... and you're out!

Every single blog, news article, person I run into is talking about the strike. I don't really believe that I have much to add to a population of persons who are way more eloquent than I.

So, I'd like to take this opportunity to be a bitch. Because, really, I use every opportunity given me.

Here's the thing. Way back when, I decided I wanted to be a TV writer, except I was living in the UK. Sure, I could have tried my hand over there. I probably would be a WAY better writer now if I had. But, I wanted to use any excuse to get back to LA -- after two very very very wet years in London, I was starved for sunshine. The hubby, being the awesome guy that he is, agreed to move.

Prior to our move, I thought that it would be cool to make my own TV show, and, shocker, host it on a website. Where people could download it, and pay a small fee for that privilege. A few years later, it's a reality. Except, I haven't done it yet. But, I still think it's an awesome idea. I'm still going to do it one day. I just won't be the pioneer that I would have been had I done it back then.

So, we move to LA, I meet some folks. Other folks have issues on a private message board, and decide to start their own website. It's a pretty cool site, very informative for new writers. This is around the time when online content was becoming more the norm. Downloading shows on iTunes, youtube, etc. So, I email one of the guys who are running this site. They're very informative folks, as I may have mentioned, and seem knowledgeable about the MBA. My question to these guys was:

"But what I'm now wondering is what is being done about iTunes downloads? What sort of compensations are the writers receiving? I'm just wondering what the guild is doing about these huge technology leaps?"

The answer I was given, three years ago, was a post on their website (paraphrased):

"You're an idiot. Read the MBA to understand."

Helpfully, they posted the link to the MBA. I read it -- every single word. There was no answer to my question. So, I rephrased and asked again. These guys just didn't know. But refused to say they didn't know. Instead, I was deemed an idiot for not understanding. Oh, I'm an idiot, just not in this instance.

So, we come to now, when, you know, everyone's asking what I asked. And these guys are fighting for writers to be getting the compensation I understood writers not to be receiving. And, I believe that these guys should get that compensation. With everything that I am. After all, they're paving the way for me and all of my peers. It just would have been nice to not be called an idiot (paraphrased), and to believe in the idea that these outspoken folks were slightly more prescient than they seem to be.

I doubt I'll be posting a lot about the strike, as I said before, there are way more eloquent blog entries on the topic. And, really, you should just read theirs.