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Even the casual person, someone who has little to no interest in the entertainment industry, is likely aware of the ongoing screenwriters' strike. The reason for this awareness is pretty basic: product from the television and movie industries has pretty well stopped due to the strike. Though the screenwriters' strike hasn't been beneficial to anyone, at least not at this point, it does serve to demonstrate how vital screenwriters are to the entertainment industry. Simply put, without output from screenwriters the entertainment industry grinds to a halt.
The importance of screenwriters is certainly a surprise to some. The person who goes to the movies or turns on the television in most cases doesn't give much if any thought to how movies or television shows come together; and in fairness, there's not much reason they should care. Unless one works in the entertainment industry or has an interest in it, the inner workings of the industry are irrelevant. Be that is it may, going back to the very beginnings of entertainment itself, output has mostly come from words written out on a page.
William Shakespeare, perhaps the most influential writer ever, was in fact a performance writer. Shakespeare wrote plays, which is the foundation from which modern movies and television shows came from. The idea that actors simply took to the stage with perhaps a bit of direction from Shakespeare himself and acted out performances as they saw fit is absurd. Shakespeare wrote a series of scenes or sonnets that connected into some form of logical story, and the actors memorized and then performed what Shakespeare had written. Dramatic work then has essentially always relied upon output from a writer in order to be performed.
Some may point to the golden age of radio as a possible exception. During the heyday of radio, prior to television's near total reach, radio did more than just provide music: dramas, comedies, news, every form of entertainment and information was delivered through radio. Even then, the dramas and comedies performed on radio were written and rehearsed prior to being performed. This is an obvious conclusion if for no other reason than financial and business interests. No network would invest in dramatic programming without some form of blueprint as to what the programming was going to contain. Commercial entertainment scripts then provide details used for business purposes as much as they do direction for actors.
It's a certainty that the screenwriters' strike will eventually be settled. The financial implications, both for the screenwriters and for the entertainment producers, are too vast to let the dispute drag on indefinitely. If nothing else however, the screenwriters' strike has demonstrated how absolutely vital writers are to the entertainment industry.
Zinn Jeremiah is an online writer. Find more of Zinn's writings by visiting article exchange. For screenwriting help, visit screenplay writing.
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