...But there's no money, yet!

Quotes from Michael Eisner.

"For a writer to give up today's money for a nonexistent piece of the future -- they should do it in three years, shouldn't be doing it now -- they are misguided they should not have gone on the strike. I've seen stupid strikes, I've seen less stupid strikes, and this strike is just a stupid strike."

“There’s all of this rhetoric by the media companies about this ‘great new digital business’, which is a small, growing business that will one day be dominant, but it isn’t, yet there’s no money there yet.

From The Walt Disney Company President and CEO, Bob Iger: "it's about a billion five in revenue."

Mm hmm.

Great video, btw.

Picket Lines are Forming.

Here's a neat little short that boils down a lot of the issues and reasons for the strike.



The short glosses over the internet issues. It isn't simply about Internet residuals.

The Internet has already changed what content looks like, helps support alternative formats to television, and is itself a very cheap and effective tool in distribution.

Nielson ratings have changed to take a % of internet views into account. This means that advertisers are already paying a pricetag that reflects a partial Internet distribution of any of your favorite shows.

The world is changing. And mass media is at the forefront.

Writers are the engines that keep content running. Highly skilled writers are the ones keeping the quality of shows you see on television at an all time high.

The internet has brought the viewing public and those creating the content something completely new. A new contract should reflect these changes, in all their intricacies.

To Strike or Not to Strike

Does it even matter? That is the question.

For the up and coming writer, that has been getting rave reviews on his latest script from a handful of sources, doors seem more closed than ever.

Why?

Signatories do not want to touch new material with the impending strike looming. They have their own problems to deal with. A perfectly valid excuse.

As if this business wasn't hard enough to break into.

Regardless of how the situation with the WGA and AMPTP is resolved, there is nothing I can do except sit on my hands. I can only hope that things are resolved quickly, but that does not seem to be the future I am looking at through this funky crystal ball.