The Strike Starts Monday

I’m not a WGA member, but tell me where to get my picket sign.

Good luck to all.

Yes.

We must now all walk hand-in-hand…

Down a road to nowhere

To all those who are going on strike, I hope for your sake it’s quick and you don’t have to sacrifice too much. As an aspiring professional screenwriter, I thank you for fighting to make sure writers get a fair share from the studios.

Craig:

History has demonstrated, time and again, that in order to effect change, a principled (and painful) stance is often necessary. The Film + TV industry, not unlike their counterparts in the music biz, have heretofore gotten away with murder and leveraged other people’s intellectual property to the tune of billions of dollars. But no kleptocracy can last forever. We now live in the era of dis-intermediation and The Long Tail. There is no going back and writer/creators stand to benefit the most from the changing paradigm. But it starts with a recognition of what intellectual property actually entails: the right to future (and fair) earnings. This strike, painful though it may turn out to be on all sides, may be the only way to change an abhorrent system that often enriches everyone else in the Hollywood food chain but the writers.

I have written to the AMPTP suggesting that they simply raise the cost of a DVD additional nickel. Who amung us is not going to buy their favorite DVD if it is $9.95 instead of $9.89. The tobacco companies have been passing their costs for fines onto their customers for long time and they’re still smoking. Somebody had to be the voice of reason. Glad to be of help.

I know we writers like to whine and many of us suffer low self-esteem, but can we make an effort to keep a strong attitude on these blogs? Weakness, whining and doubt are counter-productive to our cause. We are now in a strike and we need to hang tough. Please, try to keep morale in mind when you post your doomsday theories.

WHILE ALL YOU LOSERS ARE SUPPORTING THE WGA, JUST REMEMBER THAT 40 OF THE HIGHEST PAID SCREENWRITERS HAVE LINED UP WRITING ASSIGNMENTS TO WORK ON DURING THE STRIKE!

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/one-brief-shining-moment-of-clarity/

THE NAMES OF THESE CHRIST-FUCKING ASSHOLES SHOULD BE PUBLICIZED SO THE STONING CAN BEGIN.

oh, i didn’t understand before when people used normal capitalization, but now that the christ-fucking assholes have been revealed in all caps i see the light. if only the u.n. would send its missives to sudan about darfur in all caps then peace and love would flourish.

Once a disease has entered the body, all parts which are healthy must fight it: not one alone, but all. Because a disease might mean their common death. Nature knows this; and Nature attacks the disease with whatever help she can muster. -Paracelsus

Join or die.

Hey, ALL CAPS GUY —

“40 OF THE HIGHEST PAID SCREENWRITERS”

That’s not what the story says. It says an attorney who reps big names has closed 40 deals.

And by the way, I’m a strike captain and if I hear that any of my charges are working during this action, I will report them to the disciplinary committee.

Chill out.

One thing that will be very interesting—and distressing—will be news coverage of the strike. A very few enormous companies own the networks/studios/news outlets in this country and no doubt will work to influence public opinion against us.

Git r dun.

For reasons that defy logic, Jerry Seinfeld is now a content provider for the world’s children. A film about a bee who files a lawsuit. How enchanting.

In the children’s section at Barnes & Noble, hidden behind mammoth, cardboard displays of celebrity “authors” like Madonna, LeAnn Rimes and Katie Couric, are dozens of visionary stories… written by uncelebrated storytellers.

And that’s where most of those stories will stay, because corporate thinkers handpick the content for bookshop windows and TV and movie screens, and if a formerly-popular, stand-up comic with a brandnameable surname comes in with an idea about bees and jurisprudence, well, they’ll spend untold millions of dollars putting it on screen.

The people we’re negotiating with don’t value the product we sell. Actually, they don’t even understand what it is they’re buying from us.

They’re confused by innovation. Big imaginations startle and frighten some of them. They’re forever looking to buy that thing the other guy did yesterday.

And at night, when they tuck their kids into bed, these AMPTP folks reach for the stack of books (properties) on the shelf and select “Little T Learns To Share” by Terrell Owens.

“But he’s not a storyteller, daddy, he’s a football player.”

“He’s a writer too, kid, real jack of all trades. And because he’s a celebrity, I trust him to mold your young, impressionable mind.”

