Former WGAw President Dan Petrie, Jr. Speaks Out
Dan Petrie, Jr.Ed. Note: Dan Petrie, Jr. is not only the screenwriter of films like Beverly Hills Cop, but he served as the President of the WGAw from 1997 to 1999 as well as from 2004-2005. Dan wrote a provocative and poignant post on WriterAction about a friend and colleague, Grace Reiner, as well as various issues that should be of concern to any WGA member. Dan added some context and has agreed to let me publish his remarks here. They are unedited.
Some sad news for all writers came today: Grace Reiner, Assistant Executive Director of the Writers Guild of America, west, is leaving the Guild. A lawyer, Grace has played a vital role in every Guild negotiation in memory. Between negotiations she is a fierce guardian of the Writers Guild film and television contract, the Minimum Basic Agreement (or MBA); more than one writer has nicknamed her “Rain Man” for her uncanny ability to cite by page and paragraph every obscure provision in the 400+ page document.
This comes on the heels of a wholesale series of departures in the wake of the appointment of our new Executive Director.
I learned this news on the WriterAction message board. As I’m sure most of the people who follow “The Artful Writer” know, WriterAction, which is open to WGA members only, was created as a forum to empower rank-and-file members to communicate with each other and debate Guild issues, and to speak truth to power, as the saying goes. As such, WriterAction has been a vital forum for Guild discussion and debate. It’s not quite as vital now, however: after the WriterAction founder became a member of the majority on the Guild’s current Board, she suddenly launched a rather vicious attack against “the obsessive posters here on WA who hate [WGAw President] Patric [Verronne], [Vice President] David Weiss, [new WGAw Executive Director] David Young, and the whole WU slate and who overpost enough to lull others here into thinking that that theirs is a majority opinion. I’m sorry to say that WA is NOT a good barometer of the state of this union. If you REALLY care enough to know what’s going on, then get off this site and go to a Board meeting. Go to a rally. Get to hear people who aren’t bitter and can’t get over their personal emotional issues with the current administration and who have an actual plan to tackle the issues at hand and get us a real contract next time.” She then announced that WriterAction had become, in her exact words, “a ghetto of the disgruntled. Not everyone here, but the loudest voices certainly are. It’s tragic, and shameful, and destructive, and BORING.”
Well, actually WriterAction was never a good barometer of Guild majority opinion. In fact, the whole point of WriterAction was to provide for the expression of minority views - at least, I thought so. But in the wake of the founder’s pronouncement, it was suggested that perhaps, as an experiment, the most frequent posters on WriterAction should take 3 months off. Perhaps then the Guild leadership would post on WriterAction, or expressions of support for the current leadership would be more freely expressed.
What a turnaround. It used to be that WriterAction administrators would only ask a member not to post after months of the most outrageous personal attacks and outright libel, and even then there would be a chorus of members asking that that member be allowed to keep posting.
But lo and behold, those frequent posters all agreed to stop posting for 3 months. Guess what? WriterAction grew more dull. Neither the Guild leadership nor their supporters swooped in to fill the void. But I still check in with WriterAction when I can, because even in its diminished state, it can still be an important source of Guild news. And thus, I found out the bad news about Grace Reiner leaving the Guild.
The person who shared that information went on to say, “Look folks, I’m trying not to be negative but I’m going to be honest. I think our current leadership is a disaster. The ANTM [America’s Next Top Model] strike was mismanaged from start to finish and some of the Guild’s best employees have been fired or left. We’re in very bad shape going into negotiations.”
Whoops. That’s exactly the kind of opinion that is not supposed to be expressed anymore. A member of Board was quick to take this person to task. “Isn’t your posting above an example of a tendency here to go immediately to the worst case scenario before knowing the facts?” the Board member said. “Linking Grace’s leaving with the performance of the leadership is what the erstwhile Princeton-educated Maison would call post hoc ergo procter hoc. Or, to put it more colloquially, carelessly tossing a match on dry brush. We have subsequently learned that Grace was not fired but left to pursue, in her own words, a “dream job” elsewhere.”
