Matthew Yglesias points to this article which describes writers beginning to cut deals with internet startups to get around the studios during the strike. This is something I noted when I spoke to a writer on the picket line a few weeks ago.
He told me there is lots of weird hedge fund money coming in to fund movies, and new attempts to distribute films on the internet. The overall environment for producing great content is becoming more competitive and more difficult for the studios, and I imagine that if they don't settle with some good solution for the writers, the real danger is that they will simply lose their content business.
Why write as a slave for GE or CBS when you can write and own part of your content going through another distribution outlet?
Significantly, Moveon has a petition asking the studios to end the strike, with a Facebook group here. The specific ask is to bring back the Daily Show, which has been off during the strike. But Moveon isn't just an advocacy group, it's also a content distribution channel to 3 million people. If the studios don't strike a good deal with their creative talent, they will lose their business model. Talented writers have a lot of options available to them, and if the studios create the conditions where these people have to make money on the internet without studio help, they will will find a way to do it.
I'm curious to see how this strike plays out, and how Moveon will engage. It could be a very meaningful step towards building much stronger bridges between different components of the progressive movement.
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