The World Of WD - Walking The Line
Wow. So there was a near miss on my identity I hear. One of the things that was taken for granted was one of Ent's clues about my credits. I have produced and done stunt work but under different names. I like to keep my different worlds separated by different names. Much easier for me to keep track of, much more difficult for people trying to keep track of me.
I have a lot of balls in the air and I love it. But it sometime makes it hard to keep track of people. So when I'm out and about and someone greats "Hey ___" I know exactly how I know them based on what they call me. My close friends tease me about being crazy and I let them because they are the ones who have to try to keep track of them all. When you do stunt work, you don't want to only be known for that, so you will often find stunt people/actors using one name for stunt work, and a different name for acting.
What have you guys heard or know about the WGA strike? The last time the Writers Guild went on strike it lasted for 22 weeks and was about getting residuals for this new technology called DVD's. The writers had to cave more than they wanted.
This time around it's about DVD residuals, Internet residuals and health and pension. The Writers, in the interest of compromise have already taken their demands for DVD residuals off the table. The studios have not given anything.
Let's look at this with some perspective. The Writers were asking for 8 cents per DVD. 8 cents. That's nothing. On a $20 DVD that's nothing. You can't even get 1 script page copied at Kinko's for that. And yet Disney paid, Michael Ovitz, their President of 14 months a severance package of more than $262 million dollars. How does that make any kind of sense? Won't pay the thousands of writers that create the projects that make them money $0.08 per DVD but will pay ONE MAN almost $300,000,000.00 to NOT WORK. The studios need to step back and really look at themselves.
How does this affect you? TV will suck for the next couple of months. And if this isn't resolved in the next couple of weeks, there will be no original scripted programming for a really long time. There will be however plenty of re-runs and reality TV. In fact, the first strike is when COPS was born. The first reality show. I'm not sure what else they can come up with at this point to raise the bar on reality, I think we are just a season away from THE RUNNING MAN.
I recommend turning to the internet. This is the last free place for indie film makers and creators free of the studios. There is a lot of crap to wade through, but the good stuff is worth it. Even the new shows, and new episodes you are waiting to see after Christmas are going to be a little sketchy because they filmed them without the writers there. So they weren't allowed to rewrite anything or change ANYTHING in the scripts. If something didn't make sense, or was stupid, it had to stay. See how many examples of this you can see as you watch the shows.
There's a picture I took below at the huge rally in Hollywood. The feeling of solidarity was incredible. There are some people on the pickets lines that made me smile. While at WB, Zach Levi from CHUCK would come out on his breaks and walk. And he would still be in his Nerd Herd costume. He is a nice guy. The most exciting time for me was meeting the man who wrote the screenplay for The 300. He was great. Gave me a signed poster of Queen Gorgo.
You turning off your TV and turning to other forms of entertainment would be the best way to support the struggle. Because, if the writers do well, then when the directors and actors strike (and that's coming soon) it'll be over quicker with less bloodshed. They are in discussions right now. So let’s hope everyone is happy.
To your comments now--I absolutely agree that when I see an actor I know in a movie, especially one that is in all the tabloids, you can't get it out of your head. Even if they are doing a good job, you still think, "Wow Justin Timberlake is actually doing a really great job." You don’t think "Wow, I'm really getting into this story." New, fresh, different blood. That's what we need. If only everyone were are brave as you.
23 comments:
WD, I have no clue who you are, but I love you. I totally support the strike and I have to laugh at those babies who whine because the fans are suffering. They must be mindless couch potatoes or something.
okay, I have a question...why can't they make changes to the script? I'm curious as to what the rule is...
Another question..what do you think about the actors/actresses who have been invisible for forever and then show up to "support" the strike/get their picture taken? I'm thinking What's Her Name/Dharma from Dharma and Greg...
So they weren't allowed to rewrite anything or change ANYTHING in the scripts. If something didn't make sense, or was stupid, it had to stay. See how many examples of this you can see as you watch the shows.
IM GONNA MAKE A DRINKNING GAME OUT OF THAT ONE :P
i cant believe the studios are so cheap
Lyz, I think if you hire a writer, and the writer does his or her job, then nobody has the right or authority to change what's been written unless permission of the writer has been given. It makes sense that if a writers name is going to be on something that nobody else should be able to change it.
WD, well said. Too bad the rest of corporate America can't strike. There is definitely a huge discrepancy in pay for a High Level Executive versus the much-needed "grunt workers" (those who have to deal with TPS reports, 3 bosses, etc.)
I agree Miss X - the Writers' Strike is indicative of all that is wrong in America today.
Even someone who is not "into" TV and movies should support these wirters.
It is despicable that a handful of Americans are making obscene amounts of money, and the majority of The People just keep making less and less and paying more and more.
The Studios seem to be taking a direct cue from the Bush Administration.
It is repulsive!
Thanks for the insight WD. Keep us updated as to what is going on inside the Actors and Directors unions.
ok i am in no way trying to cause a problem but did WD just say an actor strike cause if that happens when most are getting paid millions for everything i really may just start reading books or something cause i cant support that but i understand the writers but actors no..
