jts1031
Sr Member
Is that not the goal of every union? The more members, the more dues.
Hollywood’s current state of failure and the reasons for it
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Cephus
Master Member
Sure. They don't care about the writers, they care about making money for themselves.
joberg
Legendary Member
Again; what's "meaningful?" What's a "living wage?" Clearly a lack of negotiation from the agent/actor involved; you can have residuals when you've made the effort of negotiating the amount prior to production and even post production or reruns. You just have to be fully involved in the process.
Cephus
Master Member
If these people want a living wage, they have to earn it. Sitting on your ass 10 months out of the year is not a career, it's a part-time job.Again; what's "meaningful?" What's a "living wage?" Clearly a lack of negotiation from the agent/actor involved; you can have residuals when you've made the effort of negotiating the amount prior to production and even post production or reruns. You just have to be fully involved in the process.
joberg
Legendary Member
Not. going. to. happen!! There's a chasm between Cast & Crew. While some, like you, might argue that, in case of reruns or other forms of showing a movie after its completion warrant some kind of residuals to the crew who worked on that movie is madness!
Where do you stop?
Does a team building cars on a production line deserve some kind of residual every time the car is sold at a dealer ship?
joberg
Legendary Member
That can happen at any time in any job...what about a company that spends thousand of dollar in training and to see that employee leave them for another one because of said training? Would that company stop hiring/training new employees in the future because of that risk? That's how it works in the real world
joberg
Legendary Member
Yep, Taylor Sheridan is another beast altogether...and someone that doesn't fit the regular mold. Another thread about his writing could generate a lot of discussion
Paul Andrew
Master Member
Those terms aren't interchangeable, but yes. And "meaningful" is going to change based on where you live and how much it costs to live there.Again; what's "meaningful?" What's a "living wage?" Clearly a lack of negotiation from the agent/actor involved; you can have residuals when you've made the effort of negotiating the amount prior to production and even post production or reruns. You just have to be fully involved in the process.
I don't think I've seen anyone stating they expect to make a living wage solely off of residuals from a single show or project in perpetuity, but I would think that a working writer with a long history in the industry would amass enough writing credits to at least afford to pay their electricity bill with residuals.
I think most writers and actors would love to be working more than not, but that's beside the point.
How is it so divisive to think that if a person helps pen a television series for a studio, that then goes on to make money for that studio for years or decades via reruns or streaming, that the person should be compensated commensurately for doing so?
joberg
Legendary Member
That person provided a service and was paid for it...end of story. Now if a studio would accept these types of payment after the movie makes money for years after, then that would be a line/precedent no studio would like to cross
Paul Andrew
Master Member
How is it different from a book? Even a book with multiple authors? If the book earns out its advance the authors get paid royalties on every copy sold by the publisher.That person provided a service and was paid for it...end of story. Now if a studio would accept these types of payment after the movie makes money for years after, then that would be a line/precedent no studio would like to cross
I don't think actors and writers that aren't big enough to "write their own ticket" should get shuffled off into the void while the properties they created for the studios continue to make money for the studios.
I'm not talking about paying people for nothing. I'm not saying that folks who wrote or acted in a show languishing in the janitors closet never to be monetized again should be getting paid. I'm just saying that creators should get paid for the things they create if the thing is out making money.
Frankly, to believe otherwise is to devalue people's work in favor of bigger bonuses for CEO's and shareholders.
Cephus
Master Member
Does a team building cars on a production line deserve some kind of residual every time the car is sold at a dealer ship?
Of course not because that's a stupid idea. Generally, anyone you find making arguments for widespread residuals are people who, in the example above, work on the production line. They are never the ones who actually have to pay it, because none of these suggestions actually work in the real world. It's pure fantasy, by people who think they are more important than they actually are.
There was something else I was thinking about, since it's come up, but for those claiming that writers deserve to get paid more, but also that they are not responsible for the disasters in the box office because directors and producers can change their scripts whenever they want, why do these people deserve more money since what is shown on screen, it isn't their work?
Bet we won't get any good answers to that, will we?
ghostryder
Legendary Member
On what planet do you think us tv writers "sit on our asses" ten months out of the year?
Cephus
Master Member
The ones who work 6 weeks on a show, at $7k a week, and do no more. The ones who want seasons to go on longer so they make more money.
Go get another job!
Lightning
Master Member
That can happen at any time in any job...what about a company that spends thousand of dollar in training and to see that employee leave them for another one because of said training? Would that company stop hiring/training new employees in the future because of that risk? That's how it works in the real world
you are looking at the wrong end of the equation. The old company is out of the picture. Once a person as a series of 6 month jobs on their resume, the new company they are applying to will start to ask questions, and refuse to hire them because they see the pattern.
ghostryder
Legendary Member
Classy. And complete and total ignorance for what writers go through. Just to give you an example, years ago I sold a project to Sony set on one of the US Navy's hospital ships:
Since I'm not in the Navy, or a doctor - the only way to research what this world was like was to live on board for several months. So all my expenses went on credit cards with the HOPE of getting a sale at the end. While the outcome here was mixed, (sold the project, but was eventually deemed too expensive to go into production at the time), if it had gone to series, residuals would have helped pay for all the "free" time and research that went into it. Granted not every project is this big and expansive - but I can assure you those 5 months were well spent doing the exact opposite of "sitting on my ass." Not to mention the 12+ months going back and forth with the studio and production company doing free rewrites along with hundreds of other "free" tasks that would be compensated in a more sane world.
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Cephus
Master Member
Way to completely miss the context of what is being discussed.
ghostryder
Legendary Member
Do yourself a favor, block him and move on. I’ve learned in the past you cannot argue with him or get him to see other points of view. It’s a waste to even attempt to do so. Luckily he blocked me, so now he doesn’t see my posts and he never interacts with me. YAY!!
ghostryder
Legendary Member
Actors can go on hundreds of unpaid auditions on their own dime just for the chance to MAYBE book a role - while imperfect, the residual system is supposed to help. Also, well:
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