Category: media

“Women make up 27 percent of television writers and 19 percent of feature film writers, according to the most recent Guild membership report from 2005, according to figures supplied by the Writers Guild of America. Writers attribute the scarcity of women in their midst to tokenism, a tradition of bawdy humor in the writers room, and the dearth of women in key managerial positions.”

“Right now the impact of the lost wages [of WGA members and below-the-line workers], when you apply that ripple factor, it’s about $1.4 billion.”

“One of the hoariest maxims in the overstuffed pop culture manual is that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. But lately, screenwriters… have been coping with the dilemma that promoting a film to further one’s career will likely also help the offending studio’s bottom line, at a time when all eyes are finally on writers because of the strike.”

“Apple has announced that it will cut the price it charges for music downloads in the UK from its iTunes music store within the next six months. The cut will bring the UK into line with the charges in the rest of Europe.”

“Some prominent advertisers have pulled their sponsorships for NBC’s strike-subdued Golden Globes coverage… The decisions came a day after the traditional format for the awards program was scrapped in the face of anticipated picket lines.”

There’s been plenty of sniping that a lack of writers couldn’t possibly make Hollywood awards shows any less entertaining than they already are. But last night’s pre-taped, clip-laden Peoples’ Choice Awards proved otherwise…

“The Federal Communications Commission will investigate complaints that Comcast actively interferes with Internet traffic as its subscribers try to share files online… The company said the intervention was necessary to improve the surfing experience for the majority of its subscribers.”

The committee has “initiated a formal investigation into FCC regulatory procedures to determine if they are being conducted in a fair, open, efficient, and transparent manner.”

“The writers’ strike could be settled in three days. It could be, but it won’t be. And the reason is that the men who run the studios and networks are once again falling prey to an affliction that too often defines them: They would rather win than think.”

“Chinese authorities confiscated nearly 149 million magazines, CDs and other publications in 2007 for being pornographic, pirated or otherwise unauthorized.”