Writer's Strike

I have been asked quite often about my opinions on the writer' strike, so I thought I would share them here. I don't want to get on my major soapbox, so I will try to keep it short-

First of all, I totally agree with the writers.

To keep this as simple as possible, there are 2 major points in the negotiations that are holding them up- "New Media Rights"- this is for Internet downloads and on things such as iTunes, and secondly, amount of money earned from DVD sales.

The studios are saying that there is absolutely no money yet for full downloads on the Internet and iTunes. Bullcrap! When you pay the $1.99 to download it from iTunes, what is that for? Shipping and handling as Jon Stewart put it? Doubtful. It's going to someone's pockets, but not the writer's. When you go and download it from the network's website, whether it's free or not, have you noticed that Coke or Chevy have ads all over the place? Does the network place those ads for free? Doubtful! Where does that money go?
The other problem with "New Media" is that writers are asked to write material for it all the time, whether it is as blogs as a specific charcater from the show, or 30 second web-isodes. The writers are asked to do that for promotion and are not paid for it. If the writers don't get paid for something, it's called promotion. If the studios don't get paid, it's called piracy.
Then, DVD sales. Writers get paid 4 cents for each DVD sold. They are asking for 8 cents. I think I can safely say that every time you purchase a DVD that has been "written", you purchase it, in some way, because of the writer. Imagine it, you are in the store and you pick up a DVD. You look at the cover, flip it over, read the back, and put it in your basket. If you found the plot synopsis interesting, that's the writer's plot. If you buy it just for Seagal or Alba (and let's face it, you're not buying it for their acting talent), they signed it because there was a script for them to be attached to. Spielberg will only direct if he has a script he likes. The reason that the caterer got paid on that film is because there was a script that all of the crew has come together on. I think the writers deserve 8 cents out of every DVD for that.

I will admit that the fact that, after tomorrow, I have no new episodes of Chuck this year and only 3 new episodes of House left, hurts. I love spending time each week with these characters, but I do feel it is for the greater good of television and movies.