Chapter 787 Screenwriter Strike

If I remember correctly, what Jon Lucas was talking about was The Hangover. This kind of typical shit comedy is still very marketable in North America. Now that I have encountered it, Ryan will definitely not miss it. What he didn't expect was that after Jon Lucas went to Disney Pictures and signed a letter of intent for cooperation, the project had to be temporarily suspended. \u0026..

The reason is simple. As a member of the Writers Guild, Jon Lucas wants to respond to the call of the Writers Guild to strike.

The biggest screenwriters' strike since 1988 inevitably erupted.

In fact, since the 5th of last month, hundreds of members of the Screenwriters Association have gathered around major film and television companies to hold protests. They held up slogans to improve their salaries, and shouted from time to time, Shut up! Hollywood is the world of unions. !” and other slogans.

These people paraded in front of the headquarters of famous film and television companies such as Paramount, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox until this month.

The status of screenwriters in Hollywood is low, and their income is lower than that of several other associations. Except for a few gold medal screenwriters, most screenwriters cannot enjoy the DVD and other revenue sharing of the film.

The uneven distribution of benefits can be said to be the biggest reason for the outbreak of this strike.

According to the last agreement reached between the Screenwriters Guild and the Producers Union, the six major film companies paid a minimum of $106,000 for original scripts, and the prices offered by major TV networks for TV drama scripts were about - 2.1 for primetime comedies. $31,000 for prime-time dramas.

Many screenwriters earn far more than that, with major studios earning at least $1 million for screenplays and established writers perhaps earning $4 million per film.

The average Hollywood screenwriter earned $200,000 a year last year, which is high compared to the average annual income of Los Angeles County residents and most Americans.

The eyes of the writers, though, are certainly not looking down, they are on the actors, directors and producers who compare their earnings to those of the actors, directors and studio executives. The interests of large salary increases were found.

According to the Writers Guild, the income of its writers has grown at less than half that of the entertainment industry as a whole, and many writers complain that they are dispensable in the eyes of the big companies.

In fact, this is not unreasonable. Except for the relatively better treatment of screenwriters signed with Disney, other companies do not value ordinary screenwriters, and even do not like to use members of the Screenwriters Association because of the agreement.

In the nineties. Ninety-five percent of screenwriting positions in the film and television industry are occupied by members of the Screenwriters Guild.

And now the ratio is fifty-five percent!

Major companies use a large number of cheap screenwriters outside the association to produce film and television dramas, cartoons and reality shows, which also deepens the contradiction between the two parties.

As a result, the war between the Screenwriters Guild and the Producers Union was on the verge of breaking out.

Before December, the Screenwriters Guild negotiated with the Producers Union. They believed that the average annual income of ordinary members of the association was less than 40,000 US dollars. , especially in terms of new media profits, it is necessary to get substantial dividends. The most obvious performance is the dividend percentage of DVD and Internet on demand.

As we all know, the DVD market in the United States and the emerging online pay-on-demand are quite huge. In fact, this is the main source of interest for major Hollywood manufacturers. How can the major film and television companies behind the Producers Alliance compromise so easily.

Although not involved. But Ryan's own attitude is also tough, even if there is a compromise, it will not be so easy, otherwise the Actors Association and Directors Association and other messy organizations will follow. They will all jump out. As a representative of a big company, he will naturally stand on the side of the producer alliance.

The development of things is far from as simple as imagined. Several negotiations ended in failure. The film company and the producer alliance insisted on their positions, and it can even be said to be tough. After all, the requirements of the Screenwriters Association will lead to an increase in the cost of filming, distribution and other links.

On the second day after Charlize's reception, the negotiating group represented by the Chairman of the Producers Union, Nick Conte, categorically rejected a series of requests from the Screenwriters Association after a twelve-hour negotiation. A general industrial strike sweeping across North America finally broke out this Friday.

Even a company with a script reserve like Disney will inevitably be affected, and The Hangover is just a microcosm of it.

However, Jon Lucas was a smart man who understood the rare opportunity and privately assured Julius Stewart that as soon as the strike ended, he would immediately sign a formal contract with Disney Pictures.

The strike quickly spread to the entire Hollywood, with 12,000 screenwriters participating in it, and many people took to Hollywood Boulevard to protest.

The last collective strike of the Writers Guild was in 1988. It lasted 22 weeks and caused more than $500 million in losses to the entire industry. Behemoth, even if not counting peripheral industries, accounts for about 10 percent of the U.S. economy, which means an annual output value of about $50 billion.

