While the entertainment industry is booming, screenwriters' median weekly earnings dropped 23% between 2014 and 2016
, a television writer and the executive producer of the television drama “Grey’s Anatomy”, called her agent of 20 years on April 12th and told him tearfully that he could no longer represent her. “He has done his job well, guided and supported my career, and made me a lot more money than I would have made without him,” Ms Vernoff wrote in the.
Following several months of heated negotiations, the guild instructed its 13,000 active members to dismiss agents at companies that had not committed to its new code of conduct, which the majority of Hollywood’s biggest agencies have not. Many writers did so dolefully. John August, who wrote the film “Big Fish”, wrote on Twitter: “My agent of 20+ years is a great friend and a fighter for my career. I would give him a kidney tomorrow. But this isn’t about him or any single agent.
Agents used to make money from television writers by taking a commission—usually 10%—when their writers were hired to work on a show. But for the past few decades agents have preferred to waive their commissions and instead collect fees from studios in exchange for offering “packages” of television contributors, such as a showrunner, a director and several writers, that studios can hire at once.
The writers also complain that three large talent agencies, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, Creative Artists Agency and United Talent Agency, have launched affiliated companies that finance shows themselves. They wonder how agents can possibly haggle for high salaries for their clients while at the same time fretting over production costs.
Agency practices are not the only thing hurting writers’ salaries. Streaming services have also played a role. Writers used to derive a significant part of their income from residuals, which are fees that television networks pay writers for replaying their work. Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu have upended that model, paying writers far less in such fees.
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