Richie Solomon LA Times Article

Hey, did you read Richie Solomon's article on the front page of the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday? Richie is one of our most active members and his comments about online media jurisdiction alerted me to a situation that will affect many of us writers in the years to come. I highly recommend that you read the full article. Here is what what I gathered from the story.

Have you ever watched bonus clips of your favorite sitcoms now being posted exclusively on the network websites, or seen comedy shorts that you can only find online? If you haven’t seen “The Landlord” starring Will Farrell, then you should stop reading right now and find it on the internet. I promise that you will be forwarding the link to your friends, and quoting lines from it for the next few months. Absolutely hilarious. Anyway, these clips may seem insignificant when compared to television sitcoms, but the increased web traffic resulting from some of these clips brings big advertising dollars to the networks.

Well, it seems that the major studios are taking advantage of this new medium by making lots of money without spending lots of money. Production costs are much lower for internet-based entertainment, and the writers are being paid less than established Writers Guild wages. Sounds like a bargain for the studios, doesn’t it? But where does that leave the writers? Thank God writers make so much money in the first place…oh, wait, I’m thinking of brain surgeons.

If the internet is the next frontier of entertainment, then this negotiation could determine writers’ wages in a major entertainment medium. I think every member on StoryLink, from the professional to the aspiring, should be aware of the upcoming talks and of the potential for a major writers’ strike in Hollywood.