Burning Down the House: WGA Talks About to Fall Apart?

[villager]

Source: Below the Line

We’re hearing, on and off record, that the talks are not, ah, “going so well,” to coin a phase.

Producers are getting ready to blame the writers. Writers say the large corporations are gearing up for massive write-offs, and feel they’ll come out ahead.

Here’s the full WGA letter, to its members, which just went out moments ago:

Before we head into negotiations this morning, we want to give you an update on
where we stand.

On Tuesday, after the companies had requested a four day break so they could work on their proposals, we returned to the bargaining table. We presented a counter proposal to their streaming proposal of November 29th. They presented no new proposals. On Wednesday, the AMPTP again had no new proposals, but they did have detailed questions about our streaming counter proposal and other aspects of our overall proposals, and from the give and take of those discussions, we felt that they might finally be ready to engage in serious bargaining. They told us they would have new proposals for us Thursday. On Thursday, we met at 10am, and they told us their new proposals would be ready shortly. At 5pm they told us their proposals still weren’t ready, that they would be working on them late into the night, and that we should come back this morning at 10am. The fact that we saw everyone from the AMPTP leave the building by 6:45 pm is not a promising sign, but we will be at the table at 10am this morning, ready to receive their new proposal.

We’d like to address some of the disturbing rumors and back channel communications we’ve been hearing. For one, we’ve heard that one or more of the companies are prepared to throw away the spring and fall TV season, plus features, and prolong the strike. Aside from the devastating effect this would have on the unions, workers and their families in this industry, it would certainly explain the AMPTP’s refusal to put any new proposals, even a bad one, on the table. Also, highly placed executives have been telling some of our writers that the companies are preparing to abruptly cut off negotiations. They say the companies plan to accuse the WGA of stalling and being unwilling to negotiate, and that the companies will use that as an excuse to walk out.

The Writers Guilds of America, East and West are going on record now that any such claims are absolutely untrue. We have been at the negotiating table every day, willing to bargain. Furthermore, we hereby challenge the AMPTP to negotiate in good faith, day and night, through the Christmas and New Years holidays - whatever is necessary - to get this done and get the town back to work. The Writers Guilds will remain at the table every day, for as long as it takes, to make a fair deal.


Read more: http://btlnews.com/blog/archives/89

[displacedtexan]

1. There's so much future streaming $$ to be made for the producers.

Imagine how much the writers of I Love Lucy...er, haven't
made over the last brazillion decades, and imagine how
much the producers actually have made. And that's just with cable TV.

[aquart]

2. People have been known to kill for money.

That's what's happening here. So far as the producers are concerned, you can always get new, younger writers. It's a renewable resource. So it's no biggie to drive the ones they have now to desperation. And that is clearly where they intend this to go.

[Xithras]

3. Not really

I've never understood the hype over the streaming profit model. It's basically the same argument that the dotcommers used back in the 1990's to support their businesses and justify the massive investments in their sometimes questionable companies; "We'll give our content away for free and make money on the banner ads!" We all know how well that worked out for the dotcommers.

And advertising really is the only revenue stream available to these producers. Nobody is going to pay money to view an episode of House, when they can just DVR the episode while it's being broadcast on the TV they already own. Pinnacle, Apple, and other manufacturers even have devices out already to permit these same shows to be bounced from the DVR or cable box onto a viewers computer.

I really don't see where all this money they're fighting over is supposed to be coming from.

[displacedtexan]

4. "Download" is a better term than "Streaming"

Did you read the AMPTP's most recent statement?

My favorite part, other than not noting that the contract containing parts of the WGA's demands expired on Oct. 31st:

-- They insist that writers receive a piece of advertising revenue - even though the producers that pay them don't receive any of this revenue in the first place.

Where does advert money go?

[Xithras]

8. The distributors mostly.

Unlike Google ads which can generate instant visits and are worth more, TV ads are meant to promote mindshare only and therefore only sell for a penny or two per view. Since the actual costs of distribution online can be up to 10 cents per view (bandwidth is not free, and video consumes a LOT of it), there isn't a lot of profit to be had. Most of it is being consumed by the companies contracted to run the streaming systems for operational costs.

This, by the way, is one of the reasons that the major studios have been so slow to embrace online distribution. The profit isn't there for them. They are only joining now because they see the issues that have cropped up for the RIAA and music industry as a result of their own resistance to it. If you don't distribute legally, people will just start ripping and swapping on their own.

People have the same opinion about TV shows and movies online as they have about music. It should be free and easy to get. Trying to build a profit model on that is a nightmare.

The main problem with the writers proposal is that it's too rigid. They want a minimum of $250 a year in royalties for each show episode delivered online. The issue with this is that older episodes have virtually no chance of making $250 for the writers a year per episode. How many people really want to watch last seasons episodes of House? There are probably a few, but certainly not enough to generate thousands an episode in profit when the actual profit from each stream will only be about a dime. That's a quarter million views just to pay the WRITERS. Not very realistic. The response to this by the studios will be simple...they just wont post old episodes online. Since there IS a demand for the episodes, they will be ripped and end up on P2P sites where neither the writers OR the studios will ever make anything on them.

While I generally support union actions, the producers actually have a better idea in this case. Rather than setting hard limits, the two sides should work out a deal where they can split whatever profits they do make from these shows. The writers are saying $250 or nothing, and nothing is what they're going to get.

[BadgerLaw2010]

9. Again, there is no such thing as a "profit" in Hollywood. Promises of such are worthless.

A % of the profits is a % of nothing.

[BadgerLaw2010]

7. It's about the onset of direct distribution

This is going to be a very long-term agreement, as the home recording agreement was, and the WGA is taking into account that within a decade, a lot of content may bypass theaters and DVD stores entirely. The technological evolution supports it, and economics (eliminating store/theater) support it.

The WGA does not trust, with good reason, the producers to cut a different deal on direct distribution when it manifests. Hollywood accounting is basically criminal, which is why you never take a deal for "net profits", ever. My Big Fat Greek Wedding technically lost money, despite costing $5 million and grossing $368 million worldwide. Balance sheets of Hollywood projects get merged into overhead and money-losing porjects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Accounting

So "we'll pay you when we make money" doesn't fly in Hollywood.

Likewise, as the last residual deal on an evolving technology was terrible for writers, they don't trust the producers to estimate the value of the technology correctly or honestly, and KNOW they won't modify the deal.

[annabanana]

5. I wish they would call out to the progressive community and tell

us how to help. Who to write to, and at what addresses!

[rocktivity]

6. The AMPTP will continue stalling just long enough

to keep Stewart and Colbert off the table through the early primaries.

:headbang:
rocknation

[MetaTrope]

10. Better settle this soon, don't know what I'd do without 250 remakes of '80s films next year

:boring: