NEWS: Writers' Strike Gets Nasty

This article is extremely misinformed about the lifestyle and salary of the vast, vast majority of Hollywood writers. And this is coming from a producer.

I fail to understand why if writers worked hard to build a strong union - they should accept shitty deals from producers? I suppose that writers busted their ass to unionize..... why should they not benefit from it?

Similarly, do we really want to apply the metric "your choice will have an unintended consequence that hurts someone so you're an asshole" to these kinds (or any) choices? It seems like a pretty paralyzing fucking stance.

This average figure for writer income includes those who are paid millions for one script. The salary of the average writer (not the average salary of all writers) is roughly that of a high school teacher.

Most shows have 7 to 24 "producers" on them, and 90% of them are writers. It is in almost very wrtiers deal (and directors and some actors) deals to get a producer credit.
The "producers" in this strike are really the studios. They are using this as an excuse to clean house.
As Rafi said the majority of writers in Hollywood don't make anywhere near $200,000 dollars a year. Residual checks get smaller and smaller.
The show I am on is goin gto go down in about a week or so. So there will be another 120 people out of work.
And it effects the restaurants, cleaners, bars, and trickles into almost all facets of the economy. But the "prodcuers" and stuidos still will figure out a way to make money off this.
It sucks for everyone.

seriously.

The $200,000 average figure may be correct, but it's skewed by the relatively small number of high earners. The median salary of a writer is somewhere in the $50,000 to $60,000 range - not bad, but not great when you consider that (1) most writers live in the New York City area or southern California (places where the cost of living is relatively high) and (2) the entertainment business is very fickle, so there's no guarantee a writer will make a consistent salary. It's very possible that a writer could've made a nice pile of dough, say $500,000, in 2004, and not made a dime (other than residuals) since. That's why residuals are so important.
Hopefully, this will get resolved quickly, so everyone, including crew, can go back to work without worrying about where their next paycheck is coming from. But I'm not counting on it, because the studios seem to have their heads up their asses.

And I can't wait to see FearTheReaper's reaction to this article.

Yes. It's really the multimillionaire writers that are driving this strike. Totally. You completely nailed it.

Indeed.

Fucking Edit button!

And fuck those greedy stagehands, too!

Who are these people? What is this strike thing? I don't watch this sort of idiotic TV, and I don't really care. They all suck. If they put the entire staff of NBC, CBS, ABC, and especially Fox on a raft in the North Atlantic and sank it, I would be overjoyed.

And I mean from the top exec to the kid running errands for the caterer.

Get a REAL JOB, people!

I do have to applaud Ellen for having the creativity and guts to do her own material, but otherwise this doesn't register on the Giveafuckometer.

For someone who doesn't care, you sure have some strong feelings on the matter.

I'm really tired of reading media coverage (regardless of the source) that constantly portrays any protesting union as being a bunch of pampered babies whining for something extra. It's practically become a cliche at this point. The fact is, unions pretty much never want to go on strike - it's the last resort at the bargaining table, and it doesn't directly help the unions or their members. But when the other side is being intransigent it's sometimes the only option available to the unions and the only way to make management realize that they're serious about their demands.

Believe it or not, strong unions are good for all working people. Think about the long term repercussions of collective bargaining action before pooh-poohing union members as spoiled brats.

Meanwhile, Local One strikes in New York. Incidentally, Local One is New York's chapter of the same union of below the line employees that are being laid off in Hollywood.

No one is saying that the average salary isn't $200, 000 a year. What they are saying is that the average is completely meaningless when the highest paid writers' salaries are so ridiculously high, that even though there are only a handful of them they skew the average significantly, and that number of $200,000 is basically meaningless.

wait...so being a writer is not a "real" job?

That guy does have a point that a lengthy strike would hurt lots of people, but it's strange how people always blame the negative effects of a strike on the people striking, rather than the people responsible for the clearly unfair conditions that caused them to strike.

The establishment is good at that. Eighty, a hundred years ago, mining companies convinced the government that gunning down women and children was part of the good fight to keep America strong and free!

Remember, what's good for General Motors is good for the country!

Of course not, it's a hobby.

It may not be strictly on-topic, but I find self-proclaimed bike-riding linux geeks telling other people how to best spend their time to be unintentionally hilarious.

deadlines, my friend.

Like several of the previous comments stated, you are GROSSLY misinformed about the salary of the average writer in Hollywood. The average salary of a typical writer for a talk-show (late night, primetime, or daytime) is between $30,000 and $40,000 a year. That's not much considering the astronomical cost of living in California. And with the internet being a go-to place for many people to watch their favorite shows as well as web-exclusive content, these writers need to be paid for such endeavors.
In fact, behind-the-scenes workers such as grips, electricians, wardrobe, make-up, etc. sometimes end up making more than the writers do.
So for someone who doesn't watch much television or movies, you need to do a little more research on your subject before you start bandying about seemingly clever and sassy quips like writers needing more money to spend on drugs and hookers.