BattleStar Galactica's Ron Moore on the WGA Strike
By John Amato Tuesday Nov 13, 2007 8:01pm
Jane Hamsher found this article by the Ron Moore, who is the showrunner for the great Battlestar Gallactica. It explains a lot.
“I had a situation last year on Battlestar Galactica where we were asked by Universal to do webisodes [Note: Moore is referring to The Resistance webisodes which ran before Season 3 premiered], which at that point were very new and ‘Oooh, webisodes! What does that mean?’ It was all very new stuff. And it was very eye opening, because the studio’s position was ‘Oh, we’re not going to pay anybody to do this. You have to do this, because you work on the show. And we’re not going to pay you to write it. We’re not going to pay the director, and we’re not going to pay the actors.’ At which point we said ‘No thanks, we won’t do it.’”
“We got in this long, protracted thing and eventually they agreed to pay everybody involved. But then, as we got deeper into it, they said ‘But we’re not going to put any credits on it. You’re not going to be credited for this work. And we can use it later, in any fashion that we want.’ At which point I said ‘Well, then we’re done and I’m not going to deliver the webisodes to you.’ And they came and they took them out of the editing room anyway — which they have every right to do. They own the material — But it was that experience that really showed me that that’s what this is all about. If there’s not an agreement with the studios about the internet, that specifically says ‘This is covered material, you have to pay us a formula - whatever that formula turns out to be - for use of the material and how it’s all done,’ the studios will simply rape and pillage.”
Supporting our Union brethren...
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ummm...Battlestar Galactica sucked......but i feel for the writers....another story of the haves and the been had's.
Universal's not in a position to bitch about their stinginess towards writers after blowing a fortune on Evan Almighty...
Maybe it should be framed it like this so all the "journalists" get it: You just write the words, the owners will take home any Pulitzers...
mudshark @ 1:
ummm…Battlestar Galactica is awesome.....and I still feel for the writers. One of the best shows on TV
What te hell....this is just good ol' UNREGULATED "FREE MARKET" CAPTALISM doing its level best to "make an honest buck", ya know, just ask the FRAT BRAT inna white house.....
I also think Battlestar Galactica is one of the best shows on TV, ever actually. Give it a try, dont let the corny title scare you off.
Other people who said they loved the show: Tarantino, the guys who make South Park. It won a Peabody for writing.
This is no kiddie show.
tv sucks , it sucks big time tv writers have shit to work with , most shows are geard to air heads!
just emailed the WGA support petition to bunch of people
I'm a member of costumers 705
http://www.petitiononline.com/WGA/
That's a shame. Hopefully there will be a Star Trek convention in town to keep em busy till this thing blows over.
Why does this remind me of Walmart employees being required to punch out and then retrieve shopping carts from the parking lot?
I heard that the WGA didn't support the SAG strike a while back, and won't support the actors if they strike again? Is that true?
Seems kind of hypocritical, since a lot of actors are supporting them now (of course, keeping actors away from ANY camera is like keeping flies from s... uh, sweets). I'm not trying to start anything, but since I'm not in that business, I'm curious how things really work.
And some broadway staff are striking for the first time in 120 years! Wow.
Just another sign that CEO and executive salaries are WAY out of control -- all out of proportion to their actual contributions to the product.
i'm a member of art directors/scenic artists 800 (inactive) and while i support the writers i wonder if they would support US if we went on strike (fat chance of that ever happening...).
i have a feeling the studios would replace us faster than you can say 'scab!'
.
What will comic book guy do to occupy his time now?
Typical! This is the way of big business now. I have my own publishing stories that would put anyone off writing a book.
angrylawyer @ 4:
I was wondering how long that would take..........not my cup of tea.
they wanna not pay nor respect the artists. but they want their snax n flix.
The S in Battlestar is not capitalized.
Also, to those who don't think it's a great show: You're idiots.
As for the relationships between the various Hollywood unions, there's an interesting bit about this over at DailyKos: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/5/04051/2495
Not too surprising on the studios part. Unfortunately, they have always had this attitude towards writers. Moore's show is great and he should be very proud of what he has done with Battlestar.
