Writing for the Internet

By | February 14, 2008

It’s good to hear from one of the writer’s directly.

Diana Son is a successful playwright and co-executive producer of Law and Order. She has a pair of 1-year-old twins and a 7-year old. And, refreshingly: She thinks the writer’s strike was essential not only so that she can support her family, but for writers of future generations.

In this video Diana tells us that the most important aspect of the deal between the writers and the studios was “securing a percentage of the gross revenues from Internet downloads.”

For writers, residuals mean consistent cash flow, without which they couldn’t survive and do what they love, and they believe the Internet represents the future of those residuals. That’s what they were fighting for.

I think we can assume, then, that if the money is on the Internet that writers like Diana are going to want to write for shows that are playing well there. And more importantly they’re going to want to write for shows that are written for the Internet.