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Damn you JMS!
- Thread starter Chilli
- Start date
PillowRock
Regular
Sure, it happens all of the time in a great many industries.
However, when you are purposely selling internally at a loss ... just so that you can hide the money that is being made from the contractor(s) who actually created the product ...... I would still contend that the behavior is unethical (though not illegal).
The fairer way to treat the profit participation deals for writers etc. would be to keep track of profits based on the entire parent conglomerate. Of course, the corporations would never want to because they don't want to pay out profit sharing to people just because they earned it. (And I do realize that would be another accounting nightmare.)
However, when you are purposely selling internally at a loss ... just so that you can hide the money that is being made from the contractor(s) who actually created the product ...... I would still contend that the behavior is unethical (though not illegal).
The fairer way to treat the profit participation deals for writers etc. would be to keep track of profits based on the entire parent conglomerate. Of course, the corporations would never want to because they don't want to pay out profit sharing to people just because they earned it. (And I do realize that would be another accounting nightmare.)
GaribaldisHair
Regular
JoeDeM has previously spelled out in great detail how these situations come to pass - basically it comes down to WB being a collection of smaller "competing" companies rather than one big family working for mutual benefit.
If US corporate law works the same way as UK does, even transactions between subsidiary companies of the same parent have to cross-sell their services under commercial terms in order not to have the Revenue (tax people) jumping up and down).
One client of a previous employer of mine was a large construction company, one of whose subsids was a Plant Hire company. However, the building/construction arm always hired its plant from elsewhere as the sister company had made a policy decision not to undercut the competitions prices just because the two were related ... and both companies made decent profits.
From what JdeM has said previously the WB empire is related by name only in many ways.
The studio that owns B5 (and on which JMS' profits are made) is one company, whereas WHV (who made the DVDs) is effectively another separate company. WB sub-contracts the making and marketing of the DVDs to WHV who then pay a licence fee to WB and the costs of the making and marketing. Any profit that they make is then legitimately theirs and not WB (the studio), so doesn't count towards JMS' profits figures.
Likewise, Dell/Del Rey with the B5 novels and the other companies that made merchandise etc.
I don't believe that anyone would be "purposely selling internally at a loss" just to "hide" the money. However, they will certainly be building in as many expenses as they can in order to keep the profit levels down - this may even include things like ongoing storage fees for the original film prints of the show (even though they didn't look after than very well).
Big conglomerates are strange beasts by all accounts, and I don't get the impression that WB are any stranger than the norm.
JMS seems resigned to the profit situation being the way it is because he knows that is the way it is in Hollywood. I am sure I recall reading several tales of naive young actors taking low fees for movies with a promise of a percentage of the profits, only for the movies to do huge box office, but still be "in the red" according to the studio, and therefore not liable to make any further payment to said actors.
If US corporate law works the same way as UK does, even transactions between subsidiary companies of the same parent have to cross-sell their services under commercial terms in order not to have the Revenue (tax people) jumping up and down).
One client of a previous employer of mine was a large construction company, one of whose subsids was a Plant Hire company. However, the building/construction arm always hired its plant from elsewhere as the sister company had made a policy decision not to undercut the competitions prices just because the two were related ... and both companies made decent profits.
From what JdeM has said previously the WB empire is related by name only in many ways.
The studio that owns B5 (and on which JMS' profits are made) is one company, whereas WHV (who made the DVDs) is effectively another separate company. WB sub-contracts the making and marketing of the DVDs to WHV who then pay a licence fee to WB and the costs of the making and marketing. Any profit that they make is then legitimately theirs and not WB (the studio), so doesn't count towards JMS' profits figures.
Likewise, Dell/Del Rey with the B5 novels and the other companies that made merchandise etc.
I don't believe that anyone would be "purposely selling internally at a loss" just to "hide" the money. However, they will certainly be building in as many expenses as they can in order to keep the profit levels down - this may even include things like ongoing storage fees for the original film prints of the show (even though they didn't look after than very well).
Big conglomerates are strange beasts by all accounts, and I don't get the impression that WB are any stranger than the norm.
JMS seems resigned to the profit situation being the way it is because he knows that is the way it is in Hollywood. I am sure I recall reading several tales of naive young actors taking low fees for movies with a promise of a percentage of the profits, only for the movies to do huge box office, but still be "in the red" according to the studio, and therefore not liable to make any further payment to said actors.
Joseph DeMartino
Moderator
"In Hollywood you know you're gonna get screwed. The time to complain is when you're not enjoying it." - David Gerrold
Shaal Mayan
Regular
CURSES CURSES I just realized that my namesake Shaal Mayan won't be in the script book as JMS did not write that episode I believe it was written by D C Fontana.CURSES CURSES.You know what this forum needs is a shouting icon and one seems to get sick type icon.
Shaal Mayan
Regular
And another favorite is There all the honor Lies but I guess we can all be grateful that he's releasing them at all.