Ron Moore is correct. The treatment he and all the staffers at BG received regarding the webcast is one of the crucial reasons why it's necessary that we strike now -- it's hardly uncommon practice within the studio/network system. As a WGA member, however, for the doubting Thomases out there who think TV sucks or movies suck strictly because of the writers, I offer a glimpse into the often inadequately compensated (relatively speaking) world, and the mitigating realities that shape it, in which we attempt to do our job at the highest level of performance. From Ron Moore, Shane Black, Larry Brody, Frank Cappello and others, check out the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB409eGqKDc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Eqa3u81Gtk
I don't know...there something about fantasy tv shows that are....mindless entertainment.As for the writers..they should fight them tooth and nail.Hmmm? I wonder what party affiliation the studio heads belong too.
Right on Ron!
SO SAY WE ALL!
mudshark @ 21:
I could see why you would think that, and honestly there have been times (when catching random bits of it) that Battlestar looks like a soap opera...
But for a while it was a VERY direct parallel to Iraq on many episodes. Pretty serious stuff, and commented on honor, loyalty, and terror, in a way that would NEVER get airtime as a non-fiction piece. Good fiction can say a lot about reality. It was done well.
Still to each their own. I really enjoyed watching a series where the main actor was a serial killer, so I suppose my taste is not universal. :P
Ron also has started his own blog to be able to write about/during the strike:
http://www.rondmoore.com/Site/Blog/Entries/2007/11/14_The_Strike.html
Hi
But for a while it was a VERY direct parallel to Iraq on many episodes. Pretty serious stuff, and commented on honor, loyalty, and terror, in a way that would NEVER get airtime as a non-fiction piece. Good fiction can say a lot about reality. It was done well.
They talked about Iraq in the 1st series. The writing might bother some but you can say more in any SFI/Fantasy (Buffy) than you could ever on TV. Please enjoy the reality shows if the writers don't win. Reality? I have a had hard enough time with real life.
jo6pac
Galactica's great, but the webisodes sucked pretty hard.
Those Evil Cylons at Universal
Its called workers work harder while they get payed less.
This is a byproduct of the Bush era posture of the elite.
The rich get richer & you better like it.
mudshark @ 21:
How much of the show have you seen? Because I can't imagine anyone who has watched a fair bit of BSG calling it "mindless entertainment". Almost every episode touches on very real-life issues, and deals with them in a very mature fashion. It's a mistake to view it as just another scifi/fantasy show.
Solidarity Forever
Good to have an example to highlight the conflict with the studios.
Some Galactica foundational premises are deeply flawed but then the whole 1970s "Chariots of the Gods" theme was cheesy sucko and I came to respect the Stargate TV show quite a lot nonetheless. Galactica is well done. Form counts for a lot in art and they deal with contemporary themes by analogy.
The fact that you even tolerate one second of this is crazy. My employer even says shit to me off company time and he can kiss my ass.
They are right to refuse to write what htey are not being paid for. Simply logic. Corporations have too much power. The first one is protection from liability. That should be changed right around. They make or do something that harms another, they don't get sued, they get criminal chargers of manslaughter.
Then see how much of this shit continues.
mudshark @ 21:
Farscape, Harsh Realm, Twin Peaks, Firefly, Threshold, Babylon 5.... not failing to mention at least a few episodes from the various series within the Star Trek universe.... hmmm... sounds like you've missed some pretty intelligent and thought-provoking drama... much of it easily surpassing some of the best of non-fantasy tv...
klunk @ 33:
No kidding. Actually, I don't think a single show on network tv surpasses the excellence of Battlestar. And since this is a political site, it's worth mentioning that Battlestar's political drama makes other political shows look like the real fantasies. Anyone who thinks BSG is "mindless entertainment", please read this Salon article:
Nor does "mindless entertainment" normally win Peabody awards.
And this Guardian article covers similar ground.
