Josh Bell: With the deadline looming for a potential strike by the Writers Guild of America (the union representing writers for both movies and TV), there’s been a lot of handwringing by showbiz journalists and commentators about what this might mean for the industry and for audiences. I find the whole situation fascinating from a sort of train-wreck point of view, and even though a prolonged strike might mean that studios will churn out rushed, half-assed product, I think the shake-up could actually be good for the movies. Independently produced films that don’t use union writers will be much more attractive prospects for studios to pick up, and maybe there will be fewer awful, written-by-committee blockbusters in theaters around summer 2009 (which is when the effects would really be felt). What do you think? Could a strike be a blessing in disguise?
Matthew Scott Hunter: Possibly. If Transformers 2 gets delayed until 2010, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. But I think the strike will hit worst on television, increasing each network’s dependence on trashy reality shows. But what bugs me about the writers’ strike is that film and television writers actually think they deserve a raise right now. Everyone is proclaiming that the sitcom is dead, while old sitcoms flourish on DVD and syndicated reruns. Audiences still have a hunger for writing—they just want good writing. Who saw Transformers and said, “Well the special effects and marketing sucked, but thank God the story saved it?” No one. If anyone deserves a raise, it’s the effects wizards at ILM or the marketing guys who successfully convince us to rush out and see such shitty stories.
JB: I agree that TV will be hardest hit; I’m not looking forward to the dozens of reality shows that networks have in the pipeline for the potential strike. But like the potential for studios picking up small indie projects, there is a small glimmer of hope in TV as well: NBC’s head of entertainment has said he’d look into airing shows from abroad, which is something that almost never happens on network TV (instead those shows get remade). The opportunity for relatively obscure voices to get heard is one of the possible upsides of the strike.
I think the strike is less about writers saying they deserve a raise than about setting pay rates for new ways of distributing content—DVDs, online streaming, downloads, things like that. And whatever you might think about the level of writing in Transformers (I agree it was terrible), without the script, there still wouldn’t have been a movie in the first place.
MSH: Ah, there’s a thought: Without a script there wouldn’t have been a Transformers in the first place. Viva la strike! But seriously, as nice as it’ll be to see some of these more obscure projects make their way to film and television, I do still worry about the strike delaying shows and movies that I love. The fourth season of Lost looks safe, but if the fifth is delayed because of the strike, I’ll develop a heart condition. I suspect this strike will drag out for a long time. Hollywood is at a crossroads right now because rampant piracy and copyright-violating websites are going to force the industry to change. In fact, I think YouTube is going to change video entertainment much the same way that Napster changed, and is continuing to change, audio entertainment. The film and television industry is in the midst of exploring new business models, and the Writers Guild is demanding their piece of the pie before anyone knows what that pie’s going to look like.
JB: Don’t be too confident about the fourth season of Lost—if the strike happens soon, current TV seasons will be hurt immediately, and episodes could run out by January. You’re right that the whole landscape is changing, but I think the writers are smart to try and nail down their piece of it right now; if they don’t, they’ll likely end up left behind. Of course, that new paradigm is probably the biggest potential beneficiary of the strike. While TV is filled with repeats and reality shows, and multiplexes are filled with rushed, sloppy productions, web programs could swoop in and fill the void of quality content. That’s assuming that the people who make them are up to the task. As with all of this, only time will tell.