Lately, I’ve been talking to a number of prominent screenwriters about process.  It’s not intentional; sometimes topics just seem to be in the air.  Whether it’s the economic malaise or just the fact that a lot of the writers I know are typing “Fade In” for the four zillionth time¹, my friends seem to all be experiencing a bit of a drag.

There are days when you just don’t want to write. When those days come upon us, we are tempted to play games. We make deals with ourselves:  write five pages in the next three hours and then take the rest of the day off!  We rationalize:  the deadline’s not for a while, I need time to percolate, doing nothing is part of my process.  We procrastinate:  suddenly we’re cleaning the house, handling the honey-do list, calling up old friends, and talking to neighbors at the mailbox for a really long time.

The thing is, all of that is fine.  Five pages in three hours would be great.  We do need time to percolate and do nothing. And what we call “procrastination,” other people call “getting things done.”

All of it’s fine, that is, if we eventually do write.

And we do.

So what gets us out of the slump, the morass, the lazing about, the guilt?

I don’t know about you, but I turn to my sacred place.

Here’s a quote from Joseph Campbell:

[The sacred space] is an absolute necessity for anybody today. You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.

Campbell’s talking about something more than routine and comfort. Yes, it’s good to have a nice chair, a quiet office, a good computer, the right kinds of pens and pads and whatever else you need to set the stage for your moment of writing. But before that moment, I’m convinced you need an actual place. A location. A spot into which you can withdraw and reject everything around you guiltlessly–yes, even your spouse and your children.

In that sacred place, you don’t try and think of solutions. Solutions occur. You’re not grinding the gears as much as letting your brain relax enough to do its best work.

I didn’t go searching for my sacred space. It just occurred to me after many years that I happened to come up with my best ideas when I was in the shower.

I take long showers. I don’t care if I’m wasting water. Sue me. On a good day, my process works as simply as this.

Wake up, putter around, answer emails, finish that Scramble game on Facebook, then take a looooooong shower. Maybe 30 minutes. In that thirty minutes, no can talk to me, no can interrupt me, there’s nothing to see, nothing to read.  Et voila, it’s all the more easy to talk to and listen to and see the scene I’d like to write that day.

From the end of the shower until I go to bed, I struggle against actually writing.  But I do.  I do, because it’s a lot easier to write a scene you already know than a scene you don’t.

If you’re a writer, you probably have your own space. If not, try the shower.

Oh, and once you do sit down to write, if you’re on a Mac consider using this brilliant little app.

You can thank me for it if you do…

…once it lets you.

1. Actually, I never write “Fade In”.  Seems sort of silly.  Movies often don’t fade in, and I think the simple act of turning the cover page is announcement enough that the story is commencing. [↩]

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This is real, folks.

A song written and peformed by SAG President Alan Rosenberg.

Wow.  What can one say?

It’s actually a fascinating insight into his psychology and the psychology of many militants.  It goes like this.  You have to fight to get the best deal.  If you’re not willing to fight, you’re a stooge, a slave, someone who would happily work for free.  There is no middle ground.  Until the militant is satisfied, no one should be satisfied.

Isn’t that a pretty bit of narcissism?

Even worse, if you decide that the militant is simply wrong in his assessment of what is achievable, then you are the reason no one is going to get what the militant wants.

So let’s say the militant decides that everyone deserves a pony that farts gold dust.  If you say you’d be happy with less, you are a sell-out and an Uncle Tom and a slave-minded putz.  You’re also the reason no one’s going to get that gold-farting pony. If you say that sounds about right, then brace yourselves for a fight, because the evil companies want to deny you what’s rightfully yours!  One more week of striking, and we’ll get that pony!  ONE….MORE……WEEK………!!!!

You want to know how I define union moderates and militants?

Moderates are people who set their expectations according to a logical, cost-benefit analysis of what appears attainable through negotiation versus what appears attainable through labor action, weigh the two against each other, and then make the choice that is most advantageous over the long term.

Militants are people who set their expectations according TO WHAT THEY GODDAMNED DESERVE!

The first paragraph is definitely longer, definitely more boring, definitely uncool and unsexy, and unemotional to the point of autism.

