Today is the 115th day of the WGA strike, and not long ago our negotiating committee published a detailed response to the AMPTP’s leaking of their only proposal.
For those of us outside the industry, and not really knowledgeable of the inner workings, could you tell us the difference between how it works writing for Hollywood vs writing for the same companies only in the comic industry?
Yes, it's a great question. There is what was call "struck work" (film & TV) and "non-struck work" which is just about everything else. Comic books have had labor issues probably since there have been comic books, and as a rule, the WGA only covers film, TV and some podcasting. There are also some news coverage mostly via the WGA-E. Comic book creators have similar but separate issues. The WGA would be a bad fit to cover what we think of as the "writing team" in comics. Our artist partners have authorship. I have always said that I tell my story to the artist, the artist does their work, and then I come in to clean-up, polish, clarify and punch up. Nothing quite like that occurs in the process of producing WGA material. It would be a slap in the face to artists for comic writers to seek coverage from the WGA. The financial frameworks are different, but it's strange days to be picketing outside companies with our pens down in part of the business while we write and meet our contractual obligations to a subsidiary that the company owns. Media consolidation is bad for creatives and consumers. There are other issues about comic books that make any unionization very difficult -- not the least of which are federal labor laws that dictate that in order to form or join a union that you must be employed by the companies. (The WGA was formed before the law was enacted and is therefore exempt) Comic companies have to my knowledge since the mid-20th century made sure that all work for hire deals with comic creators are enacted so we're independent contractors.
Hell yeah Gerry! I'm pre-WGA this time around and getting into the streets to march for the cause with you felt great. One of my neighbors is a grip and he's not working right now, the whole city is feeling it.
The pain is real, and none of it had to be this bad. I hope your neighbor has been able to find some of the resources out there to help. We'll get through it.
Thanks for this, is there a system for residuals, and character creation in place in comics? If so, how does it compare to film (original characters that go on to have sequels without original writer). When it comes to streaming vs something like Marvel Unlimited/Kindle Unlimited how do those deals compare to the film side? I appreciate any further insight you can give.
It's VERY different from creator to creator, project to project, company to company and really honestly - era to era. I would say - the best thing you can do is engage the best lawyer you can - in comics there are only about a half dozen that I know by name. I have always felt like the most important name on a comic cover was mine -- whether it's work for hire, or creator owned - we have to drive these comics like fully insured rental cars. Get in, drive hard and get out.
You’re a lovely fellow. Thank you for this.
Cheers, Sara - glad to follow you on here.
😍😍😍🙏🏻
For those of us outside the industry, and not really knowledgeable of the inner workings, could you tell us the difference between how it works writing for Hollywood vs writing for the same companies only in the comic industry?
Yes, it's a great question. There is what was call "struck work" (film & TV) and "non-struck work" which is just about everything else. Comic books have had labor issues probably since there have been comic books, and as a rule, the WGA only covers film, TV and some podcasting. There are also some news coverage mostly via the WGA-E. Comic book creators have similar but separate issues. The WGA would be a bad fit to cover what we think of as the "writing team" in comics. Our artist partners have authorship. I have always said that I tell my story to the artist, the artist does their work, and then I come in to clean-up, polish, clarify and punch up. Nothing quite like that occurs in the process of producing WGA material. It would be a slap in the face to artists for comic writers to seek coverage from the WGA. The financial frameworks are different, but it's strange days to be picketing outside companies with our pens down in part of the business while we write and meet our contractual obligations to a subsidiary that the company owns. Media consolidation is bad for creatives and consumers. There are other issues about comic books that make any unionization very difficult -- not the least of which are federal labor laws that dictate that in order to form or join a union that you must be employed by the companies. (The WGA was formed before the law was enacted and is therefore exempt) Comic companies have to my knowledge since the mid-20th century made sure that all work for hire deals with comic creators are enacted so we're independent contractors.
Hell yeah Gerry! I'm pre-WGA this time around and getting into the streets to march for the cause with you felt great. One of my neighbors is a grip and he's not working right now, the whole city is feeling it.
The pain is real, and none of it had to be this bad. I hope your neighbor has been able to find some of the resources out there to help. We'll get through it.
Thanks for this, is there a system for residuals, and character creation in place in comics? If so, how does it compare to film (original characters that go on to have sequels without original writer). When it comes to streaming vs something like Marvel Unlimited/Kindle Unlimited how do those deals compare to the film side? I appreciate any further insight you can give.
It's VERY different from creator to creator, project to project, company to company and really honestly - era to era. I would say - the best thing you can do is engage the best lawyer you can - in comics there are only about a half dozen that I know by name. I have always felt like the most important name on a comic cover was mine -- whether it's work for hire, or creator owned - we have to drive these comics like fully insured rental cars. Get in, drive hard and get out.
Thanks again, Gerry. It’s great to see your insights on this.