Here is the one statistic the neither side disputes. 4434 writers were paid an average of $204,000.00 last year. 4434 x
$204,000.00 = $904,536,000.00. Nine hundred and a half million dollars.
(The $1.3 Billion number includes residuals paid last year.)
The WGA adds in an enormous number of card carrying, dues paying, $0 earning members to get that median down to $5000.
You're not understanding the wages because you don't understand math. The WGA isn't "skewing" the median by adding in $0 earners. An average and a median are different things. The average number takes all wages by earning writers, adds them together, and then divides by the number of writers. Average $204,000 for 4434 writers is so much higher than median $5,000 because that average includes the couple dozen or so big gun writers who also show run who make several millions of dollars per year. But the common staff writer doesn't even approach that $204k per year. A median number is a listing of all wages, all 4434 of them, and you find the number in the exact middle. So saying that the median is $5,000 means there were 2217 writers who earned more than that, and 2217 writers who earned less than that.
(The $1.3 Billion number includes residuals paid last year.)
The WGA adds in an enormous number of card carrying, dues paying, $0 earning members to get that median down to $5000.
You're not understanding the wages because you don't understand math. The WGA isn't "skewing" the median by adding in $0 earners. An average and a median are different things. The average number takes all wages by earning writers, adds them together, and then divides by the number of writers. Average $204,000 for 4434 writers is so much higher than median $5,000 because that average includes the couple dozen or so big gun writers who also show run who make several millions of dollars per year. But the common staff writer doesn't even approach that $204k per year. A median number is a listing of all wages, all 4434 of them, and you find the number in the exact middle. So saying that the median is $5,000 means there were 2217 writers who earned more than that, and 2217 writers who earned less than that.
I asked why the negotiators for the studios and networks didn't show (a
fact which Variety buried in the 3rd paragraph of its account of the hearing). "MPAA got involved because they rep us before the City Council,
and because it was their area of expertise - economic impact," an insider told me. "The MPAA represents the companies before all levels of
government throughout the world. MPAA also provides economic data and information on the motion picture and television business to the public, on behalf of
our members. But you are right that no individual from MPAA or AMPTP took part in the actual hearing."
The WGA, which showed up in force for the 7:30 AM hearing despite pouring
rain, issued a statement that the AMPTP's "refusal shows a callous disregard for the people of Los Angeles. First these companies walked away from
the bargaining table, and today they chose to ignore the economic hardship their actions have caused. The WGA would like to solve this problem and get
everyone back to work, but that can't be done until the other side comes back to the table."
John Bowman, chairman of the WGA's negotiating committee, testified
with hundreds of Guild members in attendance. (Photos above by Jim Stevenson.) He said the strike is about "fighting to maintain the
livelihoods of Los Angeles' middle-class writers working in the entertainment industry. The typical WGA member makes about $62,000 a year. It's a
strike we believe we were forced into and one that is now being prolonged by the AMPTP."