I’m guessing by Maison he meant Craig Mazin of this very website. Did Craig go to Princeton? (Ed. Note: I did.) If so, he would know that the logical fallacy of coincidental correlation is called post hoc ergo propter - not proctor - hoc. Later, the same Board member said, “the fact that several senior members have either been let go or have resigned in the past year, on David [Young’s] watch, probably has very little to do with him. Post hoc ergo procter [sic] hoc.”
I trust that the Board member wasn’t being intentionally disingenuous, but he could not have been, in my view, more wrong.
I hope you’ll agree that the forgoing gives necessary context to the following, which I posted on WriterAction in response:
At the risk of being told, in this great message board’s founder’s memorable phrase, that I am “tragic, and shameful, and destructive, and BORING,” and at the risk of being sneered at in Latin, I would like to correct a misimpression that has been left here, perhaps in all innocence.
Grace Reiner has indeed resigned voluntarily, to take a very good job: she will be Vice President, Legal Affairs, for the Disney Channel. The Disney Channel is a great place to work, and Grace is an exceptionally able legal executive, so congratulations are in order, both to Grace on her new appointment, and to Disney for making such a great hire.
That said, it is not true that leaving the Guild was Grace’s first choice, or anything like it. I believe it is fully accurate to say that Grace would not have accepted the Disney Channel’s offer, as good as it is, had she still been happy at the Guild.
One doesn’t have to fire someone to get rid of them. One can create conditions that force the person to leave. For example, one can ask the person to write memos on policy matters, and then exclude the person from meetings held to discuss those very memos. One can otherwise ignore, marginalize and exclude the person from the access, authority and direction needed to do the job. And, when that person formally asks for these concerns to be addressed, one can simply not respond.
Grace Reiner’s tremendous abilities have been highly valued by every elected leadership and every Executive Director of this Guild, going back to well before I was even a member - until now. Her talents have not gone unnoticed by others, either: she has received many tempting offers over the years, from studios, networks, other guilds and the AMPTP itself. But Grace always wanted to stay at the Writers Guild. She has exceptional loyalty to writers, and has always gotten great joy from passionately representing the best interests of writers.
Losing Grace Reiner is a bitter, indeed tragic loss for the Guild. As valuable as she’ll be to the Disney Channel, her unique knowledge of the MBA, the most complex single labor-management agreement in (I believe) the United States, and the bargaining history that informs every clause in it is just one of the many reasons she’s much more valuable to us.
Hard as it is to imagine a greater loss, let me suggest one. What has happened to the oversight function of the Board of Directors? Can it really be that board members are so out of touch that they honestly believe this hemorrhage of anyone who might offer greater experience or a contrary point of view is simply a series of unrelated, coincidental events?
As Clifford [Green] pointed out [in a post on the WriterAction thread], [former Asst. Executive Director and longtime head of WGAw Public Relations] Cheryl Rhoden was fired. She did not retire voluntarily [as the Board member suggested].
[Asst. Executive Director] Greg Bernstein was marginalized and excluded by our Executive Director, and promptly left.
It’s true that [former Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel] Marshall Goldberg [also a WGA member for over 25 years] is happy to be writing again, but it is also true that he was fired in a particularly brutal manner. He was escorted out of the building immediately, and told that he should not have his scheduled lunch with a board member. “Perp walk” seems an apt description; it’s certainly not a “canard” [the word used by that Board member to describe the use of the phrase “perp walk.]
Every board I was on was not shy about finding out what was going on at the Guild. Why does the current one seem to be different?
Why such a willingness to not probe behind some transparent official version of events?
Why did the Board vote to appoint our current Executive Director without debate, via a telephone poll?
