Dead And Alive

my cleaning girl does a beautiful job polishing my floors, and i pay her more than the standard salary for cleaning people. now, she is demanding a dime every time i walk across it. what should i do?

It’s that you’re charging others to walk across it, taking that money (and credit) all for yourself, and you’re NOT paying your “girl” what she’s owed for making you the god of clean floors that matters.

Craig,

How long do you (in your estimation) think the strike will last? And is anything being done in the news media and other internet sites to stop the demonizing of the WGA and the Writer’s? I’m seeing a lot bad stuff on the net today and a few days ago on the David Letterman show and it deeply distrubs me. Especially when the American public erronously places ALL the BLAME on Writers about the lousy movies being produced these days (of which the studios have all the control to green lite or not and writers have no control) that you can read on Yahoo and other net news in response to this strike.

These assumptions, misperceptions, and continual villanizing of Hollywood writers by the American public is deeply troubling to me. The WGA needs to go on National TV and give their side of the story.

who gives a shit what i do with my clean floors? i paid her for the job, and the bitch didnt take the financial risk of constructing the building!

Hey #1. I’m tired of the companies complaining about the business model. It’s intellectual property, like prescription drugs, patents, music, books… the list goes on.

All the news belongs to the networks who belongs to the moguls, who gives them the PR. Don’t expect them to tell the truth about the reasons for the strike.

I’m not a writer, but interested in writing. Don’t live in California.

But I just sent this to the AMPTP by way of their website. Will it make a difference? I dunno, but it’s a little something I can do to help.

Message re: WGA Strike

I’m just a guy in Oklahoma that watches TV and movies. I watch one prime time TV show regularly — Lost. Do you know what struck me when I started? The writing. It has some of the best drawn characters in serial television in ages. The mystery, the angst, the love and hate and passion.

It all begins with the writer.

The episode directors and cast are valiant and magnificent. I couldn’t imagine Ben played by any actor other than Michael Emerson. Matthew Fox, Evangaline Lilly, and Josh Holloway all deserve their due.

But the writer gives them their words and their actions.

Here’s something else.

I’ve watched season 3 entirely through the internet by way of streaming from abc.com. Writers absolutely deserve a fair portion of the revenue from the ads that are part of the Lost internet experience.

Give the writers their fair share.

Word is… we’re gonna let the Teamsters ease into this thing - on their own terms - by waiting for a week to picket at 5am. Some strike captains were told that the WGA didn’t want throw the strike in the Teamsters faces this morning. Ultimately, they will honor the picket line - once we decide to get it up by 5. Maybe next week.

As far as I’m concerned, both sides suck this morning.

*3, This is an ongoing debate here, but I don’t quite believe that what the public thinks is really going to either end the strike or get us a better internet residual rate. There are three groups of people whose perception matters — WGA members, the members of other guilds (and, in a larger sense, everyone who works in film and television), and management (AMPTP and the execs and conglomerates they answer to). Those are the people who can help or hurt the strike, and some are the ones who can actually end it.

Since we aren’t asking for the public to stop consuming television or movies during the strike, then the public at large isn’t crucial to putting pressure on AMPTP. I’d also say that considering the current situation in Pakistan, what little time we’re getting in national coverage is about as much as we can hope for. I’m not sure what you think was so negative coming from David Letterman’s show last week — he and his staff have already thrown their hat on the side of the guild, and Letterman was the first to shut down his show in 88. Anyone on the internet complaining that writers are responsible for the crap that comes out of Hollywood is probably trolling, and not worth your worries.

One key element to a strike is focus and commitment. Don’t worry about the other stuff — worry about picketing, worry about expressing that commitment to the decision makers, and worry about saving money. If my past experiences in strikes is any clue, there will be plenty of vitriol on the picket line already.

And #1 anonymous, if you think that writing movies is tantamount to cleaning floors, then you’ve got other issues outside your ignorance concerning the economics of writers.

Tommy used to work on the docks, Union’s been on strike, He’s down on his luck, It’s tough. So tough…

Linda:

Anyone who tries to handicap the length of this strike is nuts (or a gambling addict).

As for the media portrayal of writers during this strike, all I can say is this. When I was on the Board, and some of the more militant members would talk about getting the press on our side, I was always there to point out that the companies we’re fighting own the media.

Except for a few newspapers.

For whom studio advertising is an enormous source of revenue.

In other words, don’t expect a fair shake today, tomorrow or ever from the media.

Here’s the thing - the Teamsters will cross if they don’t “fear for their safety,” right? Or, at least reasonably so.

So, I know that writers are considered meek-types and all, but isn’t now the right time to start putting on those black skull bandannas and going all WTO/Mexico City in front of the studios? At least, next week, perhaps?

You dress for war, you dress like you have a reason to hide your identity from photographers/police/reprisal, you dress as if expecting arrest and tear gas and you get that fear on your side.

Come on folks, we’re writers. Let’s get creative. They think we’re crazy and out of minds already, right? Commit. Help convince the Teamsters that are halfway on our side/on the fence about all this that, yes, we’re ready to “do our part.”

yeah i remember one of the scripts from a show i was working on had the protagonist canoeing a river (including riding a waterfall) downstream from the OCEAN. that writer should have been cleaning floors…

Chris:

Thanks for your support. Every bit helps. Oh, nice photography on your website, too.

I agree with #9.

As a card-carrying member of SAG and AFTRA, I will be out on the lines with my WGA brethern and sisteren for three reasons: big business will never give the worker anything which he cannot take; I wanna decent future as a writer someday; and this strike is a platinum domino in the far-reaching money war in the entertainment industry.

I’m glad the WGA finally sacked up, because if they cave, God help the rest of us.

Re: media portrayal of the WGA, I worked as a journalist for a long time, and I have to say that the perception that we won’t get a fair shake in the press because of conglomerate control is off-base. Every single print editor and reporter I’ve ever met takes their independence from their corporate owners very seriously. (TV news might be different, I dunno. And just maybe Variety and THR are special cases. ) Reporters will report on whatever stories they think are compelling. I guarantee you that the people on the media beat at the WSJ aren’t taking orders from Murdoch or Fox about slant-of-coverage.

However, I don’t think we can expect more than vague sympathy from the public. The issues are just too obscure, since we aren’t striking over a generic labor trope like hourly wages or health care or something like that.

And I think the attempt to frame this as a ‘Respect For Writers’ campaign as people are suggesting on WriterAction is wrong-headed and will backfire. We should frame this as what it is— a fight for fair compensation within a fairly esoteric economic model.

That said, I don’t really think it’s worth worrying about the media angle in terms of how this thing plays out. I just don’t think it matters much either way.

Craig’s point #11 is absolutely right and, in my opinion, our biggest handicap.

How can we get our side of the story into the news media when we’re striking against the people who own the news media?

I don’t think it’s all that important to counter the negative, “Sunset Boulevard” image of the screenwriter that’s out there (the NY Times compared us to Paris Hilton today), because it makes no real difference to us at the bargaining table. But turning public opinion against the studios and networks would mean an ENORMOUS amount to the companies that own them—if only we could find an effective way to circumvent their control of the news in order to do it.

Most people have been proposing using the internet for this purpose, but I think the reality is we’ll run up against the limits of how effective the internet really is if we pursue this course. Still, people talk about how, as a consequence of the last strike, the unintended result was the proliferation of reality shows. Maybe the unintended result of this one will be the emergence of the internet as a central player in shaping public opinion. Who knows?

A quick amendment to my last post (#16): Sure, if there was a way to launch a massive public sympathy campaign for the WGA, with hundreds of thousands of emails pouring in from the public to the AMPTP, and people boycotting movies and so forth, that would be helpful. But that goal is completely unrealistic, so I think instead we should spend our energy elsewhere. The small margin of public opinion that might be swayed one way or another via media coverage just doesn’t matter.

I am kind of curious to see how entertainment stocks will do in the next couple of weeks, and how that might impact negotiations. I don’t know. We’ll see. If anyone knows anyone at mutual funds who they can convince to start a selloff, THAT would be a useful PR move.

I’m a 30 year member of SAG/AFTRA/AEA. Walked the lines in 1981 during the SAG strike and 1988 with the WGA. Ultimately, brothers and sisters, we are alone together on the line. None of this will be settled in the press. So, fuck em. There we be plenty of time to do post-mortems on how your leadership put you out there, but you are there now, scream and talk and stick together. This one is not gonna end any time soon. And you will see factions, within your own union, that will abandon you on the line. Suck it up, now. There is now way back to where you came from.

Take out ads.

Call and write the media outlets with your side of the story.

I agree that getting public support is important, because if some support could be obtained, and viewership of TV or movies declined, it has an immediate negative impact on the companies.

The companies are offering to pay writers NOTHING for internet. Any average Joe can understand that’s not right.

Well…guess I’ll go get a coffee and check out the picket lines.

I’m tempted to fly out to L.A., go to the picket lines and shake some hands. Talk up some of you writers and get your views. Then go back and report to the fan boards. I’m not seeing a lot of animosity from fans on the forums and blogs I frequent. Mostly, its worry. Worry for the writers and worry for our shows.

I’d love to speak for the avid TV viwers and say, “We support you guys in your fight!” - because, mostly it seems to be true. But I’d also have to add, “We hope, for everyone’s sakes, this doesn’t last into next season…” - because the media being.. well… the media…we get conflicting reports.

I guess going out to L.A. and chatting up the writers on the picket lines would be good, but unless I can catch the AMPTP pres on the street and ask, “Excuse me McUbberProducer, but what the hell?!” - any news from that side will be slanted.

I just heard that the star of my husband’s show, who is also in the WGA, did not show up for work today. I guess there are some members who are willing to break contracts for this stike. Even though I am upset that it got to this point, I can respect that.

There may be a way to stop this process of strking:

If any of the parties want a “war” (besides the one coming for us all), then make an actual war between the writers and the corporations. That is to say, have the WGA go into the offices with their guns and ammunition if you have them, and kill your enemies. Do not think for one moment that this has not crossed the minds of the corporations. Thus, the enemy is taken down.

Is that what you want? Because it seems that in this case, death of one’s enemies is the only way to solve this crisis. So, how about it, immovable people? Take your weaponry and kill each other. At the very least, you will not be blamed for the upcoming terror attack. Better yet, in additon, why not just the whole world in a bottle, supposed supermen?

In genuine concern for all,

Lax24

It seems to me that the WGA needs more manpower. More and bigger picket lines. Why not organize a tyro writer strike captain? There have to be thousands of non-wga writers who cycle through meetings, have agents, etc. who are just as shut down as members. Why not start contacting agents and managers and trying to mobilize as many of these future WGA members? This strike is about their future earnings as well - and with many of them being very young WGA sucess or failure will affect them for a very long time.

Stock-wise, the market will have already adjusted for the strike in the prices of the studios’ stocks, and that has been happening over the course of the last six months. If you haven’t noticed it, that’s because it’s infinitesimal when compared to overall market cap of the companies. We aren’t going to affect the stock market in any appreciable way.

Mike S, #16 is correct. The Writer Action quotient is in love with the sound of their own dissident voices with an emphasis on being funny and clever. They’re being self-indulgent and this is an opportunity for personal p.r. for a select few of the membership.

The public doesn’t care about the plight of writers getting respect. Fans of “Lost” and “24” only care about when new episodes will return, and that void requires no education for the general public.

Tina Fey has been shown walking with a picket sign. What can Writer Action do to top that visibility?

I never thought I’d say this:

I hate the strike, the idea of the strike, and the leadership of this union for not doing every goddamned thing they could do from January on to avoid the strike.

All of which means nothing in the face of what the AMPTP did over the weekend. It’s finally clear that they never wanted a deal, they were the ones who always wanted a strike, no matter what we said or did.

The WGA may well only be good for collecting residuals, as I have noted elsewhere, but before they can do that there have to be residuals to collect. Management wants to kill that.

They stole the money they used to pay to writers 20 years ago and gave it to themselves, now they want what they didn’t take then.

Damn it, I hate this, but there isn’t a choice.

Something very much worth reading, written by Shawn Ryan to his fellow showrunners and TV writers:

Showrunner Explains Why He’s On Strike I’m receiving a lot of reports of TV showrunners and hyphenates choosing not to work on their shows during the WGA strike. I’ll update this post with names as I receive them. But here is an email sent around this morning by Shawn Ryan, the showrunner of The Shield, The Unit, and The Oaks and also a member of the WGA Negotiating Committee, explaining to fellow showrunners and TV writers what decision he’s reached and why:

“As you all know by now, we are on Strike. It’s sad that we have arrived here and I don’t know each and every one of your opinions, but I wanted to share my personal plans for what I intend to do until we have a fair contract.

I am currently quoted in today’s Hollywood Reporter as saying that I will do some producing work, but won’t do any editing as I consider that to be writing. While I said something similar to that earlier last week (I’ve learned you can’t trust a word of what these trades report), that was before I went to the Showrunners Meeting yesterday and became very crystalized in what I need to do. Like many of you I have spent the last week contemplating what to do in case of a strike. What are my responsibilities to my writers, my cast, my crew, my network and my contract? How do I balance these various concerns?

