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   'Battlestar's Final Season In Doubt?

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[#69509] Written by: Dmfaust [22/11/07, 13:00]
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I find it difficult to believe they wouldn't finish filming later down the
road, it would only be a monetary win for everyone involved. Seems like
melodrama.
[#69533] Written by: nbjt417843 [22/11/07, 14:52]
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now they've gone to far. God D@mn! writers...

That's my favorite freaking show on tv.


Coming from a computer field (networking) i have friends who work at Micro$oft
as programmers. It doesn't matter whether the program they create makes $1 or
100 million dollars, they are still payed their flat salaries for their
"creative" talent. IMO writers should be glad they got what they did and STFU,
I'm sure people who make under $50k a year really give a damn if they can afford
the newest porsche or not.
[#69536] Written by: thinkhappy [22/11/07, 15:03]
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kidding right?
[#69566] Written by: skerit [22/11/07, 16:55]
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For crying out loud, that's bollocks!

That's like saying "Fuck the viewers, fuck the story, money above everything"
[#69574] Written by: Dmfaust [22/11/07, 18:22]
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Quote by nbjt417843
Coming from a computer field (networking) i have friends who
work at Micro$oft
as programmers. It doesn't matter whether the program they create makes $1 or
100 million dollars, they are still payed their flat salaries for their
"creative" talent. IMO writers should be glad they got what they did and STFU,
I'm sure people who make under $50k a year really give a damn if they can afford
the newest porsche or not.


Nbjt hits upon something that many fail to realize - most writers are NOT
property creators, but hired to complete a task. (Writers who are the original
creators receive a credit beyond basic writing, such as the obvious Created by
for television or Producer credits for movies.) It is strange that such writers
have ever received residual payments to begin with. The only issue is that the
salary for all workers, not just writers but below the line workers(who are teh
ones suffering most), needs to be raised a good bit, but this hits at the heart
of *residuals* NOT being a right but a privleige. (In summary: They should get
paid more, but on the front end. Instead they are asking for something that
will not affect most writers virtually at all unless they are already rich and
work on high value properties to begin with.)
[#69591] Written by: m-r-anderson [22/11/07, 20:47]
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Air the 13 episodes!

By the time 2 months goes by the strike could be over then you just have a
series break! Cmon! lol
[#69641] Written by: theconundrumm [23/11/07, 07:24]
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i feel like we have slipped into some Bizzaro type alternate "reality" here with
things like this "we may never finish" scenario... i'm going to go sit in the
corner and quietly slip into a coma....could someone PLEASE wake me when it's
over...
[#69653] Written by: Blackstar [23/11/07, 09:33]
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Okay compared to people working at McDonald's the writers are wealthy but
relative to other people in the industry most of them are strictly average.
The fact is that the studio's have found a new way to make money off the work
of writers, actors, etc, and they don't want to shere; so who's being greedy?
That said this announcment sounds like a negotiating tactic, just a way of
ramping up pressure on the studios in advance of the talks on Monday.
[#69770] Written by: micky [24/11/07, 22:55]
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well i say stop paying the actors millions! and give the writers a bit more. and
get on with it!

also the studios should take a look at Star Trek new voyages! those guys are
filming / producing / post producing episodes of star trek with a budget of 1 M
for the whole season god damn it! ( well they`re not too good but they`re
watchable ).
[#74494] Written by: barrem01 [13/01/08, 02:05]
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Quote by Dmfaust

Nbjt hits upon something that many fail to realize - most writers are NOT
property creators, but hired to complete a task. (Writers who are the original
creators receive a credit beyond basic writing, such as the obvious Created by
for television or Producer credits for movies.) It is strange that such writers
have ever received residual payments to begin with. The only issue is that the
salary for all workers, not just writers but below the line workers(who are teh
ones suffering most), needs to be raised a good bit, but this hits at the heart
of *residuals* NOT being a right but a privleige. (In summary: They should get
paid more, but on the front end. Instead they are asking for something that
will not affect most writers virtually at all unless they are already rich and
work on high value properties to begin with.)



