A PS. on my thoughts on the Writers' Stike

I came across this great analogy on Craig Mazin's blog, The Artful Writer. It specifically addresses residuals, which is a fundamental reason why the writers are striking. It really helped me visualize why intellectual properties deserve to be compensated.

I hear this complaint quite a bit these days: “I don’t have to pay the architect every time I walk into a building” or “I don’t have to pay my plumber every time I use the sink he fixed.”

That’s right.

You don’t.

But authors of movies (and I consider the authors to be the screenwriters and directors) create something quite different than “blueprints for a single building” or “fixed sink.”

Imagine two guys. One guy writes terrific recipes. The other guy is a fantastic baker. Together, they create a magic cake.

Bear with me.

What’s special about the cake is that you can cut a slice from it, and a new slice will just grow back in its place.

You keep cutting it and serving it, and you never run out of that cake.

Wal-Mart decides to start selling slices of this cake.

They pay the two guys a good amount for the cake, as far as that sort of thing goes. Maybe a hundred bucks.

But Wal-Mart sells each slice for three bucks, and they keep selling them and selling them.

Over and over.

Millions of slices of the same damned single cake.

Shouldn’t the two guys get some small amount of money back on each sale? Maybe four cents?

Maybe eight?

But definitely something?

Movies are a special class of intellectual property. Like music or novels, they can be endlessly reproduced and sold in millions of multiples. One movie can be sold and resold and repackaged and redistributed and rebroadcast and redownloaded and reprojected over and over and over…

If the seller can endlessly exploit this single, unique product, shouldn’t the true authors of that work share in each endless exploitation?

A plumber can only fix your sink once.

An architect’s building is built once.

But not a movie. Not a television show.

So if someone asks you why we deserve to get paid each time someone buys a copy of a movie, tell them about the magic cake.

The Thousand Mile Journey

Every year my wife and I load up our kids and head to Yakima and Spokane, WA to visit a lot of family and share some holiday cheer. This year it was Thanksgiving, next year it will be Christmas.

We thoroughly enjoy these trips, although they can be a bit tiring on the kids. 1,000 miles of driving over four or five days can wear their patience thin on sharing toys in the backseat or watching The Wizard of Oz for the third time.

But one of the BIG highlights of the trip is always seeing Heather and my Grandmas. We really want our kids to get to spend time with their Great-Grandmothers and nothing puts smiles on everyones faces than pictures of family with family!

Here's some of my favorites.

Bath time with cousin Ashton

Cousin Braden shows Evan his toys

Does any kid NOT love Legos?

Hollyn charms Uncle Roger

Not sure who wanted a sister more...Hollyn or Brogan

My little cowgirl

Her, uhhh, big cowboy?

The swordsmen plan their attack

Cousins Kayla and Brogan

Evan cheeses Grandma Harriet

Heart-warming hug

A tired, but beautiful blue-eyed girl

Hollyn's got kisses for Grandma Norman too

Evan loves his great grandma too

Back in Yakima Evan enjoys time with Grandpa Leland

And Hollyn is wow'd by Grandpa's whistling

When your future's this bright...

You gotta wear this many sunglasses!

We kept looking for a chance to get a family picture for this year's Christmas cards.
Roadside in a snowy Satus Pass worked as good as anything.

We explored the partially frozen river running nearby.

This is what the river looked like before Evan destroyed it with a stick!

All in all...another wonderful holiday trip. Special thanks to Auntie Monie and Uncle Bill for letting us stay at their house in Spokane. And much love to all the family we got to see.

Update on My Writing

AKA the shortest post ever.

I've been away from writing for months. But things have been settling down lately and I spent a little time lately working on "Inside."

By way of refresher..."Inside" is the story of an agoraphobic architect called upon by the FBI to assist in the rescue of people taken hostage in a building he designed. Think of it as "Die Hard" meets "Copycat." Its premise originated from a documentary I saw on a structural collapse of a Hyatt hotel that killed a bunch of people combined with a bout of agoraphobia I suffered years ago.

Anyways...it's amazing to me how every time I'm away from my writing for a period of time a fresh set of eyes makes me wonder how I could write the crap I write! Hopefully that means my writing is getting better. Only time will tell.

More updates on "Inside" and "Like Brothers" as I continue working on them.

It's About Time!

It really is about "time" you know. About time I got back on this blog. About time the WGA writers get what they deserve. About time the Andersons get a new car. And on and on.

I've been off the blog for almost two months and so much has happened.

In the next couple days I hope to find time to post about:

The Strike! (go WGA!)
Update on my writing.
Holiday travels.
Our new car, otherwise known as...the Lunchbox.
Changes at my work.

Let's start with The Strike.

So, as far as this whole writers' strike goes, I would consider myself an interested party with a slightly better than layman's knowledge of what is going on in Hollywood right now.

Essentially you have the AMPTP (The Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers) and you have the WGA (Writers Guild of America).

The crux of the argument is an outdated contract where WGA members do not receive residuals for their work on new types of media like online downloading and such. The studios claim there is no money generated by this type of downloading, but here is one of the best videos I've seen where their own words are used against them.



One aspect of the strike that isn't talked about much is the fact that the writer's contract is up first, then the director's and actor's contracts come up for renewal (next spring/summer, I think). So a lot rides on the unity across many facets in Hollywood and evidence can be seen in the picket line support by many actors, directors, and even showrunners (usually the executive producer of a TV show, usually a producer/writer whose duality creates a major conflict of interest).

www.unitedhollywood.com recently posted a great video with a lot of big name folks lending their support of the strike's effort. It's only 1:45 long and you'll recognize many faces. Good for all the people who have a lot to lose who have stepped in to show support for the writers!



So how does this effect me? Well, aside from watches reruns of shows that have had to halt production, it really doesn't. But it COULD effect me in a big way if I were to ever be lucky enough to sell a script and become a member of the WGA.

God only knows how many thousands of hours I have spent sitting at my laptop plunking away at my scripts. How many hours I have sacrificed sleep or time with my family, to continue molding a story that originated and gestated in MY BRAIN.

And if, by some miracle, I am able to sell a script, you can dang well bet I want every bit of residuals I can get under an updated WGA contract. Every kid that downloads "Like Brothers" onto his iPod or whatever technology exists...I want my FAIR share. My .08 or whatever small percentage we get! I just can't see how that isn't insanely fair.

For more information about the strike from WGA members closer to the fire than I, feel free to check out:

Hollywood United
The Artful Writer

There's rumors that the WGA and AMPTP are back at the table working again. Here's hoping the WGA gets a new contract! If not, stay strong strikers! I can't imagine the extent of your sacrifice, but one day I hope to thank you!