At the Showrunners Meeting it became very clear to me that the only thing I can do as a showrunner is to do nothing. I obviously will not write on my shows. But I also will not edit, I will not cast, I will not look at location photos, I will not get on the phone with the network and studio, I will not prep directors, I will not review mixes. These are all acts that are about the writing of the show or protecting the writing of the show, and as such, I will not participate in them. I will also not ask any of my writer/producers to do any of these things for me, so that they get done, but I can save face.

I will not go into the office and I will not do any work at home. I will be on the picket line or I will be working with the Negotiating Committee. I will not have an avid sent to my house, or to a new office so that I can do work on my show and act as if it is all right because I’m not crossing any picket lines.

I truly believe that the best and fastest way to a good contract is to hit these companies early, to hit them hard and to deprive them of ALL the work we do on their behalf.

How do we ask our staff writers to go out on strike as we continue collecting producer checks? How do we ask the Teamsters to respect our picket lines if we won’t ourselves or if we’re sneaking around to do the work off-site?

Just so you all know what I am prepared to give up….

Tomorrow, we begin to film the Series Finale of The Shield. I think it’s the best script our writing staff has ever written. This is the show that made me. This is the show that is my baby. If the strike goes on longer than two weeks, I won’t be able to step on set for the final episode of the show. I won’t have a writer on set, as I have had on every episode since the fourth episode. I won’t be able to edit this final culminating episode. I won’t go to the wrap party that Fox TV and FX are paying for. You can’t tell me that any episode of television is more important than this one is to me, and I am ready to forego all those things in order to strengthen my union.

Tomorrow, we begin filming a new pilot, The Oaks, that I am Executive Producing. It’s an amazing script that David Schulner wrote and I signed up to help him make this show. Until we have a fair deal I cannot do that now and it kills me.

We are currently filming Season 3 of The Unit, a show that does fairly well, but against House and Dancing With The Stars, usually finishes in 3rd place. We have no guarantee that we will back for a 4th season. I just gave a director friend of mine his first TV directing gig. I’d like to see him succeed. He’ll have to finish the show on his own now without a writer on set, or my help in the editing room.

Some people have made the argument that if they don’t do this producing work or this editing, that someone else will do it, and this act won’t hurt the companies. I respectfully disagree. If we ALL stop ALL work tomorrow, the impact of this strike will be felt much more quickly, much more acutely and it most likely will end sooner, putting our writers, our cast and our crews back to work sooner!

I spent nearly 12 hours today in the Negotiation Room with the companies. I watched our side desperately try to make a deal. We gave up our request to increase revenue on DVD’s, something that was very painful to give up, but something we felt we had to in order to get a deal made in new media, which is our future.

I watched as the company’s representatives treated us horrendously, disrespectfully, and then walked out on us at 9:30 and then lied to the trades, claiming we had broken off negotiations.

I can’t in good conscience fight these bastards with one hand, while operating an avid with the other. I am on strike and I am not working for them. PERIOD.

You will use your own instincts and consciences to decide your own actions. But if you would like to follow in my footsteps (and those of many, many others who made this pledge at the showrunner’s meating on Saturday), I encourage you to sign the trade ad that the WGA will be putting out on Tuesday by the dozens and dozens of showrunners who will simply not work at all beginning in the morning.”

Patric Verrone was great in The Frighteners.

Is it just me, or is LAX24 making more and more sense?

“I just heard that the star of my husband�s show, who is also in the WGA, did not show up for work today. I guess there are some members who are willing to break contracts for this stike. Even though I am upset that it got to this point, I can respect that.”

So if the studios unilaterally decide to stop paying any residuals at all, ever, regardless of contractual obligations, you will respect that?

If violating a contract when the violator thinks it’s important is noble, then it would still be noble when the studios violate a contract when they think it’s important.

Right?

Studios… Noble? I don’t follow.

AA, I’m stating that I can respect someone who puts their ass on the line for the greater good. I do not want this strike, but since it is here it needs to end soon. People like this will facilitate it ending. You sound like you wish you had the balls to do that yourself.

Why are the Writer Action crowd coming up with spots to explain DVD revenue and not addressing the concept of new media and the internet?

Why is it that when we want more money, we’re noble and fighting for the greater good? When someone else wants more money, it’s only because they’re greedy?

This comes from a labor organizer back east:

“According to reliable sources, three of the five studio chiefs were beginning to suggest that they put internet back on the table this Friday when they saw what happened Thursday night, and pull off the table the 30-odd rollbacks. One said internet maybe, the other rollbacks stay where they are and fuck their pension and health plans. And one, the obvious one, said give nothing. He sees the strike as beneficial to his TV division because he’s in the best position to benefit from a strike, ignoring what a long strike does to the audience in the medium run and that he’s putting maybe 20,000 people out of work within a month or two and shredding the fabric of this entire city. This is barbarous behavior, evil and callousness at a level that takes you back to baseball bats and the 1930s, but they don’t need the bats these days. Speaking of bats, the only group capable of stopping this is the Teamsters. And they won’t, or can’t, mostly the former, I think.”

Stephen, thanks for posting Shawn Ryan’s statement.

Shawn’s the friend of a friend and it confirms everything I thought about him. It must be gut wrenching to do what’s he doing but it shows immense integrity, courage and character. What a guy!

its incredibly noble to put people out of work so you can get those new chrome 20s on your benz.

Yeah, Hammer. Keep those brilliant comments coming.

Everybody talks up Teamsters for being hardasses and taking no shit. Then go on those picket lines and act like a Teamster. They had to fight to get that reputation. If the WritersAction gang wants to make this about respect, then make it about respect.

Fact: most Americans don’t give two sh-t’s about who writes the shows and movies they consume (and as a poster above pointed out think we are the reason they suck).

Is there any reason to think the producers won’t act like GW and scrap the Kyoto Treaty? What’s in their best interest? To deal or hire scabs? What’s real incentive for these companies to negotiate? Are we SURE that our brothers and sisters in SAG, AFTRA, TEAMSTERS, DGA etc…will stand with us when push comes to shove?

Has it occured to anyone else that the members most strident in this debate are the ones with the most padding in the bank?

Just saying. Good luck on the lines, I hope it’s over soon.

CRAIG -

I think you’re right - there’s likely nothing you could have done to avoid us being here.

Because once the bullshit cleared, the AMPTP was not willing to budge on THE ISSUE. And still kept that lame free use clause?!

As you have said, Counter is not stupid/ surprised by anything. He/ they knew that’s the issue that would have stopped/ delayed the strike and they CHOSE not to deal.

I highly doubt if they were talking about fair rates for internet the talks would not have continued.

Still, I hope both sides keep talking, which is the reason I don’t mind week one of the strike being 9-5 (just sending a message we’re here, we’re out), before dragging the teamsters in and flaring emotions with further shut downs). I think it’s almost classy.

And THANKS CHRIS.

To #1 - Your cleaning lady is not creating an original work of Authorship.

To #1 39 - We’re working on it. And check this out, from Publishers Weekly:

By Rachel Deahl — Publishers Weekly, 11/2/2007 7:10:00 AM

Houghton Mifflin has signed with Mobifusion to deliver electronic versions of its books to cell phones. Joining the ranks of publishers like Avalon and Simon & Schuster-which already work with the tech company-Houghton will work with Mobifusion to deliver mobile-friendly versions of its books with some, according to a Houghton rep, featuring “added functionality.” Initially the house will focus on generating mobile versions of its reference and children’s titles. (more)

I checked with my publishing buddies and a standard ROYALTY to an author on a deal like this would typically be “standard.” So, if they get 10% royalty on net on a book, they get 10% on the eBook, or the download.

Those who can make the hardly grand canyon leap and understand Royaties = Residuals can then, hopefully, understand even more why we need a standard for New Media, and we need it NOW.

To # 39 -I’ve been a WGA member for 7 months. I don’t yet qualify for healthcare and paid $89 dollars last week for a dental cleaning that used to cost me a $10 copay. I don’t need or desire a flashy car. I drive a Honda. Good gas mileage, easy maintenance, and high resell value. When I get off the picket line later this evening, I’ll be heading to the restaurant I just started to work at for barely minimum wage and nearly nil tips, all in hopes of keeping the roof over my head. Please come down and see me and I’ll be happy to offer you fries with your meal.

Best,

Tina

so who writes the scripts that show the hollywood writer as a poor, struggling, guy trying to keep his head above water? never seen one of those. you guys write yourselves as the sunglasses and blow job type of hollywood elites and now you want us to pity you? i dont get residuals, i get a weekly paycheck, i work hard to put your shit on the screen, and you are going to make me lose everything.

To #45 - Sorry, that’s not really a great filmic concept, at least with a Writer in the lead (worked for Pursuit of Happiness, though). It’s not something I would write or something most people would try to sell because it probably wouldn’t been entertaining enough to put butts in theater seats or send people running to download it from Itunes, which, ultimately means that wouldn’t be the type of movie that would keep you employed.

I hope you don’t lose everything. Really.

Best,

Tina

I hate the strike, the idea of the strike, and the leadership of this union for not doing every goddamned thing they could do from January on to avoid the strike.

All of which means nothing in the face of what the AMPTP did over the weekend. It’s finally clear that they never wanted a deal, they were the ones who always wanted a strike, no matter what we said or did.

The failure of the WGA leadership was in not using all of the time between January and the end of October to force the AMPTP to reveal its hand. Without continuous and intensive negotiations during that period, there was no reason for AMPTP to shed the other non-central items and focus on the real issue.

Getting them to do that isn’t the beginning of the end of the negotiations, it’s the end of the beginning — the end of the preliminaries. For that to happen only after the contract has expired and on the last day before the strike is a huge failure of the WGA leadership, an overreliance on the strike threat as their only means of leverage.

In addition, if the strike has always been seen as the main tool of leverage for the WGA, then the leadership also failed by not using the entire January-October period to mend fences and build solidarity with the other unions in the industry and indeed all the other unions in L.A. and New York. Solidarity isn’t just about discipline and unity of one’s own membership, but also about the willingness of other unions to make sacrifices on your behalf, knowing that the sacrifices are for the common good — and will be reciprocated when the time comes.

Hammer:

You’ve been watching a bit too much CALIFORNICATION, I think.

And for the record — the “shit” writers create is what makes many, many jobs (including yours, it sounds like) possible in the first place.

We’re not asking for anyone’s pity. In fact, sounds like that’s what you’re doing.

Still, I hope both sides keep talking, which is the reason I don’t mind week one of the strike being 9-5 (just sending a message we’re here, we’re out), before dragging the teamsters in and flaring emotions with further shut downs). I think it’s almost classy.

A strike is not for classy. The message you want to send with a strike is always and only one thing: we can shut down your business and cost you so much money that it’s better just to give us what we asked for.

The strike will go on until you can drive that point home, or until you decide you can’t afford personally to remain on strike and figure it’s better just to accept what management is offering.

I’ve watched a lot of streaming media on the internet for free: CNN videos, premiere episodes of new shows, news magazine segments I’ve missed.

I enjoy the content, but not those commercials they force me to watch. I’m held hostage because there’s no way to skip them.

TV shows air commercials. Internet airs commercials.

“Attention must be paid,” also money to the WGA, DGA and SAG.

Get over it, media giants.

Good luck.

Tina, the problem with your royalties = residuals is a novel is written as a novel. if it gets made into a movie, its all gravy. the author is getting more money because a new use has been found for his material. a screenplay on the other hand is used for only one thing. after you write it, and its produced, it is going to be viewed. by the way, i am all for you getting more money if it was turned into a book, or even a play. im sorry but i cannot support you because you want to get paid more if someone watches your show on an ipod rather than a tv.

HAMMER, novelists get paid royalties off of books sold as well - they make a percentage. Residuals are supposed to function as defacto royalties in Hollywood. The reason has nothing to do with repurposing material. It’s because a book author (or songwriter) owns his own copyright. Screenwriters do not own the copyright. It’s as simple as that. The whole idea of residuals was to mimic the royalties that other producers of intelletual propert receive.

omg stephen, i had no idea you worked for free writing all those projects thet we simple crew members worked on. well by golly if thats the case then you should get paid for something. maybe we can get implants in our eyes that calculate how much time we are actually looking at the screen and you get a penny for every second.

Obama Statement on Writers Guild Strike

CHICAGO , IL—U.S. Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement on the Writers Guild strike. “I stand with the writers. The Guild’s demand is a test of whether corporate media corporations are going to give writers a fair share of the wealth their work creates or continue concentrating profits in the hands of their executives. I urge the producers to work with the writers so that everyone can get back to work.”

