Mark Simon is striking for all parties to do the right thing. Images courtesy of Mark Simon, unless otherwise noted.

Strike. Strike. Strike.

Words that strike fear into the hearts of those who need a paycheck.

No one likes a strike. Writers would rather write and get paid. Producers would rather produce from the scripts and get paid. The rest of the crews would rather work and get paid.

What brought us to this point? A few things. Greed and pride. I blame both sides.

Don't get me wrong. Writers and creators deserve a better share of DVD sales. They also deserve to get a share of any income earned from new technology.

Animation creators are affected because what happens to the WGA is a guideline that others follow.

Producers also deserve to make money from successfully putting together deals that make a profit. As in any business, they need to invest and earn back their investment before it's reasonable to share earnings.

The problem is that no one trusts the studio accounting system. You can't make a reasonable profit-sharing deal based on recovery of costs if you don't trust the accounting of costs.

When the last major writers’ contract was written, the residual deal for video distribution was terrible. However, no one knew that VHS and DVD sales would grow to be such a huge money earner. I don't blame either side for that mistake. But I do blame the AMPTP producers for not doing the right thing and increasing the residual payment clause on video distribution when it became clear how much video distribution earned.

Sound crazy? Why would they offer the writers (and actors and directors) more money out of the goodness of their hearts? Because it can make good long-term financial sense (such as no strikes) and sometimes it's just the right thing to do. Plus, this type of action is not unheard of.

Years ago, when South Park became a giant hit for Comedy Central, the network offered to pay Trey Parker and Matt Stone more money without being asked. They realized that it was smarter to do the right thing and offer Parker and Stone more money than to risk losing their biggest stars.

By not doing the right thing then, the AMPTP is losing money now during this strike, both for themselves and everyone else involved in production, and they are losing future money, as the studios are canceling development deals.

Earlier in the year, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone signed an unprecedented online ad revenue-sharing deal with Comedy Central. Image courtesy of Comedy Central.

The networks haven't helped the prevailing attitude among writers that they’re not getting their fair share. For years, networks have hyped, with their pride, how big Internet and mobile streaming income is going to grow. They have been predicting billions of dollars, even though that has yet to happen.

In case you haven't looked, in most cases it still costs more to implement and market mobile and web video than you can make from it. Hardly a profit center.

Will income from these new technologies eventually make big money? Of course. But the problem with bragging about huge money is that writers, directors and actors tend to think it's available now and decisions are being made on false assumptions.

That said, the time is overdue to set the residuals at a fair rate for writers, regardless of the platforms where the content is being distributed.

The AMPTP has not done the right thing and they have now lost their writers to a work stoppage. Everyone loses.

Here's another question. Are the heads of the Writers Guild of America receiving a salary while the very writers they represent have to go without pay? They should feel the same burden as those they represent.

Of course, I also believe those representing the AMPTP should also suffer economically during the strike. I know that the strike was scheduled to hurt producers and the networks. Unfortunately it's more likely to hurt the individual producers and all the working crews than hurt those negotiating on their behalf.