(no subject)

[oselle]

So, film and television writers are going on strike. I believe there are ten episodes of Supernatural filmed, with episodes 11 and 12 already written, if not in the can. So at least we'll get through half a season before the well runs dry. Considering the show always takes some time off around the holidays, Episode 12 should carry us through to the end of January. At which point I'll probably be so sick of Bela and Ruby that I'll be happy for a break. What will suck bigtime is if the strike is not settled in time to start filming the rest of the season. If the strike lasts a couple of months, will they extend the season past May to get the requisite 22 episodes in?

What also sucks is that my beloved, must-see Daily Show and The Colbert Report will be the first to go. Since they're written daily, they'll be off the air as early as Monday. Alas.

As to these writers, I can't help feeling a little pissy. Sure, they're being cheated by networks and production companies that are making money off "new media" like downloads and DVDs that the writers aren't getting royalties for. But at the same time, I'd give a kidney to be able to do what these people do. And $20,000 for a one-hour script sounds pretty good to me. So cry me a river, Writer's Guild of America, as you prepare to deprive me and millions of other people of one of our few reliable pleasures. Cry me a river.

Comments

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

Yep, I agree. I find it hard to get much sympathy up, since there are good writers going begging out here, who'd jump at a chance to do their jobs.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

If they're looking for scabs I'll gladly sign up. Though I'm afraid my episodes would be all Dean getting beaten up. And sleeping. Hey, if Andy Warhol could make an entire movie out of some guy sleeping and have it considered avant garde, I should be able to do the same.

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

I'd get in line to watch it.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

If I had three million of you, we'd match Supernatural's ratings!

[golden-berry.livejournal.com]

The thing is, you could totally do what screenwriters do. I have no idea how one breaks into that field. You'd probably have to pretend you were 20-something, but you could definitely do their 'job'.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I actually think it is easier to become a screenwriter for films than for television. Writing for television is much more like working your way up the corporate ladder. You can't just sell a script to a series or become a staff writer unless you're a known quantity, and you don't become a known quantity unless you get a very early start at the lowest rungs of the ladder. There are always people who have an "uncle" in the business or something and so don't have to start out shlepping coffee as lowly production assistants. But those are rare exceptions. I'm pretty much 20 years too late to ever try to break into this business.

If I even could. I've tried my hand at writing some TV scripts and it demands a very different skill set than writing prose. And I wasn't writing with network executives trying to cram their suggestions into my 40 minutes of airtime. It takes a lot of discipline and I imagine that it can be very constricting at times. I read a book on television writing and I remember one line very clearly: "Television is not a means of personal expression." Once you get to the top, like an Aaron Sorkin or a Joss Whedon, I'm sure it's lucrative and quite creatively satisfying, but the getting there must be immensely suffocating at times. Little wonder it's a young person's game.

[golden-berry.livejournal.com]

So true, alas. It's a shame that so many careers --heck, pretty much every one--have this lengthy dues-paying period. The other day I heard about a couple of young investment bankers who haven't had a day off in two years. They are on call 24-7, because there is always a financial market open somewhere. I had always thought of that field as a sure-fire way to a great life, but those hours are worse than medical residents have (although they make more money than young doctors do). No way would I put up with that. And it's just banking, you know. Not life-or-death stuff.

Yes, changing careers is way more difficult than the self-help gurus would have us believe.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine working that hard just to crunch numbers. I'm sure people who go into that line of work MUST have some sort of passion for it, and all of those folks are probably planning to be millionaires (or better yet, billionaires) by the time they're in their 30s, but couldn't do it. The potential rewards of writing for television may not be as staggering but jeez, if I had to choose between inventing dialogue for Winchesters or analyzing the Japanese commodities market at three in the morning, I know what I'd pick.