I support them, that was great.

It's really great to see them putting their talent into protesting.

castles said exactly what I was thinking. This has to be one of the most entertaining strikes in history.

Is someone on strike?

I think hollywood is waaayyy overpaid as it is. Here's some news for the writers, the world's bigger than you. They could give half their wages to the people who really matter in society; the garbage men, the teachers, the farmers, and still afford a summer home. I don't want to hear a starving leper story from a rich, pompus group of elites.

Right after the writer talks about Viacom's billion dollar lawsuit against Google, I'm pretty sure that's Sergey Brin walking by in the background... It's at 1:31.

I'll care as soon as I start getting royalties for my work.

"a portion of this video has been removed by youtube"
wtf?

I do believe that was a joke, son.

hambonese:

This is not a question of teachers vs writers, it writers vs media conglomerates.

Rupert Murdock is not just going to give the money he owes to writers to teachers or trash collectors.

Most writers don't make tons of money, they do most of their work freelance, and they can only pay their mortgages because of their residuals.

How about giving the writers their tiny cut AND increasing taxes on Murdock's (and other large) companies to pay all those important civic employees you want to help, there's a win-win.

good writing, sucky acting

One group that we're not really talking about is all the electricians, directors, lighting people etc. Writers make a fair about of money compared to the others. There's an interesting letter here:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2007/11/i-was-until-rec.html

very intresting letter sbchapm, thanks

Besides the good point made, I like how you can really see the relation between the Daily Show and its writer in terms of format and feel.

Are you kidding me? Comparing a team of writers with the catering staff??? It's harder to assemble a team of 14 writers good enough to keep The Office funny than it is to find 88 crew members who are good enough. It's like comparing the baseball coaching staff's salary with that of the groundscrew. One provides a highly specialized talent, while the other provides simple manual labour. They get paid what they're relatively worth.

And this strike isn't about their salaries. It's about whether the writers have the right to make money off their own material when it's distributed on the internet, as they do when it's aired on TV.

another bit for all you "writers are paid enough already wah wah wah" people. besides the fact that a skilled labor is worth more than simple task labor... as mentioned a writer is typically paid via royalty. this is how they make a living and money. if they are good at it, they get more because more folks buy it. same as sales people making commission. you suck at it, you dont make as much. your getting paid by the hour has nothing to do with the fact they get paid per show airing or movie ticket purchased. two different systems, stop trying to compare the two, damn it. every time theres a video like this there are people complaining how they dont get royalties for their work why should the writers.

if you want royalties, negotiate for them in *your* contract. you'll probably be laughed at and tossed out since for most of you it doesn't apply at all, but its worth a try.

What the hell are you guys talking about?

someone whined about THEY wanting royalties for their work, whatever it is.
or about nonsense such as writer paid too much, and so on.

"I think hollywood is waaayyy overpaid as it is. Here's some news for the writers, the world's bigger than you. They could give half their wages to the people who really matter in society; the garbage men, the teachers, the farmers, and still afford a summer home. I don't want to hear a starving leper story from a rich, pompus group of elites."

Ahh, another completely uninformed opinion.

Would you like to be in a form of employment where you are not actively employed a large amount of the time? Ok... now, in those times where you're trying to get the next bit of work, would you like to have SOME money coming in? Well, that's what the royalties give the writers.

Also, it's really a case of media companies trying to completely screw them out of money they DO get for other mediums, they're trying to pretend they aren't making any money via these streams (it's for promotional purposes only... we don't make any money from our online episodes...) and yet letting the money pile in without compensating the people who actually created said content.

Yes they have well paid jobs, but could YOU write an episode of *insert your favourite scripted show here*?

To try the ridiculous argument that *group A* don't get paid enough, so how DARE *group B* ask for better conditions is spurious at best. Every group that is being ripped off needs to stand up for themselves, and this is just one group who is doing so. I fully support teachers getting paid more for instance, in Australia they are no where near paid enough, but that doesn't make me suggest that writers of quality material aren't allowed to ask for their fair share either.

still, the point simply is: they ARE paid royalties for TV, so there's no reason on Earth they shouldn't gain them for Internet too.

simple.

everything else is just another topic.

"Yes they have well paid jobs, but could YOU write an episode of *insert your favourite scripted show here*?"

yes, and you'd have to fucking watch it......

by the way, glad this hack is on the street, doing something good for America....

I'd like to watch something scriptwrited (is this the word?) by choggie