Gizmodo: writers strike

Apple Giving Two Free Episodes to Season Pass Holders, Courtesy of Writers Strike

matt buchanan — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:30:41 EDT

iTunes Season Pass holders who got hosed by the writers strike when their shows went away are getting a little bit back from Apple. Specifically, every Season Pass holder gets two free episodes worth of store credit, which can be spent on TV shows, music vids or short films. Naturally, if a season didn't finish out—say only 15 of 23 episodes will air, you'll get credit back for the other eight episodes, too. [Macworld]

THE STRIKE IS OVER! TV IS BACK! TV IS BACK!!

Mark Wilson — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 10:37:27 EST

HOORAY! According to Disney's Michael Eisner, the writers' strike is over! We don't know why, and we don't know how. But the man assured us that this whole horrible travesty is finally coming to an end with writers returning to work soon.

Wait, we just remembered something...TV kinda sucked. [CNBC]

Striking Writers Form Online Video Company Visual Artists, I Still Want New "Heroes"

matt buchanan — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:45:54 EST

Led by the writer of Air Bud (that bodes well), a large posse of out-of-work WGAers is looking to launch the online video company, Visual Arists, later this year with over $30 million in funding with Silicon Valley types. Supposedly a bunch of A-listers are on board, which gives small hope that they punch out fare along the lines of name-checked Juno and The Office.

"You don't need to pour a sh-load of money into entertainment to find an audience." But having an audience and being good are not the same thing— YouTube, reality TV and Air Bud have taught us this, if nothing else. [NewTeeVee]

Letterman's Company First to Reach WGA Agreement

Mark Wilson — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 11:19:43 EST

David Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants is—we believe—the first to reach an agreement with the Writers Guild of America for internet royalties. Since The Late Show and The Late Late Show are owned, not by CBS but Letterman's own company, the show was able to circumvent CBS negotiations altogether and settle with the WGA without setting major broadcast-wide precedents.

So when all these talk-format entertainment shows come back (Leno, Jon Stewart, etc), Letterman will have a competitive advantage that we can't help but to sympathize with at least a little: he will have his full staff of writers behind him.

Of course, CBS isn't too happy about the agreement...

Because while CBS doesn't own The Late Show, they do license rights for electronic distribution. So it's hard to imagine how the undisclosed agreement between Worldwide Pants and the WGA accounts for this arrangement. CBS clarified that they will not comply with third party agreements.

But for now, it's a small, needed victory for the WGA and, of course, your hungry, hungry television sets (which are in no way affiliated with the domestic breed of hippos).

Mr. Letterman, we'll be tuning in. [nyt]

The Daily Show and Colbert Report Return Jan. 7, Sans Striking Writers

matt buchanan — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:00:20 EST

Like late-night white knights, Jon Stewart and Colbert are returning to save us from rerun/reality TV/web purgatory on Jan. 7—the news has been the exact same for weeks, right? But they won't have an army of writers to make sure every word out of their mouth kills, so we'll see just how much funny naturally spills out of their brains. I have faith, do you? [TechCrunch]

Producers Say the Strike Has Cost Writers $106 Million...and Counting

matt buchanan — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:20:34 EST

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has a fun new flash widget on their site with a running tally of how much income the writers have dropped into a black hole since the strike started. Right now, it's at about $106 million. Kind of a dick move if you ask us, since producers trying to screw writers is why they're at impasse. Besides, writers stand to lose a lot more if they let producers slime their way out of fair compensation deals for new media and internet distribution. Hey writers! If you need some cash in the meantime and don't have Aflac, talk to us. [AMPTP]

Your Writers Strike TV Guide

Mark Wilson — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 09:48:29 EST

With the WGA writers strike in full swing, we're sure that some families are going hungry. And the subsequent complete staff layoffs are a miserable by-product of corporate greed. But the biggest losers? Those without ~~health insurance~~ anything to watch on their 50-inch flatscreen televisions...those who could hear a pin drop over the silence of their surround sound. Here's a rundown of how many of our favorite shows are left (along with several that are dead in the water):

Zero Episodes Left
Heroes
The Family Guy
The Office

1 Episode Left
Chuck
Pushing Daisies

3 Episodes Left
CSI
House
Journeyman

4 Episodes Left
30 Rock

7 Episodes Left
Boston Legal

10 Episodes Remain
Battlestar Galactica (SUHWEET!). Episode 11 was planned to be a Ronald D. Moore- directed pile of awesome (NOOOO!).

Unlimited Episodes Left
Dancing With The Stars - TACKY, they are continuing without writers. Because of BBC connection maybe?

For a complete list of dying television, hit this link: [brentevans via zatz]

$250 Flat Fee Producers Offer Writers Guild for Internet Distribution Is Way Lame, Still Screws Writers

Matt Buchanan — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:30:05 EST

The Writers Guild strike languishes on: Heroes ends for the year next week. In a bid to end our suffering, the producers' trade group has made a "groundbreaking" offer to the Writers Guild, grandiosely titled the "New Economic Partnership." The deal's a mind-blowing less-than $250 flat fee for an hour-long show to be re-broadcast on the internet for up to a year. If you recall, internet distribution's sort of the sticking point and writers asked for 2.5 percent of the "distributors' gross revenue." Let us count the ways writers get screwed by the producers' Scrooge-y offer.

Ars points out that right now writers pull about four to six cents a DVD, so a two-million seller will bring them between $80,000 and $120,000 on a title raking in millions for the studio. Even though it's a less-than-stellar deal, at least it scales. The $250 flat internet re-distribution payment and fixed $1300 for 15 minutes of internet-only content doesn't, which is a problem in a couple of ways.

For one, these contracts are in place for a long time—when the initial deal regarding DVD sales were made, DVD wasn't very big. In today's climate, they're studios' biggest cash cows, and writers get the short end of the stick. This deal would lock them into the same rate for internet distribution and content, no matter how big new media gets, and it's obviously going to be huge, so they're standing to get screwed even harder here.

On a smaller scale, it means no matter how many clicks—and therefore ad dollars—a video drew, writers would still get the same tiny compensation. The guild's going over this "proposal" until Tuesday, when talks resume, but our feeling is that you better have a hard love for reruns, reality TV or YouTube. [Ars Technica]