Writer's Strike - Affects People Outside WGA?

Quigon007

Quigon007

Member
Though it isn't fair - Currently, the writers get 0.3% for the gross under $1 million for a DVD and 0.36% thereafter. That is less that five cents per DVD sold. They would like to raise that to 0.6% for the gross under $1 million and 0.72% over $1 million. Basically, ten cents of your $19.99 DVD purchase.

With this strike happening, doesn't this actually increase the chance of non-WGA members to break into the industry? I assume production companies will be more desperate to continue producing films.

I think this is perfect timing for me, I am finishing my first draft for my second feature length film I've written. I will register it through WGA and then send it in along with my query letter and one page synopsis to the PMA Literary and Film Agency. I Hope to sell this script before June, when I move out to Arizona (Where the film takes place)

Luckily I'm a Writer and Director so I wouldn't have to worry about not getting enough of the pie if I'm directing my own films.

As far as the writers strike, I would disassemble WGA and form my OWN writer's guild with the terms the writers want. Forcing the studios to agree with their terms in order to hire them back.
 
And you will get blacklisted and never get any work...and never be in the WGA.

No one is reading screenplays in Hollywood. The system is totally shut down. And circumventing the system will only screw you over in the long run. I would think twice before farming it out. Because A) It will get trashed and never read. B) If it is produced professionally and the WGA finds out and you apply to the WGA eventually, no gold.

And good luck with your own guild. Isn't that what the strike is all about? To force the studios to get them back?
 
They won't blacklist me, that's stupid. I don't believe the system is TOTALLY shut down. Or the fact that NO ONE is reading scripts in Hollywood. I mean honestly this isn't going to stop me at all. Whatever dude.
 
it's largely true that the WGA signatory production companies and agencies are not accepting any material.... wait..... what am i doing.... your original post reads like deliberate flame-bait.

notrolls2.gif
 
Alright, I don't think your response qualifies an answer, but I will give you one anyways.

Blacklists exist. They aren't talked about, but they exist. Granted blacklists are as unacceptable as they were in the Red period of hollywood where many writers were blacklisted. But there has been claims, and counterclaims that during the strike the WGA was threatening blacklists.

"The WGA is using fear and intimidation to control its membership," said Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers President Nick Counter in a statement posted on the organization's Web site. "Asking members to inform on each other and creating a black list of those who question the tactics of the WGA leadership is as unacceptable today as it was when the WGA opposed these tactics in the 1950s."
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The AMPTP said the statement was a response to comments by Dan Wilcox, the chairman of the WGA's Strike Rules Compliance Committee, regarding guild regulations requiring members to "inform the guild of the name of any writer you have reason to believe is engaged in strike-breaking activity or other scab writing."
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Quotes derived from NewsDaily
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
http://www.newsdaily.com/Entertainment/UPI-1-20071114-12572600-bc-us-wga-amptp-1stld.xml

Blacklisting, or lack-thereof aside, hollywood isn't really accepting anything.

I'm not being a jerk. I am a screenwriter as well. I am, however not WGA. But I can tell you that what I said is true. What Zac said is true.

PS. Turn on your TV. Note the lack of new programming. Further note the onslaught of reality TV programming. Research into it a little and you will find that everything is down essentially. Internships are being cut short. Hollywood is basically down.

Save your time, rewrite some more. All of us want to get something sold. I'm just saying you have high expectations. Realistically, the second screenplay of a brand new writer is typically crap. Ask anyone. The first film someone does is equally as crappy. You learn as you go. Keep writing, and eventually something will happen (ideally). I would personally look at Screenwriting competitions, which are still running as most do not accept WGA members.
 
Why is everyone being so negative towards the OP and his posts?

He has it figured out...

..write a couple of scripts, since everyone knows the first one you write is usually not very good, wait til the second...

...send it out to readers during a strike (the ones who are ignoring the strike)...

...wait for offers to pour in, and smile because you're a writer and director, so you'll be getting paid on both fronts...

...cross some picket lines, ruffle some feathers, and start your own union (where not obeying union rules is okay)...

...buckle in and ride the fame train...get ready to shake the hands of picketers and supporters who are lining up to work with you (and who will gladly let you in the WGA when the strike is over)...

The dude knows his stuff, and obviously doesn't let ignorant people hold him back.

Show me one...just one...place where he is not spot on the money in his logic.
 
Mattykins said:
Save your time, rewrite some more. All of us want to get something sold. I'm just saying you have high expectations. Realistically, the second screenplay of a brand new writer is typically crap. Ask anyone. The first film someone does is equally as crappy. You learn as you go. Keep writing, and eventually something will happen (ideally). I would personally look at Screenwriting competitions, which are still running as most do not accept WGA members.
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Well not everything you say is true. Not all screenplays that are the first or second crappy. That's YOUR narrow minded point of view. What about Reservoir Dogs? That was Quentin Tarantino's FIRST screenplay. or JUNO, written by Diablo Cody who is a FORMER stripper who just wrote blogs here and there. One day she decided to write a screenplay, read some books on how to write a screenplay and BAM! Juno comes to surface.

DeSica said:
Why is everyone being so negative towards the OP and his posts?