Why did the Board accept the 7-2 vote of the [Executive Director] Search Committee at face value? Why did the Board not question the Committee about how its conclusions were reached? The Board would have learned that the initial vote of the Committee was 5-4 for another candidate (apparently the new Executive Director of SAG). The Board would have also learned that, after one member of the committee was persuaded to change his vote, making it 5-4 in favor of our current ED, the other two votes in favor were won by appeals for Guild unity.
In recent years the Guild has had a tradition of openness with the membership, of frank and full disclosure of information of concern to Writers Guild members, whether good news or bad, whether popular or not. Now there are a great many calls for unity and support but not much communication about what is really happening. Evidently at one point the America’s Next Top Model strikers made unconditional offers to return to their jobs - we know this because the Guild, quite rightly, filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB when those unconditional offers were not accepted. But of course, the moment the strikers made those unconditional offers to return to work, the strike had failed. When did that happen? When did the Board find out that that happened? And why did the membership have to learn about this in the trades?
Recently the membership learned - also from the trades - that Writers Guild East announced that a CBS Newswriters’ contract will be sent to the members working under that contract for a vote, and that Writers Guild East was urging rejection of the contract. Did the Board know that was happening? Why wasn’t it a joint announcement, as is required under East-West agreements which, I believe, are still in force? Did the Board vote in favor of sending the contract to the members concerned, and if so, did they do so before or after the East announced it in the trades? Did the Board satisfy itself that this strategy is the best one for our newswriters? Did the Board find something in our Constitution that permits such a vote in the first place? And once again, why does our membership have to learn about this from the trades?
I know, I know - these questions are all tragic, and shameful, and destructive, and BORING. Possibly they are canards as well. As much as I enjoy following the discussions on WriterAction, it’s not in my nature to post much. (I must say, I liked WriterAction better in the days when the founder did not think it was tragic and shameful for posters here to hold the Guild leadership’s feet to the fire, even when two of those feet were mine.) One reason I’m reluctant to post much is that I’ve seen how easy it is for posts to be misinterpreted. So I want to make it clear that I understand how hard it is to be a member of the Board or an officer of the Guild. I deeply appreciate and respect the service and sacrifice. All our elected officials are volunteers, all have other jobs, other lives; none can be at the Guild all the time - believe me, I know this.
But I also feel terrible about what happened to the ANTM writers. I’m fearful for our newswriters.
And I know that losing Grace Reiner is like losing a limb.
I’d be astonished if every member of our Board did not feel that loss as keenly as I do. I sincerely hope that, as the Board realizes that they were in the dark about the actions and inactions that caused this amputation, they will start looking at the causes of other departures. I hope they will prevent future departures. Our institutional memory is vanishing; we can’t afford to lose it altogether.
I hope that they will also look closely at the ANTM strike to see how the strategy and tactics that were embraced and supported so enthusiastically met with such failure.
I hope they will look deeply into, and fully debate, the new strategy in the CBS-Newswriters negotiation as announced, unilaterally, by WGA East, for while the East ED is the lead negotiator on this contract, we represent many members who work under that contract and our Board owes them the responsibility of an independent judgment.
I wish Grace the best of happiness and success in her new venture. The loss is all on our side.
So, when’s the next WGA election again?
Bravo, Dan. It’s a shame so many WGA members are choosing to be so willingly blind to what’s going on over there. The paucity of vision is staggering.
To Josh Olson (and others): you’re free to express all opinions (and I agree with you on this one). Keep them within the extremely broad boundaries of “civil,” please.
At some point, the membership has to say, “What the fuck are these guys doing to the WGA?” I just hope when the Kool-Ade wears off, it’s not too late.
At some point, the membership has to say, “What the fuck are these guys doing to the WGA?” I just hope when the Kool-Ade wears off, it’s not too late.
Thank you for that, Dan.
The lack of debate on WA about your post is incredibly depressing to me. If the board is shy about finding out what’s going on, the membership seems equally so.
