Commentary: A Groundlings' View of the Writer's Strike

I love stories and I love storytelling. I guess that’s why I spend so much time watching movies and television and reading. An effective story can transport me out of my world for a short period of time and give me experiences and memories that I’d never be able to have in real life. Without storytellers, life would be much less interesting.

Right now, America is experiencing a strange phenomenon—storytellers would actually like to make a living doing what they love to do and what so many people like myself like reaping the rewards of. Ok, so already get paid for what they do, but there’s this new creature out there called the Internet that networks are making intelligent use out of by providing shows like Lost, Heroes and The Office for people to watch after they’ve initially aired. This allows the network another chance to monetize their programming because all of these online versions of the shows contain advertising from third parties.

So what do the original writers of these programs make from Internet viewings of their work? Nothing. Is that fair? I don’t think so either.

Now I’m a proponent taking something that’s already created and repurposing it to give it the widest exposure and also to make the most money off of it. Years back, on a whim I created some Shakespeare bookmarks to sell to Shakespeare Festival Bookstores. Eventually I stopped selling them, but I still had the artwork that I’d created for it. Years later when I found out about a site called CafePress.com where you can take art that you’ve created and put it on merchandise that other people can buy and make some money off of the purchase price, I took my Shakespeare art and reused it and made my own CafePress store, Lit Heads.

The big difference here is that I’m the sole creator and sole owner of the art, plus, whenever I deal with an established body of work always work with materials that are in the public domain so I’m not infringing on anyone’s copyrights. As an artist, I’d be furious if my work was being used to make other people money and I wasn’t getting a cut of it.

This isn’t greed, it’s just fair.

Unfortunately, in this day and age we live in a world where if it’s not in the contract, nobody’s obligated to deal fairly—so that’s why the writers are on strike, to get it in the contract. I'm also aware that the Internet issue isn't all that the strike is about, but I don't think they need much more than this to justify it.

Personally, I’m fine with the prospect of seeing a few reruns of the shows I love while the writers do what it takes to get a new contract. In my opinion the best television that’s ever been on the air is happening right now and those responsible need to be supported so that this remains an industry that they’re happy to be working in.

Note: For more information and news about the strike, visit United Hollywood.