For Immediate Release Monday, November 5, 2007

Heading out to picket, but I gotta say one thing. Craig has been dead-on through much of this, but he’s dead wrong when he says getting to this point was inevitable. Why the hell did we wait until yesterday to take the DVD proposal off the table? We haven’t been serious negotiators, we have been f*ing amateurs. John Wells came in and suddenly there was progress. You think if Wells had been actively involved or even heading up the negotiations until now, we’d be going out on strike? Of course not. We’d be getting an internet and streaming rate we could live with, which is all that really matters, and all this extraneous chaff that sabotaged the negotiations, like reality, animation, and an unwinnable DVD proposal, would be by the wayside. Most definitely, folks, THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVERTED. And if you were honest with yourselves and read the damn papers, you’d agree. Now I gotta go out and waste four hours of my life carrying out somebody else’s incompetence. Mission Accomplished.

“But I also will not edit, I will not cast, I will not look at location photos, I will not get on the phone with the network and studio, I will not prep directors, I will not review mixes. These are all acts that are about the writing of the show or protecting the writing of the show, and as such, I will not participate in them.”

If EVERY writer in town had that much integrity and balls this strike would be over in no time.

Good man.

And talking about good men…

“Jon Stewart is paying his writers’ salaries during the first two weeks of the strike out of his own pocket, for both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report,”

I drove by the CBS lot on the way to work today, and I was a little dismayed by the small size of the picket line. For some reason I assumed there would be more people out on the first day of a strike. I also noticed a bunch of writers off to the side with their signs on the ground while making calls on their cellphones. Hopefully they were calling more people to show up!

I’m starting to get irritated about all the “You rich showrunners are taking away my job security!” complaints.

There’s never any job security in production. Your show gets canceled or moves production to Vancouver or your lead gets pregnant/turns out to be a cokehead/is a homophobe and everything tanks.

I am very sympathetic to the suckiness of suddenly not having a paycheck. I’m an assistant and I’m in the same position. But come on dudes. Let’s not pretend that we had grade A job security UNTIL those jackass rich showrunners decided to fuck us over. Because that’s just not true, and nobody likes a liar.

@….. did i miss it was a studio lockout and not a strike? damn these eyes.

Hammer (and anyone else unsure of the reason writers are entitled to royalties/residuals from the exploitation of motion pictures) —

A screenplay or teleplay is a cinematic dramatization of a story created for use in a motion picture. That its initialy fixed in a literary form does not alter the fact that whoever wrote the screenplay or teleplay created the cinematic dramatization used in the movie or tv episode.

Since that cinematic dramatization is one of the primary, if not the primary, reasons why a movie or tv episode generates revenue at all, the creators of cinematic dramatizations have right to share in that revenue (and this is a right that is recognized and enforced by law in virtually every country in the world, except the U.S.).

(Where the story that is subject of a cinematic dramatization is likewise created for use in a motion picture, the creator of the story likewise has the right to share in the revenue generated by the motion picture in which the story is used).

• Ted

To clear up royalties/residuals relationship here.

An author ONLY begins to receive royalties after the novel has made enough money to cover the author’s advance. (Called earning out.) Then, and only then, does the author get royalties, and a small percentage, i might add.

The similarity between royalties and residuals has to do with REPRINTS of the novel, both in hardback and paperback. This is similar to the idea of residuals from reruns, DVDs, or computer downloads.

One key difference is that the author of a novel ALWAYS retains his rights to the work in the form of copyright, which is then passed to his heirs.

A screenplay or teleplay is OWNED by the studio or network. That means that the only way a writer can make money from his scripts is through residuals.

Anonymous, at the head of these comments is a complete moron.

Writers are not cleaning girls.

We’re the f*g architects. You wouldn’t have a floor to clean with out us you schmuck.

Architects DON’T get residuals, you schmuck

It’s clear to me that the industry is bombing blogs to bias the public against writers. Most obvious was a blog attached to the MSNBC story about the strike. The first comment was basically “fuck the writers” and the first few pages were weighted similarly. They were blaming writers for all the bad crap on TV and blaming writers because “there had not been an original movie made in years.” I’m not kidding you, it read like the drudge report, just ignorant right wing slant. They were calling us “leftist, shoving our adgenda down their throats for years” I almost wonder if the conserative blogospere hasn’t mobilized for their corporate puppet masters. Anyway, try to keep an eye on other blogs and post as you can. Clearly, the industry is trying to stack the deck on blogs, and do realize that Hammer is an industry troll. Don’t waste your breath, Ted. He’s not interested in the truth. He’s a troll.

… as was commenter #1. You’re busted troll! Go away.

Today has been going slowly, but we are filming. The picketing group is standing out at the main gate, but not covering the other gates here. So people are driving in through the other gates.

Since the picketers were not here until 9AM, the whole crew was already in long before that time. I have had some later actors coming in, but they’ve had no issues.

Today may rank as the hardest day I’ve had to work since I got into this business. Been trying not to throw up. To partially quote David Mamet: “I have broken every law I have sworn to uphold, I have become what I beheld, and I am NOT content that I have done right.”

On another front, I have been advised by a source on “Heroes” that Tim Kring has quit the series. Apparently the network was making him remove storylines that could not be wrapped up in the existing episodes that are now being finished. This caused wholesale rewrites of three episodes over the past week and weekend.

And on the lot where “Heroes” shoots, there was an incident at the picket line where a PA working on another show ran over the foot of one of the picketers.

I can tell this is going to be a wonderful week already.

The WGA leadership should have engaged the AMPTP in negotiation sessions continuously since January — instead of holding a grand total of a half-dozen sessions in that entire time. When the AMPTP proposed a three-year study of new media, the response should have been, “We can do a joing AMPTP-WGA study of new media in three to six months and have it done well before Oct. 31. Let’s get started on that right now — which consulting firms would be acceptable to you?”

The WGA leadership should have focused on getting the non-issues off the table a long time ago, rather than finally getting them off the table after contract expiration and only in the last 12 hours before the strike deadline. Getting to the core issue of new media isn’t the beginning of the end of negotiations, it’s the end of the beginning.

The WGA leadership should not have assumed that, because they have fairness and right on their side, that the threat of a strike would be sufficient to persuade the AMPTP to see the light. But, having decided on a strike threat as their primary negotiating tool, the WGA leadership should have spent at least since January — if not every day since its election — rebuilding bridges to the other unions in the industry, and indeed every union in L.A. and New York. Solidarity is not merely a matter of unity and discipline among one’s own membership, but also persuading other unions to make sacrifices on one’s behalf, which they will do willingly if they are certain that the sacrifices are for the common good, and that the sacrifices will be reciprocated when the time comes.

And the WGA should have built a strike fund in earnest so that their members who not financially situated to weather a long strike would be secure that the union would keep them solvent so long as they stayed resolute.

Am I wrong about any of this?

I’m a graduate student at the Univ. of Miami and am one semester away from getting my MFA in Screenwriting. After graduation, it’s off to LA to join the hoards of other hopefuls who want to build a career writing in the industry. The only reason I will consider a career as a writer is because I know, should I be fortunate enough to work, I will be compensated fairly for that work thanks to the WGA. While it is an imperfect union, as they all are (I’m also in SAG and AEA), writers would be far worse off without it…as would audiences. Everyone who is walking a picket line today does so on my behalf, the up and coming wannabe, as well as on the behalf of the wannabes who will follow me. This is a pivotal moment. This is an important fight, one we cannot lose. I only wish there was someplace in Miami where I could go and join a picket line to show my support and to say thank you. I also wish that SAG, AFTRA, IATSE and DGA would support the WGA more fully…if all of the entertainment unions joined forces on this issue and refused to budge, then the producers would truly get the message. I’m proud that the WGA is blazing this trail. It makes me all the more anxious to become a member.

why was the day so hard for you? why are you trying not to throw up?

because you crossed a picket line?

Please feel free to correct me if I have my facts wrong, but…

The one overriding lesson of this strike (at least, until we see what the result turns out to be) should be this:

If you are a member of a union, make sure its leadership understands what the hell a union is.

The other unions, including the Teamsters, mainly have “must-work” provisions in their contracts that prohibit them from honoring picket lines absent any threat of violence. But with the right degree of fraternal solidarity between unions, the other unions could choose to violate that clause overtly (depending on using union leverage to protect their jobs) or covertly via sickouts and other actions. So what is the WGA doing to promote solidarity with its fellow unions?

I looked at the photo in the L.A. Times last night of picket signs being handed out. I looked carefully, and maybe the photo resolution just isn’t good enough, but I didn’t see the union “bug” — the printers’ union logo — anywhere on the signs. If a union going out on strike isn’t going to bother getting its signs printed by union labor, it isn’t trying very hard to earn the solidarity and support of other unions.

I read a post on The Artful Writer, allegedly by a member of Teamsters Local 399, who claimed that the WGA strikers are being shuttled around by non-union drivers. If true, that’s a slap in the face, frankly, to the Teamsters who the WGA are hoping will not cross the picket lines.

I keep reading comments from WGA members about how the DGA is getting ready to sell out the writers by cutting a separate deal with AMPTP well in advance of their own contract expiration. Even if that’s true, you don’t say that publicly about a brother union.

I also read comments from WGA members about what scum other unions are that dare to organize writers that had been targeted by the WGA. Again, comments like those are self-damaging. Instead, those gripers should ask why their union can’t succeed in organizing people who are obviously open to unionization.

Besides fraternal solidarity, there’s member discipline. We’ve heard plenty about the WGA strike rules, a big stick held over the members to keep them in line and on the lines. What about the day-to-day welfare of the WGA members to keep them united and disciplined?

Given what Variety is reporting about the potential impact of the strike on the film and television companies, it sounds like they will have the financial resources to weather a long strike. Even though Leno and Letterman will honor the picket line in the first week, they’re anticipated to be back on the air ad-libbing their material very shortly — just as the late-night talkers were in 1988. Plenty of reality and game shows are in the pipeline. The producers may end up saving millions by not making speculative pilots. And on the film side, there’s no shortage of material available to be filmed.

By contrast, has the WGA stockpiled a strike fund to insulate its members from the personal financial hardships of a months-long strike?

Some architects do get residuals, you clown. They can license their designs.

Who else earns off design? Why f*g designers! Oh the shock. Calvin Klein makes $35+ mill a year on design royalties alone.

It would greatly help the conversational process if at any stage you actually knew what the f*k you were talking about.

So… A couple of drivers from the show I’m on were replaced today- for being unwilling to do their job.

They have been unable to get any info from their BA as to what course of action they should take, or even if they are eligble for unemployment.

oh i get it, since i dont buy your communist manifesto bullshit, im must be a corporate lackey. couldnt possibly be im mad that 6 people on 1 show can kill the jobs of 150 people. oh yeah and just so you know my grandma owns stock in these evil corps and relies on those dividend checks as income. guess that makes her evil too, even though she and my grandfather were union workers their whole lives. fuck you marginallyemployed maybe if you were a better writer youd be fullyemployed.

“fuck you marginallyemployed…”

How uncivil.

Stuart Creque: are you a member of WGA?

Primetime TV is awful because of talentless, frightened executives who play it safe due to the unforgiving nature of their corporate bosses. There’s no rolling of the dice due to the rising costs of making shows as well as programmers fear of losing their jobs on a daily basis. The execs who championed both “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost” were fired before those series even made their debut. The failure of “Viva Laughlin” has no upside. In our current climate, “The X-Files” might not have made it to a second season.

Movie executives are equally myopic, especially with the high costs of making and marketing even an “average” movie. I’m surprised they bother generating new scripts for these abundant remakes, since directors who redid “Psycho” and “The Omen” opted to use the original drafts.

None of these ills are the fault of the writer, so perhaps MSNBC is echoing some sort of Jeff Zucker style antipathy.

Kevin Reilly, now at Fox, thinks the strike will force them to rethink their development cycles, so leave it to a network suit to see a fractured raindow in this storm.

My concern is that neither side will see a compelling reason to get back to the bargaining table soon, despite the ability to still save this current TV season as well as pilots for the next.

Right now, I suppose the Bush administration benefits the most since they won’t have Jon Stewart, Bill Maher or David Letterman mocking every misstep. For me, that’s a great loss.

I actually think this is great (potentially). Yes it sucks we’re not working, but huge strides were made yesterday. The movement, especially on the WGA’s side, was HUGE. Any of my past criticism of them has disappeared.

And I like the smell of the WGA’s farts all of a sudden.

Calling the strike, in the short term, gives us a great negotiating advantage.

Yes it’s inconvenient, but the WGA just staunched the flow of script stockpiling. It puts the pressure on the AMPTP in a real way. Brian McCabe pointed this out in a previous thread. The short term threat is very real.

The only mistake they could make at this point is to not negotiate everyday they can. If they allow the DGA to negotiate, I don’t care what Bowman says, it puts us at a disadvantage. I believe, if both sides are willing, this could end just as quickly as if we delayed the strike.

And Obama is an awesome dude. Did he just guarantee himself 12,000 votes? Will Craig now support a democrat?

Last night, the AMPTP made it clear that, even if we took everything else off the table, they would not budge on new media. I would have liked to see our leadership conduct themselves such that the AMPTP would have been forced to say so sooner (something that could have been achieved by taking all other issues off of the table, not as a means of “rewarding” the AMPTP for bad behavior, as some have suggested, but as a means of cutting to the chase). Had this happened, perhaps we would have had more than one day of serious discussions about the new media issue before the strike began.

