Tom Fontana: Dear Jim

This email was written by WGA member Tom Fontana, creator of the HBO series "Oz." Last week, the Artful Writer reprinted an email written to "Jim" from John Wells, unedited. The email below has also been reprinted in unedited form.

Dear Jim,

Yes, I, too, was left breathless by John's letter. As always, he makes many very valid points.

But there are a couple items which still trouble me and a number of my writer friends.

1. The original content jurisdiction seems like smoke and mirrors -- how many TV series (made for Internet) in the next three years will have a budget of $500,000? The highest budget I've heard for a current production is $350,000.

Besides, when has a budget ever come before a script is written? That means while directors will be hired under a DGA contract after the script is done and the budget is set, we writers will have no union contract to protect us. Wouldn't it be better to require all AMPTP members to use a WGA contract no matter what the budget is?

2. Streaming rate confuses me, but I'm no economist (I barely passed high school math). The $1200 seems too little, especially because, despite the bright sunset provision on the horizon, we all know that after our patience over DVDs and cable, we will have to live with the concept of a flat rate for the next twenty years.

This won't hurt guys like John or me, because as showrunners, we are also owners. But I wonder how the staff writers and, worse, freelancers will cope. And I find the 17 day / 24 day window to be exploitive, sending us to the well when it has already run dry.

I want the strike to end soon, I'm desperate to get back to work on my new series, but I want a fair deal.

People say the continuation of the strike will destroy our industry. Well, if thats true, why are the studios so willing to bring on the Apocalypse? Maybe in three years we'll have more data about Internet revenue, but why can't we be true partners in the uncertainty?

I realize I will be blogged to death but, hey, I can take the hits -- I have WGA pension and health care.

-Tom Fontana