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Peter's Column-Why Residuals

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By Peter Caranicas
As we go to press with this issue, the WGA strike nears its one-month anniversary. Our banner headlines for the past three issues in succession have been “Strike Looms,” “Strike Stalemate,” and now, “Proceed With Caution.”
We hope that the next issue’s headline will read “Strike Over.”
Because if it’s not over soon, things will spin from bad to worse throughout the below-the-line community.
Those who have the least to lose in a prolonged strike are the TV networks and the studios. They are all owned by deep-pocketed parents that can weather this storm.
Take NBC Universal, a giant in our business. Yet its $16 billion in annual revenue represents a mere 10 percent of owner GE’s turnover, which relies mostly on jet engines, nuclear reactors and other non-entertainment products to feed the bottom line.
Also, the networks can stuff their pipelines with additional nonscripted programs. Last week the CEO of Endemol — the large Netherlands-based reality-TV producer of such shows as Fear Factor and Deal or No Deal — told a gathering of European media executives that if the WGA strike continues there will be more opportunities for the Endemols of this world to fill time slots on U.S. television.
We got an email here from the organization called Strike a Deal (www.strikeadeal.blogspot.com), which is organizing a rally in Hollywood on Sunday, Dec. 9.
Stike a Deal is not sponsored by any union or guild and calls itself “a grass-roots outgrowth of the concern and desire of below-the-line industry professionals and vendors whose jobs, livelihoods and futures hang in the balance. … The only side we are taking is … promoting equitable terms for both the WGA and the AMPTP and speedy resolution so ALL of us can get back to work!”
This past week some progress seems to have been made in the bargaining (see Jack Egan’s story, which begins on Page 1). The below-the-line community needs to continue to pressure both sides to come to an agreement before more damage is inflicted.

Written by Peter Caranicas

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