Disney: TV Writers Distorting Digital Residual Facts
ABC Studios Says ‘Misleading’ Public About New Media Payments Won’t Resolve Dispute
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 11/14/2007 6:43:00 AM
The Walt Disney Co. accused the striking Writers Guild of America Wednesday of distorting the facts when the union claims its members don’t get residuals on new media from the entertainment giant.
“Deliberately misleading the public is not the best way to resolve this issue and get Hollywood back to work," ABC Studios, Disney’s TV production arm, said in its statement.
Disney was responding to a flier that the WGA East was handing out on picket lines in Manhattan outside of the World of Disney store. The leaflet said that according to Disney president Robert Iger, his company is generating $1.5 billion in revenue from digital. The writers’ share of that is “$0,” according to the pamphlet.
"The WGA leadership is deliberately distorting the facts,” ABC Studios said. “As the WGA knows full well, more than half of Disney's digital revenues are from sales of travel packages and the vast majority of the rest is from online advertising on sites like Disney.com and ESPN.com and through online merchandise sales. The WGA also knows its members have been paid residuals on entertainment content downloaded via iTunes.”
The WGAE responded to ABC Studios with the following statement: "We would better know the nature of Disney's and ABC’s revenues from digital if they would more fully and transparently reveal them to us. For example, their statement does not mention that much of the online advertising on their websites accompanies streaming video of our members' work in television and film for which they receive absolutely nothing. All we're asking for is a fair, respectful, small share."
The WGA went on strike Nov. 5 against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, mainly over compensation for content being distributed on new-media platforms.
The AMPTP recently ran an ad stressing that studios already do pay writers residuals on digital downloads, and claiming that an offer regarding payment for video streaming was on the table when talks broke down Nov. 4.
In its flier Wednesday, the WGA said, “We only asking for our fair share. In fact, we’re barely asking for anything: 2.5% of whatever money the studios make off our work on the Internet or digitally – the delivery systems of the future.”
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