Yes, there are some writers who make alot more money, but the average writer makes 62k a year, works sporadic jobs that can end at anytime, and if they don't land work on a hit show, find themselves to be undesirable hirees by 40.It's the rich wanting more money from the richer.
The big issue, isn't the DVD sales. The writers offered to drop asking to go from 4 to 6 cents on DVD sales, the issue is what's being watched on the internet. Right now, the writers are getting ZERO for internet content, and they're asking for 2.5% of whatever comes in from the streaming. Why shouldn't they get a cut?
They're on strike because the AMPTP won't sit down and seriously negotiate with them. It's not like they want to be there, but they're not getting a fair deal, and I hope they stay on the line until they do.Michael Schur, a producer/writer of The Office wrote:So how do we get our point across, to people who don’t understand why we’re doing this? The best way I have found, is to say: everything on the internet? We get zero. They get everything. They get millions and millions and eventually billions and billions, and we get zero. And the “they,” here, is basically six of the biggest baddest companies in the world, run by men who annually receive salaries and compensation well north of 50 million dollars.
They want to offer me absolutely nothing when they stream my show on-line, and further offer the comically-low 0.3% residual rate on things like iTunes downloads. Well, over time they will end up reducing my salary by something like 85%. That seems like a pretty drastic paycut.
