The writers' strike - day two
The chant uttered by striking writers in New York (including "30 Rock" star/writer Tina Fey) sums up what this strike is all about: "No money? No downloads. No downloads? No peace."
That's the main issue in the Writers Guild of America's contract dispute with Hollywood producers and studios: The brave new world of "new media."
Both sides see a future where more programs are being downloaded - either via corporate web sites, or via YouTube or iTunes. The writers want a piece of that action, but the studios (and their corporate owners) say the arena is too new and strange to know whether there's money in it.
Of course, that corporate line is crap. It's the same argument made in 1988, the last time the writers went on strike, but the new untested technology then was home video - and we all know how that turned out.
If there wasn't money in the Internet, the corporations wouldn't be diving headlong into developing the sites and the technology. If writers are creating the content that studios are selling online, then the writers should get compensated for their work. It's that simple - but then prying money away from a corporation is never simple, is it?
(For the latest on the picket lines, check out Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily blog.)
That's the main issue in the Writers Guild of America's contract dispute with Hollywood producers and studios: The brave new world of "new media."
Both sides see a future where more programs are being downloaded - either via corporate web sites, or via YouTube or iTunes. The writers want a piece of that action, but the studios (and their corporate owners) say the arena is too new and strange to know whether there's money in it.
Of course, that corporate line is crap. It's the same argument made in 1988, the last time the writers went on strike, but the new untested technology then was home video - and we all know how that turned out.
If there wasn't money in the Internet, the corporations wouldn't be diving headlong into developing the sites and the technology. If writers are creating the content that studios are selling online, then the writers should get compensated for their work. It's that simple - but then prying money away from a corporation is never simple, is it?
(For the latest on the picket lines, check out Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily blog.)
9:12 AM
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