“So, writers are now striking for a guaranteed slice of a pie that producers are not sure will exist, much less how many it can serve.”
Except that’s NOT TRUE, and you’ve based your entire argument around it. The studios insisted they could not just give writers a flat fee, because they couldn’t know how much money would come in. So the writers went to a lot of trouble to structure things as a percentage of revenue — “If you don’t make money, we won’t make money.” They were willing to share the risk.
(As indeed they do now. When a show is canceled, it’s gone that day. The money for the writers stops. Whereas when a CEO is thrown out for incompetence, he gets a 140 million golden parachute. So I would argue as to which role is riskier.)
But back to that percentage. Having agreed that the Internet is still growing, they offered the percentage deal to the studios. Who said — wait for it — “No, let’s do a flat fee after all. How about $250?” (That’s not “thousand,” by the way. That’s 250 bucks.)
I guess you’re aware that the networks are charging ad buyers MORE for episodes on the Internet, on the basis that they can’t be fast-forwarded through? The studios are pocketing the money. But they can’t pay the writers? The writers should wait for the studios to declare a “profit”?
Where have you been living? Don’t you know the studios NEVER declare a profit? I believe The Simpsons is still running at a loss, according to their books.
