I want to see more of this little punctuation mark in commercial copy...
The interrobang (/ɪn'tɛrəbæŋ/) (‽) is a rarely used, nonstandard English-language punctuation mark intended to combine the functions of the question mark (also called the interrogative point) and the exclamation mark (known in printers' jargon as the bang). The typographical character is a superimposition of those two marks. The same effect is also frequently achieved by placing the exclamation point before or after the question mark; e.g., "How could you do such a thing!?" or "How could you do such a thing?!"
Hollywood Today has a long and well written article on the impending WGA negotiation, and it's impacts on "New Media". I see these being instrumental to the future of the entertainment industry, especially as the people that actually create this content seem to get hosed on every new platform that emerges (Cable, Home Video, etc). Now some people think that October is going to be the hot month, but I think it's more likely that serious action wont be taken until actors contracts are up in June 2008.
"With the threat of a strike looming, tense talks kick off today between movie and TV producers and unionized script writers over . While aimed at a contract expiring in October, some insiders believe that ultimately the acrimonious battle over digital compensation could push a final agreement to June 2008, when actor’s contracts are up as well.
That could set the stage for an epic labor showdown in Tinseltown pitting corporate owned, bottom-line oriented management — facing a rapidly changing marketplace – against creative talent (writers and actors) who feel short changed seeing their work pop up on broadband, digital, online, wireless and in other new media markets."
While I do believe something NEEDS to happen here, I'm just not convinced that a strike will accomplish anything. One thing I've learned using these here intarwebs, is there's a lot of user generated (NON UNION) entertainment to consume. Just like the last big strike left us in this reality show hell, I think production will find ways to produce content, and will be able to wait the unions out (thereby "winning" the right to shove another crappy contract down everyone's collective throats).
It's just really frustrating, as there's so much more money to be made out there, and production and unions just seem more interested in "winning"...
Anywho, read on. It is a great write up on what got us to this point and what the potential out comes could be.
I got to go hang out at the the Museum of Television and Radio yesterday. AFTRA was wrapping up this years mentoring program by having college students perform a radio play, complete with live sound effects. Of course I'm a sucker for this and had to be there. It was only after RSVP-ing that I realized the play they were performing was an unpublished work from Norman Corwin, and that he would be in attendance. To be honest I only had a cursory understanding of who Corwin was, but I knew enough to know that this was a pretty big deal.
I showed up 90 minutes early.
The play was a funny little romp called "The Strange Affliction", and dealt with a woman who couldn't stop speaking in rhyme, and the students had a fun time performing it. After the play we were then treated to the Academy Award winning documentary about the life of Corwin called "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin".
As it was also so close to his birthday, a reception was held with a cake and refreshments. My favorite moment was Corwin's proclamation post blowing out the candle on his cake, that he couldn't enjoy the cake because of dietary restrictions, but that it was sweet enough knowing there were only some 500 days left for Bush.
Out of the Hollywood Reporter yesterday, Borys Kit writes up a quick article about the WGA possibly hooking up with SAG and the DGA. I've been hearing grumblings of possible strikes happening, but lately it seems that the heat might be turning up soon. While it would suck for the company I currently work with, I can't say I blame the unions. Writers, as well as Actors and Directors, were hosed on home video, cable, DVD, interactive, and look to be getting screwed on VOD and "new media". I'm actually surprised that they didn't consider working together sooner...
"Unwilling to go on record for fear of staking out positions that haven't been officially sanctioned by the guild, a number of writers agreed to step forward on the condition of anonymity. Many already are getting their financial houses in order, others are writing furiously to finish scripts for companies that are stockpiling. But one theme comes through loud and clear, and it's a heated paraphrase of the great writer Paddy Chayefsky: Scribes are mad as hell, and they aren't going to take it anymore."I think writers in general are getting sick of being kicked around. There's a lot of fury out there," says one screenwriter who writes for A-listers. The big issue is money -- specifically, money as it relates to new technology such as Internet downloads and VOD."The model for Internet downloads shouldn't be any different than the model for pay-per-view, or the model for DVDs, or any other means of watching entertainment. What the fuck is the difference how someone watches it? If they're watching it and I've written it, I should get paid for it," the writer says."
Read the rest Here! someaudioguy some audio guy voice over SAG aftra voice acting auditions work business career guilds demo production audiobooks radio tv commercials
