Barnaby Druthers Team supports the WGA

May 8

The Barnaby Druthers team morally supports the WGA.

Who we are: None of the creators of Barnaby Druthers are members of the WGA but we whole heartedly believe in and support the WGA position in the ongoing strike. The Barnaby Druthers audio theater program is created on an all-volunteer basis and is a non-monetary endeavor in every respect. We do not solicit funds for our program, we do not sell advertising, and, when performing live, we do so only in support of non-profit organizations. Our show airs on non-commercial outlets only, specifically community radio stations As of this writing in May of 2023, we are not a non-profit ourselves because no money of any kind finds our way to us in any regard. There is a lane for us in the world of entertainment; it is a non-monetary, non-commercial lane of entertainment. Our work is heard on non-commercial community radio stations, an outlet that provides a voice for those who have something to contribute that can’t be found on commercial stations. Radio play/audio theater entertainment is generally not found over the airwaves on commercial radio in 2023.

Our lane of non-monetary, non-commercial content creation should not be confused with the landscape of commercial entertainment. Commercial entertainment involves, but is not limited to, production companies, commercial platforms and distribution channels and most notably, it involves the hardworking individuals, from writers, directors, actors and those behind the scenes, who create the content, the artistic product that generates revenue. There is an enormous need for that method of content creation and in that respect, every individual should be paid fairly.

What we believe when it comes to writers: The writers who craft the stories are the essential foundation of the creative content. They utilize their skills to deliver a quality product upon which the rest of the entertainment endeavor is built. There is no television series, no movie, not even a reality show, without stories. Writing a program/movie/etc is not a “gig”, it is an indispensable professional job for commercial entertainment and writers should be paid like the essential professionals they are. (Ed: We also add actors to this position. Actors utlize their skills to create the product and they are professionals and should be compensated fairly including residuals -JTQ 7/2023).

There was a time when players of professional sports teams made very little money relative to the revenue generated by the enterprise, but it was their work, what they produced, that was the actual product upon which revenue was generated. Eventually strikes in professional sports led to fair compensation for the players’ work. The same should occur here and ultimately, that’s going to be the only solution.

The symbiotic relationship: The producers and the writers (and for that matter all content creators and their unions) actually have a symbiotic relationship and success does not mean one side must crush the opposing side. All parties seem to recognize that the media industry changed with the advent of streaming, which has become a dominant form of entertainment distribution. New guardrails need to be in place to ensure those creating the content, in this case specifically the writers * and actors, are fairly compensated for their efforts.***ed: We now wish to add the actors into this equation, emphatically adding that they need to be fairly compensated for their efforts (JTQ 2023)

Because of the extremely high dollars at stake, there is a projection that the strike will last a while. It doesn’t have to be that way. As creators of content, we find the WGA’s position in this dispute to be the most reasonable, and we support them. As consumers of content, we recognize that all strikes end, so the question is how much money will be lost until the end is negotiated?

Thoughts on the future:

The future is not AI generated content and if producers believe that it is the case, we wonder how soon would it be before an AI’s algorithm to be utilized to streamline the producer function?

The future is not entirely having only one lane of non-commercial content. The lane of commercial entertainment content is vital. Professionals deserve to be paid. We are very happy producers have jobs, writers have jobs, actors have jobs, directors have jobs, lighting/sound/special effects/production teams have jobs, and that lane of entertainment content should thrive in the new realities of content creation.

There was a time when streaming wasn’t a model of entertainment distribution. Now that it is a reality, adjustments need to be made. In the future there’s going to be some other distribution model and adjustments will have to be made at that point.

I can see a point where a commercial entertainment entity works on an entirely profit-sharing model and where the risk and reward is shared between all parties in an entertainment endeavor. In such a model, there would not be a need for an adversarial relationship, it would accentuate the very real symbiotic one.

As creators of content, we support and value writers and actors * who create and perform* the stories we enjoy. To every writer, especially professional writers in the WGA, and to every actor in SAG we say, “May your stories provide both a window and a mirror on our shared humanity and may the universal truths you share reach the generations beyond you.”

-J. Timothy Quirk