Why do these things have to drag on so long? We all know how it's going to end; they'll cave, there will be a new (though not as good as asked for) contract, and in the meantime writing will have lost just that much more grip on the world, to be replaced by alternatives like reality TV.

Why not cave now? Don't the bad guys get sick of reruns just like the rest of us?

some odd notes here.

Someone wrote "writing a film is team effort" and then goes on to talk about the various crew members.

Making a film is a team effort. Directors need to be made more aware of that. But writing a film isn't the same thing as making a film.

Someone else talks about someone being a qualified animal wrangler and set painter. Excuse me? that's fun and sexy and nuts. Animal wranglers are pretty specialized. On location in a jungle in the middle of the Philippines maybe other things happen. But it is very rare to hit any overtime. Most crews work a week predicated on a 60 hours guarantee which isn't hard to meet as most production days go at least twelve hours (the 60 hours has a built in overtime component). If there's a forced call without an eight-hour turnaround (that's eight hours from the time you're off on the set, eight hours to go home, eat dinner, sleep, get up, perhaps clean yourself, and get back to the set), mandatory overtime comes into play (on a union set), time and a half; after some more of these you hit double time and then triple time. As soon as you get eight hours off, back to your original quote/salary.

If you're not a union set, forget it. Especially if you're on location abroad.

It's a pity that the internet writer doesn't get royalties. It's a new field and not-unionized. The film writers weren't unionized for the first forty years of the industry. Residuals were only negotiated in the 1960's. If IATSE could negotiate them, more power to them. The IA has other complications which makes it difficult.

The salary of a typical television writer on a scripted show cannot be for a script itself, as there are limits as to how many writers can be credited. So if the writers contribute to a script (and on shows with a "room", they do) they get salaries and are credited as a story editor, producer etc although in this context, the titles don't mean what they do in film production. There are no residuals for most of the 22-27 episodes on which a writer has contributed. There is only a residual for an episode on which the writer is credited AS a writer. The residual is based on when and where the show is rerun. If it is rerun in broadcast (for example, a fallow week in regular primetime), the first and only first rerun is 100% of the fee for the script, second is 50% and quickly down to 5% where it stays. This is 5% of the script fee, not of the writers salary. If you don't get along with the show runner, you may only get two scripts or less a season. The show runner may assign herself more scripts or like one famous creator/showrunner, put his name on every single script - more residuals for him.

It is unlikely that any writer will get more than three or four credited scripts a year. If they never rerun, no residuals. The writers', actors', and directors' residuals can impact whether or not the show reruns on broadcast. Basic cable reruns are not necessarily subject to residuals.

If the box set goes to DVD and the show was a cable original, like the Shield, or the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, or Weeds, no residuals on the box set.

Which is equivalent to no royalties on your work.

Residuals are a negotiated and accepted way of doing business in film and television. Arguments that are reminiscent of "why should ballplayers make so much money when teachers make so little," are ignorant and silly.

If you want an answer, teachers generate very little revenue although they perform a priceless service. Ballplayers generate tons of revenue and how ever much they make, the owners of the ball club are making even more.

If your internet writing generates the millions that one episode of "Lost" is generating, I hope you get a piece of those millions.

I personally don't watch much TV, and the TV I *do* watch, might be some silly reality show and maybe some news but all of that above, I can find online anyways.

Like it or not, reality shows are taking off as the next big thing. You don't need as many writers, production costs are comparatively low vs. a single episode of say Friends.

All this is really about money. I did this, so therefore I expect to be compensated for every time this happens or is aired and so forth.

Gordon's story points up one thing about the strike that the WGA isn't too keen to publicize: many members aren't working on union shows, and indeed, might not ever again. I know a number of people who work on "how-to" shows on HGTV and documentaries on the Discovery Channels and even--gasp--reality based shows. These shows give producer credits, rather than writer credits.

The Guild makes it sound like the non-working members are writing spec scripts or pitching their big series ideas or waiting for their chance to come back but plenty of them aren't even working in entertainment any more. The WGA's not very forthcoming about how many members are actually eligible to vote, and how many are actually actively working in show biz.

I also support the WGA strike ... not because I will directly benefit ... like another content developer who burns with jealousy over residuals, I'm never going to see a dime beyond my monthly paycheck for all the work I do in my current place of employment.

But UNLIKE that person I recognize that there are indirect benefits to the strike for all of us who write for a living.

A real discussion is happening about what writers *do* in my workplace for the first time, and the WGA strike is part of the inspiration.

Management in just about every industry I've worked in (radio, print and online journalism, magazine publishing, e-learning and PR so far) fundamentally don't understand what writers do. There is this regrettable notion that "anybody" can write, and that there is no difference between a kid with a BA in English and a 40 year old with 20 years' experience. They don't know how to manage us.

We also only make 1/3 of the salary of programmers and IT people in case anyone cares. When we're working.

These people carry on like we're a bunch of fruity artists, not hard working people with a *skill* worth compensating. They know a good script from a bad script, but not why one is good or one is bad, why one CD gets the clients coming back to us and the other doesn't.

(also Lestat1, don't harsh on Jane Espenson. Marti Noxon was in charge of Buffy Season 6).