But in the same way, from the perspective of the overall future strategy, the Hollywood manufacturers with the six major companies as the main body will not easily compromise.

A batch of film and television dramas inevitably became temporary victims.

On the day the strike began, all talk shows were shut down immediately.

On December 17, 24 Hours announced the cancellation of this season, becoming the first unlucky TV series.

On December 20, the filming of the Da Vinci Code sequel Angels and Demons was postponed, becoming the first unlucky movie.

On December 23, 007: Quantum of Solace was temporarily suspended to join the ranks.

On December 26, just after Christmas, DreamWorks' main event The Adventures of Tintin was temporarily put on hold...

Even so, the Producers Union still showed a tough attitude. Even if they sat back at the negotiating table, they would not make concessions easily, and the strike continued.

The new year has arrived, and there is no joyous atmosphere in Hollywood, and the shadow of the strike hangs over the entire North American head.

On January 4, 2008, the Writers Guild refused to write lines for the Golden Globe Awards and announced a boycott of the Golden Globe Awards.

The Golden Globe Awards ceremony was forced to be canceled and changed to a press conference, and Natalie won the Best Actress in a Drama Series.

Everyone is starting to worry about the Oscars ceremony next month. If the Oscars are also cancelled, it will not only be a loss of money, but also the face of Hollywood...

Even Wall Street issued a warning that if the strike lasts for five months, the economic loss will be as high as 25 billion US dollars.

In this context, Rupert Murdoch of News Corp., Summer Redstone of Viacom, Keir Young of Universal, Don Logan of Time Warner, and representatives of Disney Ryan, a secret meeting was held in Malibu.

The strike cannot last. It was Summer Redstone who spoke.

This is the consensus of everyone. Although the figure of 25 billion US dollars is purely Wall Street nonsense, if the strike lasts for too long, it will definitely affect the earnings of the major groups.

We can't easily compromise. Ryan's attitude is very clear, Don't forget, the agreement between the Producers Union, the Directors Guild and the Actors Guild is about to expire. If we let go of the conditions of the Screenwriters Guild, it will bring chain reaction.

He looked at the media giants present, I don't think you all want to share our interests with them too much, do you?

My people have made statistics. Rupert Murdoch said slowly, As long as Oscar ends this strike before, our loss will be about 300 million US dollars.

Although there is competition with each other, they are a natural community of interests in this matter, and as a well-informed media group, why didn't they make some preparations in advance.

Don't forget, we are not the only ones to lose. Ryan snorted coldly, It is expected that the strike will cause a salary loss of up to 285 million U.S. dollars to screenwriters, while the loss of income from other film industry association employees is 500 million U.S. dollars. Dollar.

The strike of the Screenwriters Association is not only facing the Producers Union, the suspended crews and programs will also damage the interests of other professions.

So we've reached an agreement? Time Warner chairman Don Rogan asked.

The others nodded, and Ryan finally said, Go back to the negotiating table, drag the negotiation until it is close to the Oscars, let the Producers Union and the Screenwriters Association face the pressure from all sides together, we must make a decision. Some concessions, but the Writers Guild cannot easily achieve its goals.

This strike harms the interests of the entire industry. Compared with the producers' union backed by major companies, the Screenwriters Association will be under greater pressure.

On January 15, under heavy pressure from all parties, the Writers Association had to announce the release of the Grammy, and they first made a compromise.

Then, the Producers Union also made concessions and started a new round of informal negotiations with the Screenwriters Guild.

The negotiating group represented by News Corporation President Peter Sherney, Disney CEO Robert Iger and Producers Union Chairman Nick Conte, together with Writers Guild Chairman Veron, West Coast Writers Guild Executive Director David Young and the Association The head of the Coordinating Committee, John Bowman, returned to the negotiating table, and the strike finally showed the dawn of an end.

However, as Ryan said, the Producers Union will not back down easily, and this is bound to be a tug-of-war negotiation.

At the same time, the media group, which is the parent company of the six major companies, is also spreading news in the media to exert pressure, such as claiming that the major companies have enough scripts for filming until next year; , Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea purchased film copyrights, and even introduced overseas screenwriters for tentative writing and so on.

In fact, this is putting pressure on the editorial association.

Of course, people like Ryan also knew that the Producers Alliance had to make concessions. (To be continued..)

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