The Artful Writer: The Economics of Screenwriting

Craig Mazin of The Artful Writer put together just about the best explanation of how screenwriters get paid that I've read. It sheds light on a lot of grey areas with practical examples and real scenarios. Check it out.

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Studios call for study of writer residuals system - Los Angeles Times

And as in any good campaign to stall progress (think Iraq progress reports) they want to have a study to determine whether and how they will screw writers!

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Hollywood Executives Call for End to Residual Payments - New York Times

Their greed exceeds even their own grasp!

As if getting paid for work - think free rewrites - isn't hard enough, producers and studios want to remove residual payments from writers. Of course, this is not the first time that they've expressed remorse at having to actually pay people other than themselves, but broaching this particular subject this far away from the start date of negotiations (Oct. 31) shows that they are ready to play hardball. Strike or no strike.

Their position is a way to head off discussions for extending residual pay for writers into online and interactive markets - a key position for the WGA this year. So to head off discussion producers are saying, "Not only are we NOT going to pay residuals for online markets, we are NOT going to pay residuals on any other markets either."

Every year the entertainment industry rakes in billions of dollars. Every year the entertainment industry cries poverty and looks for ways to screw writers out of their well-deserved compensation.

This New York Times article requires a free registration.

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