Osahi
Member
- Oct 27, 2017
- 6,108
- Apr 9, 2022
- #75
Holy shit @ people defending the poor big multimillion dollar corporation here. 'But you know that's how it works when you work for a corp!". Well, it fucking shouldn't be, lol :P
5000 dollar? That's an insult idd. I've written the screenplay for a movie based on an old tv-show here in Belgium, and I'm pretty sure the family of the original creator (who died) got more for the right to use his character than that. And that movie had a budget of 2,5 milion euro, which is probably what the catering costs on Dr Strange 2.
What's even more, they get 20% of every screenwriting risidual that is payed for e.g. broadcasting rights, streaming rights, VOD, dvd, ... And I'm sure if the movie makes a profit they get a (very) small percentage too.
Same for the tv-show I'm working on now. Original concept creators aren't writing my episodes, but they get 20% of my creative rights because they fucking did the work I'm jumping of from.
And that's only fair, because we've used something we didn't create to do our thing and make money. I'm so glad as a creative I work in Europe, where the rights of the creatives are better protected. And it's not as if the production companies can't make a profit anymore, lol. If their risks pays of, they'll get way more than I do. But I get something at least for the exploitation of my work, because that's the honest trade of: I get payed for my work to begin with, but when it's exploited I see something for that too, and when it turns big not only the corporation sees profits, but I'm rewarded too.
It's the reason I don't want to work for the one production company here that makes kids stuff with a lot of merchandise, but screws its creatives over.
jph139 said:
I mean, it's worth noting that the only reason America Chavez is so valuable is BECAUSE she's owned by a corporation. A corporation with publishing arms, marketing arms, robust editorial, and billions of dollars that make sure people care about their IP. A corporation that wouldn't be pushing a character that they don't own and stand to profit from.
Like, Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta DO own a near-identical character they created for Image a few years later, called America Vasquez. You've never heard of her, and they probably haven't made any money off of her. Because if you take Miss America, strip away her team-ups and role in the Marvel universe, throw away the contributions of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie and all the other work-for-hire that piled on, and don't have the capital to put her on the screen in your billion dollar movie franchise... what are you left with?
What gets lost in these discussions are the dozens, if not hundreds, of work-for-hire characters that Marvel owns, but that are... well, worthless. The writers and artists created characters, no one wants them, they'll never become anything even WITH the Marvel push, nevermind on their own merits. But those creatives got paid anyways - and good for them! That's the tradeoff - you're insulated from the risk, but you're insulated from the reward, too, because the only entity that can reasonably expect to make money with a scattershot approach like that is a huge corporation.
Works both ways dude. That big corporation wouldn't have characters to make those movies about without the creatives. It's only fair that work gets rewarded too when it is used and/or takes off. Nobody is saying the big corps can't be rewarded for the risk they take, but it's only fair to acknowledge the creative side you're making a profit off too.
9wilds said:
Copyright law is important. I don't think you guys advocating for higher payment to creators fully understand the consequences of what you're suggesting. It would obliterate all of the media we love to watch. All that would be left is YouTube with more corporate sponsors.
Lol, it would not. Not at all. Mainland Europe doesn't have copyright in the anglosaxon way. Production companies can make money while the authors are protected and get paid too.
For instance. A show I worked on is on Netflix here in Belgium, and not only the production company gets paid for that, twice a year I get a check for it too. Same when it is rebroadcasted, when the DVD's are sold (which is literally a few cents for me, as margins are so low, but I get paid) And yeah, those that took the biggest financial risk (the production company) get a way bigger piece of the pie, but they can't exploit any of my work or that of my collegues without offering a fair reward for us too.
If I create something and they decide to do a sequel without me, even then I'm protected and get paid when that sequel lands on Netflix or is broadcasted or whatever.
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