Showing posts with label Writers' Strike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writers' Strike. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The comedy and tragedy of [NOT] writing in Hollywood
The 'Sam and Jim go to Hollywood' show expounds on the plight of the writers' strike in show #35.Show #35: WGA On Strike!
The deadline passed. Now we're on the picket lines. The latest updates, and...
why you shouldn't even think about scab work.
Is this your first time listening to Sam and Jim? After listening to their latest show, I encourage that you go to the archives and listen to the backstory shows--volume 1, 2 and 3 in the "how we got here" series. I'm sure you'll be hooked:)
Backstory volume 1: From Minnesota to L.A.
The first of 3 podcasts about Sam and Jim giving up their old lives to become writers in Hollywood.
In this episode, Sam and Jim decide to try writing, even though they have it pretty good in Minnesota. Then they got a call...
Backstory volume 2: The wonderful world of Disney
In this, the second of 3 podcasts, Sam and Jim move to LA. And while having a job on the Disney studio lot is pretty cool, it ain't easy starting all over again.
Backstory volume 3: What, we can get paid for this?
This is the last episode in the Sam and Jim "how we got here" series 1, 2 and 3.
Sam and Jim finally sell a script. Then another. And another...
Let the journey begin.
If you enjoy the Sam and Jim go to Hollywood show, subscribe to the podcast at http://www.samandjimgotohollywood.com/
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Monday, November 5, 2007
Robert Reich and the Writers' Strike
From Robert Reich's Blog
The Writer's Strike and Chinese Pirates
I was supposed to appear on the Daily Show tomorrow night. But I won't, because the Daily Show will be doing reruns tomorrow night. That’s because the show’s writers have gone on strike. This may look like the kind of strike that used to cripple American industry years ago when big labor was really big. But look more closely and you find an issue more closely related to Chinese pirating of American movies and CDs. You see, entertainment is coming to be a larger and larger part of what skilled and creative Americans do for a living. Watch the credits at the end of movies and try counting the names. Add in all the people involved in producing musical recordings, animated computer games, books, magazines, advertising. And the ever expanding numbers doing all this and more on the Internet – through streaming media, webisodes, downloads.Entertainment is also becoming an even larger portion of America’s exports. Depending on how broadly you define it, about 12 to 15 percent of what we sell to the rest of the world. In short, entertainment is among our most valuable properties. But it’s intangible, weightless. Easily expressed in digits, it can be sent anywhere around the world in a second. And the cost of reproducing it is close to zero. So who’s entitled to the money that comes from the sale of creative, digitized products? That’s what we’re trying to negotiate with the Chinese and developing nations around the world.That’s also what the writers for movies and television are trying to negotiate. They want more of the revenues from sales of DVDs, webisodes, and other forms their creations now take – forms they couldn’t possibly have anticipated years ago when their contracts were last negotiated. Whether the clash is with the writers’ union or the Chinese, the underlying issue is the most basic of capitalism: Who owns what? And in this new digital age, the answer has to be negotiated anew.
The Writer's Strike and Chinese Pirates
I was supposed to appear on the Daily Show tomorrow night. But I won't, because the Daily Show will be doing reruns tomorrow night. That’s because the show’s writers have gone on strike. This may look like the kind of strike that used to cripple American industry years ago when big labor was really big. But look more closely and you find an issue more closely related to Chinese pirating of American movies and CDs. You see, entertainment is coming to be a larger and larger part of what skilled and creative Americans do for a living. Watch the credits at the end of movies and try counting the names. Add in all the people involved in producing musical recordings, animated computer games, books, magazines, advertising. And the ever expanding numbers doing all this and more on the Internet – through streaming media, webisodes, downloads.Entertainment is also becoming an even larger portion of America’s exports. Depending on how broadly you define it, about 12 to 15 percent of what we sell to the rest of the world. In short, entertainment is among our most valuable properties. But it’s intangible, weightless. Easily expressed in digits, it can be sent anywhere around the world in a second. And the cost of reproducing it is close to zero. So who’s entitled to the money that comes from the sale of creative, digitized products? That’s what we’re trying to negotiate with the Chinese and developing nations around the world.That’s also what the writers for movies and television are trying to negotiate. They want more of the revenues from sales of DVDs, webisodes, and other forms their creations now take – forms they couldn’t possibly have anticipated years ago when their contracts were last negotiated. Whether the clash is with the writers’ union or the Chinese, the underlying issue is the most basic of capitalism: Who owns what? And in this new digital age, the answer has to be negotiated anew.
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