Both sides have known for some time that new media was the issue of the year. It would have been nice if they’d talked about it seriously before last night.

sorry if you were offended “advised” but im not going to sit back and let someone discount all my points by calling me a troll.

To #63.

An author ONLY begins to receive royalties after >the novel has made enough money to cover the author’s advance. (Called earning out.) Then, >and only then, does the author get royalties, >and a small percentage, i might add. That’s not strictly speaking true. An author earns the royalties immediately. But the publisher keeps them until the advance is earned out (that’s why they call it an advance: it’s money the publisher gives the author before the book is published). They keep them for a long time after that too, but that’s another story. But standard royalties on a hardcover are 10%. I think most screenwriters would be THRILLED to get 10% of each movie theater ticket purchased. :) (And yes, I know that costs of making a movie are higher than printing a book, so let’s not start that).

A screenplay or teleplay is OWNED by the studio or network. That means that the only way a writer can make money from his scripts is >through residuals. Plus the amount that the writer made in the first place when the script was purchased.

Still, it all STARTS with a writer. No content, no show. Black marks on paper…that’s the beginning of all of this. Let’s not forget that.

Good luck to everyone out there. I have a deal under consideration for my novel and it’s stalled till all this is over, but I’m behind you guys all the way.

Just an anecdote re: union solidarity

My husband is a government employee, which is union, but really very far removed from all of this. He listens patiently to me about what is happening in Hollywood and my dreams of being a discovered scriptwriter but I know he only cares because I care…EXCEPT last week I mentioned that the WGA was possibly going on strike. I started off the conversation with “I know you don’t really care about all this…” and he replied “I DO care, I’m union too,” and wanted to hear about everything that is going on.

The solidarity of union brotherhood reaches further than you may think.

Media stocks were mixed today, with modest negative movement in Sony & NewCorp. Disney, TW, & CBS were all up, albeit, slightly.

Takeaway?

On the first day, the market sees the strike as a non-event.

lt

The companies squeeze the writers because they can. The writers have exactly one bargaining chip—strike. It’s not their fault for using it as a last resort. Business is business. I think it’s funny when the money side plays hardball and fights for everything they can get and they get their panties in a knot when the working side finally revolts.

to The Hammer: If you resent that writers are fighting for a reasonable deal, it makes me wonder what bad deal you settled for — are you the one who complained in another thread about having to stand in as an extra for free? If so, you do have a valid complaint, but not against the writers. Why not direct your resentment where it belongs?

I support y’all!

Karen: I think The Hammer is directing it where it belongs—at himself. He’s just using the public forum as his vehicle.

He’ll undoubtedly prove it with his response!

I have been wondering as I haven’t seen this particular point addressed anywhere.

I know that many in this industry are members of more than one union at a time.

If a writer also carries the title of Producer, Associate Producer or Executive Producer, are they a part of the Producer’s Union?

If so, how does it affect them to be in both unions, one striking against the other and why can’t they as members of the Producer’s union put pressure on the top brass to reach a fair settlement??

Thank you for your time in addressing this matter and keeping us all up to date.

Is “The Hammer” posting here the same “The Hammer” who was a frequent poster on the old GEnie Science Fiction forums in the 90’s?

Annoying loudmouth then, annoying loudmouth now.

Forgive me for asking, but for legitimate newbies (aspiring screenwriters who haven’t managed to get guild membership) what does this strike mean?

I have spoken to some fellow newbies who think it means now is a good time to try to break in, since the “experienced” writers won’t be working.

I have spoken to other fellow newbies who think now is a horrible time to break in because the strike means nobody will be buying anything, and anyway, we should be supporting the strike since if we ever get into the guild, we will want the benefits the WGA is fighting for.

I’m honestly just confused. So my question is: What should newbie writers be doing right now? If we’ve recently completed revisions on a spec, should we wait until the strike is over to try to sell it? Or should we send specs in the hopes that the people who would normally be reading work from established writers will have time for us right now?

I hope this doesn’t offend anyone, that’s not really the intent, but if somebody could let the newbies know what our best course of action is, that would be great.

Liz, My suggestion? keep working on your writing at night, and during the day, spend as much time as you can on the picketline, discussing what the strike means, the industry, and how you can be a part of it with other ‘newbies’ as well as some of the most seasoned writers out there.

The message you want to send with a strike is always and only one thing: we can shut down your business and cost you so much money that it’s better just to give us what we asked for.

Yeah, but here’s the problem with that.

We can’t do that.

We can’t cost them more money with a strike than they would save by securing an advantageous (to them) internet deal.

Huffington post reports that the industry is cancelling radio advertising for sweeps week. I’m not sure how widespread it’s been, but that’s not a good sign if a short strike is the goal.

I agree with my Staten Island homeboy. Spent the morning walking the walk outside of Fox with James Brooks. Trucks came and went. There was no disruption, no shutting down. I felt like an extra for the news channels.

If a writer also carries the title of Producer, Associate Producer or Executive Producer, are they a part of the Producer’s Union?

There’s no such thing.

There’s a Producers’ Guild, but it’s not a federally certified labor union. It’s a club.

Producers aren’t considered employees, but rather independent contractors and in supervisory positions.

Craig,

I agree, so what’s the end game? I mean, the real end game, not the imaginary end-game in our minds?

Liz, never ever give comfort to the enemy. The WGA is fighting for you. Many WGA members are giving up actual (not potential) earnings to fight this fight. For a professional, but non-union, writer to work with the industry or to sell to the industry is to undermine your own future.

By all means work on your spec, be ready to sell after the strike, but bear in mind the WGA is fighting for ALL writers - established and upcoming.

Craig @93 said:

We can�t cost them more money with a strike than they would save by securing an advantageous (to them) internet deal.

I’m curious. I’d think that a fairly large number of writers on the movies that make the most money would end up getting internet residuals placed into their contracts anyway, because they’ve got the juice to negotiate for that.

That means that the guild-established residuals would largely be there for those without the high end negotiating power—and that’s usually for the movies that don’t make as much money (or, if they do make that much money, the writer starts getting very nice resids starting on the next movie).

If that’s true, then the studios could be losing more than it appears, since they lose out on the big earners’ work during the strike, and end up having to pay those residuals to the big earners regardless of how the strike turns out due to big earner negotiating power.

In a sort of related point, while there might not be much progress in the main negotiations for a day or so, it seems that the WGA could do something positive and useful by putting together some standard legal clauses regarding internet residuals so that individual writers’ agents or attorneys could refer to them in negotiations.

Even though the guild might not be able to guarantee those numbers via the contract, by having a precedent set I think it really helps establish the boundaries for a reasonable deal.

I’m guessing negotiations still go on during the strike. Is there a media block out for those and do they continue from where they left off? Are all negotiations now back room off the record talks as well? I would hope that communication is still open.

Just a quick note about the press coverage, at least online.

I can tell you that there definately is a lot of interest in the strike. We officially launched a strike blog over the weekend, and it’s doing well enough to qualify as a top ten hit in TV ratings terms. People are interested. Not just in their favorite shows (although that obviously is a concern), but they also care about the issues. There aren’t many Americans whose jobs haven’t been impacted by the Internet, so many people do “get” it.

As for writers getting the word out on their side of the story, let me suggest that contacting journalists directly with your story is a good place to start.

I certainly am always looking for more perspectives.

rick@allyourtv.com

Craig, love ya, but I believe you got the WB thing wrong. Just for the record, I was out on the picket lines at Warner Brothers studios today, and there were picketers at all the gates.

Just got back from my shift. Teamsters driving in and out all morning, at the rate of one a minute. We kept calling, “Teamster Brother!” but apparently they didn’t see us as related. . May I suggest the morning shift for the rest of the week? The weather is cool, the fog keeps out the sun, and they still have refreshments. . Stuart Creque and Paula are right on the money — keep posting. . The troops have definitely been worked up emotionally. The reaction to what happened yesterday, when we took our DVD proposal off the table, was almost universally, “See? We removed their ‘stumbling block’ and they still won’t negotiate!” rather than “What took us so f*ing long?!” . . It made me proud to be a writer again — not because of the number of people who signed up for unnecessary carnage, but the willingness of people to make genuine sacrifices. TV creators and staff writers who were walking away from gigs it took years to get, and may never come again. Hats off to you folks. No kidding. The ones who came before you would be proud.

Hello all-

As many of you know, the WGA (the TV/Film Writer’s Guild) went on strike this morning. There’s been a lot of misguided or negative press about the issues at stake (perhaps because the very corporations we’re striking against own the news media? perhaps…) so I thought I’d send a quick email to clarify and ask for some support.

The issue at stake, now, definitively, is the internet. The press has repeatedly characterized the writers as “wanting a bigger share of internet revenue.” I suppose the writers are asking a bigger share, but that’s not exactly accurate. We’re asking for any share. Writers and actors are currently NOT PAID ONE PENNY for their TV shows that air on the internet. The producers’ offer in negotiations? Zero.

The producers have maintained that most working writers already make an average of $200,000 a year and that we’re just being greedy. If you took 7th grade math, you know how averages work—those $4 million dollar script deals you hear about? That’s one guy, maybe 2. And he blows the curve. Those TV writers living in mansions? They’re usually showrunners, creators of series whose main profit comes from their producing end, NOT their scripts.

And those million dollar screenwriters walking the picket lines today could frankly make good enough deals that the pennies we’re talking about don’t matter to them. They’re not there for themselves. They’re there for the rest of us. Residuals are royalties writers get paid for the reuse of their work—just like novelists, playwrights, artists, and musicians. They are the way ANY artist actually makes a living. OVER 50% OF WRITERS ARE NOT WORKING AT ANY GIVEN TIME. These residuals keep them afloat. The producers claim the internet isn’t profitable to them—which is why we’re asking a percentage (and a minor one at that) because, again, 7th grade math skills here, percentages mean if you don’t make money, neither do we. If you do, our percentage still stays that nice low number, but the total dollars go up. For everyone.

What this is all about, the reason you’re getting this email, is that if you’ve ever watched an episode of Lost or The Office on the internet, no one but the producers got paid. You’re a part of this. If you have dial-up but wished you could catch up online or thought it was a good idea, if you have no idea what those shows are but have heard of network television which remains free to the viewer and profitable to the producers through advertising (same deal with the internet), you’re a part of this. What we’re asking will NOT make you pay for shows on the internet; it will simply ensure that those who created them get paid for them. If you’ve ever bought a Monet postcard from a gift shop instead of taking a photograph at the museum and hanging it on your wall, this is what it’s about. The producers are photographing art, selling it to consumers, and then claiming it’s not the same art. Even if you question TV as “art”, I’m sure there’s a lot of works on museum walls you feel the same way about, and you still wouldn’t steal them.

Please, email networks, write your newspapers, viewers: don’t flock to reality shows, and at least feel a little sympathy. The writers, by want of their contract expiring first, are becoming the industry guinea pigs for this issue. If you know an actor, this will be coming up in June, and it will mean the difference between paying rent and quitting for a lot of people. People are putting their careers, their marriages, and their mortgages on the line for an issue that goes to the core of art vs. commerce. This is about pennies on the dollar, yes. This is about making a living, yes. This is about the value we put on creativity and intellectual property—and the producers have negotiated with the number Zero.

If you’re in L.A. or NY, we’d love to see you on the lines. I’ll be there, 9 a.m. tomorrow. Honk and wave if you see me.

Request for the trolls - can you pick just one screen name and stick with it so we can keep the troll lists tidy?

I mean, I know it’s hard to continue to pretend to be a teamster when you’re home posting all morning, but instead of going Sybil, maybe just take a breather until tonight to keep up your cover story.

“sorry if you were offended “advised” but im not going to sit back and let someone discount all my points by calling me a troll.”

Your points are not discounted because you are being called a troll. Your points are discounted because you are a troll. Important distinction.

Richard has a good question. Are negotiations still going to happen this week? I didn’t get the sense from either press release that the reset button was pushed, just fingered a little.

Hey Jack M, screw off! Working AD has provided pertinent information here. He’s helped in his own way, take care of your own damn decisions and get off your high horse.

ditto on the WB gate situation. I was there this morning and there were picketers at ALL the gates. the news vans were focused around the gate at Barham. nice to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus out there with her writers. many other showrunners and their staffs out there was well. on my way home I even did a lap around the whole lot and all the gates were well represented.

thanks to all the motorists out there who gave us good honks and support. yes, we did get a couple of middle fingers, but the honks and thumbs up were way in the majority.

Craig,

“for those of you who honestly though the WGA really really really meant that DVD increase demand, all I can say is…listen more closely to Uncle Craig next time, okay?”

Uh…. I don’t think I know a single writer who thought that that wasn’t going to go. But if you really want a pat on the head for knowing what everyone in town knew, why the heck not? It’s obviously important to you.