Jeff
Thanks, Dan, it’s important this information got out; equally important that it came from a highly credible source. I think an LA Times Op Ed might be in order, and I hope you follow up. Could be the only way to shame the current leadership into a response.
Many thanks, Dan. As others here have said, I have been disappointed and alarmed by the apathy toward your post on WriterAction, particularly from those who have otherwise been quick to defend the current WGAw leadership, never mind the leadership itself.
If being critical of leaders who have thus far gutted the Guild of some of its most talented and knowledgeable staff, failed utterly in their atrociously misguided attempt to organize the ANTM writers, burned the phone lines communicating with members when they need them but remained stone silent when it comes to keeping members informed and staged rallies instead of achieving real victories is “tragic, shameful, destructive and BORING,” I am proud to wear that label.
Thank you again for speaking out.
Well said, Dan. Well said.
I would agree with the LA Times Op-Ed suggestion. That will reach many more screenwriters than WA will; I’m sure it would garner a response.
As a member of the WA board, although I don’t post, I believe it’s against the rules to quote from, or really even refer to in detail, threads or posts there. But I think it would be legitimate for me to say that since the hiatus of what I like to think of as the A list posters, the Board is dying on its feet and I hope you all return. A personal plea. They’ve taken that whuppin’ and I think they’ve learned their lesson.
Louise,
It’s not against any rule to quote from or even repost in its entirety your own writing/posts. They’re your words. Just like those are Dan’s words. He’s fine.
I would agree that WA has become something different since the exodus, but that it would be a waste to return there.
Dan,
Thanks for posting this here and on WA. It’s much needed.
Eric:
Are you saying it’s not worth our while to go back?
Because that’s pretty much how I feel these days. Still, aren’t you still an admin there?
The plot thickens…. :)
Removed at commenter’s request
Removed at the commenter’s request
Jumping on the bandwagon: thanks for posting that, Dan.
I vote for the op-ed piece as well. Could reach a lot of people.
Eric,
Have to say, it does appear that other people’s posts are being quoted.
Maison,
Please, return. Yes, the tumbleweed is bowling about and the albatross has been sighted overhead but when you return it will all become merry again.
I believe the ludicrous idea of “overposting” scaring away timid new writers has been put to bed for all time.
Thanks for posting this, Craig. And thanks to you, Dan, for your eloquence and thoughtfulness - and above all, for your perspective.
Grace’s loss is an enormous blow to our guild. And one that is irreplaceable. I wish more communication from our leadership would in fact, be forthcoming. It has been promised and promised and promised again. With all the brilliant minds who are seated on our board, I find it hard to believe that they can’t figure out how to do this.
I’m on hiatus with you guys for the most part. I just had to post, to stand with Dan on this. Stephanie
220 pounds of Irish buffoonery just jumped on the bandwagon.
I’m not in your guild, but I realize that it’s leadership has more of an effect on my future than the leadership of my own. Dan, you’ve written the perfect thing at the perfect moment.
Me too. I think the fair assumption is not that they can’t, but that they don’t want to. I wouldn’t want to either, because their choice is to either soft pedal (and be exposed) or ‘fess up…and while I like a lot of these guys, ‘fessing up doesn’t seem to be something that comes easily to them.
Herlihy:
My 220 pounds of Jewish trickery stands proudly with your 220 pounds of Irish buffoonery. I hope you’re not 6’ 4” or something, because that’s gonna make me feel fat…
…ter.
C.
I’m considering joining the hiatus since it’s difficult for me to go about my usual routine of sucking up to Craig if he’s not there. Of course, by the time I decide, the hiatus will be over. Also, no one will notice or care if I stop posting there.
I don’t know anything about Grace Reiner or the inner workings of the WGA. Almost all of my information regarding the Guild at all comes from either WA or this site, so I’m glad there are people, like Dan in this case, who keep up with these sorts of things are willing to speak up and give their perspectives. I may not agree with everything I hear/read, but I like being able to hear/read everything.