The final frontier
This is a *really* important strike. High-production-value audio-visual content is a critical political tool. Economic leverage over its quality impacts domestic and international public opinion, taste and cultural participation. Production of American mass entertainment cannot be outsourced. It would have been already, were we satisfied to have Argentinian writers for CSI Miami or Cambodian writers for Grey's Anatomy. Not that those shows wouldn't have artistic value, it's just that they wouldn't generate as much advertiser interest.
My mortgage isn't on the line, so it's easy for me to say, but I fantasize about the writers upping the ante, here. I'd like to see tenured or peer-voted writers sue for access to write what they want and get guaranteed mass exposure. The digital age has put multinational media's tit is in the wringer (to sample Mitchell). Artists should turn the crank and lift up humanity. Those of us who are not artists should help them.
No wonder the two shows I can think of that tried webisodes stopped after 1 season or a couple episodes. They're making up the rules as they go along. Nobody works for free.
AdultSwim is the most recent case. They had a new season of the great off-beat, absurdist comedy Perfect Hair Forever, but only one webepisode was made and that too was canned.
Wanna get me to believe in god, unionize Walmart...
"the studios will simply rape and pillage.”
Why should the studios be different than any other industry in the US? Come on, everyone else is doing it. It's what all the cool companies do now. Fair pay for honest work is sooo last week.
not BSG! noooooo!!!! >_<
I support the strike though. But I want my BSG! damn you free market monopoly capitalism!
DAMN YOU!
Oh Boo Hoo... Ronnie got ripped off by his lady Bonnie Hammer...
Hey Ronnie, tell your story walkin you two bit hack.
After what you did to Galactica, they should be sending you a bill instead of a paycheck...
Why don't you and you unimaginative hack buddy Eick get to work Reimagining Gilligan's Island, I Love Lucy, or BJ and the Bear.
Somebody wake me if Ron Moore and David Eick ever have an original idea...
Not paying people what they are worth is the reason unions came into being in the first place. Studios, its only fair, and you know it. Strike on!
LSF, you suck.
Here's what is obviously not The Daily Show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRHlpEmr0w
Hope this gets a post of its own :-)
How come only the smart people like BSG?
Oh, and uh, go Writers Guild, Broadway Stagehands, Walmart workers, and every other American labor group you can think of. The last time Labor-Management power was this lopsided 9 year-olds were working 7/12's in chained-up sweatshops in many American cities. It's the 21st century for chrissakes-- we're supposed to be well on our way to making things better for ourselves and people of other countries. Strike Strike Strike!!!
I really enjoy the Battlestar series going on and look forward to RAZOR this month. I do agree with the need to the strike though.
I wish we could come together and strike to end the war and killing also
www.pafundi.com
==================================================
Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring Freedom casualties
as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 4307
angrylawyer @ 4:
liberalNmoderation @ 46:
Dammit! Might help if I actually type somethin BEFORE I hit the send button....more coffee please!
Aaaanyhoo...BSG kicks ass! Way better than ANY show on the teevee sci-fi or otherwise!
That being said I am considering boycotting tv for awhile...
EWA. What is WGA? ODYGAS?
Ted @ 45:
I am agree on all points Ted! I even suffered through an episode of Flash Gordon to see the 2 minute teaser for Razor...and as for a general strike...i think that is a great start...though I think stronger measures will be required before it's over...
mudshark @ 1:
You're frackin insane. Thats the best show on TV.
See, this is why the writers are pissed.
And the real irony is, if Joe Bob Average Guy puts up a clip of a show on a fan site or something, these parasitic corporate studio pricks are the same asshats who'll be slamming the little guy (who is in essence giving them free advertising) with a senseless "cease and desist" order. While simultaneously screwing the actual artists who MAKE the shows they are raking in billions over.
Brainless. Totally brainless. And greedy.
The only "pirates" are the studio execs. You want to see REAL thievery? Forget file sharing. That's piddly shit. Look at something like a recording contract. THAT is piracy.
The studios (record companies or movie studios usually being owned by the same corporate parent) will fuck over the artists in a heartbeat given the chance. The union is usually the ONLY protection you have from the sharks.
Solidarity with the Broadway stageands, BTW. They encounter the same crap, different flavor.
