Television Writers Are Important

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Stella Udeze is my favourite Nigerian actress. Frederick Leonard  is my favourite actor from the same country.

Who is your favourite American sitcom and comedy writer?

Well! Eh! I don’t know, but my fav TV shows are ……

We don’t have an answer because we don’t know writers. We don’t see them on the red carpet wearing paper thin dresses. Writers are faceless, but they write the lines actors and actresses say on television. Those lines make us smile, hate or love particular characters.

YOUTUBE

YouTube is one of the reasons why men and women who write for television closed their laptops and went on strike on 2 May. Their union, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) reached a tentative agreement with Hollywood television studios at the end of September.

There were certain contentious issues on the table. One of them was owners of television shows being paid twice, but writers only once. How? Producers made money when, lets say, Moesha, Half n Half, Frasier and other shows were on television. They are making money again on the internet, because if we loved those shows, we’ll watch them again on YouTube.

Writers wanted recognition and compensation because they wrote those shows. It’s not only sitcoms and comedies, they write lines for other things, like television awards. The Writers Guild of America strike heightened consciousness about the HOW of television production. It’s more than actors and actresses talking to the camera. It’s about their lines. Who wrote those lines and are they recognized and paid accordingly?

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger

 

 

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