Bruce Willis, Unions and the Rising Cost of Filmmaking

I can’t believe the bad rap screenwriters receive from the Hollywood community.

Though filmmaking is called a collaborative effort, the screenwriter is excluded from the set--unlike the playwright from the stage--and a film’s “success” is attributed to the director.

And now producer Silver and actor Willis lay the blame on screenwriters for the rising cost of films, declaring that costs must come down “. . . that is, in the writing area.”

I, the screenwriter, have no say over how much money is spent and to whom and where, because once the script sells it is no longer my property or responsibility. The script belongs to someone else in the “collaborative” process, and I go on to write something else.

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