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SAG-AFTRA accuses studios of 'bully tactics' after talks break down
CEOs from Disney, Netflix and more reportedly walked away from the table.
The WGA strike ends with protections against AI set in place
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has voted to officially lift its strike order, over half a year since it stopped work and demanded a better contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
The WGA strike may end as studios offer streaming and AI concessions
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and major studios have reached a tentative deal to end a 146-day strike that has shut down much of the industry.
'Dune: Part Two' delayed until March 2024 following writer strikes
The release of Dune: Part 2 has been pushed back to March 15th amid ongoing writer and actor strikes.
Hollywood writers demand protections against AI exploitation
Hollywood writers are striking for better pay, better conditions, and to not have to play editor to a generative AI system's MadLibs attempt at a screen draft.
Hollywood writers are officially on strike
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has called for a strike starting today largely over streaming productions
Netflix to pay $42 million in dispute over screenwriter compensation
Arbitrators have told Netflix to pay $42 million to screenwriters who reportedly didn't get enough residual pay.
Streaming services will pay writers more following a new deal
Amazon, Hulu and Netflix are going to have to open their wallets a little bit wider if they want to keep producing original shows. The Writers Guild of America has outlined a tentative 3-year contract that will increase the residuals paid to writers for every episode in a high-budget series. The exact payouts vary depending on the size of the service and the length of the show, but the companies are looking at anywhere between $3,448 more per episode for the life of the contract (for a half-hour Hulu show) to $34,637 (for an hour-long Netflix production). That may not sound like much given the money these companies can throw around, but it could add up for a series cranking out several new episodes every year.
'Tomb Raider' and 'Witcher 3' snag Writers Guild nominations
The Writers Guild of America has nominated Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Pillars of Eternity, Rise of the Tomb Raider and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in its Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing category for 2015. (Yes, the Writers Guild still spells "video game" as one word). If these choices feel a tad mainstream, that's because the organization only honors writers who are also members of the WGA Videogame Writers Caucus, which limits its reach. The WGA will present its awards during simultaneous events in Los Angeles and New York on February 13th.
Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation picks up writing award
Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation won an award for "Outstanding Achievement in Video Game Writing" from the Writers Guild of America. Richard Farrese and Jill Murray are credited with the script.Liberation beat out 007 Legends, Assassin's Creed 3, Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, Halo 4 and Uncharted: Golden Abyss. The Writers Guild of America has defended its nominations process in years past, which requires potential nominees be (at a minimum) part of the Video Game Writers Caucus.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood wins Writers Guild award
The Writers Guild of America awarded Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood with the 2011 award for best video game writing -- which you may or may not agree with, but considering the nominees, at least Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 didn't win. The prize was given to Ethan Petty, Nicholas Grimwood and Matt Turner for Script Writing; and Jeffrey Yohalem, Corey May and Patrice Desilets for the story (hopefully someone at Ubisoft has Desilets' forwarding address over at THQ). Past years' winners were Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Uncharted 2. The WGA stood up for itself this year regarding its nomination process, saying it can't nominate writers if a developer doesn't bother putting a name to a script. Hopefully we'll see more publishers and developers giving their game writers credit, so future nominees won't have us scratching our heads in utter befuddlement.
Writers Guild of America defends gaming awards
We've said some ... unkind things about the Writer's Guild of America's video game awards over the years, previous nominees for which include Wet, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Clash of the Titans. Of course, there's always been a widespread belief that the pool was thinned by WGA requirements that nominees have to be members of the organization. That's not exactly true, according to WGA spokesperson Micah Wright, who wrote a guest column on the topic for GamesIndustry.biz. Nominees, as it turns out, actually only have to be a member of the Videogame Writers Caucus (for the princely yearly sum of $60) rather than the full union. So what's been keeping some of the best games of the past four years from being nominated? Some developers -- like BioWare -- simply haven't submitted scripts, but with others it's a question of not knowing who to nominate. "The first year, several games which people believed should have won our award were not eligible because the Developer didn't bother to credit the people who wrote those games," Wright wrote. "That's an insult, and as a guild of professional writers, we're not about to give an award to either a mystery person, or to a company which can't be bothered to honor the workers who made their game." Wright also quipped, "We're not giving an award for 'Best Videogame of the Year!' - if you want that, go watch the Spike Game Awards." We hope the WGA has the wisdom to nominate that for "Unintentionally Funniest Line of the Year."
Microsoft axes Office Genuine Advantage, says program has 'served its purpose'
It's not offering any indication that Windows Genuine Advantage will follow suit, but Microsoft has just made the rather surprising move of shutting down its longstanding Office Genuine Advantage program. As with Windows Genuine Advantage, that program was designed to combat piracy and, as any Office user can no doubt attest, it wasn't shy to make its presence known -- warnings like the one above popped up when downloading templates from Office.com, for instance. Why the change? Microsoft isn't exactly offering too many details, with a spokesperson only going as far to say that the program has "served its purpose," and that Microsoft is "making several new investments that will allow us to engage with customers and help victims of fraud." In the meantime, however, it looks like you can now simply go about your business without a warning to be found.