So anyway, thanks to those who take the time to post and discuss.
Craig, what would you do right now to fix the ANTM situation?
Is this where the party moved to?
Like Ryan, I know little about the inner workings. I was learning a lot by reading the posts, including those of the dissenters on all sides. And then one of the sides suddenly disappeared. I wouldn’t say WA is “dying”, but it’s gotten a bit boring.
Someone please e-mail me and explain what the hell is going on with this hiatus thing. Or point me to the relevant link. But now I guess I have to check in here to get my other viewpoints.
Paul:
Probably what I’d do to fix my grandfather’s medical condition, which has remained stable at “dead” for about 16 years now.
ANTM is over. Done. Nothing left to fix. The current WGA leadership pursued at strategy that managed to gain nothing and lose everything…at tremendous financial cost, to boot.
Soon I’ll be writing a fairly scathing post mortem on the situation, and I’ll talk about what could have been, and what could still perhaps be.
[Quote]The lack of debate on WA about your post is incredibly depressing to me. If the board is shy about finding out what’s going on, the membership seems equally so.
Jeff[/Quote] Dear Jeff,
How do you see a “lack of debate” on WriterAction? If someone said “the sky is blue” what is there to debate? I see no debate here either, just a thread of the old AOL “Me Too!”
If you want to knock WriterAction please pick a different target. I haven’t been able to check in on TAW lately but I’d be very disappointed if vilifying WriterAction has become the jeu du jour, the enemy of choice upon which those who were angry at one Administrator have decided to beat with sticks as “The Other.”
I’ve tried, without success, to offer all hiatus-takers an open door to talk with me, personally, about what WA would have to do to entice you guys back. Only one person contacted me and that was to say that they’re set to return to WA once their “favorite posters” returned in January. My fear now is that you folks have extrapolated this issue into some kind of war that returning will never be an option because somehow that will spell weakness on your parts.
That really saddens me. Sorry, but it does.
The more boards for writers to go to, the better, and the more writers on each board, the better.
But dude, Craig, what’s up with quoting posts from WriterAction on your site? Doesn’t that violate the Terms of Service to which you agreed when you joined that board? Your reasons and motives may have been solid, but it seems to me that you’ve broken your word.
That dissapoints me, because even when I’ve thought you were dead wrong, I’ve always, always trusted you.
I’m serious.
Seriously.
I am.
Serious.
Brian, I think it’s Dan who was quoting other people’s posts. Craig is just not censoring him. And Dan probably feels that he maintained confidentiality because the posts are not attributed.
As a matter of fact I don’t think you should quote anybody’s posts except your own, with or without attribution, and much as I respect him believe Dan should ask himself if that is not a violation of promises made to an online community where secrecy is the cornerstone.
As far as the hiatus, Clifford, wasn’t it the point that certain posters were constantly being told that they overposted and therefore scared away the timid fawn-like other posters who would appear in droves if only they would shut their loud flapping gums. (I paraphrase). And then an experiment was casually mentioned as a hypothetical and siezed upon by several others as to, if they left, would the frail creatures actually arrive, enabled to give their opinions in the Zen like peace provided by the absence of dominant posters.
As I recall, the idea of “overposting” was not a new one but stretched back years and would periodically rear its head.
Therefore, the posters bowed out and of course no timid posters did in fact appear. Proving forever that there is not really such a thing as overposting. Frequent posters are the lifeblood of any message board and they encourage, rather than stilt, other conversations.
I would imagine a forthright admission of the above plus a polite request to return would be more than enough. Either that, or Mazin & Ted are as you Americans fetchingly put it “ornery” and will return exactly when they said they would on Jan 1.
What she said. Fetchingly. Seriously.
Will Louise Bagshawe at some point in the future spend days and days on The Artful Writer deleting all her posts here, like she did on Writer Action?
I’m happy to PM you.
