Slashdot Mirror
Streaming Services Will Pay Writers More Under New Writers Guild Pact (deadline.com)
An anonymous reader quotes Deadline:
Netflix, Amazon and Hulu will be paying a lot more in writers' residuals under the new WGA film and TV contract. New details, outlined by WGA West, reveal that high-budget shows they run will generate anywhere between $3,448-$34,637 more residuals per episode over the life of the three-year contract than they did under the old contract, depending on the platform and the length of the show. Essentially, it's the same deal the Director's Guild of America got in their negotiations last December. The WGA contract, which has been unanimously approved by the WGA West board and the WGA East council, now goes to the guilds' members for final ratification. Voting begins Friday and concludes May 24.
For every half-hour of a high-budget show, Netflix will be paying $19,058 more in residuals than it did under the old contract.
For every half-hour of a high-budget show, Netflix will be paying $19,058 more in residuals than it did under the old contract.
The problem with offshoring is that humor and drama are culture dependent.
We think the British are funny, but that view is not reciprocated.
Germany doesn't even have a concept of "humor".
Hitler started out as a standup-comic, and had a gig in a Munich beer hall.
But people took him seriously, so he went into politics instead.
A better plan is to develop an AI that can generate scripts.
It could have a few deep layers to apply cultural context.
How hard can it be?
I do, however, find it funny (funny strange, not funny ha-ha) that the oddest bunch of employment fields remain union shops.
Baseball players, automakers, the entertainment industry; but not coal miners or their daughters.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Over the past 35+ years, the sale and rental of movies on video cassette has generated a couple hundred billion dollars in revenue, created more demand for movies and created an entirely new genre (movies that are released direct to video) all of which created a large number of jobs for actors/writers/directors/etc.
None of that would have happened if the movie industry had been successful in their fight to outlaw the VCR..
People are stupid and short-sighted.
"For every half-hour of a high-budget show, Netflix will be paying $19,058 more in residuals than it did under the old contract."
That is like an average person having to pay a few dollars more for lunch.
So YOU want to kill decent shows. No one will write them if they don't get paid. You are probably still waiting for the year of the Linux desktop and wondering why it doesn't happen, too.
-- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
What are you talking about, conflating political liberalism with Hollywood business practices. Studios still shoot on set in Hollywood when it makes sense to do so. But they also shoot on location. Which means they're shooting anywhere it makes sense for the story. But it's also true there are production companies around the world who compete, often with cheaper labor and logistics (permitting, construction regulations, insurance, etc)
'Liberalism' is a boogeyman caricature for small minds in need of a scapegoat.
That's not how it works.
The current bad writers who are willing to work for the current pay have to first be fired. Then new better writers who were unwilling to work for the old amount of pay, but are willing to work for the new higher pay have to be hired to replace all the bad writers you just fired.