(tiny voice) “Okay, daddy…”

WGGB officially pledges support. :)

http://writersguild.blogspot.com/2007/11/american-writers-on-strike-british.html

Some of us have been screwed for a while now, and not in the pleasant sense. The below is an email post from Micah Wright, posted on the WriterAction (WGA-only board). I requested and have his written permission to spread it like the plague. ~ Tina

(FYI, to set the scene, the tone of Micah’s intro is in response to another WA poster unhappy with our leadership).

Well this is ONE angry Horad that’s confused about your stance. The AMPTP clearly never intends to pay us one single cent for internet delivery. The music business model clearly indicates that internet delivery for most, if not all content is the future. What then were we supposed to do when faced with rollbacks and refusals to bargain in good faith? Pray? Or just swallow the bullshit they were trying to shove down our throats, and forget about not only what we’re making, but also what every person who ever follows us into this union will ever make?

People like you keep bitching about the DVD negotiating point, and yeah, you’re right: DVD was lost 20 years ago, but there’s no magic rule which says we can’t reopen that topic. More importantly, though, DVD didn’t take off for almost a decade after the ‘88 strike… the Internet is here NOW, and it’s here FOREVER, and if we give in and allow them to pay us ZERO on Internet delivery, we can just kiss the idea of ever getting paid residuals goodbye forever.

It’s not self-righteousness which is driving this negotiation… it’s quite simply the greed of the AMPTP, which clearly sees this as the year in which they intend to break the WGA on the rack once and for all. But you don’t see that… you seem unable to get it through your head that the AMPTP doesn’t want to ever pay us anything. If you think these people are so reasonable and that they deal in good faith, then try talking to writers who work in Animation and Reality… THAT is the future that the AMPTP has in store for EVERY WRITER IN THE WGA. Because if they don’t have to pay residuals to the woman who wrote The Lion King, then why should they ever have to pay one to YOU? Or anyone else?

Oh, and before you give me some fucking sob story about the disastrous strike of 1988, let me bring you up to date with a more RECENT story: mine.

I came to this guild having had a “successful” career writing Animation for $1400/week for five years. During that time, I wrote on several of Nickelodeon’s highest-rated shows. My writing partner wrote and directed 1/4 of the episodes of “SpongeBob SquarePants” and I was responsible for 1/5 of the episodes of “The Angry Beavers.” The current value that those shows have generated for Viacom? $12 Billion dollars. My writing partner topped out at $2100/week. In the year 2001, tired of not receiving residuals for my endlessly- repeating work (even though the actors and composers for my episodes do), I joined with 28 other writers and we signed our WGA cards.

So, Nickelodeon quickly filed suit against our petition for an election, and set about trying to ferret out who the “ringleaders” were. In the meantime, they canceled the show that I had created 4 episodes into an order of 26. Then they fired the 3 writers who’d been working on my show. Then they fired 20 more of my fellow writers and shut down three more shows, kicking almost their entire primetime lineup for 2002 to the curb, and laying off 250 artists.

Then, once the WGA’s petition for election was tied up in court over our illegal firings, Nickelodeon called in the IATSE Local 839 “Cartoonists Guild” — a racket union which exists only the screw the WGA and its own members — and they signed a deal which forever locks the WGA out of Nickelodeon, even though we were there first. Neato!

Then Nickelodeon’s brass decided —out of thin fucking air— that myself and two other writers had been “the ringleaders” of this organizing effort, so they called around to Warner Bros. Animation, the Cartoon Network, Disney Animation, and Fox Kids, effectively blacklisting the three of us out of animation permanently.

And why did Nickelodeon do this? Why were they so eager to decimate their own 2002 schedule, fire 24 writers, break multiple federal labor laws, sign a union deal, and to even bring back the fucking blacklist? They did all of that to prevent us from getting the same whopping $5 residual that the actors & composers of our shows get.

For five lousy fucking bucks, they destroyed three people’s careers and put 250 artists out of work and fucked up their own channel for a year.