Dear Wandering Through,
Posters may delete their posts if and whenever they choose. It’s not a crime.
Nor is it even an important issue.
The way our guild is being run into the ground is.
Let’s stay focused, shall we?
Dear Wandering Through: Anonymously attacking the messenger instead of addressing the message is precisely what makes Dan’s opinion compelling…and Writers Action obsolete. Keep wandering.
CJ:
I don’t think anyone here is giving WA any more of a whack than normal.
Brian:
I thought about this whole issue of the quoting. Yes, obviously it was Dan’s choice to do so, and yes, I republished his remarks in toto.
Yes, I violated the Terms of Service of WriterAction. Why? Well, it goes a little something like this.
When a man like Dan Petrie (who has devoted a good decade of his life to our union, with no personal gain to be had and plenty of personal sacrifice made) writes something, I feel I owe him some deference.
I owe him more deference than I do any technical violation of the TOS of WriterAction.
If Dan had lifted quotes and attributed them, I probably would have asked him to edit. He didn’t, and I didn’t. Nonetheless, rules are rules.
The responsibility always rests with the publisher. Ergo, the responsibility is mine. I accept whatever punishment awaits.
Would it be too much to recommend a very lengthy hiatus? :)
“…wasn’t it the point that certain posters were constantly being told that they overposted and therefore scared away the timid fawn-like other posters who would appear in droves if only they would shut their loud flapping gums…As I recall, the idea of “overposting” was not a new one but stretched back years and would periodically rear its head.”
Ummm…No.
A search of the entire WA archives turns up exactly ONE use of the word “overpost” (and it is a non-critical reference to another board entirely) or any variation thereof prior to Alex’s infamous use of it, and every instance of it after said post is in reference to it.
So if the term actually DID pop up that frequently over the years on WA, the posts it was mentioned in have apparently been deleted.
But who in the world would delete that many posts?*
“Therefore, the posters bowed out and of course no timid posters did in fact appear. Proving forever that there is not really such a thing as overposting.”
Yes indeed, point proven…to the 99.9% of WA who already felt that way.
Congrats?
*FYI, I am not Wandering Through. But Wandering Through made me smile. Thank you, Wandering Through.
Dear All… I’d like to make a suggestion -
In much the way I despise airing our private guild business in the trades, or any other public medium, I dislike the back and forth hand slapping that’s taking place here - in a really public forum. It disturbs me greatly. It lacks dignity, and respect.
No one is dissing about WA, here. And no one wants WA to crash and burn - I’d bet least of all Craig Mazin. But just as WA is your house, Cliff and Brian - this is his house. And we’re all guests and visitors.
What’s done is done. And Cliff - it isn’t true that none of the hiatus takers contacted you. I certainly did. And I’ve broken ranks with my friends here, to post with regard to Grace, and other things that have transpired. what am I - chopped liver? No…
Either we’re all equally important, or we’re all equally nothing. Can’t have it both ways, gang. Seems to me, there are solutions. We just have to find them.
WA is as vital to our guild, with the year we have ahead, as paying dues… I know we can all figure this out. With all my heart…. Steph
Yes, they were being told they overposted. In PMs. Furthermore (and this may come as a shock) there are other ways to say somebody is posting too much without actually using the word, if indeed it is a word, “overposting”. I can recall several threads of discussion where it was said that a dominant group, etc. In fact there was just such discussion in the thread that caused the hiatus, and it goes back long before that thread. Two prominent posters with Guild positions at one point deleted all their posts from a thread in which they had been told they were hogging all the conversation, scaring others away, etc. That was certainly a year or so back, and the idea was being discussed before that time.
Great web site,Craig. You always put the truth to power.
I am concerned about the WGAw, but I don’t think the problems lie with Patric and David Young. The problem lies with the way the institution is set to turn itself upside down every two years and ask a supposedly working writer to devote two years of his life to running the asylum as “president” without an ounce of pay.
