the worth of the writer
Preliminary facts: I don’t watch America’s Next Top Model, mostly because I haven’t really watched TV since I started grad school, but I kept up with the strike last year because an old friend of mine was a writer for the show. I am, however, an inveterate reader of Vanity Fair, which ran a rather fawning piece on Tyra Banks, producer and diva of ANTM, this month. And that, along with finally getting around to reading Clint’s last post and my usual concern about what writers are worth, is what finally prompted this aggregation of quotes.
Tyra is on a “mission,” she says. She even has a a “Mission Statement,” which her Endeavor agent, Nancy Josephson, later e-mails to me: “It’s important to make people feel good, to show compassion, to be uplifting“ ...“A Model Mogul,” Vanity Fair 2/07, 186
My talk show has totally changed me and opened me. I used to just be about being a good role model and helping women, but I didn’t realize the vast way I could do it. It’s made me more aware.VF 2/07, 188
Her income last year was reportedly $18 million. Her Bankable Productions also owns 25 percent of America’s Next Top Model, which is currently syndicated in 110 countries around the globe, but she won’t reveal her net worth. “Sometimes I feel guilty for how much money I have,” she tells me.VF 2/07, 170
Like every other reality-TV show, Model credits no writers; instead, viewers may glimpse the names of 12 associate or assistant producers who are actually the show’s writing team. One problem for the new CW Network is that if these “producers” were listed as writers, they would be eligible for membership in the Writers Guild of America — and the salary levels and benefits that would come with union membership. ... “Writing for reality TV,” says Catalyst, “is a contest in the industry to see who will work for the least. Because they don’t have the minimums that they have in traditionally scripted television, there is no cutoff point here as to how low it can go.” In fact, because they are not credited, the 12 Top Model writers have no salary minimums, health insurance or pension plans.
The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) has cried foul after the producers of The CW’s America’s Next Top Model scratched a dozen striking staffers off the payroll. The WGAW Monday filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging the show’s producers unlawfully eliminated the jobs of the 12 “writers” in retaliation for their decision to go on strike last July to demand union representation.“Top Model Takes Strikers Off Payroll”, Broadcasting & Cable, 11/7/06