Where Are My New TV Episodes?

Recently, people have been asking me about the current strike of the WGA (Writers Guild of America).

To sum it up, the strike is about the lack of residuals in DVD sales and new media, meaning online streaming of video productions. In other guilds and places like the music industry, you are payed royalties every time your work is being played somewhere. So if a band or musician has a song in a movie, they receive residuals based on how the many times the song is used. This gives the creator of the piece of work a share of the profit, and it gives them credit for inventing that work of art. What the writers are fighting for is that same deal. Currently, writers of your favorite motion picture and television shows are not getting paid for their work in a proper fashion. They receive an extremely small amount of profit from DVD sales, and absolutely NO MONEY for new media.

So why doesn't the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) just pay the writers? That's a question that we're all asking, but the AMPTP says that there is no money in new media. They say that the streaming of online video is promotional, and that they make no profit off of it, even though we're forced to watch 30 second ads when watching Heroes on NBC.com

So there's no money in new media? That's not what they said months ago, before the strike. This clip helps to explain.



So eventually when our television screens broadcast off the internet, at this point, writers won't be payed a cent for it. The writers are fighting for their futures, and with new media growing so rapidly, they're just fighting for their fair share.

This strike affects me because as you all know I'm a strong follower of entertainment, particularly in television. With writers on strike, no new episodes air, but people on set like hair dressers, costume designers, film crews, set artists, none of these people get payed either. If I didn't want a career music, I would try and work my way into media production or media journalism, so that's why I'm keeping such a close eye on the subject. And when it comes down to it, the writers are the creative backbone behind all of your favorite movies and television shows, so what they're fighting for is absolutely justified, and they deserve so much more credit.

For more detailed descriptions on the writers strike and up to date coverage, please visit www.unitedhollywood.com