struck companies

Here’s a handy list of struck companies so you can boycott any content released by them digitally.

Don’t buy their content off of iTunes or Amazon or any other site.
Don’t watch their streamed movies or TV shows from Netflix, NBC Direct, Hulu, Joost, et al.

When anyone redistributes a movie without the studios getting a cut, they call it piracy.  When the studios do it, they call it promotional.

how you can support the wga (and strike updates)

Here’s how I suggest you can show support (and please spread this idea around):

Boycott any studio produced content on new media. Don’t buy movies or shows off of iTunes or Amazon. Don’t watch streaming episodes or movies off network sites or Netflix or any other service.

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John Rogers, as always, has one of the best posts explaining the whole strike situation. It’s lengthy, but well worth a full read.

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Poor, poor Steve Carrell. Due to a bad case of enlarged balls, he is unable to do any filming for The Office.

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While eight episodes of the new Terminator series have been shot, only the pilot has been completed and show runner Josh Friedman is not crossing the picket line to do any work on it.

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Show runners Shonda Rhimes of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice along with Shawn Ryan of The Shield and The Unit are also not doing any work on their shows either. For Shawn Ryan that means missing out on the filming of the series finale of The Shield and, if the strike lasts long enough (which certainly looks to be the case), missing out on the wrap party.

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For regular updates, I suggest keeping up with United Hollywood, Ken Levine, and Mark Evanier.

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Oh, and it turns out I was wrong the other day. The average WGA writer does not make as much as a teacher. Average yearly pay is actually only $5,000.

striking back (on behalf of writers)

As I’m sure everyone knows now, the Writers Guild of America is striking, which means no new Daily Show or talk show episodes now and, in a few months, no new drama or sitcom episodes.  For a good look at things from the WGA side, check out this site, United Hollywood.  For a look at the corporations’ side, check any main stream media outlet (since they own them all).

The keys facts to know:
• Residuals are paid to cover the re-use of creative work, either in an ad-supported form (such as TV) or for pay (such as home video) and are not a bonus
• Right now writers receive 0.3% residual on home video sales thanks to a contract set up back in 1988
• Most writers only make about the same as a school teacher (or less)
• That amount was set as a concession to the studios who said they needed it due to home video being an uncertain new market
• Many or most films now make more money on home video than they do in the theater
• The studios don’t want to negotiate an increase in home video residuals and the WGA even pulled the request for an increase in the latest talks
• The WGA is presently asking for a 2.5% residual on electronic sales (meaning iTunes and Amazon downloads) and the same TV re-run residual rate for online streaming
• The studios only offers are no residuals for electronic media (the status quo) or the same 0.3% home video residual figure and refuse to negotiate unless the WGA accepts one of those

That final bit is the real sticking point, not DVDs as most media outlets report. The studios are helping that mis-information by admittedly using the term “DVD” to refer to DVDs and electronic distribution so when reference is made to DVDs, keep in mind that’s not really what they mean. So basically, the writers want to be sure that they don’t get stuck with a very low residual for 20 years for electronic distribution the way they did for home video.

Not being a member of the Guild, I can’t help by not writing. Not living in L.A. means I can’t go picketing. They already get residuals for movies and TV, so not going out or switching off my set won’t help. Then I realized I do have a way to show support and something everyone I know can do too. So I suggest the following and ask that you spread the word:

Boycott studio-produced content on new media. Don’t buy any TV shows or movies off of iTunes or Amazon. Don’t watch shows streamed off network websites (including the massive Daily Show archive) or Joost or the new Hulu site.

so that’s what it’s like

As funny as the fake anti-piracy ads were on Boondocks tonight, this one from The IT Crowd beats them hands down. .

filmmaking in georgia

As someone who makes movies, but really doesn’t want to move out to L.A. and get caught up in the beast that is Hollywood, this news is quite welcome:

By the end of September, film, TV, commercial and music video productions had spent $285 million in Georgia on hotel expenses, catering, local hiring and more, nearly doubling the $146 million attained in all of 2005

Of course, that’s just Hollywood coming here, so it’s still primarily not productions in which I’m interested, but it means the infrastructure will be even better here for the films I make. With only one member of my six member filmmaking group who will still be living here next fall, I’ve got a very vested interest in any developments that will allow us to keep making the films we want to make.

(Speaking of my films, if anyone is interested in helping out on the new film, send an email to iwanttohelp@wackoproductions.net)