The New Issue

In today’s age of mega superstars and million dollar movies rolls we sometimes lose sight of the people who really make the business go.  In the movie and TV industries it seemed that this type of problem would cause drastic issues.  It was only about two years ago when the actors and writers of Hollywood decided to go on strike.  It was in that same strike where the average consumer learned what really happens to the dollars and cents when it came to the royalty payments and things like that.  We were able to understand why having a good manager who could protect his or her artists in times like those were key. The basis of the problem was that the average actor or writers were getting the short end of the stick when it came to the business side of things.  Overall, the public was able to see what truly went on behind the scene and ultimately we understood the reason for the work stoppage.

Which brings me to another major work stoppage currently affecting the entertainment industry.  Currently there is a owner instituted lock out taking place in the NFL, which hasn’t had a major work stoppage since the year of 1982. This work stoppage was brought about due to financial disagreements that have taken place between the players union and the owners.  The owners want more of the pie and the players want more of the pie, but what is different about this situation from the one I mentioned earlier is the idea of paying attention to the people who make the business go.  In the actors strike we had highly paid actors making financial scarifies to help the cause.  The people who really made the business run were being miss-treated and that was the basis of their cause.  Another difference was that television for the most part was still on track due to pre-tapping and things of that such.  So the consumer who ultimately pays all entertainers salaries was not drastically affected.  The problem I have with the NFL is they are playing with fire, because the games will be affected by this and when you burn the people who really make your business run, who else is left?