writer's strike......paying actors?

Question

I have a two part question

A) With the writer's strike going on, are actors of sitcoms still getting paid?

B) What is the "chain" of paying all the way from the advertisers down to the actors (who pays who...director, producer, etc)

Answer 1

I am not sure on the first question, but I doubt it because most pay is on a per episode basis.

As to the second, the rough formula is that advertisers pay the network for the ad slots. I am not completely sure about the relation between the affiliates and the networks as to payments and how many ad slots go to the network and how many go to the affiliates.

The network then pays the studio/production company for the right to run the series. The studio and producers then pay all of the people involved, the writers, the cameramen, the directors, the actors etc.

What is at issue in the writers strike (and implicitly in the union contracts which will soon be due for the other major unions including the Screen Actors Guild) is the question of residual payments. The network merely pays for the first run rights of the episode. The studio retains the copyright to the series.

In the old days, the main form of additional revenue after the first run was from syndication -- selling the rights to re-run the shows to local TV stations. Because of changes in the industry, syndication is less important. What has replaced syndication is DVD sales. In addition, there is a belief that internet downloads could become a big source of revenue.

Traditionally, the standard contract for writers, actors, and directors gave them a small share of the money earned from syndication. This right meant that your two years as a writer on a major show was a little like winning the lottery. You would keep on getting checks for the next ten to twenty years.

The writers (and the other groups when their turn to negotiate comes) want the same type of arrangements for the new forms of re-use of their work. The studios, however, see this new source of revenue as something that they would like to keep all to themselves. Until the two sides decide how to split this big pie, we just have to get used to more reality tv.

Answer 2

I consider that via asking that question within the Books & Authors segment, the responses you get could also be just a little biased :P Mine integrated. I might so much obviously as an alternative be a author, on the grounds that I cannot assume how I might manipulate to truthfully BE a person; I believe like I might mess some thing up, or now not be in a position to translate my thought of the person into movements and phrases. Although I've by no means attempted appearing, I believe find it irresistible's plenty extra ordinary to take a seat down and carve out my characters on a web page as an alternative than seeking to turn out to be them.