WGA report shows tough times for screenwriters (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

Los Angeles Times ^ | September 4, 2009 | Richard Verrier

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To pen a living as a Hollywood screenwriter has always required fortitude and patience. Given the ratio between number of writers and available work, the odds of success are long.

Now it looks like the odds have become a whole lot longer.

Thanks to a recession-driven downturn forcing studios to make fewer movies and TV shows, coupled with a screenwriters strike last year that ground production to a halt, the wordsmiths of Hollywood have seen jobs and income evaporate.

That's the bleak take-away from the annual financial report of the Writers Guild of America, West, the union that represents about 8,000 movie and TV screenwriters. It has been the worst year for writers since at least 2003, with total earnings well below levels of five years ago. According to the WGA, only 4,163 writers reported earnings last year, down 10% from a year earlier, with the total earnings declining 18% to $801.4 million.

Not surprisingly, with a strike that paralyzed the television industry, TV writers took a big hit. Employment in 2008 declined 11% and total earnings dropped 3% to $437.5 million.

"For the second half of the year, we found that while WGA series rebounded, the companies responded to the economic downturn by reducing the size of TV series staffs," the report said.

Even harder hit were movie writers, who saw employment drop 14% and total income plunge 30% to $361 million. The guild blamed the sharp downturn on "pre-strike stockpiling" and a decision by the studios to release fewer movies in response to the weakening economy.

Although the WGA said declines in union dues were offset by improved collections and higher residuals from reuse of TV shows overseas, the guild ended the fiscal year with a $5.1-million deficit because of "investment losses caused by the struggling economy."

snip

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Hollywood Heartbreak...

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ping

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri-sun-times-0904sep04,0,4021947.story
Chicago Sun-Times rescue bid near, sources say

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/business/media/04adco.html?_r=2&ref=business
Magazines Now Create and Customize Ads

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125201205082484509.html
Brian Tierney’s Crusade to Rescue Philadelphia’s Papers Faces Deadline

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204731804574390600167135462.html
Hollywood Hits the Books

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2009/sep/04/newspapers-pressandpublishing
Newsprint prices continue to fall

[frithguild]

The solution is simple - have another strike.

[tom h]

Another union bites the dust. [The first was the guild that supports newspapers.] Good riddance.

[GeronL]

...my heart bleeds... not

[GeronL]

darn. too bad about those newsprint prices falling. =o)

[bcsco]

My wife’s half-brother is/was a writer for TV. Had some well-known shows under his belt. Haven’t heard about him for quite some time. I’d be surprised if he’s still in the game, not being well suited to that culture.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

According to the WGA, only 4,163 writers reported earnings last year, down 10% from a year earlier, with the total earnings declining 18% to $801.4 million.

This figures to $192,505 per writer. Way overpaid.

[abb]

http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/local_flavor.php?page=all
Local Flavor
Philadelphia newspapers launch “keep it local” campaign

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[kabumpo]

I was in the wga (no choice). They were always calling stikes and it was so serious — writers could lose two years’ income in two months ebcause of these silly people.

[Grampa Dave]

Part of their problem is their inability to do anything but sequels and now prequels, like Alien Prequel or Harry Potter Prequel.

If their writing is not a sequel or prequel, it borders on blatant plagerism.

So who needs their poor results?

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

They just did a remake of an absolutely awful sequel, “Halloween II”. What’s next, a remake a remake of “Friday the 13th, Part III”?

These people have nothing left. Lucky for them, entertaining the Worst Generation ain’t all that difficult.

[Grampa Dave]

Isn’t amazing how bad sequels come out after bad movies and sometimes a previous bad sequel after the bad movie.

[Bookie1066]

There are writers? I just thought they recycled the same crap over and over and over again.

[abb]

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/what-does-broadcast-news-do-right/
What Does Broadcast News Do Right?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112530364
Why ‘GQ’ Doesn’t Want Russians To Read Its Story

http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2009/10/wolff200910
Post Modern
Once the richest, and perhaps the happiest, newspaper in America, The Washington Post faces the same grim odds as the rest of the industry.

[SkyPilot]

I guess the market for sassy "gay" sitcoms is down?

[abb]

http://bloggasm.com/gawker-to-publish-russian-translation-of-buried-gq-story-critical-of-vladimir-putin
Gawker to publish Russian translation of buried GQ story critical of Vladimir Putin

http://gawker.com/5352827/———gq-—
Banned in russia

[abb]

Friday evening good news...

http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2009/08/31/daily88.html
S.F. Chronicle cuts 4 workers, more cuts expected after Labor Day