Hollywood’s recalculating residuals
TEXT OF STORY
Scott Jagow: Hollywood’s got its own set of labor talks to worry about. They have to do with TV reruns. Reruns can be a nice source of income for the actors and writers and directors that produced the show. They get paid a residual every time a show is rebroadcast. But the studios wanna rethink those checks, since people aren’t going to the movies the way they used to. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.
Ashley Milne-Tyte: The studios say lower audience numbers make it tough for them to pay for rebroadcast work in the same way they’ve been doing ’til now.
Nicholas Counter runs the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Nicholas Counter: The whole audience and viewing patterns have changed, and as a result we think we should take a look at all these compensation formulas.
One big issue concerns payment work broadcast over the Web. Writers want more money. Studios are happy with the status quo.
Carl DiOrio is with the Hollywood Reporter. He predicts interesting contract talks between the writers’ guild and the industry. They start next week.
Carl DiOrio: The parties could fool us and find quick harmony, but I will tell you most people in Hollywood are expecting this to be one of the more difficult sets of negotiations that the town has seen in some time.
Meanwhile he says actors and directors are preparing their own compensation studies, ready to present ahead of their contract talks next year.
I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.
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