so i got this email
So I got this email —
“Since 1982, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers [AMPTP] has establisehd exciting legal gray areas and tested the limits of the federal labor statute to minimize the compensation, rights, and working conditions of industry-wide unions.”
*i have no idea who put that website together but it is funny as hell to me
14 Responses to so i got this email
Creative people need to do creative things…even when they’re not getting paid.
Cool.
Anita, come out of the enemy camp. They are assuming we must do creative things whether they pay us or not. It took a long time to get paid. Do not give them ammo.
ANITA RUNS THROUGH THE DAKRNESS BACK INTO THE LIGHT
Hey Max, I stumbled across this attribution for that site here:
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/heres-who-brought-you-amptpcom/
Thanks, Toni.
Hey Max, how is the strike going? The Old Man was asking about it. Well, he says it’s not going terribly well and he has a question for you.
Yes, for you.
He wants to know what will happen if no one can come to an agreement. Will they be outsourcing?
Can you outsource writers from other countries?
Also, do the people in development have to go on strike? I remember your interesting piece on “development hell” regarding your early morning radio blunder lol
The strike is at an impasse and is going to stay that way as long as the AMPTP wants it to. AMPTP “negotiators” show up, file their nails, watch the clock, discard all Guild proposals, hand out ultimatums at 4:55 pm and file pre-written press releases by 5 pm about how talks broke down. That is not negotiating. That is pre-meditated non-negotiating and just basically dicking the Guild around.
It would be difficult to outsource Hollywood writing. Where would they go? Other English speaking countries have their own writers unions and those unions back the U.S. union so the AMPTP cannot go to Canada or the U.K. or Australia. That leaves them what, India? Writing American television shows and movies requires, even if someone completely discounts the talent and skill factor, at the very least, fluency in English.
Just out of curiosity, does the old man think his job could be outsourced?
Re people in development, they are suits, they are not writers and not part of the union, they do not strike with us.
“Just out of curiosity, does the old man think his job could be outsourced?”
It should be, Max. According to him, he ain’t making any money. And from this end, I ain’t receiving it lol
He thinks everything in the future is going to be outsourced. So he just lumped that in too. Nothing personal. But feel free to jump on him. I hate the bastard!
I misunderstood the role of Development. I thought once a script got picked up, it went into development where they botched it up with their own writers. Sorry for my lack of knowledge.
Ah. No. Development is a bunch of people who cannot write [suits] second guessing a bunch of people who can [writers]. They hire writers for each script change. They have to. They cannot write themselves. But development people are suits, not writers.
Development is a features thing, there are no staff writers in features, feature writers operate as independents. Television is different. Television shows have staffs and those staffs are comprised of writers.
You know if they could outsource the talent side of film and television, they would. So far they have not figured out a way but they would if they could.
“You know if they could outsource the talent side of film and television, they would. So far they have not figured out a way but they would if they could.”
I think that’s what he was thinking.
Those jerks!
Well, the model they are going for, switching outlets to new revenue streams that do not compensate talent, is a form of outsourcing. If they can excise royalty payments by using a new and un-contracted for source of revenue they do not contract with the talent for, that creates a slave wage pool of talent that does not get paid. Then all the cash goes straight to the top and the workers at the bottom have to take what they can get just to keep eating. So, while they cannot outsource the talent pool? They are essentially outsourcing the revenue stream — which cuts the talent pool’s pay by a third now and more later. If that makes sense.