Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike news 2 2

[buttock]

On 9/19/2023 at 12:42 PM, Bosco685 said:

It's not a 'straw man' (misrepresented proposition) if the Digital Home Sales market is booming and the Theater Box Office is recovering. Whomever it is that taught you that concept misrepresented the intent. Please go back to them and claim that time back.

*sigh*

[drotto]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:04 PM, Bosco685 said:

Like we have seen in the movie business over the years, once a trend starts they rush to catch up with one another. At one point they were rushing into the disc mail and rental business buying up brick-and-mortar chains. Then that dried up as a dying concept.

Streaming was the next "thing to be" that then they hadn't done a deeper dive on monetization. Though Disney was wise with the early premiere fee to figure out one unique approach.

Plus the very good revenue streams they sacrificed for streaming, like physical media, and TV airing rights. Those were big money makers, now insignificant. 

[Bosco685]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:07 PM, buttock said:

*sigh*

I know. You'll never get that straw man time back.

Meanwhile, look at that Home Theater Sales and recovering Theater Box Office.

[Bosco685]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:08 PM, drotto said:

Plus the very good revenue streams they sacrificed for streaming, like physical media, and TV airing rights. Those were big money makers, now insignificant. 

And now that Disney is starting to back out of physical media to reduce production cost while driving more digital sales that will be telling is modern society is ready for the big leap. Though what one huge studio does will start to trickle out to other peers and become a societal norm.

[buttock]

On 9/19/2023 at 1:09 PM, Bosco685 said:

I know. You'll never get that straw man time back.

Meanwhile, look at that Home Theater Sales and recovering Theater Box Office.

You should check out the emerging market for AI. 

[Bosco685]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:12 PM, buttock said:

You should check out the emerging market for AI. 

Is that a straw man as well?

[drotto]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:10 PM, Bosco685 said:

And now that Disney is starting to back out of physical media to reduce production cost while driving more digital sales that will be telling is modern society is ready for the big leap. Though what one huge studio does will start to trickle out to other peers and become a societal norm.

On the other hand studios like Sony are backing off on plans for their own services, and taking a more traditional approach to license their movies to existing services. WB is also co sidering licensing and doing VOD for several months before making a film "Free" for subscribers on MAX. So an adaptation of the older model.

 

Again, no streaming has proven a reliable ROI for forgoing direct payments for a specific property, and putting it on a subscription service were the fee is distributed between 1000's of properties. While Stranger Things seems to drive subs, but what value to second and third tier properties have? What is the value of a 30 year old film? This is why you see streamers pulling content, the storag fee are greater than they pull in.

 

Yes, many jumped on streaming, except for arguably Netflix, nobody has made a profit yet. I think the ad tiers are a path towards profit, but it is far from printing money like they all thought. It also goes against then original idea that people could watch anything they want, anytime, no ads.  Instead it is starting to look a lot more like cable, and there are only so many people willing to spend money on multiple services. I think the consumer pool may be smaller then expected.

 

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by drotto

[Bosco685]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:31 PM, drotto said:

Yes, many jumped on streaming, except for arguably Netflix, nobody has made a profit yet. I think the ad tiers are a path towards profit, but it is far from printing money like they all thought. It also goes against then original idea that people could watch anything they want, anytime, no ads.  Instead it is starting to look a lot more like cable, and there are only so many people willing to spend money on multiple services. I think the consumer pool may be smaller then expected.

The Netflix story is an interesting one. Especially when considering how they begged Blockbuster to purchase them, and the then CEO was laughed out of the meeting BY BLOCKBUSTER.

Did they get too comfortable with themselves Netflix had found a spot studios couldn't touch? Looks like it. But it is still trucking forward.

[buttock]

On 9/19/2023 at 1:16 PM, Bosco685 said:

Is that a straw man as well?

I'd explain it to you, but you wouldn't understand.

[Bosco685]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:56 PM, buttock said:

I'd explain it to you, but you wouldn't understand.

Don't be childish.

You used a term you misunderstood in a scenario you hadn't analyzed but rather assumed. Learn.

[buttock]

On 9/19/2023 at 2:03 PM, Bosco685 said:

Don't be childish.

You used a term you misunderstood in a scenario you hadn't analyzed but rather assumed. Learn.

Keep telling yourself that buddy.  Keep throwing out inaccurate comparisons as a straw man and thinking that you've made a point.  Keep digging that hole.  

[Bosco685]

Someone's buttocks hurts. That's for sure.

