Pay attention to effects of writers’ strike
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By MELISSA OLSON
Friday, November 9, 2007 5:57 PM CST
For the Herald
The film and television industries get involved with national news stories all the time. Big issues are addressed in fictional plotlines. Famous people use their celebrity to spread the word about their various causes.
Half the movies in theaters are advertised as “based on a true story.” Heck, between The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, and Letterman, we have plenty of TV shows that specialize in mocking or dissecting the biggest story of the week.
No, the entertainment industry has never shied away from national news. But right now, strangely enough, the entertainment industry IS the news. In case you haven’t heard yet, the Writers Guild of America is on strike.
It’s been in the works for a little while, and it’s got a lot to do with new media. People still watch television and movies as much as ever, but the way that they’re viewed is changing. Now, we can legally buy and download movies and TV shows on sites like iTunes and Amazon.
We can even send stuff straight to our cell phones, and that technology isn’t going anywhere but forward. But up until now, writers weren’t being paid any extra for all these new airings and availability.
And, while fewer people are actually visiting the theater, DVD rentals and sales continue to climb — in fact, profits for home video are now more than three times the profit of theatrical releases.
But the amount of money that writers receive from DVD rentals and sales hasn’t changed since the last contract renegotiation in 1988, when you had to pay as much as $75 each to buy a videotape.
And, well, all that really made the people who write all our movies and shows kinda mad. For months now, they’ve been negotiating with the people who control the purse strings, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (and yes, if you feel like that’s an entirely awkward name, you’re not alone), for a new contract. Both sides made mistakes and mucked up the process a bit, and now it’s come to a strike.
Strikes happen all the time, but its rare for one strike to affect this many people. And make no mistake — this one has long-reaching arms. If you ever watch TV, or go see movies (and really, why would you be reading this if you don’t?) you will most likely be affected.
Here’s how it will happen, if the strike isn’t resolved soon: first, the talk shows will go. No more new episodes of “The Daily Show,” “Saturday Night Live,” “The Tonight Show,” and so on, effective immediately.
Then, in a couple of months, we’ll run out of new fictional television programs, period. Every single station will become a wasteland of reruns and reality TV (not as much as you’d think, though: a surprisingly large majority of reality shows have writers, too). Even soap operas will cease to air, which is unheard-of for that genre.
A few months after that, movies will begin to suddenly get suspiciously crappy, as the studios release a batch of hastily-thrown-together junk that they managed to just finish before the strike took effect. These will be stretched out as long as possible, but in theory, if the strike still hasn’t been resolved in a couple of years, there won’t be any more new movies at all.
Of course, there’s no way it will come to that. But you have to realize what a big ripple effect we’re facing just by going this far: it’s not just entertainment at risk, but the economy of Southern California.
The last strike, nearly 20 years ago, lost the producers nearly $500 million dollars (in 1988 money), and that was just those businesses. LA and surrounding areas are full of industry professionals, from agents and managers down to the lowliest mom-and-pop catering company.
Specialty businesses that produce a particular type of wig, or the preferred brand of fake cigarettes, have found themselves suddenly out of work this week. And that’s without even mentioning all the hundreds of writers who have closed their laptops and gone to the mattresses.
For once, though, I’m not really taking sides on this. From an outsider’s perspective, I feel that the writers do deserve more money for all the new ways in which their work is now accessed, that’s part of the price of growth.
But on the other hand, I’m not an industry financial analyst, and I have no idea if profits from film and television have increased enough for producers to be able to afford the raises that are being asked for.
The producers are also in a particularly delicate position because they’re setting a precedent: next summer, the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild are also due to renegotiate their contracts. If the people who control the money cave in too much now, there won’t be any left to pay what will surely be a high price then.
So no, I’m actually staying out of this one. But I do think it’s worth pausing and noting that right now, this week, each and every one of us TV and film fans are affected by the decisions of one relatively small group of people.
For the first time in a long time, the entertainment industry itself has stood still, and the next 20 years in film and television will be changed by what goes on in the next weeks or months of this strike.
This week, this moment that we’re standing in, will be discussed and ridiculed and pondered for years to come. So let’s try to look alive.
Melissa Olson was born and raised in Chippewa Falls. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in film and television, and works in Madison for the television program Discover Wisconsin. E-mail comments and questions to Melissa at mfo.usc@gmail.com.
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