US screenwriters' strike lessons for local writers

If this is not agreed, writers may have difficulty attempting to enforce their entitlement afterwards. And South African writers are in a less “powerful” position than those in the US, who are members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA).

Standard minimum agreements

The WGA, being a guild (similar to a bargaining council), has its own standard minimum agreements to which producers must adhere and therefore is not applicable here. However, local writers should take note of the underlying areas of dispute that led to the strike: new media and DVD revenues.

WGA member writers receive what is called ‘residuals'. That means that they get payment every time a television show that they wrote is repeated. In addition, when their work is transferred to DVD, they get a small percentage (about 0.3%) of each DVD sold. The writers are unhappy and want more. They also want a share in revenue originating from new media such as cellphone and Internet downloads.

The strike – which has dragged on for more than a month and shows no real signs of abating – is creating havoc. All the late-night talks shows that rely heavily on continuous material from screenwriters have had to be cancelled and even production on Keifer Sutherland's 24 has been halted. And indications are that the strike will continue into the new year.

So what can local writers learn from all this? Basically, that without guild protection, they have to look after themselves.

Common complaint

A common complaint among writers is that they don't share in all the ancillary revenue that their screenplays or material generates. For example, a screenwriter may write an (original) script for a film for a fixed fee. In addition, once the movie is released theatrically, the writer may also share in a percentage of the net proceeds the film generates. However, it's not unusual that as a result of the high costs of distribution, very little may remain of the gross revenue that was generated at the theatres and profit participation is often very small.

Meanwhile, after its theatrical release, the film may continue to generate revenue in ancillary distribution avenues including DVD/video distribution, merchandising, sequels and, increasingly, new media. This is usually where the actual profit on a production is made.

Unfortunately, writers do not seem share in this subsequent revenue. Not surprisingly, this is always a bone of contention.

The bottomline? If you do not contract specifically for what you are entitled to, you may end up not getting it.

Need to address payment issues

Writers need to address the issue of payment for a percentage of revenue generated by exploitation of their work screenplay through sequels, remakes, television serials, DVD distribution, computer games, repeats, satellite and network distribution and so on in their agreements with producers and/or distributors.

If they do not agree to all this beforehand, they may have difficulty attempting to enforce their entitlement thereto afterwards.