Official WGA Writers Strike thread.

[Thug Bubbles]

Sucks, but [censored] happens when groups of people fight for change. i'm curious what they propose as a 'proper' solution. Continuing to work, while the producers and studios string you along for another few decades?

[Nicholasp27]

lots of people are also laid off when a company downsizes or goes through other layoffs

doesn't change the fact that writers are asking to be compensated for giving up their ownership of the scripts...giving the studio all author rights to the script/show/characters/etc etc...and not being compensated for money made online makes no sense

they have been presented with a new contract to sign by the studios...they have decided they do not wish to sign a contract with the current terms...so they have decided to not sign and wait for a better deal...that is their right...they aren't duty-bound to accept lame deals because otherwise the people on the set will lose their jobs...

[CharlieDontSurf]

The studios have essentially drawn a line in the sand because they know that within the next 1-5 years the $$$ coming in from the internet downloads and streaming is going to be HUGE. The DVD market is already in decline. They simply do not want to give the writer anything, and it is not so much pure greed just strategy.

They believe they can outlast the writers/WGA and that the writers will eventually go broke and start to fight amongst each other. The studios will then offer a [censored] deal with maybe one or two meaningless improvements which the WGA will grudgingly accept. They also want to send a message to the DGA and SAG that they shouldn't expect much. The studios don't give a [censored] about firing people, layoffs, or cutting producing writing deals...saves them money.

The only problem is I don't think they realize how set in the minds in the WGA are given the lesson of the home video/DVD screwup of years past has been seared in the writers memeory. The WGA trusted the "take this rate, we'll do a 3 year study and then renegotiate the rate afterwards" b.s. that the studios gave them and they got massively burned for it.

I think the writers essentially know that that they are striking till late spring/June barring a miracle or some other force pushing the studios to make a fair deal.

I would imagine that SAG, esp. given their pres., is fully hoping for the writers strike to last till June so once they strike along with the WGA it will cripple the industry and bring the studios to their knees essentially.


and yeah your right...countless screenwriters send gibberish , sometimes in their scripts too which makes them look really bad, but this is a internet message board, not work or career stuff. I don't have great grammar and am terrible at typing but I put way more effort into any writing I do for work/screenwriting/etc compared to here or elsewhere on the interwebs. I should probably put a bit more effort but I'm lazy and doing other stuff at work so I don't. Screenwriters don't have editors do their dirty work though...they have their assistants do it instead.

[suzzer99]

I have a semi-unrelated question for CDS or anyone who knows. Obviously there is some product placement on The Office - Second Life, Staples, etc. But also it has to fit into the story. How does that work? Does The Office approach Staples and Office Max, and say "Hey we have a bunch of lines about a big competitor, it can be you, or the other guy", then they bid on it?

Or what about in Family Guy, when they're going to Olive Garden and Lois says "Me likey breadsticks! Me likey breadsticks!". Is that paid for? If Family Guy wants to do the joke do they have to ask permission from Olive Garden? If so, do they go ahead and ask for some money at the same time?

Seems like a lot of negotiation would have to happen if you come up with the joke on Tues and film on Thurs. or something. Then again with Family Guy you could just stick the joke into any episode. But let's say it's a similar situation with Friends and Pottery Barn. But it will only fit in that episode. Do they do some quick negotiation?

And finally, does any of the product placement money go to the writers? If not do the studio heads come down and say "you have to fit Target into this episode". Can the writers say no? Or do the studio heads say "Extra $1k for everyone any time you fit any of these companies into any episode."?

[CharlieDontSurf]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a semi-unrelated question for CDS or anyone who knows. Obviously there is some product placement on The Office - Second Life, Staples, etc. But also it has to fit into the story. How does that work? Does The Office approach Staples and Office Max, and say "Hey we have a bunch of lines about a big competitor, it can be you, or the other guy", then they bid on it?

Or what about in Family Guy, when they're going to Olive Garden and Lois says "Me likey breadsticks! Me likey breadsticks!". Is that paid for? If Family Guy wants to do the joke do they have to ask permission from Olive Garden? If so, do they go ahead and ask for some money at the same time?

Seems like a lot of negotiation would have to happen if you come up with the joke on Tues and film on Thurs. or something. Then again with Family Guy you could just stick the joke into any episode. But let's say it's a similar situation with Friends and Pottery Barn. But it will only fit in that episode. Do they do some quick negotiation?

And finally, does any of the product placement money go to the writers? If not do the studio heads come down and say "you have to fit Target into this episode". Can the writers say no? Or do the studio heads say "Extra $1k for everyone any time you fit any of these companies into any episode."?