Windows 7 Release Candidate starts bi-hourly hiccups today, seemingly affects nobody
Well here's an interesting one: starting today, users of the legendary Windows 7 Release Candidate should "begin experiencing bi-hourly shutdowns," yet we haven't received a single tip on this annoying "feature." We have only two assumptions: either our faithful readers have already moved on to the real thing, or you sly devils are on a hacked RC of some sort. In any event, you've got until June 1st to do a full reinstall (no upgrade options on RC, sadly), after which you'll be blocked from important updates and persistently bugged by a "This copy of Windows is not genuine" notice. Need more arm-twisting? Just picture Steve Ballmer hunting you down with a sledgehammer.
Uncharted 2 wins Writers Guild of America games writing award
We've lived with an unspoken fear in the back of our minds since the middle of January, when the nominees for the Writers Guild of America video game writing award were first announced. We weren't sure if we could live in a world where X-Men Origins: Wolverine was decorated over Assassin's Creed 2 and Uncharted 2 for having the year's best in-game writing. Fortunately, this fear has been dissuaded: Last night at the WGA awards ceremony, Uncharted 2 writer Amy Hennig took home the prize. In a way, though, we feel bad for Ms. Hennig. How frustrating must it be to know that you can't get comfortable in your seat for too long at one of these awards shows? And can you imagine how many acceptance speeches she's had to write over the past month? The poor thing. [Thanks, Fintan!]
Judge throws out Microsoft WGA spyware case
Windows Genuine Advantage software might be many things (annoying and by no means error-free, to name but two) but it ain't spyware -- at least according to a judge in the District Court for the Western District of Washington, who dismissed the lawsuit that we first caught wind of back in '06. The news comes a month after the plaintiffs failed to have the suit certified as a class action, which is never a good sign -- and which bears out Microsoft's assertion that the case is "fictional" and from an "alternate universe." Zing! Both parties are being mum on the subject of any settlement that might have been reached, but if it were us we'd have at least held out for one of those world famous Windows 7 Whoppers.
Windows 7 runs free without activation for 120 days with simple command
We know how it is: you've paid $300 for your brand new copy of Windows 7, but what a hassle to enter in that activation code! Well, you don't have to worry about it now for a good four months after install: Microsoft has given its sort-of blessing to a simple hack to keep that non-activated copy of Windows 7 humming for a full 120 days before full-on nag mode sets in. All you have to do is enter "slmgr -rearm" into the command prompt at the end of every 30 day period, and your copy of Windows gets a whole new lease on life -- an action that can be repeated three times. The same command is available to Vista users, and we have to say that Microsoft has come a very long way since its unforgiving WGA kill switch days. [Via Telegraph]
Force Unleashed grips Writers Guild video game award
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has been awarded the second annual video game writing award by The Writers Guild of America. The title bested Fallout 3, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 and Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! Before complaining about your favorite game not even being nominated, it's worth noting that the award is only open to WGA members.Congratulations to Haden Blackman, Shawn Pitman, John Stafford and Cameron Suey on the award. They crafted a fine story that fit into the Star Wars universe and arguably bested any of the "prequels."
Apple issuing refunds, credits from WGA strike
Here's a nice bit of information. Many iTunes customers bought season passes to television shows in iTunes that never aired as a result of the recent writers' strike. As of this writing, Apple has begun addressing their concerns.In an email that has been delivered to some customers, Apple describes how customer plans will be extended into the next season, or refunds will be issued:"We will make all additional episodes which are broadcast during the 2007-08 season available to you as we receive them. If the season does end up with fewer episodes, you will receive a partial refund to make up for the difference."Also, some customers are finding an instant iTunes Store credit that may be used towards the purchase of any two TV episodes, music videos, or short films on the iTunes Store.Let us know if you receive one. Thanks, Apple! [Via Uneasy Silence]
How big is the streaming pie?
With the WGA strike seeming like a distant memory (two weeks old), it's a good time to examine what the fight was over online streaming. The resulting agreement grants residuals to the writers for content streamed more than 17-days after the on-air showing, and first year shows get treated to a 24-day window. Those are some pretty favorable terms for the studios, if you ask us. Real-life analysts seem to agree, estimating that online video ad spending will swell from $1.3 billion in 2006 to $7 billion by 2012. Those online ads are prime real estate, too -- "brand recall" from them is way above that seen for broadcast TV. If "brand recall" figures like 60-percent for online video ads versus single-digits for conventional TV hold up, expect to see another WGA uprising in the future. Until then, keep these figures in mind when TV studios decry internet video as a deathknell.[Image courtesy Today's Real Estate]
