tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post3321597816316311961..comments2023-11-14T11:44:10.396-05:00Comments on The Legion of Decency: DON'T PAY THE FERRYMANjimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-9856062344953982172009-02-05T13:37:00.000-05:002009-02-05T13:37:00.000-05:00I wonder if I live on a different planet than ever...I wonder if I live on a different planet than everyone or have I now reached a time in my life that I am completely out of step with the modern media consumer.<BR/><BR/>Put simply, I watch the stuff that is on TV on a TV. Sure when I started getting into UTube I watched stuff for a few weeks but then I lost interest. I also watched a few "extras" on the web but even the professional ones got kind of boring after a while and even if they were from show I liked I kind of got bored.<BR/><BR/>Even with DVD's -- after a while the "special features" stopped being special and I rarely look at them. Even the extended versions or director's cut usually just means a few extra tits and a little more gore in most cases.<BR/><BR/>I try not to be a Luddite but maybe it is inevitable when it becomes impossible to stay current unless you make it your life 24/7.<BR/><BR/>I have no idea if there is profit to be made -- I look at a lot of this stuff ONLY because it is free. If I, as a consumer had to pay for it, I would stick to what i do ninety percent of the time anyway -- surf the channels until I find something i want to watch.Frank "Dolly" Dillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08696194595743704177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-5619884019045835092009-02-05T09:53:00.000-05:002009-02-05T09:53:00.000-05:00Jim – your blog makes me worry about how well I’ve...Jim – your blog makes me worry about how well I’ve communicated some of the guild’s ideas around new media. You say,<BR/><BR/>"Wouldn't the membership of the WGC (not to mention the Canadian public) be better served if that money went to creating new and original Canadian content designed specifically for the web?"<BR/><BR/>This is precisely our proposal – the fund we propose establishing would be to support only original made-for-the-web content in support of broadcast – independent producers would make it with the support of a broadcast partner. The fund is aimed at generating new content just for the web; the access/visibility part of the argument is about getting all Canadian content, whether for web or traditional broadcast, more visibility.Kinahanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08330138987700162740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-24280673946391008412009-02-05T08:04:00.000-05:002009-02-05T08:04:00.000-05:00The question raised by DMc is what position should...The question raised by DMc is what position should the WGC take - or what is the plan? Historically, Canada is a terribly cautious place when it comes to money. We didn't even pay for our own railroad - too risky. So, the only way to convince anyone of the viability of internet delivery is to show them the economic model that proves the point. And that's the current problem. I think Canada will wait until they see the US making money from this other form of entertainment and then they'll buy into it. <BR/><BR/>Remember, the cable cos and telcos and the broadcasters already resent the money they are paying for Canadian content through the CTF and license fees. And I can hardly wait to hear the arguments at the CRTC hearings about relaxing those content rules in these hard economic times.deborah Nathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01660139014725973469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-46710872235008324742009-02-04T17:32:00.000-05:002009-02-04T17:32:00.000-05:00I don't fully get the logic behind this. Maybe the...I don't fully get the logic behind this. Maybe the ISPs should get paid extra by the networks for providing them another way to distribute material to the viewer. That makes as much sense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-7961996516149296122009-02-04T16:46:00.000-05:002009-02-04T16:46:00.000-05:00So where do we start?Who should the WGC be going t...So where do we start?<BR/>Who should the WGC be going to?<BR/><BR/>And in terms of strategy, this isn't the sum total of what the WGC's plan is, Jim. It's just the part that has to do with the upcoming CRTC hearings into the regulatory framework vis a vis ISPs and the Canadian broadcasting system.<BR/><BR/>The second venture capitalist wants to make me or you or Mark McKinney the next Funny or Die Will Ferrel, I'll walk them into the WGC office and have them talk signatory with him myself.<BR/><BR/>This is not about rewarding past bad behavior. It's about hedging bets.<BR/><BR/>Or-- let's be honest. It's about trying to encourage an industry that doesn't follow the bad old broadcast model of forcing Canadians to go to another country to take part in this industry.DMchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105351826851407562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-49720143664171599452009-02-04T15:39:00.000-05:002009-02-04T15:39:00.000-05:00DMc,The alternate plan is to begin by simply not t...DMc,<BR/><BR/>The alternate plan is to begin by simply not throwing good money after bad and then finding a place where such money might find fertile ground in which to grow. <BR/><BR/>There is a profound need in this country for venture capital to fund web enterprises and an additional need to fund innovative creative content on the web.<BR/><BR/>Doesn't it make more sense for an organization like the WGC to look to the future and encourage ISP's to fund material people using their services would access?<BR/><BR/>I think the CRTC, the ISPs and the public could all get behind that kind of initiative. And it would also help the Guild move its jurisdiction firmly into the new media -- not only assuring that you are employed at a decent wage, but keeping you in Depends through residuals when that stage of Life arrives.