[/ QUOTE ]

Can't say with 100% certainty cuz this isn't really my area but product placement is a major part of TV/Film so I would assume they have a specific dept that deals with in in terms of a given show or their whole slate of shows. It is probably a mix of both...the stuidos contacting companies and companies contacting studios. I imagine that Office Depot/Staples etc all want to be featured on a given show so it probably goes to the highest bidder unless the studio already has a deal set up with a given company. It is probably somewhat random.

not everything is paid for the...some is just free advertising. I would assume Family Guy is more likely to be free given that joke could have been created at 2AM and shot that same week. Where as with The Office given it is about a paper company...it is likely that rivals paper companies will constantly be involved so they could likely get a company to pony up some cash.

no...writers/actors/directors don't get any of the $$ as far as I'm aware of unless they somehow had it written into their deal...which I doubt they would have the clout to do.
Could be wrong though.

[Dudd]

Here's an article that was in my local paper about The Office product placement. Sadly, if I remember correctly it was front page news. Anyways, it looks pretty random, don't know how representative it is of the industry.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/...WS01/709290315

[DeuceKicker]

I work for a product placement company, though not in the PP department, so I’ll try to tackle these.

[ QUOTE ]
Obviously there is some product placement on The Office - Second Life, Staples, etc. But also it has to fit into the story. How does that work? Does The Office approach Staples and Office Max, and say "Hey we have a bunch of lines about a big competitor, it can be you, or the other guy", then they bid on it?
Or what about in Family Guy, when they're going to Olive Garden and Lois says "Me likey breadsticks! Me likey breadsticks!". Is that paid for? If Family Guy wants to do the joke do they have to ask permission from Olive Garden? If so, do they go ahead and ask for some money at the same time?

[/ QUOTE ] Generally, the productions services, prop, and wardrobe departments of a show will contact the product placement company that handles that client. The PP company will give approval on the client’s behalf to use or mention the product, and supply product if needed.

[ QUOTE ]
Seems like a lot of negotiation would have to happen if you come up with the joke on Tues and film on Thurs. or something. Then again with Family Guy you could just stick the joke into any episode. But let's say it's a similar situation with Friends and Pottery Barn. But it will only fit in that episode. Do they do some quick negotiation?

[/ QUOTE ]Yes, there can be some last-minute scrambling to get approval from the client, then get the product, signage, etc… to production. A mention in an animated series should be much easier, because you only need to send over a few pages of script to be approved.

As far as bidding for exposure—no, that usually doesn’t happen for straight product placement. There is a sub-set of PP, which is called Branded Integration (maybe other PP firms call it something different, but everyone is doing it now, as this is where the industry is moving). An example of BI is when I. Robot needed a futuristic car for Will Smith. IIRC, Audi and Lexus were both interested in having some of their more out-there concept cars featured in the movie and the bidding was pretty heavy.

AFAIK, movies and TV shows cannot use or mention a product without the parent company’s permission (probably because of the copyright issues that CDS mentioned up-thread). So if The Office wants to mention Staples, and the line is, “Our paper is better than that crappy stuff Staples sells.” Staples could refuse to allow them to mention their company in that way. Obviously if the usage is neutral or positive, most companies are glad for the free exposure. If the placement is negative, they’ll refuse and the production’s art department has to make fake packaging etc… for a fictitious product.

[ QUOTE ]
And finally, does any of the product placement money go to the writers? If not do the studio heads come down and say "you have to fit Target into this episode". Can the writers say no? Or do the studio heads say "Extra $1k for everyone any time you fit any of these companies into any episode."?

[/ QUOTE ]No, they don’t get paid, and I vaguely recall hearing some word around the office that script writers were starting to grumble. Technically, purposely sliding Target into the script could be considered ad-writing, not creative writing (I’m sure I’m bungling the terms, but in the industry there is a difference).

For generic PP, no money is changing hands. The productions benefit by only having to deal with a few PP companies to get props, signage, and approval.

[suzzer99]

Thanks, I had a feeling there had to be some organized system. So generally are you saying that when a show calls up to ask permission to use a company's name, no money changes hands?

[DeuceKicker]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks, I had a feeling there had to be some organized system. So generally are you saying that when a show calls up to ask permission to use a company's name, no money changes hands?

[/ QUOTE ]Correct.

[suzzer99]

[ QUOTE ]
I would imagine that SAG, esp. given their pres., is fully hoping for the writers strike to last till June so once they strike along with the WGA it will cripple the industry and bring the studios to their knees essentially.


[/ QUOTE ]

How do the studios decide who sits on their side of the table? Do they get proportional votes based on volume or something?