And PS. if the studios tink they can just fall back on that reality show shite, think again. That flotsam is the main reason why I stopped watching network tv. I want to see stories that are CRAFTED, that CHALLENGE my mind and engage my heart. Not a bunch of dorks trapped in a house together. I can see that show by listening to my neighbors argue. The hell I'm PAYING to see that on my teevee.
GIVE ME CREATIVITY!!
mudshark @ 1:
Guyus is right. You've either insane or a complete idiot. That show rocks.
It's not just writers, actors are being (and have been) asked to do the same thing. I just lost almost 5 months of income as we played the roles of the guinea pigs for the upcoming negotiations with the WGA and SAG. My union (ACTRA) struck and settled little to nothing ("Battlestar Galactica" is shot in BC by the way).
This is a huge issue and it simply cannot be ignored any longer... wait'll SAG gets a hold of it.
Desmond @ 29:
While I don't believe that BSG is "mindless entertainment" -- I watched most of the first season -- but whatever favorable qualities the show possessed got lost in the absolutely horrible camera work. To me, that "shakey" camera gimmik that gets employed is not much more than a trick to attempt to depict action or intensity where there may not be any. It would seem that the show's producers don't have have much faith in the writing (which we're talking about here) to let it stand on its own.
I've seen more union support on liberals blogs this past 2 weeks than ever before.
I assume this spirit of solidarity will also extend to regular working folks when they go on strike?
The only reason I ask is because I remember the negative reaction from many liberal blogs to the NYC transit workers strike. There seems to be a double standard. If the striking workers write your favorite TV show, then it's Pro-Union, Pro-Strike time. When it was people who keep the subways running, it was time (for many liberal blogs, like dailykos, but not really this one) to shit all over their efforts.
Have you noticed the relative silence about the WGA strike and the writer's claims for fairness on the MSM? Can it be the media giants who own the outlets are censoring the news? YA THINK?
Most writers (who don't make big salaries BTW) rely on residuals. Denying them revenue from the internet is untenable as that's where media distribution is headed. Without the content the writer's provide there's nothing to sell, nothing to produce and nothing to add to Big Media's revenue streams. Another typical corporate response: It's mine and you can't have any! Grow up moguls.
As a senior art director for an entertainment company and sometimes video director / editor / writer of web based media I saw this a lot... "we can't pay because we don't make anything, and by the way we want you to hire your friends in the business and pay them nothing for the great opportunity that working for us implies."
After awhile all the good talent left. Wonder why they ended up with crap?
hmmmm
Tequila @ 2:
oh snap.
Writers have always been considered the low end of the Hollywood scale. But without the writers you have crap and crap is what the media loves to sell you. This strike is not just about the writers, It is about everybody who works hard and deserves a piece of the pie. As far as the internet is concerned we are at a turning point where all the entertainment and news etc will be coming from the internet. So a system needs to be in place to pay all those people involved or what you will have is endless videos of people teasing their cats with a peice of string or fat guys farting the national anthem. Support the working men and woman no matter what they do for a living, cause if we don't, we will all be corporate slaves forced to work for the shareholders of which you are not one of them.
At least the writers still have jobs and, considering that TV has been utter garbage for at least 7 years, are very lucky to have them. Then again anyone stupid enough to fork over money for modern TV crap on DVDs or downloads should be penalized with higher costs to pay the so-called writers.
5by5 @ 52:
yada,yada,yada..........tell me...hows life in the netherworld
mudshark @ 61:
and I'll bet you like sponge bob too.
Dismissing BSG as a simple "sci-fi" show does both the show and the potential viewer a great disservice.
It is simply one of the best, critically acclaimed shows on television.
Of particular interest to C&L readers would be the fantastic multi-episode plotline exploring enemy occupation, rendition, and torture. Guess who the Cylons represented in THAT scenario?
SevenString @ 63:
ya... the suicide bombing and the follow up witch-hunt for collaborators after returning to their fleet was a pretty intense expose... and handled way better than almost every war flick i've seen... and definitely on a par with stuff like Tigerland...
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