Fact: Vicki Riskin was never much of a writer, but she was a good president. She loved the job so much, she rigged an election to allow herself to keep it.
Fact: Writer Action was started for all the right reasons. There was no other forum for contrarian viewpoint within the Guild’s publication department.
Fact: John McLean was a great labor negotiator, but a very poor manager of a staff of 135.
Fact: Cheryl Rhoden was a fantastic p.r. rep when she was hired in 1987. She was burnt out and a tremendous liability when she got the boot in 2005. A lawsuit filed against the Guild became a public record of her incompetence.
Fact: Marshall Goldberg is a nice guy. He was not a lawyer when he was hired as general counsel (his bar card had expired) and he was a pawn of John McLean. He had to go when John went.
Fact: Grace Reiner is a tremendous loss. But tying her to the other departures is a mistake. Grace was competent. Some of the other departees were unemployable, except for their willingness to work at the WGAw.
I could go on, but you get the point. Not all change is good, and not all change is bad.
What is good is your willingness to speak out on issues. Keep it up.
I’m not sure what the relevance of going back that far is, but on the off chance that it IS relevant, let’s keep in mind that he who suggested the hiatus had TWO reasons for it. One was the “tragic/boring” complaint, and the other was that he was tired of seeing intelligent posters with dark senses of humor being scolded and piled on with uncalled-for indignation and outrage. I’d show you a crystal-clear example of this from a while back, but the person to whom I’m referring went through and deleted several thousand of her posts, so…I can’t. Dang it, why do they do that?
I’m not sure what the relevance of going back that far is, but on the off chance that it IS relevant, let’s keep in mind that he who suggested the hiatus had TWO reasons for it. One was the “tragic/boring” complaint, and the other was that he was tired of seeing intelligent posters with dark senses of humor being scolded and piled on with uncalled-for indignation and outrage. I’d show you a crystal-clear example of this from a while back, but the person to whom I’m referring went through and deleted several thousand of her posts, so…I can’t. Dang it, why do they do that?
Thank you, James. Great post.
James C - I don’t know where you get the ‘fact,’ that our former exec dir. was a ‘great labor negotiator.’ When an exec dir. of an important union in this business and this country, likens his job publicly- in the trades - to ‘herding cats,’ - methinks it’s time to go. when that same exec dir. makes a back door deal without the knowledge or permission of the leaders of east or west, or participants of that particular mba - it’s time to go. When that exec dir has closer ties to management than labor, and our guild is placed in a sellout position - then it’s time to go.
From my perspective as a longtime guild activist, and working television writer, what we are sorely lacking at this point, is balance. A balance between labor and creative and a working knowledge of our business. just my .02. Stephanie L
My apologies for the double post above. Feel free to delete one. (Heh…No, seriously.)
Actually, from what I’m seeing in the comments section, I can understand why he’d feel it’s like herding cats.
Whenever you try to do anything with a creative, strong-willed, passionate community, it’s always like herding cats.
It’s not an insult. It’s a reference to how independent writers are.
James C:
I agree with you in large part, particularly when you say change isn’t always good or bad.
And Steph, I agree with Christiana on the “herding cats” comment. I’ve heard the same from practically every single member-leader at various points, and I’ve said as much myself.
Cuz it’s true.
While I voted to fire John, and while John had his limitations and weaknesses, I will go to my grave defending his deal on the CBS/KCAL thing. I will go to my grave blaming Mona (the WGAE ED), and I will go to my grave believing that her actions and attitudes are the reason the current CBS newswriter negotiations are in shambles. We can blame McLean for plenty that he did wrong. The CBS thing wasn’t one of those things.
You folks can argue with me if you want, but like I said…going. To. My grave. :)
Arthur:
Not only did I get PM’s and emails…I got phone calls telling me I posted too much on WA. :)
“Erstwhile Princeton-educated”? Oh forget about not knowing that it’s “post hoc ergo propter hoc” (after this, therefore because of this.). Has Craig’s name been expunged from the records of Princeton? Craig, what happened?