Ahh, but my episodes run about 400 times a year worldwide, though, so obviously Sumner Redstone (Salary in 2001: $65 million dollars) and Tom Freston (2001 salary: $55 million) were right to do what they did… myself and those other 23 writers might have broken the bank, what with each of us going to cost them another TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS each! OH NO! That… that’s… FORTY EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS!

A YEAR!

So don’t come crying to those of us who have EXPERIENCED what the AMPTP plans for all of the rest of you, that people who are deciding to stand up to bully-boy tactics like that are the crazy bunch of “horads” lustily marching “throught” the streets searching for blood. The AMPTP are the barbarians sacking Rome in this scenario.

The AMPTP and their glittering-eyed weasel lawyers are a bunch of lying, blacklisting, law-breaking scumbags, and the fact that they haven’t budged off of ANY of their proposals in the last three months proves that what they have in store for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU is exactly what they did to us at Nickelodeon, and what they can do any day of the week in daytime animation. Or reality.

Strike or no strike. That’s their plan: to winnow down your membership, to snip away at your MBA, to chew away at your health & pension plans until there’s just nothing left of the WGA. Why? Because they’ve had a good strong drink of how much money they make off of animation when they don’t have to cut the creators in for any of the cash, and now they want to extend that free ride to all of live action as well. THAT is why they have pushed for this strike at every step, with their insulting press releases, with their refusals to negotiate, etc. — because they’re HOPING we go on strike, and that enough cowards and Quislings come crawling out of the woodwork after six weeks that they can force us to accept the same deal that Reality TV show writers have.

If you doubt me, go read their contract proposals again… there’s not ONE of them which isn’t an insult and a deal-breaking non-starter.

So can we PLEASE stop hearing about how it’s the current WGA management which is the fucking problem here? Because, frankly, that canard is getting a little stale.

Or perhaps you prefer presidents like the President of the Guild back in 2001 who just threw up her hands when we were fired and blacklisted out of our careers and said, and I quote, “oh well, it was a good try”?

I think the point was well made last night at the Convention Center that most likely the MSM coverage toward us WILL paint us with a broad, derogatory brush BECAUSE the companies that own the MSM are the very people against whom we are striking. Just how it is. But then the puppetmasters of the MSM do not yet control the net. Here (and places like here) are where we’re going to hav to sell our side. It’s gonna have to be like one of those Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland movies. We can use the old barn and Joey can play the trumpet and we can write the words and Suzie has a camera so we can put the whole thing on youtube!

Since the circumstances didn’t have to be the circumstances, they we didn’t have to strike. But this seems to be what everyone wants…or they wouldn’t have it. They voted for Patric, they voted the authorization. And they got what many have said was coming all along. They told the industry what they were going to do to them, and the industry is telling the guild to take their best shot. If you aren’t a member of the guild yet, and you want to join, find a way to do it now while the guild still exists as a bargaining agent for working writers.

Mr. SCREAMING CAPS, you’re assuming that attorney on “Deadline Hollywood” is telling the truth. People can troll reporters, too.

I support you guys. There are two opposing ideologies here that just don’t seem want to learn to read one another and I’m sorry that this lack of reading can lead to real economic difficulties for the writers. If there is anything a non-screenwriter (but a poet!) can do to help, please let me (us?) know.

Good luck.

“That story made my tummy hurt, daddy…”

“You must be hungry. I have no idea how or what to feed you, but wait, I just remembered, corporate America has provided us with an opportunity to buy a cookbook ($24.95) written by Mrs. Jerry Seinfeld!”

I’ve never liked Craig Mazin or his movies, and after reading all of his posts about the negotiations and strike…I like him even less. Why are so many of you letting him get away with his whiny, spineless, corporate-shill bitch-fest? Remember, this is the guy who claims to have found his “mentor” in good ol’ Bob Weinstein, a lovely and charismatic man who has one of the worst reputations in the business. And I used to work for Dimension Films, where it was common knowledge that every few years Bob would hire some young, impressionable screenwriter, put them on a lowball monthly stipend, and have them rewrite EVERY in-house production script according to his whims. Inevitably, the writer would grow exasperated with Bob’s ocd, neurotic late-night calls and thrice-daily faxes of story notes…and quit. See: Kevin Williamson, Ehren Kruger, and I suspect Craig for a time. I don’t know for sure, but I have a strong suspicion Craig was all too happy to bend over and take it from a “cheapo” Weinstein if it meant he was a-workin’. Harumph.

