[B5JMS] attn. JMS: A TV writing question...

[b5jms at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: "Andrew Swallow" <am.swallow at eatspam.btinternet.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 05:29:29 +0000 (UTC)
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"Jms at B5" <jmsatb5 at aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030629050719.13727.00001725 at mb-m25.aol.com...
[snip]
> Residuals, and royalties, are part of a writer's compensation for the work
he
> does.  They're not a bonus, they're part of his (or her) compensation.  It
may
> take a novelist five years to write a given novel.  The money he earns
from
> that book covers the down-time between that project and the next one.
>
> Writing is a notoriously ill-paying profession, and it is not especially
> gracious on aging writers.  So a writer's only chance for income past a
certain
> age is the royalties he's built up on prior works.
>
Does Hollywood pay writers, actors, dancers and musicians
royalties on movies made 50 years ago?  With tv, VHS cassettes
and DVD (and replacements) the public is paying to see these
old films again.

Andrew Swallow




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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 07:52:15 +0000 (UTC)
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>Does Hollywood pay writers, actors, dancers and musicians
>royalties on movies made 50 years ago?  With tv, VHS cassettes
>and DVD (and replacements) the public is paying to see these
>old films again.

No, because firstly, most of the stuff made 50 years ago were made under
different contracts that allowed for very little participation over a very
short term.  It's only been the last few decades that any real progress has
been made.

But even then, and this would be the secondly, the guilds didn't think much
would come of the VHS market, and gave away all but a few pennies here and
there to the producers.  So you literally get about a penny or two off each VHS
sold, and this formula is being applied to DVDs as well.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
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