Writer's Guild speaker discusses current climate for TV writers

As we watch our favorite television shows and movies from the comfort of television screens or even the warm glow of a computer monitor, we often get lost in the humorous, dramatic and overall entertaining stories that lay before us. What we do not so often realize is the time, effort and creative genius that frequently go into writing that story before it's lights, camera, action.

Co-sponsored by UConn Dramatic PAWS and the Writers Guild of America East, last night's event marks the second year in a row that Dramatic PAWS has featured a member of the Writers Guild of America as a guest speaker.

"I'd like the Writers Guild Presentation to become an annual Dramatic PAWS event," said Ryan O'Connell, a 4th-semester elementary education and English double major and president of Dramatic PAWS. "The club strives to represent all aspects of the performing arts, not just what one witnesses onstage or onscreen."

O'Connell explained how he got in contact with Melissa Salmons, the guest speaker of the night.

"I contacted Melissa Salmons through screenwriter David Duval, with help from our former president Scott Bonito. She graciously volunteered when I asked for another writer to speak at UConn."

Salmons, is a two-time Emmy Award winning television writer for such television shows as "Guiding Light," "As the World Turns," "The Young and the Restless," and "One Life to Live," where she is currently a staff writer.

Among her television writing, Salmons is also a lifetime member of the Writers Guild of America and has received eight Writers Guild Award nominations, winning two. She has played an active role as a member of the Negotiating Committee for the 2007 Writers Guild Contract and serves on the Writers Guild East Council, which she talked about in her engaging lecture that covered topics as diverse as the history of strikes in the Writers Guild of America, the changing dynamics of new media and cable networks, as well as her own writing process.

Salmons focused a great majority of her lecture on describing the current climate of writers and the Writers Union before and after the 2007 strike.

She described the 1988 strike as being a miserable failure, which made Union members wary of striking again, even if it meant losing out on gaining residuals in new media such as the internet.

Between 25 and 40 percent of the income writers receive comes in the form of residuals, which basically are repeats of films and television programs, Salmons said.

"If you kill residuals, you kill people's ability to make a living," she said.

This proved to be the basis for the most recent Writers Strike in which writers were not receiving residuals from films and television programs being featured online.

During contract negotiations, one of the options the Union had was to take DVD residuals off the table in order to gain new media residuals; however, the guild was not given an offer for a new contract.

Though the strike is over, Salmons described one other encroaching force impacting the entertainment business: the economy which has hindered television networks in the number of pilot episodes of new television series and films in terms of originality of material.

"Whenever people get scared, there are a lot of sequels and a lot of adapted source material," Salmons said.

Salmons also opened the Student Union Theater for an open question and answer session in which students asked questions, most predominately regarding screenwriting and breaking into the entertainment business.

One such eager student was Kareemah Muhammad, a 2nd semester Sociology major who was curious about how to break into the entertainment business as a screenwriting.

"I thought it was very informative. It gave me good information of how to start out in screenwriting," she said.

One such good pieces of advice Salmons gave for eager young writers was as simple as learning the basics of screenwriting from existing source material including scripts, films and televisions.

"Read and watch," Salmons simply said.

Salmons also suggested about being inventive in breaking into the business through new media, such as the internet.

"The internet is like the wild west," she said, in that having an entrepreneurial spirit in what you want to create can be a helpful factor.

Throughout the lecture, Salmons proved to be witty as well as informative about the inner workings of the Guild as well as the writing processes of many diverse screen and television writers on such hit television programs as "30 Rock," "The Simpsons" and "Lost."

Salmons explained her writing process as a soap opera writer as well.

"Daytime is like writing a radio play," she said. "You're going to get the most you can out of the dialogue."

She described her creative process being as simple as hearing the dialogue in her head, which she quickly captures by writing it down. Though simple, her writing is more complex, as soap opera writers must capture their characters and make them as emotionally interesting as possible out of a relatively formulaic show structure.

"Freud says there are five basic emotions and 10 basic plots in the world," she said. However, Salmons described daytime Soap Operas as often being the forefront of television, propelling controversial subjects such as homosexuality into mainstream television.

However, what proved to be the most encouraging statement Salmons gave was the fact that college students, young, bright-eyed and full of new ideas, are exactly what the heads of the entertainment industry are looking for.

"You are exactly what they want," she said.