<BR/><BR/>This country has dumped tons of money into a television industry that has not been either willing or able to support Canadian creative content. Giving them more money to fund initiatives they should have taken on their own 4-5 years ago won't make things better -- especially at a time when the rest of the world is beginning the move away from the current TV delivery systems.<BR/><BR/>We keep trying to prime a pump owned by people who don't care whether or not we die of thirst.<BR/><BR/>It's simply time to move on and try to find what we need somewhere else.<BR/><BR/>And sometimes -- suggesting burning down the house is the only way you get people to start thinking about where they're going to live.jimhenshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-87699160197916624052009-02-04T15:11:00.000-05:002009-02-04T15:11:00.000-05:00What is the "common ground" here?I mean I get what...What is the "common ground" here?<BR/><BR/>I mean I get what common ground is in with kids stuff and ECE...but what is the common ground. Jim's whole post is all about how there is no common ground. To talk about "working out what's good for everybody" is so naive as to be ludicrous. Did you pay attention to the AMPTP stance during the last WGA negotiations? Did there seem to be "common ground" to that approach?<BR/><BR/>And Jim, I say the same thing to you as I always say when you take this take. It is not enough to say, "blow it up." <BR/><BR/>How do I pay a mortgage, or rent, or keep myself in adult diapers and cocaine until the five, six, seven year time until the new system emerges?<BR/><BR/>There's nothing to say here that the broadcasters get a big pile of free money.<BR/><BR/>The point is that ISP's are now part of the system. Broadcasters, no...but the system. And as a result of being part of that system, the principle is you give something back to the system. Right now they don't. Not a thing. If the Broadcasters get to argue that they have to pay for the pitiful content they pay for, but now their competition is big cable cos/telcos who don't have to kick anything back into the system, then what really is the justification for that?<BR/><BR/>I get it. I do. You hate the broadcasters more than the BDU's. You think Jim Shaw is a maverick. That's great.<BR/><BR/>But once again, here is a wonderfully worded manifesto about how things deserve to be blown up.<BR/><BR/>WHAT IS YOUR ALTERNATE PLAN?<BR/><BR/>WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM?<BR/><BR/>If we're going to kill the king, then who takes his place and how do we maneuver in that environment?<BR/><BR/>The system is sick and crooked and bullshit, but I don't hear solutions here, and I don't feel like complaining.<BR/><BR/>They levied recording media, people bitched about it, and it's still controversial. But you know what?<BR/><BR/>People who make things got checks.<BR/><BR/>Where are the checks in your scenario?DMchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105351826851407562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-36627647796404198562009-02-04T13:02:00.000-05:002009-02-04T13:02:00.000-05:00Brilliant analogy, Jim. I'll be posting a link and...Brilliant analogy, Jim. I'll be posting a link and "seeding" the comboxes of the sites I visit to give you credit for it. Mainly because I'll be using it very, very often...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-41479652717767540892009-02-04T11:54:00.000-05:002009-02-04T11:54:00.000-05:00Sadly, i have to agree with you here. I am gratef...Sadly, i have to agree with you here. I am grateful and proud of all the Guild does for me. But there are several areas in which I feel underserved and unprotected. This is one of them.<BR/><BR/>As a kid's writer I don't have many of the protections and provisions the Guild goes to the mat to keep in contracts for adult drama and comedy writers. Yet in this area, kids writers tend to have more experience in being asked for web content than their peers.<BR/><BR/>The Canadian Kidnets are much further ahead in terms of online content. But I hold few, if any, rights over that aspect of my work.<BR/><BR/>I think taking an adversarial approach into a negotiating room is a bad way to make gains. You need to find the common ground. But it is also foolish to assume the other side is there for your benefit.Gorillamydreamzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16004614151140587409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-8431655726333859392009-02-04T08:46:00.000-05:002009-02-04T08:46:00.000-05:00I think I posted something over on ink about all t...I think I posted something over on ink about all this. I had been researching web content and surfed the areas owned by NBC and CBS. They not only stream their regular programming but have original programming there in six minute segments. Ten segments or sixty minutes makes one full episode. Some of the web series are less professional looking than others. I haven't read how well they are doing, but they are aimed at the under 25 crowd. Series set in dorm rooms, or apartments. <BR/><BR/>But there are some with real production value. Sam Raimi has a few and they are great. Of course, his production values come with a cost that is the equivalent of US broadcast television. As did the much talked about "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along". But the real point is to drive viewers to these sites which are not yet profitable to the networks but will become profitable soon. <BR/><BR/>Of course, you have to own the material to realize the profit and the problem in Canada is that the broadcasters make so little it would be impossible to realize a profit from the internet. And just as in the case of broadcast television, I don't see them putting up money to create series for the web. Not without their feet being held to the fire. <BR/><BR/>Jim, the more things change the more they stay the same.deborah Nathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01660139014725973469noreply@blogger.com