Harlan Ellison — ‘Pay the Writer’ — An Auto-Generated Summary

In the interest of getting people to think about this, I made an auto-generated summary of the following excerpt from a documentary featuring the late, great Harlan Ellison.

He would absolutely hate me for this. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe he’d understand completely.

He probably wrote the story.

Anyway, here’s Harlan Ellison:

And here’s the Summary:

Speaker 1 [ Harlan Ellison] recounts a conversation with a film company that wanted to use an interview he did for the making of for free. He expressed his frustration at the expectation to work without pay, arguing that everyone else involved in the production gets paid. He also criticized the notion that the exposure would be good publicity for him, stating that the only value for him is monetary compensation. He expressed anger at the industry’s tendency to exploit writers and the willingness of some writers to work for free, which he believes undermines professionals. He also expressed frustration at not receiving a copy of the DVD his interview was used in, threatening to take drastic action if it wasn’t sent to him.

And the List of Topics:

Topics:

1. Negotiating payment for work

2. The value of professional work

3. Frustration with people expecting work for free

4. The impact of amateurs on professionals

5. Lack of professionalism in the industry

6. Demanding what is rightfully owed

7. Importance of receiving copies of work

8. Dealing with unresponsive companies

9. Expressing anger and frustration

10. Timeframe for receiving payment or copies of work.

You tell me. How much has actually changed since he said that? Has the internet helped or hurt with any of that? And in what ways?

No need to answer. Just think on that.

PS: I also did a reading on this video! 🙂

Feel free to share this with everyone in the universe you know or don’t know!

PPS: Here’s an even longer summary! 🙂

Speaker 1 [Harlan Ellison] received a call from a film company asking to use his interview about the making of Babylon 5 on a DVD. When he asked to be paid for it, the company was surprised and said that everyone else was doing it for free. Speaker 1 [Harlan Ellison, in case you forgot] argued that he should be paid for his work and compared it to asking for free gas or medical procedures. He expressed frustration with amateurs who work for free, making it difficult for professionals to be paid for their work. He also mentioned that the company didn’t even send him a copy of the DVD and had to be reminded to do so.

PPPS: Here’s why you shouldn’t depend on social media or Amazon exclusivity for what I call “fake algorithmic success.”

And that’s just Patreon. There’s also Substack! 🙂

Originally published at http://randomandsundrythings.wordpress.com on October 6, 2023.