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Other than that, great post.
Does this mean Jon doesn't write his own material?
Deeply sorry if this FPP disappointed anyone. Why bother making FPPs if there's a chance you'll link to a free-registration newspaper, or to a guy who doesn't have enough bandwidth. Guess I'll just switch to making puns in old posts about how MoFi's dying.
Awww.
*tickles HawthorneWingo*
Why does mac.com have bandwidth issues? For that matter, why is a WGA article on mac.com?
Anyway, since the strike started I have no reason to stay up late and I get lots of sleep.
It's an individual person's site. Apple provides webhosting for OSX users.
It's okay, HW, not all FPPs can be of the same caliber as "Your Pin Number Revealed".
No, devaluing the Disney name through innumerable and inane direct to DVD sequels to timeless films was "stupid".
Nickdanger is just unhappy because he was turned down for a job animating "Aladdin VI: The Aladdining."
The Artful Writer; A blog by a professional TV & film writer, with info & opinions on the strike.
Here is the video on YouTube, you fucking ingrates. As far as dealing with the horrors of free registration to the LA Times (the 4th largest newspaper in the U.S.), I'll leave that to you.
Interestingly, the soundtrack to the video is different in this version; used to be the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."
Penny Arcade comments. On the writer's strike, not on how HW tewtally linked to something that he knew would go down, thus whipping the thread into a delicate froth of host errors.
HawthorneWingo, I salute your evil genius!
Watch yourself, Cheese, or else squidranch is gonna rip out your Adam's apple.
Hi squid! jk!
You are not authorized to read this comment.
I miss Stewart and Colbert already.
What's bugging me is that the episode description writers for the onscreen guide I have are apparently also on fucking strike.
While the shows are in reruns, I'm getting smartass descriptions like, "Jay Leno interviews actors, musicians, and other celebrities." YEAH THANKS. Is it too much to ask that they tell me which rerun it is?
(ALSO, is it too much to ask that the production companies pay their writers fairly? Apparently. PONY UP, SLIME-SUCKING GREED MONSTERS. YOU DON'T NEED ANOTHER BENTLEY.)
I'm really happy that I A)have a backed-up DVR full of things I haven't had time to watch, and B)watch a lot of non-new and/or non-English-language stuff. Content on AZN isn't affected by a Hollywood writer's strike, and Korean romantic dramedies fill in nicely for some of the stuff I watch.
Netflix is going to make a killing from this strike, I bet.
Nothing against the writers, but I'm hoping a lengthy strike means more prime-time movies and sports instead of sitcom drivel.
... no, it means incessant sitcom reruns. Or at least I believe it did last time around.
Ah, but last time around, we weren't living in the era of the Reality Show.
We'll be drowning in 'em.
Reruns, yes. I don't know why, but I was actually surprised to see that reality shows have writers too. Call me naive.
Lara is correct. You see, a sitcom rerun on network TV means they need to pay actors and writers residuals. So it'll be more reality and, for Fox, plenty of animation.
Reality and animation are not covered by WGA. Neither is professional wrestling. (-:
Mind you, the networks will be happy to have all the sitcoms, etc. on rerun on the Internet, because that does not involve residuals.
Here is a nice explanation of why writers get residuals and why they're different from royalties. John August is a generally even-keeled guy--and I'm glad he outlined the very important issue of authorship. Not sure if squidranch or jacobw would like to chime in as well.
...I was actually surprised to see that reality shows have writers too. Call me naive.
A nifty, quick little read exposes just how much contrivance there is in reality tv, even if the book itself is fiction.
Animation isn't covered by WGA? A televised comedy or drama that they wrote a script for, and it ain't covered? Man, you think that wouldn't have even been an issue.
Animation isn't covered by WGA?
Nope...and now you can begin to understand some of the studios' attitudes.
"Say, I can pay a writer once and then never again or I can be forced to keep on paying them. What will it take to rid ourselves of this union and that pesky 'authorship' thing? I mean, look at Lion King! Imagine if we had had to pay that screenwriter for all the DVDs we sold to say nothing of re-purposing the work for the Broadway show..."
Why We Strike:
We are artists. We may not dress all cool like artists, or get chicks like artists, and none of us are starving, quite obviously, but Hollywood screenwriters are certainly artists, perhaps even artistes, and we suffer just the same. Not in a showy, oh-I-live-in-a-tenement-and-turn-tricks-to-buy-paint-and-have-this-special-tuberculosis-only-artists-get kind of way. We suffer as we slave over our screenplays alone, staring into blank laptops, often blinded by pool glare.
> Not in a showy, oh-I-live-in-a-tenement-and-turn-tricks-to-buy-paint-and-have-this-special-tuberculosis-only-artists-get kind of way.
I'd have more time for them if they could make their point without slagging off our kitfisto.
If the author of that piece was a WGA writer artist, they should stay on strike indefinitely. That was painful in its failed attempts to be funny.
btw, I have found out, just to be inconsistent, some animation, like the Simpsons, is covered by WGA--and a local of IATSE, that's right, the stage technicians, is for animation writers, but not really. Boy, the rabbit hole goes deep.
Not sure if squidranch or jacobw would like to chime in as well.
You rang?
The animation issue is really complicated and confusing. In a nutshell:
Some shows (like network sitcoms) can ONLY be written by WGA members, because the WGA was able to negotiate an all-or-nothing contract with the networks. Other shows (like reality shows) are never covered by the WGA, because the networks insist they don't actually have writers(*). Still other shows--like primetime animated shows, or talk shows on basic cable--are only covered by the WGA if the writers band together and vote to join the WGA.
So what determines whether an individual area is WGA-always, WGA-sometimes, or WGA-never? As far as I can tell, it's mostly a series of historical accidents, depending on who had the most bargaining strength at various times.
(*)Regarding writers on reality shows--the networks are basically lying about this. Any reality show that has a host or a narrator has somebody writing the lines. And many other "reality" shows have people feeding lines to the the contestants. Pretty much everybody would agree that this is writing.
Where it gets greyer is: every reality show also has people who go through hundreds of hours of footage, and choose which scenes to put together in which order in order to tell a half-hour or hour-long story. This is much like writing--and, indeed, the people who do it frequently are out-of-work writers. But whether or not it is [i]enough[/i] like writing to be covered by the WGA is the subject of some debate. In any case, it's a somewhat moot point for this strike--the issue here is really residuals.
I'm not sure how that works, since they're both members of the WGA themselves, and aren't allowed to write their own material. I guess it means all-interviews...
OK, in general I'm getting a bit tired of the various protest videos, but I have to say I enjpyed this one.
"Murder, Unscripted:" a police procedural without writers, features actors from the Law & Order franchise. 'Nuff said. (via Youtube)
writerartist, they should stay on strike indefinitely. That was painful in its failed attempts to be funny.