The second paragraph stirs the blood and speaks to injustices.

The problem is that people who follow the rules of the first paragraph are, in the end, quite a bit more likely to get you more money than they cost you. Simple as that.

Alan Rosenberg’s song is steeped in so much irrationality, it’s hard to know where to start taking it apart.  He comes off like a guy who wanted his war but just couldn’t get it, and now it’s the sellouts’ fault that SAG is going to take a deal that every director, every writer and every member of AFTRA has already taken by HUGE MAJORITIES.

The truth is that there were very few Alan-style militants in WGA leadership by the time I left in 2006.  Patric is really more of a blend of the two.  He has the heart of a militant, but the brain of a moderate…so when he makes his cost-benefit evaluations, he lets his heart sneak in there, and he ends up getting some important things wrong.  For instance, I think Patric and David both thought they were going to get a short strike, because that’s what they wanted to think.  They certainly didn’t want the long war of attrition and DGA-negotiated outcome that they got.

But this…this stuff is way more militant than Patric and David.  This guy wants a fight.  He’s looking for the excitement.

Earth to Alan:  you lost the plot buddy.  The people you think are the enemy?  They’re the good guys in your union.  The members voted them into power so that they could undo what you were doing. Democracy in action.

I don’t think Alan will ever realize the truth of this.

Then again, antagonists are the protagonists of their own stories…

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From the SAG National Board Majority (basically everyone that isn’t a Membership Firster)….

A Message to Members from the SAG National Board Majority

Today we took an important and necessary action to address the leadership crisis at Screen Actors Guild. Representatives from SAG’s National Board majority delivered a “written assent” document to SAG headquarters which authorized the following: Doug Allen is immediately replaced as National Executive Director by former SAG General Counsel David White, who will serve as interim NED; Guild Senior Advisor John T. McGuire is appointed as Chief Negotiator of all SAG contracts; the TV/Theatrical Contract Negotiating Committee is replaced by a Taskforce which will complete negotiations on behalf of the Board of Directors.

In a meeting two weeks ago, a majority of the board sought to make the crucial changes now contained in the written assent, but were derailed by President Alan Rosenberg and a minority of board members through endless parliamentary games and improper behavior. By filibustering for over 28 straight hours, they prevented the Board from ever taking a vote on the majority’s proposal.

This unprecedented level of obstruction has paralyzed the Guild.

Written assent is included in SAG’s constitution to allow a majority of the Board to take action outside the boardroom if necessary. While extraordinary circumstances may require the use of written assent, we do not believe it is a desirable way to conduct Guild business. In this case, the unrelenting obstruction by a minority of board members has left us no alternative.

This action has the support of all but one of the National Board members from SAG’S New York and Regional Branch Divisions, and all in the Hollywood Division except those affiliated with the group Membership First. The signed written assent documents were delivered today to SAG headquarters in Los Angeles.

Upon implementation of the approved motion, Interim National Executive Director David White will assume control of all Guild operations and will coordinate with Chief Negotiator John McGuire to contact the AMPTP to undertake resolution of TV/Theatrical Contract negotiations, which ground to a halt nearly seven months ago. The leaner TV/Theatrical Taskforce will work alongside Mr. McGuire as the “eyes and ears of the board,” providing input and support as contract negotiations are concluded.

Beyond the stalled TV/Theatrical negotiations, there is much work to be done and SAG members can rest assured that we have secured an exemplary leader in David White. A Rhodes Scholar, Mr. White has extensive industry experience and was SAG’s General Counsel from 2002 to 2006. He knows the Guild and its contracts, and has the respect of our staff and the entertainment community. Our Chief Negotiator, John McGuire, is a 40-year SAG staff veteran who has negotiated over 30 contracts and is held in enormous esteem throughout the industry and the labor movement. We have complete confidence in his ability to deliver the best possible contracts for our members.

These much needed changes will allow SAG to chart a new course. We will work to secure a TV/Theatrical Contract that can be sent to members with a positive recommendation, and to effectively resolve all our outstanding contracts, including the Commercials Contract. We will also work to rebuild vital relationships in the entertainment and labor communities, and to reestablish Screen Actors Guild as a respected and powerful institution, protecting and defending performers nationwide.