As for Warners, a piece of advice - I’ve stated before that I don’t know what I’d do in your position, and I understand what a hard choice it must be to decide to continue the film, but as long as you’re crossing the line to make your movie, criticizing the Guild when you don’t have the slightest fucking clue what you’re talking about is especially poor form. There were picketers on every gate at Warners this morning. If you’d been there, you’d know that.

What’s say you leave the posting of hearsay to Nikki Finke, at least until you’re actually out here with a little skin in the game like the rest of us.

Sorry-meant to add that was an email I received today. Feel free to forward.

No, sir, not yet. Apparently I have earned 4 units for writing a short that was shot last year, completed this year. I might be eligible for the Independent Writers Caucus, depending on which screenwriting competitions are “highly regarded.”

But my Dad was a president of his teachers’ union local, Oakland (CA) Federation of Teachers of the AFT, AFL-CIO. I grew up with the difference between a labor union like the AFT and a “professional association” like the National Education Association. My Dad also served on the Alameda County Central Labor Council, and we went every year to the CLC Picnic for all Alameda County trade unions, where I always did a shift in the hot dog stand or the dunking booth.

I know a bit about solidarity, even though my last union jobs (Tool and Die Creaftsmen, AFL-CIO; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) were close to thirty years ago.

If my Dad had seen picket signs without the union bug, he’d have gone and had a replacement set run off out of his own pocket and brought them to the lines — and demanded the picketers replace the cards on their signs on the spot.

Who wrote the email, Thursday? I’d love to repost it but I want to give credit when I do.

Just got back from CBS Radford where all gates were covered. They even went to an out location for CANE and shut it down twice. (On Ventura) Finally, the production was forced down. I’m guessing they went back to the soundstage. I split my time between the main gate and Colfax. Some teamsters waved and honked in support, others actually turned around. I saw three trucks turn around in 30 minutes while I was at the Colfax gate. Thank you, teamsters!!!

The picket signs were printed at a union shop. I know becuase I know the guy who printed them and the shop where they were printed. The vehicles are being driven by WGA staff and members of the WGA so that is definitely misinformation being spread. If you look at the front page of the LA Times you can see the bug in the middle of the sign just above the handle.

Sorry for my terrible spelling above.

Last night, the AMPTP made it clear that, even if we took everything else off the table, they would not budge on new media. I would have liked to see our leadership conduct themselves such that the AMPTP would have been forced to say so sooner (something that could have been achieved by taking all other issues off of the table, not as a means of “rewarding” the AMPTP for bad behavior, as some have suggested, but as a means of cutting to the chase). Had this happened, perhaps we would have had more than one day of serious discussions about the new media issue before the strike began.

Both sides have known for some time that new media was the issue of the year. It would have been nice if they’d talked about it seriously before last night.

Teddy Roosevelt said it: Speak softly and carry a big stick. Suppose back in March someone on the WGA negotiating committee said to the AMPTP negotiators, “Gee, if you’re telling us that your proposal on new media is take-it-or-leave-it, I guess we’ll take that back to our membership… but I don’t think they’re going to take it.” A meeting with the membership back then would have had two salutary effects: the members would have been much better informed about the issues, and the negotiators would be able to go back to the AMPTP and say, “Sorry — looks like you’ll have to figure some other way to skin this cat. What else you got?”

I am NOT claiming that this would have averted a strike. If there was never any overlap between the AMPTP position and the WGA position, then no agreement would have been possible prior to the strike. But the process of negotiation is to identify where overlaps exist and don’t exist, and to try to trade off adjustments where they exist in order to create overlaps where they don’t exist.

The end game from here on in is very simple. Either the WGA relents on its demands, or the AMPTP improves its offers, or both. Which of these happens and to what extent depend almost entirely on whether the strike is costing the AMPTP companies more than what they would have to give up to meet the WGA’s demands, or alternatively whether the cost to the WGA members of remaining on strike for an extended period ultimately becomes unbearable financially and psychologically (because both staying out and deciding to go back in both take an emotional toll).

Hey Shaun, Nice to see solidarity for your buddy, WorkingAD.

Hardly on a high horse, pal.

Just asked three questions…

Once you start telling people to screw off—i have to wonder how high your own horse is.

I’m the one out of work. That puts my horse, and my wife and kids’ horse pretty low…

You work today?

-Jack

Steve Carell didn’t show up today to film “The Office,” so we should send a shout out to him.

Craig -

I was on the line at Warners this morning and we were covering ALL the gates. Trust me - I know, I was there. I was on the “VIP Tour” Gate, so even that was covered so trucks wouldn’t come in and out.

Is your husband SEIU? My Mom was SEIU in Alameda County’s Elections Department for a number of years, up to the level of shop steward, before she moved into management. No union man wants to see fellow union members get screwed by management.

But the solidarity of union brotherhood needed to go much further for this strike to have the best chance of succeeding. I’m of the impression — someone please correct me if I am wrong — that the WGA hasn’t always shown real solidarity with its brother unions. Solidarity only has meaning when it involves reciprocity of sacrifice.

Could the strike last long enough to crush the union? I mean, is there a point where a decent percentage of Guild members say “enough is enough,” and give up their membership so they can go back to work? And then a domino effect takes over.

I support the writers, and hope this all works out well. I apologize if my question is offensive, or if I just don’t understand the situation very well, but it seems like a lot of writers feel strong armed into the Guild to begin with.

shaun— when i say i didn’t work: i mean i’m on strike. j

The picket signs were printed at a union shop. I know becuase I know the guy who printed them and the shop where they were printed. The vehicles are being driven by WGA staff and members of the WGA so that is definitely misinformation being spread. If you look at the front page of the LA Times you can see the bug in the middle of the sign just above the handle.

Thank you! Those are good things to know, and speak well to the union’s conduct of the strike.

Craig - you called Warner Bros. completely wrong, as others have pointed out, every gate was covered and that was clearly the plan from the time we got there.

Additionally, just a little browsing of certain threads at WA would have gotten you a reason as to why we’re starting with 9-5 pickets this week.

Whereas as usually you manage to at least acknowledge opposing sides of an issue, today you came off cranky and bitter, taking a shot at guild leadership just days after posting about how you would support the guild once the strike was on.

If this is your support, don’t bother.

AIFreak #115- Just FYI, the staff at the WGA are non union.

They are not covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement. A number of years ago, there was a failed organizing effort.

Just to put a fine point on it, the staff at the WGA are not represented by any union.

Although someone anonymously lumped all agents in as tools of the studios, I would like to add that a decent rate is necessary on new media, but equally as important is that there be escalators built in. A system that isn’t conceived for change is doomed to be mired down in the past.

Jim Adler,

Can you explain the logic behind striking 9-5?

Stuart: yes! Yes, he is. I don’t want to say too much more about that because it isn’t my business to talk about him on the Internet — but thanks for the shout out (smile).

Solidarity has to start somewhere. If the WGA messed up in the past, it appears they are getting it now.

Brian,

As a negotiator, what’s your interpretation of the WGA’s and AMPTP’s moves? Pros and Cons?

Thanks in advance.

Is the language of this AMPTP promotional streaming proposal online anywhere?

Apparently it wasn’t only Steve Carrell, also Rainn Wilson didn’t show up for work. BTW, Ugly Betty herself, America Ferrera was out there picketing.

Could the strike last long enough to crush the union? I mean, is there a point where a decent percentage of Guild members say “enough is enough,” and give up their membership so they can go back to work? And then a domino effect takes over.

This is why unity, discipline and solidarity are all so important. Franklin’s dictum, “We must hang together, or we will all surely hang separately,” ought to be constantly in the forefront of each striker’s mind.

I support the writers, and hope this all works out well. I apologize if my question is offensive, or if I just don’t understand the situation very well, but it seems like a lot of writers feel strong armed into the Guild to begin with.

Closed shops are legal, and since all workers benefit from the union’s bargaining, they make perfect sense. While everyone in a closed shop has to pay dues, a worker can choose not to join the union formally. But my thought is, if you’re paying the dues, why would you want to (a) be excluded from decisionmaking and (b) alienate your co-workers who belong to the union?

below the line I’m very much aware of both of your points but the post made it seem like the guild went out and hired a bunch of non-union drivers. It’s the staffs job to do whatever they are allowed to help the members.

Although I’m not a WGA member yet, I’m a working writer (three projects this year) whose next project was going to bring me over. Sadly, the strike uproar meant that this didn’t happen, but regardless, I support this strike and the issues surrounding it 100%. Making concessions and bending over for rollbacks means that more of this shit will be put on the table at every single negotiation, and the unions will be destroyed. Since the studios already walk all over writers, I can only imagine how much worse that would get if they lost that union protection.

I’ll gladly go out and join the picketers if they’ll have me.

SML:

I’m not in the room. I don’t want to speculate on the rights and wrongs of the negotiations when it’s all hearsay.

I brought up escalators because I didn’t hear anyone talking about them. It’s a little cart before the horse, but something to keep in mind. I don’t want to see another strike down the line just trying to raise the rate. Cost of living should be built in.

By the way, for anyone getting a little weary of Craig’s view from the house, there’s a great blog run by a working TV writer named Kay Reindl that offers a more nuanced view of all this, as well as some amazing writing about the inner workings of TV.

It’s at:

http://seriocity.blogspot.com/

And when she tells you something’s happening on the picket line, it’s first hand information, cos she’s actually there.

Mike S,

I’m guessing no (I did a brief search).

If the AMPTP had a serious, specific offer on the table they would hype it, just like the WGA is hyping the DVD pull back.

I actually think the AMPTP was just feigning ruffled feathers. Read the statement again. It isn’t as hardcore as the ones in the past. They’re going to move. The press, even the “AMPTP ROCKS” press, is pointing out that the WGA moved on DVD and essentially calling Counter a hypocrite (notice essentially and that I’m obviously biased and optomistic).

It sounds like no matter how long the strike lasts, its still not necessarily going to give the Guild the leverage they need to force a deal?

Im young and naive so forgive me but, is the guild searching for other nonconventional ways to improve their bargaining position?

For instance, by galvanizing public opinion against the greedy studios.

Or only targeting 1 or 2 studios for a writers strike to break up the unity of the AMPTP?

Brian,

The elevator would be great. I wish you would speculate though… :)

I suppose that that all of the commenters, my making the most sense seems rather surprising!

Earlier today while at my local library, i was re-reading a 1998 non-fiction work by labor economist Julius Getman, a tome entitled “The Betrayal of Local 14.” For those not in the know, this book details the personal reflections of the 1987-88 International Paper strike by the entirety of thr UPIW, particularly the crippling strike that occured in Jay, Maine. Honestly, after reading this book again, it can get difficult to have the sides of this dispute-cum-pawns for coming terror assaults and wars be in complete approval compared to 20 years back.

Those that went on strike against IP had everything they ever had in their lives jeopardized, both striking and prior to striking. The town of Jay, Maine had become enviromentally unfriendly and quite toxic to live in. The workers had to actually work Sundays and holidays, and by the time of the 1987 strike, IP was threatening to remove Christmas Day off, the one day that many of these workers could enjoy with their families. As well, the traditions of family and community the mill positioned was about to tear the entire fabric apart. munting to even less pay on the spot than those in the entertainment industry, Rollbacks were envisioned to basically child labor standards. This is among other things IP and its head, John Georges, were implementing.

The strike lasted from June 1987 through October 1988; and even though labor activist greats such as Peter Kellman, Ray Rogers, and Bill Meserve perservered through having solidarity, replacement workers were positioned to the mill. And in a twist of loyalty, the international head of the UPIW, Wayne Grady, allowed for the strike to be called off without a vote by the union rank-and-file in response to his apprehension for Rogers’ corporate campaign against IP.

Needless to say, the union of Local 14 never recovered (in fact it was later decertified), the town never recovered, and most tellingly, personal relationships and community relations on the whole never recovered. Family members went against family members, friends turned into enemies, individuals known for being genteel and friendly quickly became bitter. In one excerpt, Getman mentions a funeral of a known mother post-strike in which the son that worked in management was told to move to another area in the services to be away from the rest of the family, which were pro-union and understandably so.

Coming home, I find that the injuries and violence I predicted would come has come indeed. Of course, now it is persoanl injuries just to soften the populace. But soon, if not today, that terror false-flag I warned about will commence: with that, it will not matter that respected figures including Sen. Barack Obama, Tina Fey and Seth Meyers, and Robert Redford support the writers in this dispute (as do I.) The rest of the public, even those pro-union, will want bloodlust from their perceived international enemies, once again forgetting that the enemy is nearby, and may be ourselves. As well, picketing for more money in this juncture is rather tacking when compared to picketing for anti-war measures, getting the truth of our social-political problems in the past few decades, or even political campaign rallying. But then, I suppose, the Seth Macfarlane approach from “Family Guy” of obtaining wants through mob violence (“Where’s my money” etc.) is an idea not given much thought by the picketers. It has been advised to be done by the corporations, and our leaders and financiers. In fact, it is done regularly.