Oooooh, speaking of bitchy #23!

I provide this link as a service to members of the WGA. It may come in handy during week 10. We Need Writers - www.Helium.com - Publish, get Paid and be Read Start Writing Instantly!

Micah went through all that, risking firing and blacklisting, for $2K a year? And didn’t expect a backlash from his employer? Nice move.

Folks, this is simply a pissing contest over money, so spare us all the flowery rhetoric please.

Craig - I’m sure you’ve articulated this before, but if you wouldn’t mind doing it again - what course of action are you saying leadership should have taken to avoid putting us in the position we’re in now?

I think it was inevitable and the reasons why I couldn’t say any better than Micah did above.

As a “worker bee” in the industry, living paycheck to paycheck for 15 years i note two things: we below-the-line types have NEVER been paid residuals for our contribution to content. Now are asked to PERFORM live for no money as free “background actors” in reality shows and music videos as “hip crew members” - and to sign releases giving up all rights to our image in perpetuity - all for the honor and pleasure of $1500 a week or so…. I guess we should be asking for residuals for our “performances” as SAG actors do, and for our contribution to content creation - as your members do. Please take a moment to consider the stance of the “little guy” in this strike action. I would urge your leadership to cut a deal, and fast, so people can keep their homes. Thanks for listening.

Anonymous #26

Most of us are gonna be easy to find the next few weeks. Maybe longer. We’ll be out there on the streets, carrying signs, day in, day out. Standing up for something that matters, which is, I’d guess, more than you’ve ever done.

If you’d like to voice your concern that this is just a pissing contest about money, I promise you that I, or any of my fat, rich, overpaid brothers and sisters would be more than happy to discuss it with you face to face. Any time, any place. All your questions will be answered.

Or you can just keep cowering in the shadows.

I got twenty bucks on which way this goes.

The Governator had an opportunity with the recent fires to become a hero to the state.

Our embattled Mayor has a chance to eschew discussions about his unbridled lust for on air talent, redeeming his reputation if he can somehow keep both sides talking and moving towards a resolution.

It’s always the ‘little guy’ who takes it in a strike. Most of the WGA membership is made up of ‘little guys’ who have, somehow, been lead to believe that this is their battle. When, instead, they will default on their mortgages at the expense of fat cats. This is not fucking brain surgery!

Tina and Micah,

Here’s the joke you’re not getting:

Guild leader in 1988 (after 5 months of striking): “oh well, it was a good try…” And people died.

Guild leader in 2001: “oh well, it was a good try…” And people lived.

Guild leader in 2008 (after 6 months of striking): “oh well, it was a good try?” And people died.

Hypocrisy will flow by the end of this strike and moral fortitude will whither as soon as the NegCom starts selling their houses.

The anarcho-communist in me is with you. Revolution!

But the realist in me sees this war being drawn out and people having wetter, snottier sob stories than, “I gave up 1400/week on principle.”

I’ve asked this question many times and I’ll ask it again: IF WE’RE GOING TO COMPROMISE ANYWAY, WHY NOT COMPROMISE NOW?

And no one will answer it. Why? Because they don’t want to face the truth. They don’t want to face that this organization doesn’t have the grit to let itself die. Sure it will sacrifice hordes of its members, but when it starts affecting the upper echelons… “hello our friends at the AMPTP…”

Know this, for no one has contradicted this fact and I’ve plastered it all over the place:

We can’t win a war of attrition. So why haven’t we tried to fight a war we can win?

anonymous 26 that kind of dismissive comment leads one to believe that that your heart isn’t really in this? In any sense of the word.

Personally I was very moved by Micah’s post which I felt got to the nub of the problem. It’s on my blog now. Having taken ‘spread like the plague’ to mean carte blance.

Craig and Ted,

Wouldn’t you writers, at least for features, be better off focusing your efforts on creating new companies outside the AMPTP that pay fair profit participation, rather than begging and striking companies who just aren’t inclined to cooperate?

Because now your financial problem is MY financial problem. Which isn’t cool.