—————————————————————————————————–

In its entirety, the written assent accomplishes the following:

• Removes Doug Allen as National Executive Director;

• Engages David White as interim National Executive Director;

• Names John McGuire as Chief Negotiator for all contracts, including the TV/Theatrical Contract currently in negotiation;

• Replaces the TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee with a Taskforce, which will represent the Board of Directors;

• Directs that only interim NED David White, John McGuire, or their designee may communicate on behalf of Screen Actors Guild to other organizations, the general public, or the press;

• Retains the law firm of Schwartz, Steinsapir, Dohrmann & Sommers LLP to advise the National Board and represent the Guild in negotiation of the terms of a written contract with David White;

• In response to voting irregularities at the last Board meeting, instructs SAG staff to develop and implement a fraud-proof security system to regulate the use of the voting remotes used by Board members to cast their votes.

*In the interest of compliance with the AFTRA-SAG non-disparagement agreement under the AFL-CIO, Members of SAG’s National Board majority who are also AFTRA officers or board members wish to officially record themselves as abstaining from this statement.

So…what next?

Oh, I suspect some pointless lawsuit as well as Dept. of Labor interference, culminating in a settlement that still fires Doug Allen and replaces the NegCom.  That is, if the settlement is reached in advance of the next SAG election…

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I received this mass email about a half an hour ago.

---

A MESSAGE TO SAG MEMBERS FROM THE NATIONAL BOARD MAJORITY Unite for Strength and Board Members from Hollywood, New York and the Regional Branches*

As you’re undoubtedly aware, Screen Actors Guild is currently beset by a crippling leadership crisis. With the TV/Theatrical contract having expired nearly 7 months ago, negotiations at a standstill, and our negotiators’ strategy hinging on a strike authorization vote for which there is clearly insufficient support, we called for a special National Board meeting to consider a new approach. At that meeting, held Jan.12-13, we attempted to postpone the strike authorization vote, replace Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Doug Allen and the negotiating committee, and direct a newly appointed negotiator to restart talks immediately. Despite strong support for these steps from a clear majority of the National Board, President Alan Rosenberg and Mr. Allen’s other board supporters stood squarely in the way of our implementing them. For 28 hours straight, they used filibusters and other parliamentary games to run out the clock on the meeting and prevent a vote from ever taking place.

The next day Mr. Allen proposed a new plan to shelve the strike authorization, go back to the table to see if “producers would improve their offer” and then send out that offer for ratification with no board recommendation to members, only pro and con statements. It is noteworthy that when faced with a call for his removal, Mr. Allen suddenly saw fit to suspend the strike authorization that has been the cornerstone of his strategy, and indeed the topic of a 12-page promotional newsletter delivered to Hollywood members just days ago. But unlike the plan we were obstructed from putting into place at the meeting, his is not a serious effort to get a better deal. SAG has never sent members a contract that our National Board didn’t recommend ratifying. We shouldn’t start now.

We firmly believe that SAG needs a change of course and a new captain. Mr. Allen has held fast to a failed strategy for over half a year, even as members have lost nearly $50 million from working under an expired contract. In addition, under Mr. Allen’s tenure, numerous other expired agreements have languished without renegotiation, SAG’s strategic relations with its sister union AFTRA have been badly undermined, and partisan tensions within the Guild have grown steadily worse.

With new direction, we can turn this around and put Screen Actors Guild back on the right track. We will work to quickly send members a TV/Theatrical contract that carries a positive recommendation from the National Board. We will also focus on successfully negotiating the Commercial agreement and other remaining contracts. We will rebuild vital relationships throughout the entertainment industry, and bring much needed stability back to the Guild. We are now planning concrete steps to achieve this and will keep you updated as events warrant.

*In the interest of compliance with the AFTRA-SAG non-disparagement agreement under the AFL-CIO, Members of SAG’s National Board majority who are also AFTRA officers or board members wish to officially record themselves as abstaining from this statement.

