Get real

[ksmith]

Writers for reality TV shows invaded a breakfast for TV executives today in order to demand better pay and benefits. Rest of the story here, though you may need to have a Yahoo account to read it.

The most amusing line, imho:

"It's not the most comfortable topic for television executives anyway, since acknowledging all of the writers indicates there's something less than real about reality TV."

They always need writers, even when they don't...

Comments

[christymarx.livejournal.com]

Yes, the WGA is organzing the reality TV writers in a big way right now.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I hope those writers get better deals. I've been reading for a while about their working conditions--they've been taken advantage of for quite a while. Add to that the fact that most folks don't even realize they exist, and they have an uphill battle on their hands.

[christymarx.livejournal.com]

Which perfectly illustrates what happens to writers and other creative people when we don't the protection of a Guild.

[naomikritzer]

That's fascinating.

If I were one of those writers, I'd have started out by trying blackmail. "Do you want to be able to keep pretending we don't exist? Then you need to double our pay. Believe me, if we have to go public, we'll do it."

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I am guessing that many viewers would be surprised to discover that all those contestants haven't been winging it.