The fact that someone was hired to complete a task is irrelavent in determining
the format of their compansation. Actors get residuals. Waitresses get tips.
Most salesmen get salary in addition to commission. How an individual decides to
get compensated for their labor is between them and their employer.

An actor's salary is compensation for the first time an episode is broadcast,
with the understanding that in the unlikely event that the episode can be sold
to a foriegn market, or syndication, their employer will do so and some of the
profit from that sale will go to the actor. Why? Because that's what both
parties agree to. Why would the networks agree to this? 1) it ain't a lot of
money. There's a bar in Hollywood where you can (or maybe used to be able to)
get a free drink if you handed them a residual check for $0.50 or less. They
pappered the walls many times over with such checks. 2) Actors think it's fair
that they get additional compensation when their work is sold again, and the
actor's contribution is just unique enough that the studios don't want to spend
all their time switching Darrens on the viewers. 3) The Union

What about the "below the line workers" who are suffering so? I don't know
about them. We had a stage hand strike in New York recently, and it prompted my
Dad to relate a story about the stage hand union when he was working at KNBC.
They had a little studio off the side of a broadcast facility that was there
only for emergencies. If the President got shot, there would be a place where
they could break into the broadcast and do some announcing. The thing was barely
larger than a phone booth, two people couldn't fit inside. The stage hand's
union decreed that it was a two person set, so they had to pay two stange hands
to "handle" that set, even though there was nothing in it that could be moved by
a stage hand. I suspect that if a stage hand from "Fraiser" got residuals for
his work, the union would be upset because stage hands who worked on another
show that wasn't popular, had to work just as hard but weren't getting the same
compensation.

Look, writer's don't put nuts on bolts, they breath life into the characters
viewers love. They don't do ALL the creation that's involved in a television
series, but they do the lion's share. Loyal viewership over a series of years
is valuable to advertisers. If you've ever seen a good actor in a bad show, you
know that writers are a vital part of what makes viewers loyal. That is why
they are paid residuals. And because if you didn't pay them residuals, they'd
get resentful about others profiting from additional sales of their previous
work, and it would affect the quality of their present work.

As for paying writers more upfront, where is that money going to come from for
the 85-90% of shows that are too crappy to sold again? It's cheaper to only pay
writers more when their work has been proven by the marketplace to be more valuable.

As for your friend in the software industry, if he is making an original
creative contribution that can't just as easily be made by any other programmer,
maybe he should ask for residuals in his compensation agreement. He should
probalby get a union first, though.
Quote by Dmfaust
Quote by nbjt417843
Coming from a computer field (networking) i have friends who
work at Micro$oft
as programmers. It doesn't matter whether the program they create makes $1 or
100 million dollars, they are still payed their flat salaries for their
"creative" talent. IMO writers should be glad they got what they did and STFU,
I'm sure people who make under $50k a year really give a damn if they can afford
the newest porsche or not.


Nbjt hits upon something that many fail to realize - most writers are NOT
property creators, but hired to complete a task. (Writers who are the original
creators receive a credit beyond basic writing, such as the obvious Created by
for television or Producer credits for movies.) It is strange that such writers
have ever received residual payments to begin with. The only issue is that the
salary for all workers, not just writers but below the line workers(who are teh
ones suffering most), needs to be raised a good bit, but this hits at the heart
of *residuals* NOT being a right but a privleige. (In summary: They should get
paid more, but on the front end. Instead they are asking for something that
will not affect most writers virtually at all unless they are already rich and
work on high value properties to begin with.)
[#74678] Written by: SantaBJ (Super Moderator) [14/01/08, 06:01]
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The simple fact is this - workers, no matter what they are working with, needs
to get compensation (get paid) in a manner that enables them to do their work
properly. While some writers get paid plenty for their work, the overwhelming
majority are barely hanging in there - this is not only unfair when you
consider that their work are bringing in huge sums for the networks and
studios, but it will also directly affect the quality of their work and
usually not in a good way.
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