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StrikeTV coming soon

By fred | January 2, 2008

Ever since the strike started, some of the striking writers have put their creative talent to work, creating those hilarious videos you’ve all seen and enjoyed on YouTube. Now that we’re a couple month in, and with things getting harder day after day, a new initiative is on the work : StrikeTV.

StrikeTV in an Internet fundraiser. It will be an “online channel” featuring nothing but original content created by working professionals. Those self-funded shows, owned by their creators, will be “broadcasted” and promoted through StrikeTV, with the hope to raise money through advertising, money that will go toward the Writers Guild Foundation Industry Support Fund, assisting union directors, actors and below the line members who are affected by the strike.

While intended for striking writers, StrikeTV videos/shows will not be about the strike, but is described as a chance for writers to do what they do best - be original and tell stories. Some might be about the strike, of course, but there are no obligations or intent of focusing on one topic more than any other.

Here’s the complete official description, as found on their MySpace page :

OUR MISSION:

Strike TV is an Internet fundraiser. It’s an online “channel” featuring original video shows created by working professionals in the TV and Film Industry. These shows are self-funded and owned by their creators. Funds raised by ad revenue will go toward the Writers Guild Foundation Industry Support Fund, assisting non-WGA members, including IATSE and Teamsters affected by the strike. Strike TV videos will not be about the strike. This is a chance for writers to do what they do best - be original and tell stories.

WHERE WE’RE AT:

At this point we’ve amassed a great many WGA members - showrunners, staff writers, screenwriters, you name it - to participate in Strike TV. We’re working with the WGA to create an infrastructure to handle our needs (i.e. union contracts, funneling money into the fund, etc.) One of the goals of Strike TV is to demonstrate that these kinds of creative ventures can be done on the internet under union jurisdiction.

Between now and January 15, we invite WGA members to think about what they’d like to shoot and submit a proposal to us. Strike TV is open to all active WGA members. If you’re part of a writing staff for a show, we’d love for you to work with some of your fellow writers, cast members and crew. But that’s a suggestion, not a requirement.

WHERE WE’RE HEADED:

On January 9th at 1 PM at the WGA Theater (135 S. Doheny Dr. BH 90211) we’ll be holding a seminar entitled, STRIKE TV: ADVENTURES IN NEW MEDIA.

The first half will be devoted to speakers and discussions about the brave new digital world ahead of us, and how writers can maintain ownership and become financial partners in the success of the content they create. The second half of the day will be devoted to a PRODUCTION WORKSHOP. We hope to have as many crew and industry professionals as we can find on hand to answer questions and donate their time.

Strike TV will use a You Tube/Google Video channel. Google Video allows for videos up to 30 minutes in length. And if you’re ambition is that high, feel free to go for it. But given our tight time frame and desire for quality production values, 5 to 7 minutes max is probably a more reasonable goal.

Strike TV will have its own page on the new United Hollywood.com web site (coming soon!) — basically a TV guide of all of our shows. When you click on a specific show, you’ll be taken to that program’s web page. We want each show to be able to create and build its own online community.

Strike TV will premiere in February, during sweeps. “Why watch regular TV when you can watch Strike TV?” We’ll be rolling out the shows in slates. The number of slates will obviously depend on the number of videos that are actually produced. And if one of these shows takes off, if it should get a few million hits - well, you own it pal. See if you can set it up somewhere as a legitimate web series.

And now to your questions…

I HAVE THIS AWESOME SHORT THAT I DID OVER THE SUMMER. CAN I SUBMIT THAT ONE TO STRIKE TV?

So far, this is the question we’ve heard the most. The short answer is, no. We all have an awesome short film, and as much as we’d like to showcase them all, Strike TV needs to be about new material. That’s kind of the point. It can’t be a clearinghouse for old stuff that may or may not have been done under union guidelines, etc., etc. You get the idea.

WHY DO YOU WANT PROPOSALS? ARE WE GOING TO GET STUDIO NOTES?

Absolutely not. If you want to hear our opinion on your piece, you’ll have to ask for it. The reason we want the proposals is so we can assess who’s doing what, when the videos will be finished and start putting together our release slates.

WAIT. UNION CONTRACTS? ARE YOU CRAZY? I CAN’T AFFORD THAT!

Neither can we. Don’t worry. Ultimately, Strike TV is a charitable fundraiser - we’re just using advertising revenue instead of donations to fill the Industry Support Fund’s coffers - so we’re optimistic that all of the unions will work with us. There may be some minimum, up front costs, but we’re working with the WGA to create an infrastructure that will allow Strike TV to be done under union jurisdiction while keeping it affordable for everybody to participate.