The PR war, therefore, has been lost. One only has to hear some individual state something to the effect of “i work in the school business making shitty money; try doing that” to know that the PR is non-existant. Plus, while films are not threatened (greater leverage in independent payments and mogul backing, such as anything Steven Spielberg is involved in), television is threatened immeasureably to the extent of probable non-existance. I do not watch Late-Nite programs due to my falling asleep most nights around that time, although I do prefer David Letterman. As of now, there is only 4 series that I will watch: Lost, The Unit, The Shield, and The Wire. The last two are in the filming of their final seasons, and as Shawn Ryan stated regarding the Unit, its status is good for now, yet it is day-to-day of what future is held.

And now, Tim Krieng, the writer-producer-creative force behind Heroes, has effectively been fired by NBC and his production company. Thus, that series has turned oficially into shit; another promising series that had moderate ratings in viewership (which is to say, not to the ratings on average given to goddamn American Idol), yet was too smart for fairweather viewers and executives wanting something akin to “Law and Order: Soft Drinks Unit.” I will admit that the series lifted ideals from the writings of Alan Moore, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Frankly, my patience for televison industry types to provide something new was bastardized last season. Three new series that I had watch from beginning to end did not live to see an end for the season, let alone a second season. Smith only lasted three aired episodes, which pissed me off at least. Studio 60 did not last a full season, and is now on DVD for its complete series. And, I suppose, the last straw was NBC cancelling after three or so episodes “The Black Donnelys”, one of the more innovative programs shown this year. And it is taken off.

You know, I keep telling those that want to listen, these series would be given a chance had more sane network programmers run the business. In the 10 years since the untimely passing of Brandon Tartikoff, this stance has been given higher importance. Right now, only Law and Order remains from the Tartikoff era that still runs. In a way, I stopped watching television on a nightly basis with his death, and subsequently the end of Seinfeld. And this is one viewer that has not returned to watch in blocks every night.

Thus, this dispute is an amalgamation of dick-measuring, coupled with strategic pawning for up and coming violence and globar wars. Just hours ago, the country of Turkey has finalized plans to invade Iraq to destroy the Kurdish regions. The United States leadership have the gall to say they did not see this coming? That is cowardly bull. As is, for the top 700 or so that can afford this stoppage, it is just an extended vacation (by 2 weeks or so) to catch up work for writers, family and loved ones for both sides, and as seen with Heroes, rightly or wrongly throw away supposed dead weight. In the IP strike I mentioned, none of the workers were wealthy, at all.

Are you certain you are getting the truth about anything? What if this is just an act of a paper tiger, from all sides? and more tellingly, do any of you want to go to war with the rest of the known world? If not, then stop being pawns, and start being free humans. This strategem will not work for any of us, and will have humanity suffer.

In concern for all,

Lax24

Kay Reindl is a superb writer as well as person.

I wonder why she never posts here?

Just to offer a bit of solidarity from across the pond and the Writers Guild of Great Britain. We negotiated on this point already and secured residuals from internet usage of writers’ material. Perhaps you could use this as example in future negotiations - the WGA isn’t being “unreasonable”. There is a precident. I’m backing you guys all the way.

I’m not a member of the WGA but I stopped by and coaxed another non-member to support the strike. We walked with the picketers at Paramount and were welcomed with some enthusiasm. As a hopeful future member, I thought it was the least I could do. My hope is that ALL WGA members take their duty to strike seriously and…um…not be hanging around the AF forums where their screen handles give them away…um…yeah.

Suz

Jack M, let me give you an answer to your questions.

I have been feeling pretty bad today because of the situation. I did not cross a picket line, and I will not do so. On the other hand, when I came to work at 530AM, there was no picket line to cross. But I knew that the line was coming, and I still went to work.

Many of the people on my crew are pretty depressed about the situation. It isn’t a matter of crossing a picket line, although I don’t like the idea of working for a company that is being picketed. I think it’s a combination of depression over the situation, guilt over allowing the situation to continue, and anxiety about the show going down next week and being unemployed for the rest of the year (and into the next).

Does this answer your question?

Well, I decided to go out and join the strikers at the Universal Barham entrance this AM, and am pleased to report seeing good turnout and good morale out there -

and btw: ALL the entrances to the major studios were covered: the single locations given on wga.org were merely to make it easy to know where to show up initially.

There is definitely a plan in place: I’m not sure it would matter if I gave out what I heard here, but just in case, I won’t.

We had 2 reporters show up: one from Univision, and one from the LA Weekly: our strike captain gave them good interviews.

We had no trouble with the police: one gentleman showed up in plains clothes to chat with the strike captain for a few.

Attendance at “my post” was down by 3PM this afternoon, but hopefully that was the exception to the rule.

Josh,

Agreed. I was right there with her. Right before I hung out with her, I ran into Jim Adler (hey Jim!). It’s weird, though, I didn’t see other folks there…

Alan,

I thought she did post here? She said she did. Oh, wait…

Generally: I’m not a member of the WGA, and even I (with my miniscule brain) understand how the 9 AM start helps the teamsters. Sigh.

Btw: I wasn’t the only member of SAG who showed up to support the Writers this morning: there were 2 or 3 others at Barham.

Craig, I agree, so what’s the end game? I mean, the real end game, not the imaginary end-game in our minds?

Well, this could precipitate a deal within a week or two.

OR…they companies leave us out, and get to work with the DGA, who will finalize a deal before the year ends. That’s likelier.

OR…the companies leave us out, don’t bargain with the DGA, and use us as “heads on a pike” as warning to SAG, as in, “Wanna strike? Go for it. Look what we’ve done to the writers.”

I think the DGA result is the likeliest occurrence, but don’t discount the possibility of option #1.

Option #3 is a bit far-fetched.

I hear the Office has been shut down indefinitely before Carrell and Rainn Wilson — both WGA members — refuse to cross the picket lines at NBC.

Correction: The entire cast of “The Office” has refused to cross the picket line. Greg Daniels already stated he wouldn’t cross as a producer. The show is now shut down.

Craig,

Option #1 is my prediction.

I’m as moderate as you are, but it doesn’t seem like you see a negotiating advantage to a short-term strike. Doesn’t this strike, with the events that occurred this weekend, put the WGA, in the short term mind you, in a stronger negotiating position than if they delayed the strike (which, from my standpoint, would be advantageous only to the AMPTP)?

Also, do you know if negotiating will continue this week? Because if we don’t negotiate, #2 and #3 move up, percentage-wise, to a toss of the coin.

Kay Reindl does indeed rock, and her prose is top-notch.

There was definitely picketing going on at Warner Bros. Gate 4 was a little quiet, people were just kind of milling about, but gate 5 had it going on. At gate 6 Mike White was doing some weird performance art-y thing through the crosswalk. No trombones though, as the WGA East seemed to have per the pics on Deadline Hollywood. Seriously, tomorrow you folks need to represent with trombones.

There were only a few picketers at NBC but they had a chant going.

One last birds-eye opinion:

The simple red and black “Writers on Strike” signs are a lot easier to read from a passing car:

the others, which are all red and white with artwork of a pen on them, are tough to read unless you’re within about 10 feet.

Just got off walking the line outside CBS.

RE: striking earlier than 9am — I was told the Teamsters didn’t wanted us to do that. The theory was that they go in at their usual time, get their trucks, make a few deliveries, come back and find a picket line stretched in front of them, which they wouldn’t cross.

This leaves the trucks outside the lot and a half-day’s pay in the Teamsters’ pockets.

Just what I heard. Can anyone second this?

Seconded, Mike.

Mike J,

Can’t officially second you, but that makes sense to me. And I’m all about making sense.

SML

I notice that you posted before 1 and after. Why are you not on a picket line?

You mean “cents” SML. ;)

Curious,

I live in Canada.In an igloo.

Bonjour. ‘ello. Konichiwa. How awboat that, eh?

Flyby,

:)

If anyone wants to believe for six seconds the AMPTP crap about not knowing how to monetize online content, just check this out: http://www.nbcumarketplace.com/marketplace2/index.html

Someone working at 7000 W. Third today with me asked a staff member why the picketing doesn’t start earlier and without missing a beat, she replied “because we don’t want to upset the Teamsters.” The conversation went on and apparently, in exchange for their warm and fuzzy support, we aren’t going to actually present them with any picket lines not to cross. I heard someone at the Convention Center ask what the Teamsters had been promised in exchange for their support (a question David Young kinda blew off), and I guess that’s it. We need to keep that in mind when we rally around the giant “sacrifice” they are making for us.

There are small individual group meeting today, so let’s hope we hear formal negotiations get rescheduled sooner rather than later.

Do you understand anything — anything at all — about labor negotiations?

Over this past summer, while working as Supervising Producer on an international cable show that will remain unnamed, the guy who owned the show was talking to me every day about his idea for doing a show to be downloaded on mobile phones - a thriller, something I’m really fucking good at doing. I think you can read about one like it now being done by Marshall Herskovitz (though not the same genre). I told him I thought it was very interesting (as an exercise in writing, coming up with 30 3-minute “episodes” that make sense and can later be put together as a movie is definitely an exercise in skill as well as talent), and as soon as it was figured out how he would pay me for doing it, I’d be happy to do it for him. I hoped that his reponse (fuck you!) wasn’t the response the AMPTP would have, but I knew back then that if it was it was, that this would be the thing that would make me go on strike, much as I hated the idea.

Ten years ago, MicroSquish gave away Windows for free. Notice what happened to the market for programs running on other systems. Tell me now where you can get your “free” Windows download today. That is the future of the “free” internet downloads the studios and the broadcasters are doing today. Ten years from now, movies and TV shows and the whole frickin’ works are going to be downloaded off the net for your viewing pleasure on your wall-size plasma screen (or whatever the next generation of that technology will be) - movie theaters and video stores will go the way of vinyl albums. We have to have this worked out and it has to be worked out now, or we’re going to be back in the 1930s as far as being working writers is concerned - maybe worse.

I still think, because of the importance of the issue, that our union leadership should have been negotiating their asses off since January, every fucking week, till now. The AMPTP offered that opportunity, we should have taken them up on it and forced them into a long campaign. After losing reality TV and animation, this leadership is now last batter up, with two strikes, in the bottom of the ninth, and we shouldn’t have had to be there.

I know personally what the hell Shawn Ryan is putting up on sacrifice - that season finale. Had things been different in 1988, a certain script I wrote wouldn’t be known now to history as “the best unproduced Vietnam script in Hollywood,” and I likely wouldn’t be doing a show like I was doing till last week (and be happy to have it). Giving up your heart and soul hurts like hell. My hat’s off to him for doing that, and to every other showrunner who takes that stand and is willing to pay that price.

Stuart,

No. That’s why I’m asking questions.

So answer these for me, please:

1. Can an active strike not be used as a negotiating tool?

2. Can we not negotiate with the AMPTP during a strike?

3. Besides your undefended protest, how is my view anything but optimistic ranting?

4. Are you a labour lawyer? Where does your knowledge come from? Your family were members of a union? So were mine. You read a few books? So did I.

5. How am I so obviously wrong?

6. Do you know how to debate?

Just because my views are contrary to yours doesn’t make you right. It doesn’t make me make me right either.

But your posts lead me to believe you have a convoluted and sometimes contradictory and therefore I find them suspect.

(ex. From 133: This is why unity, discipline and solidarity are all so important. Franklin’s dictum, “We must hang together, or we will all surely hang separately,” ought to be constantly in the forefront of each striker’s mind. From a previous debate with me: All the talk about committing to the bitter end and not caving even if the union gets busted is frankly a bit silly. What up with that?)

Since I sort of criticized you for not reading all my post and in so doing demonstrated I hadn’t read all of your posts, allow me to say your analysis of the failure of the union leadership is Dead On.

Unfortunately, woulda coulda shoulda doesn’t help. As a character I wrote in a script that isn’t going to see the production I thought it might soon after the new year said: “You can want in one hand and pee in the other and I’ll tell you which one fills up first…”

But anyway, now that I read all your stuff, my only complaint is I didn’t write it.

I received the following email today from Gary Drucker, Chair of the WGA’s Emerging Technology Advisory Committee, a New Media Caucus Steering Committee member, and a 29-year member of the WGAw. Additionally, Gary is a real-life technology wizard: a former VP at REAL Networks, a software developer and a technology professor at Ball State University.

At ETAC, Gary’s job is to use his connections and research and study in order to divine what types of entertainment technologies may pop up in the future, and then to advise the WGA Board & Staff, so that we can be negotiating into our contracts NOW.

So Gary has written a very astute summary about how and why the WGA will win this strike, and it’s a great read for anyone feeling beaten-down and fearful that this strike will not work:

[strong]WHY THE WGA WILL WIN[/strong] Gary Drucker – Chair: ETAC

I’ve been meaning to write to the New Media Caucus and the associated Emerging Technologies Advisory Committee since the strike meeting at the Convention Center last Thursday evening. Several insights came to mind while I was sitting there in the large hall filled by supportive Guild members, and so I’ve asked Suzanne to pass my thoughts on to our groups.

