Admit it, if not before—perhaps wellll before—Easter 1997 you got really sick of hearing guys shout, “Show me the money!” It became as iconic, and as annoying, as “Where’s the beef?” in the eighties, “Can you hear me now?” now and I presume “Frankly my dear I don’t give a damn.” in the forties. When Cameron Crowe wrote and directed “Jerry Maguire”, which was released in 1996, the world was a lot different. Many people still did not have email. Many people still had the Motorola “brick” cellular phone. Very few households had DVD players and videotape ruled the home movie market. Most certainly movies and television shows were not available on the internet or you mobile device.
Technological progression is exponential at this point—growing and developing faster and faster as new technology creates even newer technology. Unfortunately the studios and producers of our visual electronic entertainment do not think it necessary to recognize this—sort of like the Vatican with Copernicus. Today the writers are Copernicus and the revenue generated from the “new” technology is the theory that the sun is the center of the universe. Just as the Church refused to recognize Copernicus’ theory that the earth is not the center of the universe, Hollywood studio execs and producers are refusing to recognize the screenwriter’s union argument that they are losing millions of dollars in residual income from the duplication and sale of entertainment on the internet, mobile devices and other technology that I am not even aware of (but the high school kids down the block no doubt are).
I can see the point of the studios that prior contracts with the screenwriters guild did not include residuals for revenue made via the internet—but when the last contract was signed how much revenue was there from the internet? I do not know the answer for sure but given the explosion of available entertainment via my laptop or cell phone I imagine it was a mere pittance of what that revenue number is today—and practically nothing compared to what those revenues will be tomorrow.
Intellectual property has historically been undervalued at the point of sale, the term “starving artist” is not unique to the 21st, or the 20th, Century. Authors, painters, inventors, playwrights, throughout the centuries have sold their initial works to others with more means who have been able to produce or market the result of their intellect at a much higher price than what they paid for, or commissioned the work for. Today the writers of the movies we see, either at the theater, on airplanes, via our digital satellite or on our iPhone are asking that they share in the revenue we pay to view their work no matter where we view it or to whom we pay the “ticket price.” And they are right.
It boggles me that the studios are so resistant to sharing even a portion of this every growing revenue stream with those who are mostly responsible for those revenues. You can have the best actors and director in Hollywood, but if the screenplay sucks so does the movie; as I heard one actor say the other day, for every good movie Brando did he had two to three crappy ones—and that is true for every actor, and director. Sure there are some bad movies that are bad because the screenplays stunk, but there are probably more good scripts that became bad movies because of bad acting than vice-versa.
Script and screenwriters make us laugh, cry, sit on the edge of our seats and say, “wow.” They did this before special effects, before “talkies”, before film. I do not imagine that William Shakespeare had significant acting talent available compared to today—but they still managed to move their audiences. Think writers are not important? Why are Leno and Letterman among the first to feel the effects of the strike? They are funny aren’t they? Yes, they deliver the lines and jokes from their writers with perfect timing, making us laugh, and them funny. Take away the writers and they become a few steps above Improve Night at the Ice House.
Cuba Gooding is a very good actor, but he was great in “Jerry Maguire” because he had a great line, “show me the money,” written by a great writer. Pay that writer, and his fellow keyboard artisans, for the work they produce. Show them the money for making us laugh, cry, and say “wow” regardless of the media we use to see their work.
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