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You need to read this account of what went on during that SAG meeting…

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Boy, who would have thought the actors would be such good writers?

The plot continues to thicken.

Doug Allen is pushing a new tactic, and quite a clever one I should say. His idea is to put the AMPTP offer, as it currently exists, to the membership for ratification.  If they vote for it, deal is done. If they vote against it, one presumes it would be clear that the membership would prefer to strike than take the deal.

This would, on its face, appear to be quite a reversal for Doug Allen and Alan Rosenberg, who have been full steam ahead for a strike vote up until just a day or so ago.

Why the change of heart?

Well, I’m here to tell you it’s not a change of heart at all, and if anything, it reveals just how much Alan and Doug want a strike.

Do you think that’s counterintuitive? Well, you’re not the only one. Here’s Nikki Finke with some reasonable questions.

In fact, my sources tell me that the National Board members who were overwhelmingly against [Doug Allen's new strategy] belonged to the Unite For Strength (U4S) and New York Regional camps who are on the same side of most issues because of their common loathing of the Membership First faction. I thought U4S and NY Regional saw themselves as “moderates” (at least that’s how the Hollywood trades and LA Times keep referring to them, and to Membership First as “militants”). But, tell me, how is it a moderate position to want to keep a Strike Authorization Ballot on the table with all that it implies? And how is it a militant position to want to send out the June 30th contract proposal to the membership for a vote when that’s what the AMPTP has been asking SAG to do for months and months?

Well, here’s why.

There’s the deal, and then there’s the deal.  When we say that the WGA took the DGA “deal,” we don’t mean that everyone did a search-and-replace on their contract, swapping out “D” for “W” and signing it. The heart of these deals center on the New Media provisions. Then there’s a lot of stuff surrounding the core of the deal.

Because the AMPTP is the proverbial scorpion, it cannot help but do what it does. Until they believe they have an agreement on the core issues, it’s standard operating procedure for them to blow a lot of negative smoke around the peripheral issues. Between the close of the DGA deal and the close of the WGA deal, our Negotiating Committee had to sit down with the AMPTP, agree to the core deal, and then broom away all that tit-for-tat nonsense around the edges. Remember how the deal included language that would eliminate separated rights?

Once the WGA agreed to the DGA New Media terms, that separated rights baloney was whisked off the table. It was never real.

Similarly, that will have to be done with the SAG deal. For instance, the current offer includes a passage that would allow productions to impose French hours.¹ That is a perfect example of the sort of adversarial bric-a-brac that gets eliminated once the AMPTP gets an assurance that the core deal is agreeable to SAG.

This is why the moderates don’t want this contract, as it currently exists, to go to the membership for ratification. They won’t support it because it’s not actually the best deal available. No one should vote Yes for this deal as currently written. What U4S knows, of course, is that they can get a better deal for the membership once a new Negotiating Committee signals to the AMPTP that the core terms of the deal are okay.

By trying to force this deal to the membership, Doug and Alan are, once again, doing everything they can to get a strike. They’ll be able to say “See? Everyone said no!”

Well, sure, but if Doug and Alan got out of the way, the moderates could bring an acceptable deal to the membership in just a couple of weeks that would pass.

Very tricky, very clever…but ultimately transparent. SAG isn’t going to heal itself with cutesy language games. Doug and Alan are free to make a case for a strike, but they shouldn’t be attempting to fool their own membership in order to get one.

1. Under French hours, there is no lunch break. Rather, the crew works straight through the day, eating on the go as they wish. The standard work day is shorter in terms of time, but most crews would much rather take the lunch break. French hours are very rarely used in studio film production, and only when the crew and cast agree to a waiver. [↩]

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Here’s an update on the situation.

From this report, it appears procedural rules were used to block a vote that would have removed Allen from his position as Chief Negotiator.

If you ever need to explain to a child what the phrase “pyrrhic victory” means, considering using this as an example. By blocking this vote, they get the worst of both worlds. They retain a chief negotiator who clearly does not have the support of SAG leadership, and by extension SAG membership. They hamstring themselves in negotiations, they deepen the growing fissure in the union, and they eliminate the chance of getting someone else in the job who might actually bring the union together and get a deal done.

