From the LAT comes news that the striking writers, instead of hoping for the meager scraps that they might get from the studios for the work that underpins a multi-billion dollar industry, have decided that they don't need no stinkin' studios:
Dozens of striking film and TV writers are negotiating with venture capitalists to set up new companies that would bypass the Hollywood studio system and reach consumers directly with video entertainment on the Web.
At least seven groups, all comprising members of the striking Writers Guild of America, are planning to form Internet-based businesses that, if successful, could create an alternative economic model to the one at the heart of the walkout, which is in its seventh week.
History will later recall with delicious irony that the studios, in refusing to adequately compensate writers for the profits their work draws when placed on the web or on DVD, helped drive a shakeup in the industry business model that could very well lead to their demise. As the costs of distribution of content shrink to infinitesimally small amounts, and the divide between television and the Web continues to shrink as well (caught up on any of your favorite TV shows online recently?), the business of writing, producing, and distributing entertainment might just end up rewarding ALL of the creative minds behind that entertainment, rather than the middlemen who currently take their cut.
Already this year, a handful of sites have received venture backing, including FunnyorDie.com, co-founded by comedic actor Will Ferrell, and MyDamnChannel.com, launched by former MTV executive Rob Barnett.
MyDamnChannel pays for the production of original content by a handful of artists and splits ad revenue with them.
This should be fun to watch; and by that I mean both the studios getting bit for their arrogance, and the great content sure to arrive online from some great writers.