Though the bitter negotiating of the writers’ union strike is over, the TV industry’s new struggles may be just beginning. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike against the producers’ association came to an end on February 12 when the union officially accepted the contract laid out by the studios. Starting in early November, the strike halted most production in both TV and film for over three months and wreaked financial havoc throughout the industry and the city of Los Angeles in particular. However, in spite of the fact that production has now slowly but surely resumed, writers and studios alike will not be able to breathe a sigh of relief until the long-term industrywide consequences of the strike become apparent. By the strike’s 15th week, both sides were eager to reach an agreement. The combined threats of the Oscars being cancelled and the 2008 pilot season being compromised pushed the adversaries to end the deadlock. Additionally, had the strike continued through June, when the Screen Actors Guild contract expires, the actors’ union promised to officially join the writers on the picket line. For the most part, the WGA’s demands were scaled back to hasten an agreement. The union relinquished its request that animation and reality TV writers be permitted to join the union and also reduced its demands for Internet residuals. In the final agreement, the union was granted a flat rate of about $1,300 for Internet content and two percent residuals on distribution’s gross revenue after a period of two years. The WGA also conceded its appeal for increased DVD residuals. Production resumed on February 15, a few days after the new contract was ratified. Easy-to-make sitcoms were churning out new episodes in a matter of weeks. NBC’s Saturday Night Live , which was one of the first series to go dark, led the mass return to the airwaves on February 23. Single camera comedies and dramas take longer to produce than in-studio three-camera comedies, and network executives predict that they will return by early April. For the most part, networks are focusing on completing as many episodes of “hit” series as possible. Shows that are not considered hits will battle, the networks guarantee that the change is purely a financial decision. However, despite the money it would save the networks, the new pilot system will take a toll on the writers. Many scribes are skeptical of NBC’s plan, claiming that the networks are shooting themselves in the foot by eliminating research and development and are confident that the old system will be back in no time. But if the new system sticks, reducing pilot production by the proposed 90 percent or more would also reduce the number of writers who get a shot at having their shows made. After the shaky start to 2008, with the seemingly interminable strike and compromises in their contract, writers must prepare for yet another blow. Productions has also been accelerated as a precaution against a possible actors’ strike. This situation has created a labor crunch which is further exacerbating the new season’s developments. In late February, NBC announced yet another change of approach, this time regarding how it pitches content to advertisers. Rather than the traditional upfront presentation, NBC will now hold an event in which they present their entire 52-week lineup. The aim of the new system is to provide a complete V I D E O • A G E AP R I L 2 0 0 8 60 H o l l y w o o d R e w r i t t e n The Calm After the Storm. Assessing Post-Strike Damages picture of NBC’s scheduling strategy, and take some of the pressure off primetime programming as the biggest draw for advertisers. Marion Edwards, president of International Television for 20th Century Fox Distribution, agreed that although “it’s got to be a good thing to figure out how to not write off 50, 60, 70-thousand dollar pilots,” NBC’s new strategy is far from being adopted by everyone. Edwards suggested that the future of the industry is, as of now, totally unpredictable and, where development strategies are concerned, it’s going to take a lot of trial and error to get it right. “We’re in the Wild West at this point,” said Edwards, “It’s too early to tell what will work and what won’t.” While a fail-safe system will take some time to be worked out, studio executives are in agreement on one thing: the pilot system of past years is no longer viable. “We’ll all benefit from a more efficient business model,” said Edwards. However, she cautioned, ordering seven episodes of a season and watching it fail is not substantially different from the old pilot process. Instead, Edwards suggested that the Internet may be the perfect venue for “incubating” new material, as 20th Century Fox is currently doing with its Web series Iris Expanding. Similarly, as VideoAge reported in its front cover story, Patric M. Verrone, president of the WGA West, commented that the legacy of the strike would be the writers’ increased competence with do-ityourself distribution over the Internet. Over the course of the strike, unemployed writers utilized the Internet to showcase their languishing talents. Strike spoofs and viral videos penned by strikers popped up all over the Internet. In his keynote speech at NATPE, Jeff Zucker pointed out that networks need to learn how to better incorporate the Internet and mobile technology into their business plans. Perhaps this is their chance. ES Twentieth Century Fox’s Marion Edwards take a back seat, and many will not return until the fall. Though the immediate effects — season delays and cancellations — have been observable, the lasting effects of the strike will take months to unravel. The first sign of long-term fallout hit before the strike even ended, with dramatic announcements from major studios. NBC, ABC and FOX came forward in mid-January to announce extreme cutbacks in the number of pilots they will produce for the upcoming fall season. The following week at NATPE, Jeff Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal, explained in his keynote address that, in spite of the lost revenue, his company was taking a positive outlook on the strike and suggested that the strike may have served to “clear the ground for robust growth.” Zucker went on to outline that with its clean slate, NBC plans to restructure its new series development strategy. With the new system, NBC aims to reduce its waste by millions of dollars. In the past, the network has poured cash into as many as 80 pilots, with only about 10 percent making it to air. Of that 10 percent only one or two could be counted as “hits.” Beginning this fall, NBC will produce only a handful of pilots, ordering the rest of its line-up directly to air. “This is not about making less programs,” said Zucker, “This is about making less waste.” Though writers may see the change as a slap in the face after their hard-fought contractual KEY POINTS OFTHEWRITERS’ NEWTHREE-YEAR CONTRACT In its list of initial demands, the WGA wanted to gain jurisdiction of animation and reality TV. But ultimately they had to remove these jurisdictional demands from the negotiations. The WGA will concentrate on organizing these areas outside of contract negotiations. The writers asked for an increase in DVD residuals, which currently pays them approximately four cents per sale. They were unable to increase the DVD rate in this contract. The writers initially asked for 2.5 percent of Internet and streaming residuals and changed that to a more fixed formula at the request of media conglomerates. In the new contract, writers will receive a flat residual during the first two years (for a onehour program, the payment will be $654 in the first year and $677 in the second year.) In the third year of the contract, writers will receive two percent of distributions’ gross revenue. The contract recognizes the WGA as the exclusive bargaining representative for writing in new media. It also establishes minimums for writing in new media. The contract allows for annual salary raises of three to three and a half percent for most writers.
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