It will probably be 11 days in the present day, because the Writers Guild of America went on a strike demanding increased pay and a secure pay construction. Some extra calls for embrace fairer offers and being safeguarded from synthetic intelligence. As a results of the strike, which has been supported by massive filmmakers equivalent to Christopher Nolan, manufacturing on a number of tasks has come to a halt.
But the impact could be felt on this a part of the world as effectively, the place writers have for lengthy been speaking about precisely the identical set of issues. The solely distinction is that they have a voice for the primary time, and that negotiations will start with producers to resolve the problems.
Anjum Rajabali, who has written movies equivalent to Ghulam, and co-written the screenplay for Raajneeti, says, “While their strike doesn’t have a direct bearing on the Indian situation, it has brought into public focus the unfair treatment that writers receive. Here too screenwriters face serious problems professionally. Writing fees in India are nowhere near the value that the script brings to the film. New and young writers are distressed as they feel exploited. The contracts that producers, studios, and platforms offer are grossly one-sided with the company demanding all the rights and protection leaving the writer vulnerable. And the most important right is to be credited for your work. However, the contract insists that credit will be given at the discretion of the producer!”
Support from profitable actors and administrators for a writers is required for a strike to work, feels Apurva Asrani, who wrote the acclaimed movie Aligarh and the net present Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors. “In the US you have Christopher Nolan and Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin, performers Jennifer Coolidge and Jimmy Fallon offer passionate support to writers through blogs, social media and by even standing in picket lines. In India, where actors and directors are paid disproportionately to writers, no one really wants to change the status quo,” says the 45-year-old.
Zeishan Quadri, who wrote the movie Gangs of Wasseypur, says the unity is lacking right here in India, between writers. “We all should be called for a meeting, there is no organised way here. There is no one to guide writers. If something wrong is happening, it continues,” he rues.
Mitesh Shah, co-writer for Helicopter Eela and Tummbad, inform us, “SWA has been talking about all this for a long time now. But I haven’t received as many calls as I am now, after the US strike. Barring a few industry people, there has been very little support. I have known a few writers selling their scripts for as less as ₹50,000- a lakh, when the minimum wage should be atleast 12 lakhs. A writer doesn’t write many stories in a lifetime, you don’t want them to die poor. The piece of paper is where it all begins.”
Source: www.hindustantimes.com