It’s a disastrous move because it resolves nothing, and frankly, I’m flat out shocked that Doug Allen isn’t resigning given the circumstances. He has to know that this is no way to hold on to a job or serve a union. He needs to find a way to back out quickly and gracefully, or SAG will be seriously impaired.

 

Edited to add…

This press release was just issued.

LOS ANGELES, January 13, 2009 –SAG President Alan Rosenberg sent the following message to Screen Actors Guild national board members and alternates today:

“At the end of the National Board plenary meeting this afternoon, a group of board members submitted a document to the Guild that purports to deal with the employment of the National Executive Director and the continuing approach to negotiations. After analyzing the document, Screen Actors Guild’s in-house and outside counsel have concluded that the document does not constitute a valid written assent, for several reasons, including a lack of sufficient signatures and the absence of any language on the document demonstrating the intent of the signers to grant their assent to the proposal. Guild National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Doug Allen and the National Television and Theatrical Contract Negotiating Committee remain committed to advancing the cause of actors and our crucial contract negotiations.”

No substantive actions were taken by the Guild’s national board, which met at SAG’s national headquarters January 12 and 13 for almost 30 hours straight.

No mailing date has been set for the previously approved TV/Theatrical strike authorization referendum.

We have no further comment.

 

I have no further comment either, but Picard has something to say.

 

 

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Every human has an instinct to hide their head in the sand.  It’s natural. Bad things are coming, and closing your eyes or turning away is the only form of denial the powerless person has. And maybe, just maybe, if it turns out that you do live in a solipsistic universe, you destroy the monsters by ceasing to acknowledge them.

I think Alan Rosenberg and Doug Allen at SAG have been playing that game for a while. Unfortunately, the problems are of the sort that do not disappear when one averts one’s gaze. Pattern bargaining is a fact that does not go away by simply denying it. The precedent that says no one creative union gets a better deal than another does not go away because you refuse to believe it. The financial meltdown and deep recession will not be reversed by insistence. The leverage lost when AFTRA chose to bargain independently is not regained through insults and determination.

And yet, despite all of these problems, despite the open rebellion from New York, despite the recent election that swept moderates into office, and despite the growing list of very powerful and influential SAG members decrying the current strategy, Alan and Doug appeared to shut their eyes, turn away and repeat “not real, not real” as they continued to sell a strike vote as the magic bullet for negotiation success.

Well, pick your metaphor folks. The chickens have come home to roost, the piper has submitted his invoice, and reality has come crashing in on Alan and Doug at at last. Doug Allen has been removed from his position as Chief Negotiator for SAG. (Ed. Note: Maybe. According to chatter on the web, it appears that his supporters are attempting to block a vote on the question, so it appears that there is a majority desire to remove him from his position as Chief Negotiator, and now it’s about some kind of standoff. If this is true, it’s just pathetic. SAG needs to find a way to do these things gracefully. Instead, they’re just making it worse. Doug Allen clearly doesn’t have the support necessary to sit across from the AMPTP. What a mess.) He hasn’t been fired outright, but considering that the major focus of a union’s executive director is the negotiation of its collective bargaining agreements, I think you can expect that he will resign or be fired or otherwise find his tenure shortened.

With a slim majority, the moderates will likely move next to form a new Negotiating Committee with instructions to sit down with the AMPTP, iron out whatever minor tweaks remain in the DGA/WGA/AFTRA deal, and then sign it.

Of course, I’m not an actor (my brilliant voice work in Scary Movie 4 and my cameo in Superhero! notwithstanding). What does all of this mean for writers?

What it means is that our choice for the future is clear.

First, some recent history.

Doug Allen (whom I wish nothing but future success) isn’t the only one who refused to acknowledge reality bearing down on him like a freight train. In 2005, as a member of the Board of Directors of the WGAw, I made it very clear to David Young, Patric Verrone and the rest of the officers and Board that if our strategy did not anticipate the DGA making a deal well in advance of their own expiration date and quite likely in advance of us, our strategy would be fatally flawed.

