2008 Woodie Awards
Writers strike is justified, impacts every audience
Elizabeth Miller
Issue date: 12/4/07 Section: OpEd Page
Primetime television has come to a screeching halt. Where once the original lines of Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute filled my living room each Thursday, there now is now a gaping, office-sized hole. Where once the late night quips of Conan O'Brien comforted my insomniac study patterns, I now must settle for stale re-runs. As the Writer's Guild of America continues to strike, Americans are reconsidering the impact that writers truly have not only in the entertainment industry, but on their everyday lives.
In honor of the Writer Guild of America (WGA) strike, I considered boycotting this column today, and instead just leave blank space on the page where it usually goes. Perhaps you could realize the hole in your life that The Miami Student columnists usually fill. You don't even know how much you love us writers until we're gone. But then I realized that the influence of my column on your everyday life was probably insignificant anyway, and that my strike against writing would really just make for an ugly page design. So, instead, I'll be climbing onto my soap box.
Here's the story. WGA went on strike Nov. 5 against the Alliance of Motion Picture and T.V. Producers (AMPTP). The strike is about the insufficient royalties that writers are receiving from DVD sales, video iPods, cell phones and other new media that rely on their written work. As of now, writers are receiving a miniscule percentage of royalties from these sales. The percentage of royalties is a predetermined amount that is now outdated in light of the recent boom in non-theater media sales. Basically, writers are getting jipped.
Many professional writers are paid sporadically with freelance writing gigs. A fair wage for non-theater media sales is crucial to get them through periods of low writing demand. The 12,000 members of WGA have undergone both support and criticism for stepping out and demanding their due royalties. Critics believe that Hollywood is showing its spoiled roots again by causing a ruckus over money. Boo hoo, people in Hollywood aren't getting paid enough. Like Hollywood really has the right to qualm about money, the critics say. But the reality is that Hollywood writers aren't raking in the dough. In fact, writers who are striking at Paramount Pictures earn an average of only $60,000 a year. This is a livable wage, no doubt, but they certainly aren't living the Hollywood high lives of their actor/producer colleagues. As the backbone of the entertainment industry, the writers are receiving drastically less compensation for their influence on entertainment.
In honor of the Writer Guild of America (WGA) strike, I considered boycotting this column today, and instead just leave blank space on the page where it usually goes. Perhaps you could realize the hole in your life that The Miami Student columnists usually fill. You don't even know how much you love us writers until we're gone. But then I realized that the influence of my column on your everyday life was probably insignificant anyway, and that my strike against writing would really just make for an ugly page design. So, instead, I'll be climbing onto my soap box.
Here's the story. WGA went on strike Nov. 5 against the Alliance of Motion Picture and T.V. Producers (AMPTP). The strike is about the insufficient royalties that writers are receiving from DVD sales, video iPods, cell phones and other new media that rely on their written work. As of now, writers are receiving a miniscule percentage of royalties from these sales. The percentage of royalties is a predetermined amount that is now outdated in light of the recent boom in non-theater media sales. Basically, writers are getting jipped.
Many professional writers are paid sporadically with freelance writing gigs. A fair wage for non-theater media sales is crucial to get them through periods of low writing demand. The 12,000 members of WGA have undergone both support and criticism for stepping out and demanding their due royalties. Critics believe that Hollywood is showing its spoiled roots again by causing a ruckus over money. Boo hoo, people in Hollywood aren't getting paid enough. Like Hollywood really has the right to qualm about money, the critics say. But the reality is that Hollywood writers aren't raking in the dough. In fact, writers who are striking at Paramount Pictures earn an average of only $60,000 a year. This is a livable wage, no doubt, but they certainly aren't living the Hollywood high lives of their actor/producer colleagues. As the backbone of the entertainment industry, the writers are receiving drastically less compensation for their influence on entertainment.
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