LOOK, I’M JUST AN UNPRODUCED SCREENWRITER. I WISH I WAS A BIG TIME SHOWRUNNER OR AN OSCAR-WINNING A-LISTER, BUT I’M NOT. I EAT AT YOSHINOYA BEEF BOWL, NOT MATSUHISA AND I DON’T KNOW ANY STARS. BUT I DO KNOW WHAT THE HELL I’M DOING. SO CAN I DO A VIDEO FOR STRIKE TV, EVEN IF IT’S JUST ME AND MY BUDDY WORKING CAMERA AND BOOM, AND OUR GIRLFRIENDS STARRING IN IT?

First of all, to participate in Strike TV you MUST be an active WGA member. But beyond that, we want everybody who is willing and able to take part. If all you’ve got is a writer friend with a camera and Imovie on your Apple laptop, we still want you to participate.

ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT GETTING HIGH PRODUCTION QUALITY?

Of course. We’re all professionals, and with that comes a certain expectation. We’d like these videos to have the highest production quality that each creative team can possibly achieve. We encourage you to reach out to industry crew members who are willing to help. But that said, we’re billing this as “Hollywood Unplugged”. There’s a guerilla filmmaking aspect to this that is inherent. And if you don’t have the connections to assemble a professional crew, you can still achieve a lot by keeping your set-ups simple, planning out your shoot, leaving yourself enough time, and making sure you’ve got good sound, a three chip video camera and at least some basic lighting equipment.

WILL YOU HELP US WITH OUR PRODUCTIONS?

No, and yes. Ultimately, everyone has to be responsible for his or her own productions. We’ll help facilitate wherever we can, and certainly one of the pluses of having a Production Workshop is to get everybody in the room so they can talk and hopefully share resources. “I’ve got a script and actors, but no camera or sound equipment.” “I’m a director looking for a project.”

But at the end of the day, you’re going to have to walk the walk. That means, organizing your shoot, making sure it gets edited and delivering it on time. You’ll be amazed at how satisfying it can be from a creative standpoint to essentially go back to film school and create something that’s truly yours. It’s why we all got into this business.

WILL WE BE REIMBERSED FOR ANY PRODUCTION EXPENSES?

Unfortunately, no. The goal of this project is to raise money for a charitable strike fund. This is a “call in some favors” type of deal. But hey, that’s why you retain ownership of your video. Who knows what it could turn into?

WHAT ABOUT SUBJECT MATTER? THIS IS THE INTERNET AFTER ALL. IS IT ANYTHING GOES?

Not really. We don’t want to be too prudish, but for this project the rule of thumb is it needs to be able to be seen on prime time, network television. No nudity, please.

I LOVE U2. BONO JUST… MOVES ME. CAN I USE HIS MUSIC IN MY SHORT?

Unless you’ve retained the rights, or are actually Bono himself, the answer is no. We cannot post copyright-protected music, film or any other material on Strike TV without the proper clearances.

WILL STRIKE TV OWN MY VIDEO AFTER IT’S DONE?

No. You own it. And that means it’s up to individual creators and/or filmmakers to work out ownership of their videos amongst themselves. Strike TV will take no responsibility as to determining who owns specific content.

IS STRIKE TV GOING TO BE AN EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR?

Not at all. Strike TV will be a NON-EXCLUSIVE distributor of these videos. If you have arrangements with other advertisers or online distribution entities that would like to distribute your work, go for it. Of course, if this is the case, just give us a heads up so we can coordinate our PR efforts.

I HAVE A DEVELOPMENT DEAL WITH A STUDIO, BUT IT’S BEEN SUSPENDED. SO THAT MEANS I’M CLEAR, RIGHT?

Not necessarily. We advise ANYONE who has any kind of ongoing contract with a studio or network to CHECK WITH THEIR LAWYER FIRST before putting a video on Strike TV. This will probably affect TV writers, especially showrunners or creators, more than screenwriters (who tend to work solely as independent contractors). The last thing you want is to create a video, put it on Strike TV, watch it take off and then learn because of your contractual obligations that NBC actually owns it.

SINCE STRIKE TV IS A CHARITY FUNDRAISER, ARE MY EXPENSES TAX DEDUCTIBLE?

Probably not, because your creation might turn into a moneymaking venture down the road. But hey, talk to your tax advisor about it. You never know.

ALRIGHT, SO WHAT DO YOU NEED IN THIS PROPOSAL AGAIN?

First, we want to know the concept (logline or short treatment). Then, we need to know cast (whoever you’ve got so far, especially if they’re recognizable names), production team (director, crew, editor, composer - whoever you’ve got so far), budget (if any) and delivery date. Obviously, we’d like to have as many of these videos done by the end of January, but be realistic. We want people to set deadlines for themselves that they can stick to.

And please, turn in your proposal by January 15th, by e-mailing it to wgastriketv@gmail.com. If you can get it to us sooner, that’s even better.

If you have any other questions, and we’re sure you will, please e-mail them to us. We don’t have lives. Just ask our spouses.

Thanks so much everybody. That’s it for now. There will be more information to follow as we get farther down the road.

Have a great holiday and New Years if we don’t talk before!

All the best,

The Strike TV Team

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