https://maxread.substack.com/p/why-im-on-strike
"The stakes are relatively simple. For the last few decades, hiring and
compensation in screenwriting has been structured to encourage (if not ensure)
some level of financial and career stability for working screenwriters. Jobs
may be infrequent or erratic, but when they come through, a writer can be
theoretically assured of a minimum level of compensation, both via “guaranteed
minimum” payments at the time, and later in the process, after the movie or TV
show has been released, in the form of “residual” payments. These guarantees
mean that a single job can help get a screenwriter through the fallow(er) time
until the next one.
This state of affairs has recently begun to change. Some of Hollywood’s basic
distribution model has been transformed with the rise of streaming platforms.
The entry of tech companies like Amazon and Apple into the industry has led to
gushing cash and frenzied competition as major entertainment conglomerates
erratically force their streaming platforms toward profitability. The
incentives of this competition means that the ongoing declines in theatrical
distribution and traditional TV are ignored or, worse, hastened.
Rather than attempt to solve any problems posed by streaming’s new domination,
or by the entry of huge sums of volatile tech money, executives and producers
have embraced this upheaval, specifically because they can use it to undermine
the expectations and structures that allowed writers (and basically anyone else
working on film production) to create at least semi-sustainable careers in
Hollywood. The regular paychecks of traditional writers’ rooms are increasingly
replaced by smaller, short-term “mini-rooms,” often assembled for shows that
won’t ever see the screen. Consistent, fair, and transparent residual payments
have been replaced with pathetic checks from black-box streaming platforms. The
race to streaming profitability, and the problem of declining audiences for
traditional cash cows will simply be solved by squeezing writers for more work
for less pay."
Via
Garbage Day: I love my framed Minion
https://www.garbageday.email/p/i-love-my-framed-minion
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
