com]

Here is an even better explanation, from the same source.
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_11_05.html#014307