By Ryan Parsons | Image property of respective holders.
The Princess Bride
Though every big studio is fasttracking everything they can get their hands on in preparation of the upcoming writers strike, MGM chairman and CEO Harry Sloan is exuberating confidence that the writers will stick to paper instead of picket signs. Even with an 'unimpressed' WGA, there is a small flicker of hope that things continue as normal in Hollywood November 1st.
WGA Strike Optimism
I have had quite a few discussions about the upcoming writers strike with friends and fellow Hollywood talent (in bars mostly) and it seems that there are two major issues that both revolve around the back end. Now, who doesn't like the back end?
Any time a writer, director or actor is invested in a project with a cut against revenues, there are a few things that can create dramatic shifts on the dollar amount that appears on ones paycheck.
One little issue is the book keeping. Most people didn't realize that studios, like everybody else, do all they can to spend or fudge some numbers before reporting them publicly. These fudged numbers that get reported are what people like Peter Jackson get paid against. The issue has become popular thanks to Jackson's lawsuit against New Line, who he thinks fudged so many numbers for Lord of the Rings that an audit is in order. If he is correct -- which he likely is -- it could mean that the studio still owes the director millions of dollars.
Big deal? For Jackson it is, but not exactly what the WGA is looking at. The problem they are having is the internet and similar digital media.
Films now earn money on the internet and the WGA wants that factored into their value. Harry Sloan responds by using The Princess Bride as an example. Yes, the film is extremely popular on the internet as the #1 download on iTunes for the past two weeks, but that doesn't amount to much. Sloan claims MGM makes approximately $7 per download, and Princess Bride's 5000 downloads can't necessarily be called significant income.
Sloan mentioned that the studios did try to fund a study that would determine the fair value of digital downloads, but the writers shot the idea down suspecting a delay tactic. "It wasn't such a terrible idea," Sloan explains, "But the writers hated it."
Sloan goes on to discuss the aims of MGM, their upcoming desires, and what they are doing to deal with both talent and growing revenues. You can hear all he has to say at Hollywood Reporter.
There are some people excited about the possibility of a strike, and that is the writers who are non-WGA.
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