LOS ANGELES — The earnings of movie writers continued a three-year slide in 2012, while income from television writing continued to edge upward, according to an annual report from the Writers Guild of America, West.
The report, which the guild circulated on Monday, said reported earnings from movie writing fell 6.1 percent in 2012, to about $343 million, from $365.3 million in 2011; the number of writers with reported screen employment fell about 6.7 percent, to 1,537 from 1,648. In 2009, the last year in which screen employment posted a gain, the guild reported $437.8 million in movie earnings from 1,844 writers.
The 2012 numbers are likely to rise slightly as late reports are added, the guild noted.
Reported television earnings rose 3.9 percent last year, to $1.o215 billion from $982.7 million in 2011, the guild said. The number of writers working in television appeared to drop, to 4,510 from 4,558, but late reports could show slight growth in employment, the guild said.
Residuals, which are payments for past work when it is shown in various media after its first use, rose 5.7 percent, to $348.76 million, the guild said. The reuse of programs on digital services like Netflix and Hulu has particularly driven growth in television residuals, which has increased about 51 percent since 2007, the guild noted.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: July 1, 2013
An earlier version of this post described incompletely the increase in reported television earnings last year. They rose 3.9 percent, to $1.0215 billion from $982.7 million in 2011, not about 4 percent, to roughly $1 billion from $982.7 million.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/business/media/income-for-movie-writers-falls-while-tv-writers-rises.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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