"but reality writers make about half what scripted show writers make," - mandy

"I smell blood, I smell fear, and im gonna eat you" - Wolf, American Gladiator

Poor reality show writers... give me a break. Does anyone here think that whoever writes this reality show cheese deserves even 25% as much as the writers of Dexter, Arrested Development, Greys.

I am shocked at how many of you think the WGA absorbing the reality and animation writers is a good thing. Giving the WGA that much control would have made the next negotiations impossible.

Most animation writers are memebers of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees which has a separate contract with the studios. See this link for some background: http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/12/23/1223writerstrike.html

Actually, its not a matter of animation writers being allowed in the union, but rather the work they do for animation being protected by the union. When writing for animation, writers are solicited for work and go unpaid for a lot of it until they land the gig, and even then aren't paid for the solicited work.

Whereas for other areas of writing, solicited writings (like a pitch, or "test" pages) are paid. Not so for animation. This breaks my heart because writers wanting to write for animation will still be dicked over.

Maybe its just that I'm an animator, but its just another way for the studios to not give a crap about animation.

yup, strike is over

guess tonights episode of colbert report really DID work.

My father has been convinced for a long time that this was the main sticking point for the studios. By dropping this demand, and forging an agreement along the lines of the DGA's agreement, this strike should end this week.

This is good progress. It was just the WGA trying to gain more power. If the animated writers wanted to join they would've.

It's all part of negotiation. In many cases you'll make claims that are unimportant so that you can make concessions later.

But did the WGA ask the animation and reality writers if they wanted to unionize, or was this something they were trying to force on them just to give the WGA more power when it comes time to negotiate their next contract?

I'm a little disappointed that they're dropping animation. And, while I wouldn't mind seeing reality writers (&creators) hung out to dry, they do need unionization . . .