Tom Short speaks out, connects dots

They'reNov 14th, 2007 - 22:40:46

putting more importance on this than there really is.

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SP4: BecauseNov 15th, 2007 - 03:45:59

...they actually think we are missing their work. How out-to-sea can you possibly be???

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Imbecilic commentsNov 15th, 2007 - 15:02:06

(I see that SP4 does not know a damned thing about domestic issues, either)

This strike affects not only the writers, but the crew, cast, extras, and the whole network of suppliers to the industry, including the technical people who put the shows together, as well as agents and managers who earn a percentage of what talent brings in. The strikers will never earn back what they're losing in pay, and the 'normal' actors who are idle 95 percent of their lives now have even fewer opportunities. People who used to watch TV are already finding alternatives, and this may reduce the total audience further. Advertisers will spend their money on directed ad campaigns, since the typical Web 'click-through' ad yields perhaps two-tenths of one percent response. TV ad rates will have to drop, and this reduces network revenue, which affects their news divisions. The 'Tonight' show is a large revenue source.

This is a very large hit to tax revenues in California, amongst other places, and also shuts down production of U.S. shows in Canada and other locales. California is running a new 10 billion dollar deficit, and this is the last thing the State needs, and L.A. as well.

The writers have a point, in that they're not sharing from online revenues and other points of sale. That said, the returns from those venues are meager to begin with as compared to what they earn from TV and residuals, so they're fighting over pennies in the first place, as compared to dollars in their pockets.

The only potential benefit comes to producers ot low-rated shows already on air, as it would be riskier and more expensive to find replacements.

www.nytimes.com/2007/11/15/arts/television/15life.html?th&emc=th

“The strike definitely could be a good thing for some marginal shows,” said Preston Beckman, the executive in charge of scheduling for the Fox network. That theory was seconded by executives at the other networks and at several studios, most of whom asked for and were granted anonymity because of a code of silence about strike issues that is in place at the big production companies.

Very soon the networks will begin running low on original scripted episodes of shows. Any new episode will become an increasingly valuable commodity. No network is going to waste bought-and-paid-for episodes. So the marginal shows will stay on until their episodes run out, which, in most cases, will mean sometime between now and the end of January.

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Example of damage to the industryNov 16th, 2007 - 14:56:16

news.monstersandcritics.com/usa/news/article_1374052.php/Panavision_to_shut _down_for_two_weeks__strike_related_

We’ve just received a tip that Panavision, one of the largest camera gear supply houses in all of Hollywood is, as our source tells it, “shutting down” from December 17 through January 2nd — a tally which includes 13 work days.

“Many people there will have one or two unpaid weeks during the holidays,” our source tells us. “From the strike.”

The mighty are already wobbling. One wonders what will happen if they all get back to “work” after the new year, and the strike is still raging.

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