The US drama was ridiculed not until recently, the golden age of US drama has arrived. "Breaking Bad", "House of Card", "Game of thrones" and other drama series swept the world. At the same time, the treatment to screenwriter has deteriorated more than ever, The labor union is intended to shorten the contract year and screenwriters almost went out to strike. Why such a gold and big fortune becomes the doom for screenwriters?
In recent years, the US drama industry has appeared a number of "showrunner", who is basically a combination of screenwriter and producer. Compared to the previous screenwriter, "showrunner" is a out-sourced job in contract basic, which helps production company to save the cost for employees benefit. Recent dominant series like"House of Card", "Game of thrones"and other big heat drama are produced by this model. John Gapper, reporter at financial time, points out that many of the writers' influence into the drama production has indeed been expanded, such as Shonda Rhimes, Carlton Cuse, Dan Weiss and David Benioff. But due to the new business model, the economic pressure is increasingly heavy, greater influence and appreciation from fans did not make up in their income.
2016 US produces more than 450 original dramas, more than doubled of that in 2010, reflecting the momentum of US drama. But because of this, the screenwriter ecology was disrupted. Most of the dramas in the past has extreme longevity, such as "Seinfeld" and "Law & Order". Writers are often able to get a long term contract, and drama can get replay in different channels. Screenwriter can receive Copyright fees. In the early 2000, drama ensures the longevity for writers to get rich.
In 2017, the average number of episodes is shorten from about 22 episodes per quarter to about 10, the contract of screenwriter is therefore shortened as well. With the huge market competition, the new drama never got a chance to replay, this will tremendously reduce the copyright income. In other words, the role of the screenwriter is becoming more important. They invest more time to make a good story, but salary has reduced. John Gapper said that at present there are many writers only receiving minimum wage set by "Writers Guild of America". Getting rich is impossible even in the US drama golden age.
Over the years, the writer has been committed to be in charge of the movie. The golden age brought gold opportunities, but can not bring gold. The author's mood is always contradictory.