1. Our groups have had a powerful effect on the Guild, largely because reality has been on our side. The spread of digital delivery of content, the redistribution of content through it and the availability of new jobs writing for it gradually hit everyone in the Guild as being important, even if that insight came to others a bit after it came to us. I particularly credit two things: the advent of the iPod and the fact that Chuck Slocum, as a Guild exec, joined with us to consistently explain to the Guild leadership what was going on. If Chuck has earned the majority of the credit, I think we get some of it for working well and supportively with him. Among the important steps taken were the inter-Guild meetings that helped spread to all the Guilds the idea that these innovations were important and were going to take hold, if not immediately then inevitably.

2. I think this strike will be successful, and rather quickly. Here’s why. The 1988 strike, which I endured, started at a poor time. It was in the spring at the end of TV season and so the ability to have immediate impact was weak. Also, during a hot summer, the picket lines represented only occasional “show-picketing,” and the Guild leadership seemed to believe that internecine arguments were more important than having impact on the companies. Finally, that strike ended at exactly the time when the TV show runners felt that the television season was endangered. If you haven’t been around much, you might not know that the television show runners represent the most important force in the Guild. Not only are they among the highest paid writers, but unlike screenwriters they actually hand out work. Also, what they produce has a very strict and short term deadline. By contrast, this strike begins at a propitious time, right in the middle of the TV season. Also, it’s not hot now, so picketing is more physically bearable in Los Angeles. And the current leadership of the Guild and the administrative level below the leadership are determined and experienced unionists. They are not going to let show-pickets happen. They are going to shut down, or at least severely impair, studio operations with an extensive use of picketing.

3. I’ll give this point a number all its own. The 1988 strike was a feature film strike. It was mostly about minimums and DVD royalties. At that time, TV series had not made it to DVD. By contrast, while this strike is in part about a demand to raise DVD royalties, it is most essentially about the significance of the internet delivery of television shows. I don’t know how many of you were around when ETAC suggested that the Guild quantify how much of an impact internet delivery would have on residuals. Well, someone did that at the Thursday night meeting. The current proposal by the signatories, which is probably poppycock, is that they would offer NO residuals. But their real intent is to offer DVD, rather than pay-TV, residuals. At the Thursday meeting, it was noted that if current TV residuals were instead paid as DVD residuals, it would result in 85-90% of residual payments being lost. That’s why this is a TELEVISION STRIKE, not a Features strike. As such, it’s a very different animal than the 1988 strike, and the showrunners are not going to let these drastic rollbacks happen. And of course, their staffs will support the show runners because there’s a lot in it for the staff as well.

4. This point is about the real economic motivation of the signatories in moving programming to the internet. They want to disintermediate the cable operators. They want to collect 100% of the revenues from television distribution, if at all possible. Measured against this higher and probably more lucrative goal, the idea of rolling back residuals on ALL creative talent in Hollywood is stupid and gluttonous. Ultimately, someone with sense on the management side will point out that the signatories need talent as collaborators, not as enemies, toward this goal.

5. The support of other unions is another facet of why our position is strong this time. During the 1988 strike, the WGA was mostly alone is my recall. This time, we have SAG and the Teamsters on our side. Why is this powerful? Well, the studios try to point out that SAG members cannot walk off their jobs. True, but we all know that SAG is by far the largest Hollywood Guild and most of its members are not currently on shows or movies. According to SAG President Alan Rosenberg’s strongly supportive statement at the Thursday meeting, these non-working members plan to join the WGA on the picket lines and at the negotiations. Of course, the Teamsters are free to respect the picket lines. And the key point here is that, unlike with the 1988 strike, this time there will be picket lines. So, Teamsters definitely will not cross them. And who are the Teamsters? They are the drivers, the location managers, the casting directors, and, interestingly, the UPS delivery people. I believe that the Teamsters are currently trying to unionize Fed Ex, but still… All these crafts and union members are poised to support the strike and their effect will be immediate. By contrast, the Directors will be more supportive, but they are outmanned by DGA members who identify with management and not with the rest of the crew whom, they feel, work for them.

6. I’m going to dispel a couple of last myths quickly with this paragraph. a) The studios will love a work stoppage so they can invoke the force majeur clauses of their contracts: as Patric Verrone noted Thursday night, there are very few of those numerous deadwood deals around. The studios have deals with people with whom they want to have deals. They don’t want to mess up all their development projects by getting rid of the creators. b) The networks will just fill up their schedules with “reality shows”: oh, really? It’s my observation that those people who watch reality shows are not necessarily ever joined by those people who watch scripted dramatic or comedic shows. In other words, the people who watch more traditional shows WILL NOT watch reality shows, they’ll watch movies, they’ll surf the internet, they’ll take a walk, etc. More likely, the networks will kill the “goose that laid the golden egg” by putting on too many reality shows. The people who don’t watch them won’t, and the people who do will get tired of them.

In closing, I am optimistic about this strike achieving most of its goals. The entertainment business is basically in good shape and the smart execs in it will realize quickly that there is little benefit to not including the Guilds in their mission to maximize profits. Meanwhile, the best way to keep this strike short for whoever has the time and the motivation is to picket the signatories and the productions, or support picketing by volunteering at the Guild. I’m a hopeful guy and I’m hoping that this strike ends soon—for the reasons above and with all our help.

So there you go. Next time someone says “we’re gonna cave just like in ‘88,” now you have a great retort. :)

“Tom, we have reporters on the payroll. They’d love a story like that, right?”

“They just might.”

I don’t get dropping the DVD demands on the eve of the strike, SAG is still saddled with the Betamax agreement for cripe’s sake(for every movie, the $2.50 per unit cost of manufacturing the Betamax tape is credited against our residuals, why are you laughing? it’s not funny) Treat your Teamsters well, they were pretty handy in the ugliness of the 2000 SAG commercials strike. I did everything I could on that one, picketing, phone banking, lining up “names” for our press conferences, helping out in The War Room. A lot of us were opposed to offering membership to people walking the pickets but it shows how compliant some members can get, I guess. The thing that went messy is the Chicago SAG office picketed the Quaker Oats factory in Chicago, the Teamsters wouldn’t cross the line and those drivers wound up suspended! The vibe was “Holy Shit, if the Producers can mess with our Teamsters in CHICAGO then we gotta show we mean business”. The scab callback on Quaker’s “Captain Crunch” spot in Santa Monica is where everybody went for payback & it got a ton of bad press, and of course none of the reporters mentioned the suspended Teamsters. No matter, a friend down there that fateful day said he knew we were the good guys when he saw Mark Hamill holding a sign; http://preview.tinyurl.com/3afbjf

I understand that Internet/New Media is the “issue,” but I have to say, as an outsider, I don’t believe the DVD thing should have been taken off the table completely. I don’t know what the WGA proposed, but certainly any unbiased, reasonable person would determine the DVD rate should have been increased years ago and still should be. Has it been published anywhere what the ‘88-current DVD residual “deal” is (money a/o percentage) and what the WGA was asking for at the table this time or is that the stuff we’re not allowed to know?

Assuming writers are actually content to let the DVD negotiation die, what justification have the powers that be given for NOT offering residuals for internet/new media? I’m not buying the “oh, it’s unproven - too many question marks” argument. If advertisers are paying the studios and/or networks to provide online content, then any and every person involved in creating that content needs to be compensated. Any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous.

Thanks for the compliment.

You’re right, the past is past. Right now, the WGA is committed to demonstrating through the vehicle of a strike its power to cost the AMPTP companies more than it would cost them to settle on terms the union can accept. That is the sine qua non by which the strike and the WGA leadership must be judged over the coming days. After the strike, there will be time to consider whether things could have been done better — and to put in place the people and policies that will insure that they WILL be done better the next time.

So answer these for me, please:

1. Can an active strike not be used as a negotiating tool?

2. Can we not negotiate with the AMPTP during a strike?

Taking these two questions together: a strike is a negotiation — as war is the continuation of diplomacy by other means, so a strike is the continuation of negotiation by other means. Whether WGA and AMPTP representatives are across a table from one another is not how you tell whether negotiations are going on. The fact that the WGA is walking picket lines is itself a negotiating tactic.

A labor negotiation, like any negotiation, cannot result in an agreement unless and until both sides have positions (minimum acceptable demands and maximum acceptable offers) that overlap. Period. There was no overlap on Sunday, so the negotiating session necessarily ended without an agreement. The strike is the WGA’s chosen method of forcing the AMPTP to change its positions — to demand less of the WGA and to offer more to it. The very real risk of this or any strike is that not only may the other side not moderate its positions, but the financial and emotional toll of the strike on the strikers may cause them to force the WGA to moderate its own positions, and the union may end up with less than what it might have otherwise gotten.

Until the strike has an impact, and until both sides have assessed that impact on themselves and estimated that impact on each other, there’s no point in across-the-table negotiation. Neither side’s positions will have changed until the impact of the strike is felt and assessed. While in some cases, the mere fact of the union making good on a strike threat is enough to convince management of a serious impact (see the recent UAW strikes on the Big Three auto makers), in this instance, both the WGA and the AMPTP made pre-strike claims about their relative strength that make it pretty certain that neither side can back down quickly without losing face unacceptably.

3. Besides your undefended protest, how is my view anything but optimistic ranting?

You’re absolutely right: Your view is in fact nothing but optimistic ranting.

4. Are you a labour lawyer? Where does your knowledge come from? Your family were members of a union? So were mine. You read a few books? So did I.

Here in the USA, we spell it “labor.” What part of the Commonwealth are you from?

I have been a union member (both AFL-CIO and IAMAW). I have been on the other side of the table as a member of management. What has your career consisted of?

5. How am I so obviously wrong?

Wrong? Not wrong. Uninformed. Ignorant of what a strike is and what effect it has on a labor negotiation. Your comments and questions indicate that you don’t know what the hell is going on.

6. Do you know how to debate?

Are you here to debate, or are you here to learn something about how the world works when a union goes out on strike?

But your posts lead me to believe you have a convoluted and sometimes contradictory and therefore I find them suspect.

(ex. From 133: This is why unity, discipline and solidarity are all so important. Franklin’s dictum, “We must hang together, or we will all surely hang separately,” ought to be constantly in the forefront of each striker’s mind. From a previous debate with me: All the talk about committing to the bitter end and not caving even if the union gets busted is frankly a bit silly. What up with that?)

Your first sentence is a fragment. A convoluted and sometimes contradictory what, do I have?

As for your example, you seem to have difficulties either with reading comprehension or with the fundamentals of human nature. Let me break it down for you:

1) It is frankly silly to call for a union to continue a strike to the point that the union self-destructs. This is why fighter jets have ejector seats with parachutes: when the vehicle is doomed, you get out with your skin intact and plan to carry on the battle another day.

2) While the vehicle remains intact, you commit totally to the combat you’re engaged in. You make sure you have all your guys on your side at your side, and you make sure you’re all fighting to the same battle plan against the same enemy and with the same target objectives. Division of your forces only weakens you and aids the enemy, who then picks you and your allies off one by one. That’s Franklin’s meaning.

How are (1) and (2) at all inconsistent or contradictory?

As a supporter of the writers (and directors and actors, all of whom should get residuals in the online and other new media showings), I am mainly a viewer. My idea is that we should show our support by ONLY watching online. That would give the WGA some real numbers. Avoiding watching online won’t prove anything.

While I understand the (good, I believe) reasons for changing tack and pulling the trigger early on this, I think if the writers are not prepared to stay out until the SAG contract is up, we might as well not have walked.

I hope like hell it does not go that long, but we will certainly have to accept this may to go deep into pilot season before any number of moguls get seriously uncomfortable. And we will have to be ready to last up to and through the SAG date if need.

SAG needs streaming even more than we do. It is truly lifeblood for those folks (even more than for us.) They will walk for this - hands down. We had a lot of SAG on the line today already. The commercial captains have offered to consult.

But that means being prepared to strike until summer.

And if the DGA fast tracks - and they will - it has to include streaming or who cares? We’re in too deep at that point to take the template.

I’m another one who doesn’t understand why every news station leads with DVDs and why we let it sound like this was about DVDs. The DVD “raise” is chicken feed. As noted, this is all about internet.

Maybe Target should take an ep of Lost, stream it on their website, and say, “hey, it’s just a promotional spacer between our cool ads. We don’t need to pay the network for it!” Besides, “it’s too neeeew.” (props to Mr. John Stewart.)

