Writer’s Strike at an Impasse
Thursday the WGA issued news concerning the state of the current writers strike, and let’s just say it is not looking good.
If the strike continues, I fear the worst for our beloved K-Ville. OK, so “beloved may be a bit strong, but I am usually the one to support an underdog. And K-Ville is an underdog if ever there were one.
What is really sad is how little the writers are asking for. It’s summed up as a 3 percent raise. That’s about $150 million over 3 years. In an industry that is estimated to increase growth by 10 percent, you would think that the studio execs could cough up a 3 percent raise for the backbone of the industry. Yes, I complain as much as anyone about scripts and the generally poor writing that is passed on the viewing public, but it’s still better than reality TV. Unless it is Kid Nation, because I really love that show.
If you really want to get made about how little the writers are asking for, and why that amount is keeping new episodes of The Office from entertaining me, here’s the breakdown by individual studio. This is from the WGA West.
For Sony, this entire deal would cost $1.68 million per year. For Disney $6.25 million. Paramount and CBS would each pay about $4.66 million, Warner about $11.2 million, Fox $6.04 million, and NBC/Universal $7.44 million. MGM would pay $320,000 and the entire universe of remaining companies would assume the remainder of about $8.3 million per year. As we’ve stated repeatedly, our proposals are more than reasonable and the companies have no excuse for denying it.
At least, we still have a hand full of K-Villes to keep me busy blogging for the time being. Tonight’s episode is called “Flood, Wind and Fire.” Ooooh, catchy. It’s about a murdered insurance adjuster. Any guesses on how far into the episode we will have to wait to hear the words “the storm”? I’m starting a weekly pool. Five dollars buys you a square. Let me know…
I just have to figure out how to replace Dallas with The Storm and Washington with Gumbo.
K-Ville, WGA, writers strike, Kid Nation, The Office, Sony, Disney, Paramount, CBS, Warner, FOX, NBC, Universal, MGM
December 19th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
[...] John Bowman, the head of the WGA negotiating committee, estimates that if the remainder of the 2007-2008 season is scrapped, the loss for both the “industry” and LA will be upwards of 2.5 Billion with a B dollars. That makes the writers’ demands seem fairly paltry when the WGA is basically asking for a 3 percent raise, or $150 million. [...]