Well-forseen and better spoken. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: this will come back to bite the studios in the butts. The writers are asking for a percentage of the "gross" of what stuidos make, as the "net" is often calculated to show no profit made, and writers are then told "sorry, no money made, you get nothing extra". A big sticking point in all this is things such as creating content for the Internet. Now, the studios further decouple themselves from the writers, and once this thing is settled--or not--the writers and producers have less reason to have any kind of loyalty to them. Sure, the producers take a hit here with sweet deals like this being ended. But it also means they'll have to be more aggressive on shopping around, going to cable over the networks, even working for product aired in America, but produced overseas or across the borders to Canada and Mexico (both countries have growing film and TV presences).
We're entereing new territory in how content is created, controlled, and disseminated. By breaking these ties, studios will actually force these people to turn to newer systems perhaps faster than they intended, which in the end could put the studios at a disadvantage. -------------- Original message -------------- From: "Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)" Studios Issue Pink Slips to Producers Not even Hugh Jackman can dance his way out of this one... by Travis Fickett http://tv.ign.com/articles/845/845796p1.html January 15, 2008 - With the writers' strike in its 11th week, studios are looking for a way to cut costs. This has come down in the form of "termination letters" to a wide array of writers and producers. What's being terminated in this case are "overall" deals â which are arrangements with studios in which writers or producers give the studio first crack at their projects while the studio pays a fee and overhead expenses (like staff and development costs). An awful lot of those deals are being ended. Among the terminated is Hugh Jackman, who was a producer on the much maligned and quickly cancelled Viva Laughlin. Other producers to get cut from their respective studios â according to Daily Variety â include Kevin Falls (Journeyman), Barry Schindel (Numbers), Larry Kaplow (K-Ville), Matt Silverstein and Dave Jesser (Drawn Together and the upcoming Unhitched), David Guarascio and Moses Port (Aliens in America), Peter Horton (Dirty Sexy Money), and others. In total â and this is only so far â 75 deals have been cut across town. To be clear, this does not mean these shows have been cancelled. It just means that development deals have been terminated, effectively ending studios' current relationship with those writers or producers. How such a massive cleaning of house will affect the development of future television projects is unclear, but it's a fairly dramatic (and some would argue drastic) volley fired by the AMPTP over the WGA's bow. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links "There is no reason Good can't triumph over Evil, if only angels will get organized along the lines of the Mafia." -Kurt Vonnegut, "A Man Without A Country" --------------------------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
