Patric Verrone put fist on the table, to write again
After 100 days of heavy striking, 12 000 unhappy writers and an estimated 1.5 billion in losses, Writer’s Guild of America finally comes to an agreement.
February 13th 2008
By Anouck
LOS ANGELES – On February 10 2008, Patric Verrone, president of the WGA made a vote for all the writers to decide whether or not the strike should come to an end.
It all started on a disagreement between WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers (AMPTP). WGA was supposed to make a new contract for the next three years, but there was a divergence between both parties, which resulted in a strike from the writers, on November 5th 2007.
The AMPTP, owners of important corporations such as Fox, NBC, CBC, Paramount Pictures and Walt-Disney came to an impasse over the request from the WGA, to get a raise of pay on all DVDs purchased. “We are ready to meet at any time and remain committed to reaching a fair and reasonable deal that keeps the industry working but the DVD issue is a roadblock to these negotiations said Nick Counter, president of the AMPTP.
The writers went on strike twice earlier, once in 1960, that lasted 20 weeks and was a really important strike since the actors were on strike too, for different reasons. The other strike was in 1988, and this one lasted 21 weeks, the longest Writer’s strike ever been.
The DVD problem was the following, VHS used to cost a lot to compose, and didn’t make a lot of benefits. When VHS was the movie market, they would get 0.3% on all VHS purchased (when they are the author of the screenplay). But now that the DVD replaced the VHS, and that it costs almost nothing, authors felt they deserved a raise, because they still only had 0.3% on all DVD movies. So basically, on every 20$ of DVD purchased, they would get 4¢. What they wanted, was 8¢. AMPTP thought it was an unfair deal.
Technology is not on WGA’s favor. “Soon, when computers and your TV are connected, that’s how were all going to watch. Okay? Those residuals are going to go from what they are towards zero if we don’t make a stand now” said writer Howard Gould.Writers started picketing in hope to “shut down production”. They were picketing in 14 different locations. The script authors wanted to use a funny method to indicate their unhappiness by making a fake exorcism over Warner Bros. There was a lot of tension between WGA and AMPTP when the strike was coming to an end.
Around January 15, WGA tried an agreement between both parties. Both parties ordered an immediate “media blackout”, in which all the members could not talk to the media.
This is not over. Nor this is close. Until the moment it is over, it can never be close. Because if we see the finish line we will flag and they are absolutely counting on us to do that said Joss Whedon, Writer of the hit show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The WGA came to a conclusion yesterday. The Writer’s Guild planned on striking for a longer period, but they didn’t want the public against them, because the Academy Award would have been canceled if the strike lasted longer. The Writers will begin working on Monday.
This is a spoof of the writer's strike. Enjoy!
After 100 days of heavy striking, 12 000 unhappy writers and an estimated 1.5 billion in losses, Writer’s Guild of America finally comes to an agreement.
February 13th 2008
By Anouck
LOS ANGELES – On February 10 2008, Patric Verrone, president of the WGA made a vote for all the writers to decide whether or not the strike should come to an end.
It all started on a disagreement between WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers (AMPTP). WGA was supposed to make a new contract for the next three years, but there was a divergence between both parties, which resulted in a strike from the writers, on November 5th 2007.
The AMPTP, owners of important corporations such as Fox, NBC, CBC, Paramount Pictures and Walt-Disney came to an impasse over the request from the WGA, to get a raise of pay on all DVDs purchased. “We are ready to meet at any time and remain committed to reaching a fair and reasonable deal that keeps the industry working but the DVD issue is a roadblock to these negotiations said Nick Counter, president of the AMPTP.
The writers went on strike twice earlier, once in 1960, that lasted 20 weeks and was a really important strike since the actors were on strike too, for different reasons. The other strike was in 1988, and this one lasted 21 weeks, the longest Writer’s strike ever been.
The DVD problem was the following, VHS used to cost a lot to compose, and didn’t make a lot of benefits. When VHS was the movie market, they would get 0.3% on all VHS purchased (when they are the author of the screenplay). But now that the DVD replaced the VHS, and that it costs almost nothing, authors felt they deserved a raise, because they still only had 0.3% on all DVD movies. So basically, on every 20$ of DVD purchased, they would get 4¢. What they wanted, was 8¢. AMPTP thought it was an unfair deal.
Technology is not on WGA’s favor. “Soon, when computers and your TV are connected, that’s how were all going to watch. Okay? Those residuals are going to go from what they are towards zero if we don’t make a stand now” said writer Howard Gould.Writers started picketing in hope to “shut down production”. They were picketing in 14 different locations. The script authors wanted to use a funny method to indicate their unhappiness by making a fake exorcism over Warner Bros. There was a lot of tension between WGA and AMPTP when the strike was coming to an end.
Around January 15, WGA tried an agreement between both parties. Both parties ordered an immediate “media blackout”, in which all the members could not talk to the media.
This is not over. Nor this is close. Until the moment it is over, it can never be close. Because if we see the finish line we will flag and they are absolutely counting on us to do that said Joss Whedon, Writer of the hit show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The WGA came to a conclusion yesterday. The Writer’s Guild planned on striking for a longer period, but they didn’t want the public against them, because the Academy Award would have been canceled if the strike lasted longer. The Writers will begin working on Monday.
This is a spoof of the writer's strike. Enjoy!
For all of you who wonder what is V news, it`s a entertainment newspaper. Here is a link to visit the website: http://www.variety.com/
I apologize if i misinterpreted any of the information in the article.
MoviesRme007
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