One last rant. Remember Mr. Valenti, back in the day, worrying about how all those illegal bootlegs were taking residuals from all the poor writers and actors and craftspersons who worked on the movies and we must stop that … Yes, we must stop the evil Chinese bootlegs and vidcam pirates, but the LEGAL bootlegs and priates, well, I guess they don’t count. Hmm, maybe it’s not so new after all.

yeah, Jack you got me. I’m on my high horse, but you’re a writer so that makes you more valuable doesn’t it? Working AD doesn’t do your bidding and ride the picket line, that just makes him a dumb ass who was never smart enough to become a writer, right? It’s never enough for you guys, you can’t except working AD’s sympathy for your plight, and except that everyone has to walk there own path in this..no,no, no he’s got to give his blood for you too…hmmm, let me ask you then. You are fighting the good fight, that’s what you tell us. In the end, is it worth it if you become what you are fighting? YOU are the writers, the SMART ones, the ones who should know better. The means shouldn’t justify the ends for you….you are the ones who are suppose to be better than that.

yes yes yes. I meant the “ends justifing the means”. So I prove my own point. non-writer = worthless. We can all laugh about this when this is over and I’m getting your coffee Jack.

As a writer, I love other writers…but I have to wonder why guild members believe they deserve to own a piece of every project in which they’ve contributed. Advertising executives rarely reap the rewards of their clients campagins or slogans. Pharmaceutical companies have a seven year limit on the proprietary formulas they invest in to develop and I don’t know a single head scientist that owns a direct participation in the profits of a drug. Software developers are hired for their ability to create cool technolgies…and are never given a chance to own a direct piece of the software they collaborated with others to create unless they wholly developed or acquired the rights on their own. They MAY get stock options…but that’s at the discretion of the employer and the employee who decides to accept a job with or without options.

I think the guild is fantastic in terms of protecting writers from being exploited by the studio system…by providing writers with incredible health and pension benefits that are arguably better than most of the people toiling away in cubes or small businesses across America.

I guess to me, it comes down to a question of entitlement / ownership of the content. To me, the studios are investing in the promotion and distribution of a show. If a writer can fund production, organize distribution, find an audience, and run a successful show, I think that writer/producer deserves all the credit and all the rewards. But most writers don’t go into debt if the work is crappy…or if the work doesn’t find an audience. Shouldn’t it be left up to the member to choose a payment system that works for them? Why does it have to be stipulated by the guild? Everything in this town is a negotiation anyway. Why not just make this another one? Why create formulas that by definition, will absolutely become outdated over the coming months (much less the coming decades)? Why not let the market/demand set the prices? If you’re starting out in this business, you may work for a couple of weeks on something that pays you minimally…maybe a couple of grand. Maybe it would allow everyone to take more risks on innovative content. Am I just being naive?

I know a few screenwriters, and my first reaction to hearing about the WGA strike was, “They want MORE money?”

Then I learned how small a percentage WGA writers get for DVD sales, and how they get nothing for internet downloads. The AMPTP needs to relax its hold and give the creators their due. You guys are the workhorses. This isn’t about adding an extra million to pad your bank account … it’s about getting fair wages. You need to do it.

Just a couple of corrections here.

Gary Drucker’s piece is not entirely accurate about what went on in the 1988 strike, which I remember well, and which is completely documented.

The 1988 WGA strike was absolutely not a “feature film strike”. The issue in contention was the residual rate for foreign sales of one-hour episodic television shows. In 1987, the AMPTP had managed to get the DGA to accept a new version of that residual - going from a fixed formula to a “sliding scale” where the residuals would be much lower if the series was not that successful, but much higher if the series was very successful. When the WGA came to the table in 1988, the AMPTP threw the same contract on the table that they had done with the DGA and demanded that the WGA accept it. The WGA properly resisted this and went on strike starting in March, at the end of the 87-88 TV season.

This wasn’t about DVD royalties, as DVD’s didn’t exist until almost 10 years later.

Regarding the DGA, most ADs I know are quite supportive of the WGA’s position. And they don’t think that the crew work “for them”. This is an unfortunate idea that has probably come about due to some ADs being complete jerks. But there are jerks in every guild and every department, and it would be a bit too easy to simply paint the ADs as unsympathetic or inhuman.

Finally, I appreciate Shaun’s words of support. But I understand Jack’s anger. I don’t think I’ve earned it, but I understand what is causing it.

Stuart,

I’m here to debate. Scroll to the top and read the mission statement (I’ll point out the important word for you: “…debate…”. But I am also here to be informed about theory. Or to learn. So I am here to both learn and debate. Take that!

And I’m Canadian. We in Canada spell labour with a u. And sometimes we place the period outside our quotation “marks”. Bet you didn’t see that coming…

(Notice how my answer obliterates the subtext of your question. That’s right! Readers interpret words and place tone from their own subjective view points. Words are not objective. They did not exist before humans created them. Did I just blow your mind? Whoa.)

Also, I wasn’t criticizing the technical aspects of your prose (do you really want me to? Because I’m known for pointing out such errors and pretending it’s wit. Really. Look at past threads.).

You writes good, bro, but your point is lost (on me) sometimes (just like I’m sure my words are lost on you).

As for why those two particular statements contradict each other (your explanations not withstanding):

1. All the talk about committing to the bitter end and not caving even if the union gets busted is frankly a bit silly.

To me this statement says: if the going gets tough, the WGA should cave.

1. This is why unity, discipline and solidarity are all so important. Franklin’s dictum, “We must hang together, or we will all surely hang separately,” ought to be constantly in the forefront of each striker’s mind.

To me this statement says… well… it says this: We must hang together, or we will all surely hang separately. (To me: solidarity until our victory or our end).

1. says, we fight together, we die together. 1. says we fight together, we don’t die together.

Two statements in opposition to each other or, in other words, a FILL IN THE BLANK.

Now if you wrote…

This is why the perceived notion of unity, discipline and solidarity are all so important. Franklin’s dictum, “We must hang together, or we will all surely hang separately,” ought to be constantly in the forefront of each striker’s mind to blind them to the fact that this dictum doesn’t apply to well-established members or the WGA as a whole.

…I would have no reason to debate you.

ERROR!

Sentence should read: TWO says, we fight together, we die together. ONE says we fight together, we don’t die together.

Yes, SML, and George S. Patton said, “No one ever won a war by dying for his country. You win a war by making the other poor bastard die for his country!”

Anon 185,

True. And he also said, “”War is an art and as such is not susceptible of explanation by fixed formula”

Too Pragmatic:

I’m truly a layman, when it comes to these matters, but I’ve been spurred to learn more as a result of these negotiations and the ensuing strike. There are MANY educational sources out there (of which this is one).

Anyway, questioning the validity of intellectual property and dismantling the system by which writers, actors, directors, etc, are compensated aren’t on the table. It is the way it is, the way it was ultimately negotiated and agreed upon and reconfirmed however many times since.

If there’s one thing I know, not only here and in the entertainment industry, but everywhere, it’s this - big corporations lie about money, where they got it, how much they have, who is entitled, who they’re affiliated with, etc, etc, etc.

I was searching for some history on how IP and the WGA residual agreements came about and found this article, which also chronicles a real example of the lengths some companies will go to (and how low they will stoop) to avoid their contractual and legal obligations to the creative community.

If this strike gets resolved with any sort of gain for the writers (and subsequently the actors and directors), it will be because the corporations stand to otherwise substantially lose in some way, particularly where internet/new media is concerned, perhaps from the threat of outside competition, perhaps from the threat of having to open their books to scrutiny (as others have suggested).

That’s the view from here, with thanks to the many crutches I used to see it at all. Logical refutations will be considered.

Quoting myself:

dismantling the system by which writers, actors, directors, etc, are compensated aren’t on the table.

Uhh, that’s assuming the earlier AMPTP call for an end to residuals wasn’t serious and served only as a scare tactic that, thankfully, didn’t work.

You assholes are making $200G per year average and you go on STRIKE? for more money?

Try living like an average American. Fuck you all.

I am living like the average American. I would also venture to say MOST wga members live like the average American and are not receiving 200thou/year. I’m sure you must have some understanding of averages.

And yet, internet advertising revenues are at an all-time high, having risen sharply every quarter over the past two years (I think the second qtr of ‘07 was somewhere around 5 billion)and the profit margin is wide in this particular arena with the profiters (who were reaping yesterday, are reaping today and will reap tomorrow) excluding the creative community.

I’m not a wga member (yet), in case that was unclear.

I’m below the poverty line… seriously.

ERROR!

I’ll say!

Sentence should read: TWO says, we fight together, we die together. ONE says we fight together, we don’t die together.

WRONG. Franklin was making — wait for it — a PLAY ON THE WORD ‘HANG’: ‘hang together’ doesn’t mean ‘die together on a multi-noose gallows,’ it means ‘stick together during the fight.’ ‘Hang separately’ does indeed mean ‘die on the gallows one at a time.’ So the meaning of Franklin’s saying in language you can understand is: We must all stick together through the fight or we will be picked off (defeated) one by one.

One fights to the best of one’s ability and to the limits of one’s resources, and not further. Suicide is not a useful tactic in the long run. So, frankly, all the talk about committing to the bitter end and not caving even if the union gets busted is beyond silly — it’s stupid and counterproductive.

I thought Joe the Molson Canadian guy was representative of the reasonableness, intelligence and perceptiveness of Canadians. I stand corrected.

Stuart,

Was I mean to you? Did I ever make fun of your xenophobic assumption that only Americans have Internet access? Did I laugh at you when you said, “Joe the Molson Canadian guy [is] representative of the reasonableness, intelligence and perceptiveness of Canadians,” and think that’s like you saying, “Aunt Jemima is representative of the reasonableness, intelligence, and perceptiveness of Black Americans”? Did I call you a prejudiced bigot with the reading equivalency of, well, an American? No. No I did not. So why do you insult me so?

TO YOU: when Franklin says ‘hang’ he means, “Let’s hang out!” TO ME: because Ben Franklin lived in violent times where killing humans with a noose was a common occurrence, when he says ‘hang’ he means, “Let’s die together!” Of course not literally or maybe quite literally.

It’s for the reader to interpret.

So jump down off your horse, debate me, or go find someone who meets your staggering intellect to harass (and, for interpretations sake, I mean it. Really. Staggering!).

(Note: In your linguistic break down of Franklin’s quote you forgot one word: “…surely….” I’ll leave it to you to interpret.)

“It’s for the reader to interpret.”

Hahahah! This from someone who wants to be a writer? Sheesh, what a maroon.

“…what a maroon…”

The last time I checked maroon was a color.

And this from someone who wants to be a writer? Sheesh. What a moron.

(I bet you’re turning a shade of maroon right now)

So why do you insult me so?

Because you’re dense. If it’s an act to get a good discussion going, it’s played out. If it’s not an act, then I apologize — I shouldn’t make fun of someone who can’t help his obtuseness. (On the other hand, you ARE fun to watch as you flop around.)

So jump down off your horse, debate me, or go find someone who meets your staggering intellect to harass (and, for interpretations sake, I mean it. Really. Staggering!).

There’s no point in debating you. You’ve admitted your inability to comprehend basic concepts, even when they are laid out before you in simple terms.

But sure, go ahead and believe that Ben Franklin was exhorting his fellow revolutionaries to turn themselves in en masse to be executed together. It makes soooo much more sense than interpreting his exhortation as a call for solidarity.

Then you can go back to advocating to the members of a union you don’t belong to that they devastate their finances and bust their own union so that they can prove to you that they’re serious about their demands of the AMPTP.

What a maroon!

“Then you can go back to advocating to the members of a union you don’t belong to that they devastate their finances and bust their own union so that they can prove to you that they’re serious about their demands of the AMPTP.”

Not to go all literal on you, technically, I am a WGA member. Take that! And I am one of those WGA members who will most likely die first (not literally, I’ll just be working at Starbucks. Really. I applied today.)

Also, so you remember what we’re talking about:

“TO YOU: when Franklin says ‘hang’ he means, “Let’s hang out!” TO ME: because Ben Franklin lived in violent times where killing humans with a noose was a common occurrence, when he says ‘hang’ he means, “Let’s die together!” Of course not literally or maybe quite literally.

“It’s for the reader to interpret.”

…and debate.

Bye. You’re boring me now.

Was this blog always so stupid and irrevelent? I used to think it was sort of fun and actually interesting. I guess now that there are real stakes these silly pedantic pissing matches by the same ten people feel… stupid and irrevelent.

OK. I am so confused. What are you all arguing about. Whats the point of this strike. Who isnt being paid enough, and who wont pay. The more important question is, why do i have to suffer because you dont get paid enough. Thats just like customers service reps going on strike because they want an extra .10, and the customers not being able to return their merchandise. My first job is to serve the public. You chose your job, if you dont like it quit. I want to watch desperate housewives, and all my other shows. GO BACK TO WORK AND STOP BITCHING!!!! If you think you dont make enough, switch jobs with me. Let me write all day and get your paycheck, and you can go stand on your feet for 8 hours a day making 6.50 and hour, and get yelled at by an old lady who cant find a bra in her size while your feet swell and you are 8 months pregnant. LIKE I SAID, STOP BITCHING AND GO BACK TO WORK. DAMN!

It really heinous to watch tim kring a thief and liar march with the other writers on the line. Heroes is in trouble because tim kring stole the work of two nyc artists and they filed a lawsuit against tim and nbc for copyright infringement. this lawsuit is still in a nyc federal court and tim kring may be facing prison time. From the picket line to prison, what would the WGA say?