Free Agency and the Writer's Strike
Let me begin by saying I have an obvious bias regarding the writer's strike as my brother is a member of the WGA. But this all reminds me of 1976 and Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally.
As the baseball owners before them, the Hollywood studios do not want to share the money. Baseball said free agency would financially destroy the sport. The studios said: "Take a cut in residuals while we develop the in-home video market." That cut was over 20 years ago.
I remember when James Garner quit the Rockford Files because part of his pay was a slice of the profits. Turns out the other producers (Universal Studios) were seriously cooking the books.
Later in the 1980s, after he attempted to fulfill his Rockford contract with a 1981 Maverick revival titled Bret Maverick, Garner became engaged in a legal dispute with Universal regarding the profits from Rockford that lasted over a decade, causing (and reflecting) significant ill will on both sides. The dispute was settled out of court (for an undisclosed amount) in Garner's favor, but because of this conflict, the Rockford character would not re-emerge until 1994.
Today every player gets a check from the union (with the exception of non-members who crossed the picket line during the last work stoppage) for the use of their name, likeness and other assorted rights.
Today every writer gets consistently dicked around even though they are the creative force behind what we watch. Why don't producers have a union? They don't need one.
Once again we have a huge industry with billions of dollars running around like chicken little screaming the sky is falling, while fucking over the writers (players). Sounds like the same tune, different verse to me.
