As a writer in the writer's guild, every single time Babylon 5 airs anywhere Harlan Ellison makes cents, or fractions of a cent, or some portion of fractions of a cent. Doing publicity interviews increases the composite value of the physical media (which was a thing back then), which pays out greater residuals. This is why writers, producers, directors and actors do commentary for free. And yes. They all do it for free.

Residuals are a keen advantage of being in the Writer's Guild, or the Producer's Guild, or the Director's Guild, or the Actor's Guild. I have a friend who has so far made about $35k for appearing as a no-lines extra in Mad Men in a scene that got cut before broadcast. My cousin was the voiceover in Jenny Craig commercials before they hired Kirstie Alley. She made enough to live in Santa Monica and drive an Audi. That said, the subject of II is getting residuals from all 14 of those movies and he's working at fuckin' Panera.

Those "cameramen" and others he singles out, like the receptionist he's beating the shit out of? If you're IATSE, your residuals get pumped into your union pension fund, which you will never see unless you can get three big network shows or five big union movies a year for twenty years. And then you'll get about $1200 a month after you retire. Do a napkin calc on the likeliness of anyone my age or younger ever collecting that pension. Effectively, my residuals are paying people who got to work with Michael Landon.

The receptionist? She's probably not getting paid at all. She's an intern. She probably has a film degree from USC and she's doing this for the "connections." A friend of mine did this. His "connections" got him a writer's credit on Private Practice and he's staff now on Colony. He could afford to not work for four straight years while also working 80 hours a week. I cannot.

________________________________________________________

Harlan Ellison has cultivated a reputation among his fans as being a straight shooter who speaks truth to power. In actuality, he's an asshole that speaks Harlan Ellison and outrage to anyone who will listen. I know of two nonprofits he has stiffed. I was at a memorial service for another (beloved, well-known) writer and he called in to say something nice. Instead he launched into a ten minute expletive-laced tirade about a fight he had the previous week with a producer. The officiant literally had to hang up on his ass.

______________________________

The Beast was the movie Kevin Reynolds exorcised what Red Dawn became from his psyche. I believe he'd already moved to Seattle at that point, or was at least visiting prior to moving, and saw a stage play about a tank crew in Afghanistan. The enfield from The Beast is apparently the most prominent decoration in Kevin Reynolds' office, which is in Issaquah, not Hollywood.

When I flew out to Thailand we went through Narita both ways. Going there was Flags of our Fathers. Coming back was Letters from Iwo Jima. I imagine that was about .001% of watching Titanic on a cannery ship in the arctic circle.

Or kind of like Harlan Ellison's residuals on Babylon 5.