People like Michael Ovitz and those who pay him need to be exposed. There need to be names attached to those who pay him - and not just the corporate name. No good can come from this.
I hope the writers get their fair share. Good luck to them!
knm2003 - I think the percentage of actors in the SAG who make millions is a very small number, I bet even single digit. There are so many actors who are making barely scale, and get no benefits.
Dharma = Jenna Elfman. Probably there to hand out Scientology leaflets, saying it can help them get their demands met.
WD, I don't know that Ent would be happy with you lauding Zach Levi since that show caused so many problems in EL's neighborhood during filming. :)
well musicians get paid the least amount of money so if they dont go on strikes i dont understand the actors there are so many singers i should say who are famous that dont have that much money...i also think that for the amount of work that some actors do per hour they are still making way more than the national avg as fair as wages are concerned so i just cant agree with them..
Very interesting insight -, Thank you, WD, for sharing. I think the writers are truly deserving of a fair share of the pie...without those words, actors have nothing to say.
Um...I thought one of the biggest issues this time around was residuals for webisodes--that's what the good folks at "The Office" were saying on the picket line. They don't get paid for/a piece of the profits for the web episodes they've written because the producers call them "promos".
Watching independent films, etc. on the 'net is fine if it's the writers/creators that are posting them, but don't support the Corporation by watching webisodes from your favourite shows...that just defeats the purpose.
40 years ago the average CEO made eight times the average workers salary.
What do you think the discrepancy is now?
A WEE bit more, I'd say...
As far as a SAG strike goes, what about all the struggling actors out there? The ones we hear about are the ones who make it big (or come close!). They are the ones who are paid millions.
WD, I'm curious if you have any guess on how many unknowns (those who live off of commercials, small parts, etc) would be effected by an actors' strike? Or is my theory wrong?
Thanks for taking the time to read our comments and answer our questions. :)
I am of the mindset that anyone who works on any commercial venture, in any industry, should be able to share in the profits gained, from any source, by that product. That said, they should also be exposed to the downside that is inherent in commerce. Sadly, this notion totally contradicts the age-old tradition of salary and is therefore not a very popular view.
That said, when we are talking about intellectual property it surprises me that there aren't individual employment contractual commitments in place that preserve the rights of a writer's "product". It is not uncommon in industry to have have scientists, marketing types, etc. sign away the ownership of their ideas but I am surprised to see that artistic writers would ever allow to that happen.
The studios are behaving precisely like every executive dick I ever encountered in my lifetime - large part why I left that life for something infinitely more fun but significantly less profitable. C'est la vie!
I sincerely hope the writers get the financial acknowledgement they richly deserve except whoever wrote "I Know Who Killed Me"; that was a tragedy of a story line. (sorry, bitterness rant over wasted video rental money this week)
Oh, and on Mr.Ovitz's goodbye smooch - you can be absolutely certain that that was arranged before he even parked his butt in his plush chair. That is a de rigueur tactic by any executive in North America. Lord knows, I've written too many sickening employment agreements to think otherwise.
One last comment and I will shut up. Where on the internet would I find the stuff you are talking about? I am in Canada so our access to some content is copyright restricted but I am always looking to find places that showcase good material. Thanks.
I always thought that any free web clips or full episodes was a good thing because others would see the show and watch it more or buy the DVD's. For example I saw an episode of the show "Weeds" for free on youtube and liked it and bought the DVD series. Otherwise I would never have bought the DVD series since I don't get Showtime and would never be able to see the show if it wasn't for the internet.
karen, well the writer made no money on your youtube viewing, and $0.04 for the set of DVDs you bought. Which was probably 4-6 episodes worth? Which when you consider the amount of time it takes to sketch out the plot, make sure it fits with the grand scheme of the show, actual writing, on-set script changes, etc. It's not much. Although they did make some money when it first aired.
This is not meant to attack you or insinuate you did something wrong, just to explain what the current situation is.
God knows I'm only keeping up on my TV watching thanks to slowness at my day job and online viewing. (Beats the ole VCR) and only having to sit through 3-5 30 second commercials is a godsend. I have noticed that since the strike, there have been fewer product-sponsored online episodes of ABC shows, most of the ads now are for their own shows -- so they're not making ANY money off it, they're actually losing it because I'm sucking up their bandwidth and I'm not watching any ads at all.
Majik, not being paid for the webisodes was only part of the issue. They also mentioned they'd like better residuals from DVD sales and some kind of residual payments for uploads of episodes from iTunes.
Hi WD. Very very well writeen. Thank you for sharing that.
Laf at your last tidbit:) I was having drinks with a friend last night and we were discussing older movies. I actually mentioned Top Gun and said "Watching it, you wouldn't believe he's batshit insane". So yeah, I wasn't enthralled by the story, just that couch jumper did a good enough job in his role that..well he didn't look like a couch jumper.
Cheers!
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