If not, he’ll always be Princeton-educated, although he is a former Princeton student.
Board members of the Writer’s Guild don’t know how to write? I’m shocked, truly shocked. :-)
“Board members of the Writer’s Guild don’t know how to write? I’m shocked, truly shocked. :-)”
Hope you’re sitting down and prepared to be even more shocked, truly shocked: many current Board members of the Writers Guild don’t know how to govern, either.
I’ll do a James C. and call that a FACT.
Quoting Craig Mazin —
“Herlihy:
My 220 pounds of Jewish trickery stands proudly with your 220 pounds of Irish buffoonery. I hope you’re not 6’ 4” or something, because that’s gonna make me feel fat…
…ter.”
So the time has come. The clouds have turned black and the quickening has begun. Let all the 220 pounders join in hopes that they can overcome the cancer.
I too will heft my 224 pounds of ebonics onto your battle carriage. Together we will show them a formidable combined wieght nearing …SEVEN HUNDRED POUNDS!!!!
Let those who have taken us lightly know that they should have taken us heavily.
The Bomb joins you Irish. The Bomb joins you too, Jew…he joins you cautiously, but he joins you.
Let the battle begin.
(seven hundred pounds? really?)
I’m actually up to 222 now (eggnog lattes, baby!), which gives us a combined weight of…
666.
It’s nice to hear your voice again, Louise, you hottie! ;^) And I hope your recent post back on WA isn’t your last.
I think if Dan broke the TOS of WA I am likely the only one with a real beef. He used my name and paraphrased what I said from a post on a private and confidential message board. But he didn’t twist the meaning of what I said and since what I said is true I’m happy to have it read elsewhere.
But many others are not as willing as I am to own up to their opinions in public. For that reason I just want to remind WA members here on TAW that the dissemination of posts from WA, other than your own, can be a banned-for-life offense. Here on TAW the world can read and that’s whole different matter.
BTW, Craig, per the recent Ca. Supreme Court ruling you are not the responsible party — the publisher is now legally held-harmless for the libel in comments posted on his or her board. Even the poster who copied a libelous statement is not held liable; the injured party only has recourse against the the writer of the original statement which the poster is copying and the publisher is allowing to be posted.
But I’m sure you knew that…
Craig… Oh Craigie.. before I eat turkey - must I eat crow? The two don’t quite go together. So -
my dear friend, Craig… You and I will probably never agree about certain things guild. But we will always always love and respect each other, yes? I will respectfully disagree about McLean. Besides - even if his cat crack were true - that isn’t something an exec director of that particular union says in the press, to be quoted for the world, and the amptp to see. At least not in my opinion. What we say privately is one thing - but what an employee says publicly - well… happy turkey day. go bake. S.
CJ:
Yeah, I suppose I presumed I’m not responsible for libel when people post it, but I am responsible for violating the TOS of WA if I publish remarks that violate it.
I mean, it’s not like anyone has a right to membership on WA.
Is it too late to beg for a lifetime ban? :)
Dear Craig,
By the power invested in my by nobody in particular I hereby make you, Craig L. Mazin, the first “Lifetime Current” member of WriterAction. You can’t get out now even if you wanted to…
I guess typing isn’t the best exercise to work off the 30lbs I gained today. Fuck I love that Thanksgiving meal! Here’s wishing you, your wife and kids and everyone on The Artful Writer a wonderful and obese-making Holiday.
WTF?! No way to correct typos after the fact? Can somebody explain how I can rewrite a post after it’s been submitted?
CJ:
Upon my return, I shall surely test the bounds of that lifetime current membership. :)
Right back at you for Thanksgiving.
Sorry about the not-very-advanced comment engine here. It’s typical of blog comment software. The forum, obviously, is more advanced (it runs on the same software as WA).