Complicating the negotiations, film and television company executives are seeking to walk a delicate line between the demands of the writers and the objections of the directors. In Hollywood's heyday, great producers like David O. Selznick and executives like Thalberg and Darryl F. Zanuck ruled over film production. More recently, with the studios' power in decline, directors have taken over virtually full control. Accordingly, studios and television networks, in the current negotiations, take the views of directors very seriously. The grievances stem in part from the influx of younger directors into films from the worlds of television commercials and music videos, where writers play minimal roles.
Screenwriters feel even more marginalized.
For example, possessory credits are routinely taken not only by a top director like Steven Spielberg but increasingly by first-time or unknown filmmakers whose agents demand it. Studios happily give the credit as a sop instead of paying a young director a higher fee. To some degree, the writers themselves are to blame for their plight, because of their historical contempt for the screenplay form. Tales of writers' woes in Hollywood are embedded in the culture. But they are often treated poorly.