The Line in the Sand Does Not Lead Back to Winnipeg, My Friends.

PENCILS DOWN.

So I guess it's come to this.

(Thanks to Chris Leavins for the awesome pic, taken at the L.A. Hallowe'en Street Party)

In many ways, if you're a TV scribe in Canada, or a lot of other places in the world, right now, you're scratching your head and trying to decide how you feel.

The very things that the WGA is fighting for
are things that writers in Canada and a lot of other jurisdictions don't have. In Canada, we don't make residuals until the producers recoup. Instead, we get a bit more "upfront money" as a buyout when shooting starts. The difference in the economics is profound. There are writers I know who've had a couple of WGA scripts -- and the royalties from those are a big part of their yearly take. If you've read this blog for a while, you'll know that I've had a pretty good run over the last eighteen months. In fact, I've been working my great big Irish butt off.

But a good year is just that. I know that it's equally possible that my 2008 may look more like 2005. Or even 2002 or 2003, where I spent many miserable weeks wondering what I was going to do with my bank account in overdraft. Even successful years in Canada mean not scrambling for a few months, at best.

The AMPTP's policy of demanding rollback after rollback was a non-starter to begin with. But if American writers are walking a picket line Monday, what are they fighting for? Why don't you get to watch new TV?

Well, here's the cleanest explanation I've found ... this was posted on Deadline Hollywood Daily:

'What's the biggest issue? Internet and New Media

What are we asking for in Internet and New Media? Two things: 1. Residuals for reuse of content (like replaying tv shows) on the internet. We're asking for residuals of 2.5% of revenue -- that means for every dollar they get paid, we'd get 2 and a half cents. It's a flat percentage, so if they're right and they're never ever going to make a penny, well then, we won't either. No harm, no foul. Since 2.5% is our starting point, in any normal negotiation we'd end up somewhere between what they want to pay (.3%) and what we're asking for (2.5%). I'd guess 1 to 1.5 %. 2. Coverage and protections for original content (new stuff we create for the internet.) We're asking for basic protections so that when we write original stuff for the internet, we have rights -- health and pension, minimum amounts, credits and separated rights (so if we make some amazing character or show, we get the right to share in its success.) We're just asking for the same protections we already have for writing in TV or film. Nothing new or weird. Just the basics.

What are the other issues? DVDs: Currently we get .3% per dvd, we're asking for .6%. Translation: now we get 4 cents per dvd. We are asking for 8 cents per dvd. Since most DVD's cost at least 10 bucks, that doesn't exactly seem like a bank-breaker. Whatever. Enforcement of Coverage: There are lots of shows, like game shows, documentaries and talk shows, where writing is supposed to be covered under our contract. The companies sometimes just ignore the contract -- which means folks don't get health and pension, and if they ask for it, they get fired. We want them to stop that, and honor the contract they signed. Expansion of Coverage: We want to cover stuff where writers are working without coverage, which means without health and pension and other protections. The two big areas are animation and reality. We think those writers should be covered.

You don't actually think you'll get all that, do you? Personally? I think in a perfect world, negotiation involves, well, negotiating. That's give-and-take, where we get some of what we want and they get some of what they want. So far, they just keep showing up at the table with more and more things they're saying they're going to take away -- rollbacks on health and pension, gutting of separated rights, that kind of thing.

But they gave back those resid-whatever-thingums, right? Sort of. They took that one rollback off the table -- but since they're not moving on "digital delivery", and since pretty much all content is going to be digitally delivered in the coming years, well... we'll lose those residuals as soon as that happens. So without internet coverage, it doesn't mean much.''

So anyway, in looking for the local angle, Lee-Anne Goodman from the Canadian Press wrote this article.

Now there's about five things in there that are just howlers, but I'll leave that aside for now. Others have written about them, anyway.

But to Canadian-born scribes thinking about coming home and slurping up some work, I can only say this:

You're gonna be surprised by the contracts you're asked to sign, and you're going to be surprised by the people you find yourselves in meetings with. You may find yourself wishing you'd stayed put and picked up a sign.

My thoughts and best wishes are with you all, right up til the moment where you decide to carpetbag it back here. Cause I know the calls have started. I've heard it from more than one agent-type acquaintance.

In the worst case scenario, while your brothers and sisters walk a picket in L.A., if you come back and get work from fickle, starry eyed producers, and help perpetuate the idea that if you're good, don't bother to try and build something at home -- go to L.A. -- and flee back only when you can't get work there, or if there's a strike.

In the best case scenario, who knows? Maybe producers who can't hire scribes and start new projects will come to Canada. Yeah. Imagine, producers who can raise money from different places, and really know what they're doing. You know, Maybe this strike could end up spilling a little bit of sparkle dust on the Canadian community. There's so much Canadian talent down there ... there may be some really interesting, wonderful opportunities for Canadian writers as they draw on the experiences of people who have done volumes and volumes and volumes of producing in L.A. who are coming back home and want to stay home.

Nah.

In any case, Good Luck guys. At least you're picketing in California and not Winnipeg.

Cause that would suck.