On to much more engaging topics. 

[RobAnybody]

On 9/19/2023 at 2:00 PM, drotto said:

Disney + has lost close to $13 billion since it luanched. That is all about writers and content creation.  

Doesn't that kinda make the point that paying these writers *more* is a losing proposition?  They are the ones who wrote the shows that lost them that money.

[Larryw7]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:16 PM, Bosco685 said:

Is that a straw man as well?

 

[Bosco685]

On 9/19/2023 at 10:40 PM, RobAnybody said:

Doesn't that kinda make the point that paying these writers *more* is a losing proposition?  They are the ones who wrote the shows that lost them that money.

But remember. With sub-divisions like Marvel Studios the producers drive the show direction. Not the writers or directors. Movies and shows.

Even the previous Executive Producer, Victoria Alonso, made that crystal clear.

We can't only celebrate this approach when things are great. It also impacts when shows and movies are off or just bad.

[drotto]

On 9/19/2023 at 10:40 PM, RobAnybody said:

Doesn't that kinda make the point that paying these writers *more* is a losing proposition?  They are the ones who wrote the shows that lost them that money.

Paying good writers is always worth it.  What the problem is, and still one of the main sticking points of the strike, is the WGA wants to dictate the size of the writers room for every show. That means unneeded or even bad writers would be mandated into writers rooms where they may not be wanted. That effects not only the bottom line, but potentially the creative process and even quality of a show.

[Bosco685]

On 9/20/2023 at 8:10 AM, drotto said:

Paying good writers is always worth it.  What the problem is, and still one of the main sticking points of the strike, is the WGA wants to dictate the size of the writers room for every show. That means unneeded or even bad writers would be mandated into writers rooms where they may not be wanted. That effects not only the bottom line, but potentially the creative process and even quality of a show.

Do you have the details how writing on a show commonly occurs leading to that minimum writers count?

Asking. As assuming that's meant to insert 'the bad writers too' seems more opinion that fact-based.

[drotto]

On 9/20/2023 at 8:12 AM, Bosco685 said:

Do you have the details how writing on a show commonly occurs leading to that minimum writers count?

Asking. As assuming that's meant to insert 'the bad writers too' seems more opinion that fact-based.

Clip from Deadline in May outlining the WGA writer room requirement demands.

 

Before the WGA launched its strike a week ago, it had proposed minimum staffing for episodic TV writers rooms. For pre-greenlight rooms, it proposed “minimum staff of six writers, including four Writer-Producers.” For post-greenlight rooms, it proposed “one writer per episode up to six episodes, then one additional writer required for each two episodes after six, up to a maximum of 12 writers. Example: eight episodes requires seven writers including four Writer-Producers; 10 episodes requires eight writers including five Writer-Producers.”

 

Yes, implying the proposal would lead to bad writers being hired in oppinion. Regardless, I can not see how a 6 episode show must have 6 writers.  These guideline are purely about forcing studio to hire more people then they may want or need, and nothing about the quality of the show. They are trying to force studios to hire more people than they may need in a possibly shrinking job market.  I know unions exist to get their workers jobs, but this seems extreme.

[drotto]

On 9/20/2023 at 8:12 AM, Bosco685 said:

Do you have the details how writing on a show commonly occurs leading to that minimum writers count?

Asking. As assuming that's meant to insert 'the bad writers too' seems more opinion that fact-based.

To add fuel to the fire, from Variety, many show runners do not want and did not ask for these writer room requirements. So there is not unity in the ranks, and internal concerns about the effects of those demands.

 

 

Nobody asked for this,” said one prominent showrunner. “Every showrunner I know is against this. It doesn’t make sense to anybody.”

Another writer added: “All the showrunners that want a staff should be given a staff. I don’t think it’s important to force those few that don’t want a staff to have a staff.”

The WGA proposed in the spring that TV shows should hire a minimum of six to 12 writers, depending on the number of episodes in a season. At its meeting on Tuesday, they agreed to reduce that ask by one writer — but would not forgo the basic structure.

Several showrunners told Variety they did not want to be forced to hire writers who are not needed. In its worst form, they say, that would amount to “featherbedding,” an illegal labor practice in which employers are required by union rules to hire workers who do no work

https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/writers-strike-screenwriters-oppose-staff-mininum-1235694323/

Edited September 20, 2023 by drotto

[TupennyConan]

I'm ready & willing to blame studio execs, producers, directors, writers, actors, VFX folks, and craft services for the MCU sucking. Gaffers too, probably.