Writers: dodging the Death Star
One of the minds behind Shrek 2, David Weiss, told Miguel Gonzalez that everyone thinks they can write, but being a Hollywood writer is definitely not an easy job.
“The [2007-2008 Writers guild of America] strike definitely raised the image and the perception of writers being more powerful, and it did so globally. However, it didn’t change the reality that the studios are immensely powerful, and the writers are still artists who only have as much power as they can muster by virtue of their unity,” says American writer David Weiss, one of the keynote speakers at this month’s National Screenwriters’ Conference. He likens the writers’ situation to that of the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars. “We managed to dodge the Death Star, but the Emperor is still lurking and still has a lot of power. We have to continue fighting for writers’ rights.”
According to Weiss, the strike secured the American writers’ future on the internet, “which is where everything is migrating, but we still have a lot to do”. The situation, however, is different for international writers.
