WGA strike costs CA $2.1 billion
June 6, 2008
The WGA strike will cost the California economy a projected 37,700 jobs and $2.1 billion in lost output through the end of 2008, according to a report from the Milken Institute.
The report, released Thursday, also asserts that the 100-day work stoppage helped tip the state into recession earlier this year. The researchers said the strike’s impact will be less noticeable next year unless the Screen Actors Guild strikes — in which case the impact will intensify and the recovery will be delayed by another year. - From Variety
WGA Strike responsible for this recession? Of course! Those nerds, worse than Bush….
March 25, 2008
The wave of euphoria that swept over Hollywood following the end of the WGA strike has been replaced by a whole new set of emotions: anxiety, depression, fear, nervousness — and anger. One month after scribes put down their pickets, a March malaise has set in, with folks in town wondering when — or if — things will get back to “normal.” There are significantly fewer TV pilots, budgets for series are being cut back, feature films are being put on hold in fear of a SAG walkout, and the shifts in the TV and film skeds have meant either accelerated workloads or prolonged unemployment. And all this is occurring as everyone is feeling the pinch of an overall economy that’s in or heading into recession.
Via Variety
Harlan Ellison on the Writers Strike Settlement
February 15, 2008
Read writer Harlan Ellison’s open letter after the jump…
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WRITERS STRIKE OVER!
February 13, 2008
Oh wait, why do I think the writers got the goatse from the moguls?
WGA Strike — Was it worth it?
February 11, 2008
A TV writer, for example, will earn about $1,400-$1,600 a year for each streamed episode on which he is the credited writer — while some showrunners may have lost as much as six figures from unproduced episodes. Screenwriters will probably earn less from this new income source, as Web streaming of movies is not nearly as ubiquitous as streaming of TV programs. Meanwhile, pic scribes have lost out on assignments and on rewrite and polish deals, and they will face the intangible costs of having lost the momentum a project may have had before the strike — momentum that may or may not be regained.
On the TV side, a showrunner who was slated to make around $40,000 per episode on a 22-episode order for the 2007-08 season that has been downscaled to 12-15 segs is out at least $280,000. The deal the WGA cut for ad-supported Web streaming of series calls for a scribe to earn about $1,400-$1,600 a year for each seg on which she is the credited writer, and that’s even after the compensation formula switches to a percentage of distributor’s gross in the third year of the deal.
Via Variety
Showrunners back to work Monday
February 10, 2008
For the first time in more than three months, TV showrunners are heading back to the office on Monday, with the rest of the scribe tribe due back Wednesday.
Via Variety
Don’t Cry For Me, Hollywood
February 10, 2008
The writers strike that began Nov. 5 wrung $2 billion from the local economy, as much as four times more than the 1988 strike that lasted six weeks longer.
Most of the pain, experts say, was felt by independent contractors, small-business owners and others that have courted TV production crews as favored customers.
The Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. estimates that while $733 million in production spending has been lost, another $1.3 billion came from the pockets of the caterers, florists, valets, hotel operators, restaurant workers, costume-house employees and others.
Paramount creates mobile division, Prolly Will Pay Nothing to Writers
February 10, 2008
It is all promotion, right? F*cking moguls.
Paramount is creating a Mobile Entertainment division, with a goal of ramping up original and marketing content on mobile devices.
The unit will fall under Paramount’s digital entertainment division, led by president Thomas Lesinski, and will be headed by Sandi Isaacs, senior vp mobile and interactive.
Three executives focused on international markets will report to Isaacs. Madeline Herdrich is vp mobile in North America; Pradeep Mittur is vp mobile for Asia Pacific; and Giovanni Maruca is the director of mobile for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“Our strategy, really from day one, is to set up a global infrastructure to be able to maximize distribution reach and to understand all of the advancements going on in various countries around the world,” Isaacs said Friday.
Guild members have 48 hours to vote whether to end strike immediately.
February 10, 2008
After nearly three months and approximately $1.9 billion in losses, the writers’ strike that has ground Hollywood development to a halt is nearing a resolution, just in time to salvage a true Oscar ceremony February 24.
The Writers Guild of America’s leaders have approved a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and recommended to their constituents that the picketing stop. As of Sunday afternoon (February 10), members of the Guild have 48 hours to vote whether to immediately end the strike. If all goes accordingly, thousands of striking writers could be back to work on TV shows and movies as early as Wednesday.
Via MTV
Juno and No Country take top honors with WGA
February 10, 2008
Nothing preempts Hollywood’s awards season — not even a crippling writers strike.On the same day the West Coast and East Coast branches of the Writers Guild of America gathered to discuss an end to the three-month work stoppage, the union took a break to announce the winners of its top writing awards. The West Coast had canceled its traditional awards season ceremony — complete with red carpet and celebrities — because of the strike, but the East Coast branch held an informal gathering in New York City on Saturday.
The critics’ darling “Juno” won for best original screenplay, and the gritty contemporary Western “No Country for Old Men” took top honors for best adapted screenplay.
It continues to be a Cinderella year for Diablo Cody, the 29-year-old former stripper who penned “Juno,” a coming-of-age film about a pregnant teen. And Joel and Ethan Coen continue to look like front-runners for the Oscar with their “No Country” screenplay, based on Cormac McCarthy’s acclaimed novel. The brothers have already won a Golden Globe as well as the Director’s Guild of America award for their work.
Via LA Times
Writers Guild board approves tentative contract?
February 10, 2008
No body knows anything….
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