[Infowarrior] - BSG's Ron Moore on the WGA Strike

[Richard Forno]

Jane Hamsher found this article by the Ron Moore, who is the showrunner for
the great Battlestar Gallactica. It explains a lot.

    ³I had a situation last year on Battlestar Galactica where we were asked
by Universal to do webisodes [Note: Moore is referring to The Resistance
webisodes which ran before Season 3 premiered], which at that point were
very new and ŒOooh, webisodes! What does that mean?¹ It was all very new
stuff. And it was very eye opening, because the studio¹s position was ŒOh,
we¹re not going to pay anybody to do this. You have to do this, because you
work on the show. And we¹re not going to pay you to write it. We¹re not
going to pay the director, and we¹re not going to pay the actors.¹ At which
point we said ŒNo thanks, we won¹t do it.¹²

    ³We got in this long, protracted thing and eventually they agreed to pay
everybody involved. But then, as we got deeper into it, they said ŒBut we¹re
not going to put any credits on it. You¹re not going to be credited for this
work. And we can use it later, in any fashion that we want.¹ At which point
I said ŒWell, then we¹re done and I¹m not going to deliver the webisodes to
you.¹ And they came and they took them out of the editing room anyway ‹
which they have every right to do. They own the material ‹ But it was that
experience that really showed me that that¹s what this is all about. If
there¹s not an agreement with the studios about the internet, that
specifically says ŒThis is covered material, you have to pay us a formula -
whatever that formula turns out to be - for use of the material and how it¹s
all done,¹ the studios will simply rape and pillage.²

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/11/14/battlestar-galacticas-ron-moore-on-
the-wga-strike/