CREATOR NEWSLETTER
Issue #133 | May 11, 2023
For those who donât remember the last writers’ strike in 2007, the central issue on the tableâbrought about by South Park, no lessâwas how much studios were willing to pay for ânew mediaâ content. Back when Netflix still sent you physical DVDs, and âon-demandâ movie transactions were all done through your iTunes account, the WGAâs 12,000+ members held strong for over 14 weeks and cost the entertainment industry a record $500 million for the right to earn 2% on streaming residuals.
But more important than the residuals, the writers had the prescience to secure future rights that would lock in studios to use Guild members for any streaming-produced series that went over a certain budget. What seemed like a hypothetical at the time paid off once Netflix and other streamers got into the original content game.
So what can we, as creators, learn from this? Lots of things, which is why youâll be seeing a lot of coverage of the current strike on Passionfruit. The WGA was prescient last time when they came together for collective bargaining, helping shape the future of the TV and film landscape. Imagine what we could do.
– Drew Grant, Passionfruit Managing Editor
THE HIGHLIGHT
What creators can learn from the Writers Strike, Part 1: Corporate vs. Content
In a new weekly column, writer Lon Harris examines how the WGAâs organizing can work for the creative industry.
By Lon Harris, Passionfruit Contributor
SPONSORED
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ONE GREAT TIP
âI think content creators need to really familiarize ourselves with the strike and the WGAâs requests. Thereâs a non-zero chance that the networks/studios reach out to creators to somehow try to fill the gap during the strikeâfriends, say no.â
âWriter and creator Clara (@colormeloverly) tweets in solidarity with the WGA.
THE DARK SIDE
PewDiePieâs Twitch channel was banned, and fans are puzzled why
The notorious gamerâs channel had finally started streaming again, until it was seemingly randomly banned.
By Steven Asarch, Passionfruit Contributor
IN THE BIZ
- Amid the ongoing writerâs strike, writer Corey Deshon shared how much people really get paid for writing scripts, and it might not be as much as you think.
- Massive YouTuber MrBeast caught heat for buying an entire neighborhood for his staff to live inâwith some users drawing comparisons to feudal lords and massive corporations.
- Fitness creator Brittany Dawn reached a settlement in a lawsuit over her alleged health scams. The case exemplifies the dangers of creators misleading their fans about their qualifications.
- After being fired from Fox News, conservative broadcaster Tucker Carlson announced he is bringing his show to Twitter. Some creators said they were done with the platform after hearing the news.
- Tarte is facing heat for a brand trip where white creators received better accommodations than BIPOC creators. Tarteâs CEO released a highly criticized, tone-deaf âGRWMâ response video to the controversy, which has now been deleted.
- Apple launched an iPad version of the video editing app Final Cut Pro and the music studio app Logic Pro.
GAMING MADE ME DO IT
Weâre getting excited for the Tears of the Kingdom release after watching these videos.