He has it figured out...

The dude knows his stuff, and obviously doesn't let ignorant people hold him back.

Show me one...just one...place where he is not spot on the money in his logic.
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Thanks man. At least SOMEONE isn't being as negative and is supportive in some way. :)


Btw Zak Forsman, thanks for that link.... it made me laugh hahaha I forgot about that post.

Check out my FIRST short film here: www.myspace.com/shadowmovie
I won Best Film at the 2007 MCC Film Festival at my school so HA!

ALSO I'm starting to pave my way in the industry. I was a production assistant (or intern) for a Campbell Scott film called "Company Retreat" this past summer (07) in Torrington CT. Actually got to sit down and talk to Campbell about films and passed a copy of my film off to him. I worked with the Director of Photography, helping him set up lights and whatnot. I did some slate work but what I was really doing is just studying Campbell Scott on how he directs, making mental pointers. One thing they don't teach you is how much hard work it is for the other crew, loading and unloading trucks etc.
 
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the writers currently striking are doing this not just for themselves but for every future member of the guild, too. waiting for them to win means that you will get a better deal in the future - the fact that you're just pointing at DVD residuals shows how little you've looked in to this whole thing.

the REAL issue behind the strike is internet residuals. Right now the production companies have been showing TV shows and other writer-created products for free online with advertising, labeling it "promotional use" and pocketing all the money themselves. They claim that they don't know how much money is in internet residuals so it's too early to negotiate, but if the writers cave on this, then the guild is pretty much finished.

DVD residuals are almost completely unimportant - in fact, the guild has removed DVD residuals from the table a number of times to prompt negotiations, but it's internet residuals which is where the real fight lies. DVDs have a few good years left, but the future is all internet - everything will be delivered online, from internet TV to movie downloads to sitcom downloads to streaming videos, promotional materials, trailers, etc. No one will go in to a store to buy a DVD when they can instantly purchase and watch it online.

The entire business model is changing and the writer's guild, the first contract up for negotiation, is the first group on the firing line. What they do will determine the business model for the rest of the guilds in Hollywood, and if they fail, the production companies will mop the floor with SAG, IATSE, ASC, DGA and all the rest.

By attempting to go around the guild to the production companies, you put all this in danger. Yes, you. If the struck companies take material from non-writers, then they won't need to negotiate, thereby taking down the writer's guild. That means that writers will become non-union and will have no governing body to protect them.

Go ahead and try to sign a deal with a struck company. And then when they agree to give you a million dollars, you sign over your rights to the screenplay and await the check that never comes. Then you go and call the company and they don't get back to you. What then? Who stands up for you? Certainly not the guild, they're either gone now or you're blacklisted. It'll be up to you to get the lawyer and take on the whole company by yourself. Good luck with that.

There's a reason they blacklist people who try to break the strike lines. It weakens their entire position. It hurts every one, including the people who break the lines. No, it isn't fair that those of us not yet in the guild are basically forced in to the position of sitting on our own break-through material, but you're guaranteeing yourself a raw deal by trying to play your cards now.

if you're that desperate to get in to things, then go sell to a non-wga signatory, who are still reading. if you're sure you've got the best screenplay of all time, then start fundraising for it yourself or sell it to an indie company who's been waiting for the perfect script. they're still out there and they're still hard at work. But don't go to the struck companies - there's a reason the people picketing would get really mad at you - you hurt them, yourself and everybody else by weakening their bargaining position.
 
DeSica said:
He has it figured out...

..write a couple of scripts, since everyone knows the first one you write is usually not very good, wait til the second...

...send it out to readers during a strike (the ones who are ignoring the strike)...

...wait for offers to pour in, and smile because you're a writer and director, so you'll be getting paid on both fronts...

...cross some picket lines, ruffle some feathers, and start your own union (where not obeying union rules is okay)...

...buckle in and ride the fame train...get ready to shake the hands of picketers and supporters who are lining up to work with you (and who will gladly let you in the WGA when the strike is over)...

The dude knows his stuff, and obviously doesn't let ignorant people hold him back.

Show me one...just one...place where he is not spot on the money in his logic.
Click to expand...

Quigon007 said:
Thanks man. At least SOMEONE isn't being as negative and is supportive in some way. :).
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Deke said:
Someone needs to calibrate their sarcasmometer.
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Thanks, guys, for providing me a great laugh to start the day...:grin::grin::grin:
 
Gas Station Guy
I'm picking up your sarcasm.

Richard
Well, I should hope so, because i'm
laying it on pretty thick.

e
 
MCC Best Film Award - Check!

To Do:
Kick WGA while down.
Conquer Hollywood.
Start BRAND SPANKING NEW Writer's Guild that will really show the studios what for!
Steal underpants.
...
Profit.
 
Rolls eyes, I don't want to start a new guild lol. I was just putting my two cents in if I was in the WGA that's all...
 
Have you already done away with the convention of the lit and talent agent or do you actually have one?

Lions Gate, strike or not, won't accept unsolicited materials. That goes for everyone else as well.

e
 
Oh, Then I'll submit to the William Morris Agency and the PMA Literary and Film Agency lol take it from there
 
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