Bruce; thanks.

A brief aside...every so often, somebody asks me what the difference is
between B5 and ST (aside from, like, everything). Here's one element that I
think is noteworthy, and of which I'm fairly proud.

We don't do gang credits here. Where a writer writes an episode, you see
ONLY that writer's name. If DC Fontana writes a script, she gets the credit
for it. You don't see three names on the story, two or three names on the
script.

One of the injustices in Hollywood is the credit system. When you're on
staff, you get a salary plus fees for the scripts you write. When you are a
freelancer, you get only the script fees, and the residuals produced by reruns
of that script. The more staffers add their names to the script, they cut
deeper into the residuals, until the freelancer gets very little, if anything,
really.

My feeling is, look, we're already getting a salary, why dig into the
freelancer's pocket as well? Consequently, we don't arbitrate credit on B5
scripts, regardless of any rewriting that gets done. We simply don't do it.
This is something I feel strongly about. In all the series I've story edited,
I think I've only requested (and been granted by WGA arbitration) shared
credit on maybe 4-5 scripts (out of 200+ that I've edited), and there only
because they were *very* extreme or unusual situations.

We try and respect all members of our team, including and especially our
writers. They get sole credit on scripts. They generally get the chance to
do their own revisions (time permitting). They are not only welcome on the
set, they are invited and encouraged to come. If the director has a question
on set, and I'm not availble, they go to the original writer. (At the other
show, freelancers are generally not allowed on set, and even staff writers are
discouraged from going there.)

It's a small area, really, and it doesn't win us even one additional
point in the ratings, but it's something that pleases me, so I thought I'd
mention it.

jms