The L.A. Dime

In case you haven’t heard, the union of which I am a member, The Writer’s Guild of America, is on strike. Why you ask? There are many reasons, the most prominent of which is a reuse payment, called a “residual,” which is similar to a royalty for a novelist. Right now the studios pay writers 2% of 20% of their profits on DVDs, which averages out to about a nickel per copy sold. The studios make $15 per copy, and the companies that make the DVD boxes get $1 each. So, for creating the material that makes it possible for studios to make millions and employ hundreds, I get a nickel to their $15. That’s one reason.

The bigger reason is that we screwed up in 1988 when we accepted that deal, and now we don’t want to do the same when it comes to internet streaming and downloads. Soon, we won’t be buying DVDs just like we aren’t buying CDs anymore. Everything will be digital. The studios want to cut us out of online profits and we want our fair share. That’s it.

So, when the media, owned by the companies we are striking against, paint a greedy picture of our union as fat cats driving Bentleys, please spread the truth — the average WGA writer is a middle class earner. We have droughts between jobs and need that residual money — on material we created — to pay the bills between gigs. It’s a painful strike for thousands of people, but right now, it is a battle we must win to help ourselves and protect future generations of writers.

To see our Little Girl in action on video, click this link.  If it gets stuck, just nudge the slider a little bit and it should start playing again.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is with the highest regard that I wish to recommend a film to you. I watched it last evening in advance of a lecture introduction I am to give for one of its producers, Kentuckian, Gill Holland. Sweet Land is a touching story about community, faith, family, friendship, love, and the land. Those who know me well will understand the compliment I give when I say it is as close to a film version of a Wendell Berry novel as we may ever see. Find a way to rent it, and I promise, you won’t be disappointed. Here is the summary from Netflix:

In Ali Selim’s Independent Spirit Award-winning tale of how love triumphs over ignorance, German immigrant Inge tells her life story to her grandson after burying her husband on their farm in Minnesota in 1968. Inge begins her tale in 1920, when she’s just become a mail-order bride to Norwegian-American farmer Olaf. Discovering that Inge’s heritage is actually German, both Olaf and the community struggle to overcome years of anti-German propaganda and prejudice.