Monday, November 12, 2007

Another word about the strike

This post at a screenwriter's online forum is a spot-on assessment of the situation, and recommended reading for anyone who thinks the members of the WGA are overpaid crybabies:

As a WGA member living in Los Angeles here is a summary of life:

The poverty line is $25,000
The average rent for a one bedroom apartment is $1200.00
The average price for a one bedroom condo:$400,000
A two-bedroom house: $1,000,000
Sales tax is 8.25%
A gallon of gas this morning - $3.56

Someone mentioned this up thread so here is the actual run of what a Guild minimum feature will probably get you:

$103,000 is the starting price. You get an increment of that up front. I'm being generous and saying you get half up front so it's $51,500.

Agent/legal fees - 10% so you’re at $46,350
State and Federal lands you at $23,175

And then the project folds and you end up getting a penalty fee of about $1000.00.

So, for nine months of work, phone calls and meetings you get $24,175.

Keep in mind the poverty line is $25,000.

I'm on strike for the future of my union, for my health insurance and my pension. Right now, it's sadly not about the writing which I love but about the business of writing which always plays like black comedy.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this.