I was, let us say, disagreed with.¹

Since my entry into WGA politics back in ’04, the militants in the union have always felt a brotherhood with SAG.  SAG is rife with militants akin to our own Writers United faction; Verrone and Rosenberg are friends, SAG urged its members to support our strike, and every effort has been made to link the two unions together in solidarity.

And that would be fine–solidarity is the bedrock of unionism–save for the fact that SAG is institutionally challenged.  The union is massive in overall membership, but low in numbers when it comes to big earners. Their governance has been marked by deep, partisan divisions. There are not one but two websites devoted to SAG politics, and one of them is pretty…well…tabloidy. In the past week, an email circulated accusing SAG members against the strike vote of–gasp–disloyalty!, and the email even urged members not to cast SAG Award votes for those actors.

That’s just disgusting.

Sure, some anonymous commenters called me a traitor or disloyal during the strike because I disagreed with union leadership, but that was rare and, of course, stupid.² Certainly no officer or Board member of the WGAw ever suggested such a thing (publicly, at least).

The SAG email in question, however, was forwarded by a member of the SAG Council. Not good.

Because of immaturity like this, and because SAG militants were simply incapable of organizing their own troops by dint of poor planning and a pretty flawed message, it is very likely that the militant writers’ dream of an alliance with SAG is finally dead. It needs to die. SAG may one day right itself, but until then, we need another option.

Isn’t it obvious?

Can’t we just admit it and deal with it?

We must align with the DGA.

Let’s put aside all of the differences just for a moment (I promise, I’ll get to them).

Here are my premises, based entirely on recent history and common sense.

1. The number of writer-directors who belong to both the WGA and the DGA grows each year.

2. Writers and directors share authorship and copyright concerns.

3. The DGA will very likely begin negotiating their next contract with the AMPTP before we do.

4. There is a near 100% probability that the AMPTP will reach an agreement with the DGA before reaching one with us.

Now, even if you hate hate hate the DGA and everything they stand for, it’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness, no?

But let’s discuss the darkness.

The militants and many moderates (including myself) in the WGA believe that the DGA is too accommodating and passive in their approach to negotiations.

Simple as that.

Okay, candle-lighting time.

Howard Michael Gould has said that this time around, we didn’t take the DGA deal. They took our deal.

What he meant was that by striking, we gave the DGA the extra leverage they needed to feel comfortable reaching for more. By reaching for more, they made the sort of deal we had been looking for in the first place.

He’s kind of right. The fact is, we still took their deal. My point? We were at their mercy. If they had done worse, we would have done worse. If they had done better, we would have done better.

We cannot be in the business of waging war while another union sets the terms for peace.

Right now, this very day, the WGAw needs to do everything in its power to thaw the frost between the DGA and the WGA. The WGAw needs to collaborate with the DGA on information gathering and analysis.  The WGAw and DGA need to create a joint committee to help the respective leaderships of the two unions better understand what each other needs.

And why?

Because the DGA suffers when the WGA strikes…and the WGA suffers when the DGA caves.

Time to put the emotions and pride aside. Emotions and pride are nonsense. What we’re talking about here is money. If the DGA and WGA had been working together in the early 80′s, we might have avoided two strikes and done better on DVDs. Even if we had gotten .5% instead of .3%, the aggregate gain would have been well into the nine figures. Maybe even a billion dollars.

Yeah, sometimes you can make billion dollar decisions.

There may very well be a decision like that waiting for us in three years.

We can make that decision with the DGA, or we can let them make it for us.

There is no other choice.

1. Sometimes the passive voice and finishing preposition are just right for the sentiment. [↩]
2. And some of those people, unsurprisingly, weren’t members of the WGA at all, but just, well, cranks. [↩]

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Ted turned me on to this site.

The narrator of this short film (and appearing as “The Director”) is James Cromwell, who has served as SAG’s Secretary-Treasurer.

At this point, Alan and Doug need to forget about their hopes for a strike and start worrying instead about how to keep control of their union.  The pro-deal message right now is far more compelling and certainly better organized.

Hmmm, maybe that’s because it also makes more sense?

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