On the West Coast there are many children's book authors who are also screenwriters on strike. Gregory K. Pincus is one. I asked my buddy Greg to enlighten us on the particulars of the strike and why it is important to all of us writers.
What is the strike about?
Chief among the many issues to be resolved between the Writers' Guild and the AMPTP (the umbrella organization for the six major traditional media companies) are concerns relating to "new media" -- such things as digital downloads, electronic sell-through, streaming video, and content created directly for the internet.
To focus on one issue -- when it comes to the streaming video on the internet, the AMPTP's new contract offer maintains that it may call any streaming of any movie or any show created for TV "promotional" and offer no payment for it. If they choose not to call a re-use promotional, they have now offered to pay $139 for a full year of use for a half hour TV show episode on the internet, around $250 for a one hour show, and... zero dollars for a feature film. To add some context, an article in the Financial Times says the four main networks will make $120 million in revenue this year from the streaming of their content online -- use that they call "promotional" despite the fact that it is a source of revenue in and of itself.
Basically, and to simplify, the WGA believes that we (and actors and directors and others who have historically participated in this process via residuals for re-runs, video sales, foreign sales, etc.) should continue be included fairly in the revenue derived from the work we've created, particularly since it's obvious to everyone that the revenue on the net will increase as revenue from other sources decreases. Since the two sides are far apart on this (and many other) issues and since our contract expired, the WGA voted to go on strike.
What can children’s authors learn from the strike?
Any content creator should be paying attention, particularly anyone who turns to others to publish their work. For example, imagine that the various new book readers take a chunk of the market. Does your book contract give you a good royalty rate on electronic copies? What about on digital downloads? What would you expect to be paid if you are approached to write a book directly for the internet? These are all key issues, and they're going to impact every single children's author and illustrator in the next few years (if not already!).
What is your favorite dessert?
There's nothing like a great apple cobbler... unless it's a great peach cobbler, or a perfect chocolate cake, or perhaps my friend Tracy's (http://shelflifeblog.com/) pecan pie.
writer's
Gregory K. Pincus has written for the big screen (Little Big League), the small screen (the Disney Channel's Alley Cats Strike and many other movies), and the computer screen (blogging at http://gottabook.blogspot.com). Greg is thrilled to have his first novel, The 14 Fabulous Fibs of Gregory K., coming out soon from Arthur A. Levine Books.
I am both in the WGA and a children's book writer (The Only Boy In Ballet Class), so I really appreciated what Greg had to say. I thought he reduced all of the pressing issues facing the creative community down to their essence so simply and elegantly. He is so right. This fight is for all of us. Support your local writer!
Posted by: Denise Gruska | December 14, 2007 at 06:19 PM