Hollywood What If Chapter 528
In February, the Writer's Guild of America strike ended... This was the shocking but positive news that Kazir received today.
What? Did you think it was another sad news story, like an actor being found dead in his hotel room because of an overdose? Nah.
The Writer's Guild strike was a long labor dispute that lasted around 100 days because many sectors in the industry couldn't make a decision. The strike started on November 5, 2007, and ended on February 12, 2008.
The Writer's Guild is the organization that represents writers in television, radio, and films. This organization ensures that writers are protected and not bullied, in a way.
Also, the Writer's Guild is an organization that helps protect the scripts that scriptwriters make. That's one of the reasons why Kazir joined the organization and also registered his scripts in the WGA (Writer's Guild of America).
There were several reasons why many writers went on strike and stopped working.
First was the issue of residuals for digital distribution. Now that the internet was slowly dominating, like streaming and downloads, writers wanted a cut of that profit. Obviously, the big studios were against this and said that the profit from digital distribution was still questionable, which was a fair point since it was still 2007. However, the WGA and major studios eventually agreed and gave writers 1.2% of the distributor's gross revenue for digital rentals and purchases.
The second issue was home video residuals. Writers were paid a fixed percentage of revenue from DVD sales, a rate that hadn't been updated since the 1980s. The contract between DVDs and videotapes was different. In the '90s, videotapes slowly lost relevance, and DVDs became the go-to method for watching movies at home.
Writers demanded a higher percentage, arguing that DVDs had become a massive source of income for studios. In the '80s, writers could only get 0.3% whenever a DVD was sold. That means writers could only get a few cents every time a $20 DVD was sold. By the way, Kazir also had this kind of contract, but his rates were higher for obvious reasons.
Unfortunately for the WGA, major studios stood firm on their decisions and never agreed to increase the residuals. Studios make money from selling peripherals, and it would be hard for them to accept giving more to writers.
What the studios didn't realize was that in the next decade, digital distribution would become the best way to consume content, and since then, writers could get at least 1.2%, depending on the contract. People stopped using DVDs around the 2015s, hehe.
This strike impacted a lot of projects in showbiz since most projects needed writers. Shows that needed scripts were delayed. Some TV series had fewer episodes compared to last year, and some shows were even canceled.
Especially for the film industry, this section heavily needed writers, and many projects were canceled or delayed. Movies such as 007: Quantum of Solace, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra, and Star Trek were some of the movies affected.
Also, this strike caused a huge economic loss. Los Angeles alone lost $1.2 billion in revenue because many projects were badly affected.
In Kazir's and Grey Pictures' situation, they suffered slightly but not too much. Why? Because Kazir agreed to most of the requests that the WGA listed. Furthermore, Kazir was also a writer and a highly respected one at that so the organization didn't give him any trouble.
In fact, most screenwriters in Hollywood dreamed of becoming someone like Kazir Grey, where they could sell scripts for millions of dollars. Grey Pictures increased the DVD residuals up to 0.5%... A small increase, but still an increase. As for profits from digital sales, Grey Pictures had the same contract with most studios, which was 1.2%.
Seeing the strike end was a good thing; at least people had jobs again, which was good for the individual and the economy.
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The filming of Ninja Assassin ended, and surprisingly, Kazir had the time to watch the 80th Academy Awards. Scarlett said that she would arrive later.
Kazir watched the show while prepping dinner for both of them. Most of the time, Kazir hired chefs to cook their meals, but the chefs were gone today because both Kazir and Scarlett hadn't expected to come home tonight. They were always busy and rarely met at the house... They usually stayed in hotels.
This was a rare relaxing moment for the couple, so Kazir decided to make it special. He cooked steaks. The two had been working so hard, and they understood that staying at home with warm food was one of the best things that could happen after a tough job.
Anyway, No Country for Old Men was the biggest winner this year. The film won Best Picture. The Coen Brothers, directors of No Country for Old Men, won Best Director. Javier Bardem won Best Supporting Actor. The film also won Best Adapted Screenplay.
Obviously, the movie was invested in and produced by none other than Miramax. Miramax had always been the star of award shows. At this point, the Academy Awards was basically a business for Miramax.
As for the two nominations from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End... Nothing. This pirate movie didn't win either of the two.
Kazir chuckled as he watched the ending credits. As usual, nothing surprising. Miramax knew how to cook the Academy Awards.
A few minutes later, Scarlett arrived. The couple hugged each other before having dinner. Then, they cuddled while watching a horror movie.