I have, interestingly enough, been asked by a couple people what I think of the current writer's strike in the entertainment industry. Being a writer by trade, albeit a writer of a very different ilk, I have been fascinated for some time with movie/tv/entertainment writing (as evidenced by the two of the blogs I frequent on the right) and have even made a couple half-baked forays into that world myself. That being said, my opinion is that, as a writer, you almost always have a sense of doing your best for the benefit of others. In that I mean, every piece of writing you accomplish is an exercise (if you're doing it correctly)in hard work, professionalism, and giving a little bit of yourself. Even if you consider yourself a "hired gun", which as a grant writer I often do, it is very difficult to trick yourself into believing that there's not a little piece of you in everything you write. So, from that standpoint, to be a good writer I think you need to "own" what you write. I think we tend to, as a public, enjoy television, reality shows, movies, etc. without really considering all the hard work and effort that goes into that Grey's Anatomy episode we can't wait to watch. The writers want a little of the residual dough from their work to carry them through the often-common lengths of unemployment they tend to suffer. It's simply the nature of the job and I don't find that to be unreasonable. If you'd like to educate yourself on some of the basic issues surrounding the strike, check out good ol' wikipedia for the scoop. Also, check out the screen writer's blogs I frequent or take a look at any of the thousands of others out there.
I so excited for the Iron Man movie to come out! I am a complete geek, and a borderline fanboy, and I've been through my share of issues of Amazing Spiderman, Punisher War Journal, and Wetworks (an Image Comics oldie, but goodie). Iron Man has a special place in my heart, though. You can't beat a flawed-hero, alcoholic, genius, millionaire inventor who makes a metal suit to a. escape captivity and b. continue to kick butt. I love the trailer. I hope the movie does the character justice. With Jon Favreau at the helm, I think it will.
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3 comments:
cool. I had never heard of ironman before...sorry to disappoint. But, I'm impressed. Plus, Mr. Downey JR? I'm in. Thanks for putting the trailer up.
Hollywood writers for the most part have been shafted since the 30's. The most ironic thing is that by NOT creating new content on TV they are pushing the audience and the writers into "new media," which is the primary reason for the strike. My inside source says that TV studios are using this to cut away "dead wood" including under performing producers, which happened last week. We will all be stuck with more reality TV. Dammit.
Agreed, Michael. Have you noticed, however, that with the strike many reality shows also aren't churning out new episodes, eh? "Reality" indeed....
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