You need to get with your agents, managers, lawyers, producer friends, and your banking and finance allies, and start up new companies like Legendary, Relativity, Media Rights Capitol, get with the real estate barons like Kimmel and Yari, and start new companies with different business models, and make your movies through them. Then the studios can just distribute for a flat distribution fee, and that’s it.

Or, if the studios still can’t be trusted even if they’re only distributing, then distribute through the other companies, too.

Eventually the studios will start to suffer if all the writers take their projects to these new companies first, and the studios have to pick through the leftovers.

Then if the studios want to get back into development and production, it’ll be on your terms, because you don’t need them anymore.

You’re not guaranteed to get what you want by striking, but it’ll still cost everyone else tens of millions of dollars, and many careers and lives will be ruined.

No one disagrees that you writers deserve a fair deal. But your efforts are focused in the wrong direction. If you don’t like the terms the studios are offering you, you need to empower yourself to be able to take your business elsewhere. Striking is just cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Please correct me if I’m wrong or mis-informed about any of this.

John Stewart on the strike:

http://tinyurl.com/39z9yy

When someone on our show wants a raise or a promotion, it’s the showrunners who fight for it with the studio execs, not the other way around.

Be angry, make a difference, but get straight who your enemies are.

previous post was meant for #28 - not 26 - sorry

No. 35: While your suggestion is valid, I have one thing to say about fairness in any model that might exist outside of the studio system/network: a producer is a producer is a producer…

We all know that most of the studios are nothing more than distribution husks at this point anyway.

So what exactly does this mean for anyone trying to break in the biz writing features? What I understand is that one would have to put their plans/goals/dreams on hold, right?

Of course I’m talking about a non-member.

Would there even be a point to getting ones work registered at the WGA? Might as well wait till after the strike is over. At least that’s what it would seem to me.

And I’m not thinking of trying to get my work out there while there’s nothing to read. Although it would seem like the ideal time, anyone who tries to work or sell any of their works would be banned from the WGA, correct?

what course of action are you saying leadership should have taken to avoid putting us in the position we’re in now?

Jim Adler, what’s the point of talking about that now? That’s like sitting in Cleveland and wondering what you would have seen had you driven to Columbus.

Just an FYI, I’m doing a blogtalkradio show either tonight or tomorrow exclusively about the strike. My goal is to get an audience, which tends to be other bloggers, to help spread the word and help the PR on the WGA side of things.

I’d love to have some WGA members on to discuss the strike. Since it’s radio, identity can be protected somewhat. We’ll also be running a chatroom on Blogtalkradio so people can join there to chat during the live show. Once the live show ends (and people can call in during it) the show will be archived as a podcast. I’m thinking that if I can get any writers to commit to coming on the show, I can get “featured” placement on the site which can increase the audience several-fold.

If anyone is interested, contact me at my blog (link on my name). Sorry to take time out here, but there’s an audience here — and yes, as a wannabe, I’m in complete support of the strike, and want to help us explain it to people who haven’t been paying attention (i.e. most of America).

Wow. Some tough talk. Let’s see how you sound in month #3. Or 6.

I went to the pep rally, er, meeting last night, and one thing disturbed me. In the rhetoric, 90-95% of the time the reason mentioned for striking involved the internet — either downloads or streaming. Like everyone else, I can get behind striking for that for a long, long time. (I went through all three strikes in the ‘80’s.) But I can’t get behind striking for reality television, animation, or increasing the current DVD rate, which I consider the last war, if not two wars ago. My question is, which of those issues are we striking for? And shouldn’t we be clear on that? If it’s the internet, let’s just focus on that and stay out until we get an acceptable deal. But if it’s those other issues as well, I’d like to know, and I think some other people would, too. In other words, I want to be able to tell crew members, PA’s, agents, lawyers, and everyone else affected that if the studios make a decent offer on the internet and streaming, the strike ends tomorrow. Is that the case, or isn’t it?

How about this? Produce your own content! Then you won’t need to strike. In this day and age it’s not that much of a stretch. Produce some reality shows, make some real money for a change. Change the business model and go home laughing at the AMPTP. Revolution is the only solution! Waiting for them to “come around” is going to be a long-ass wait. It’s time to haul them out as the dinosaurs they are and take over!

Go, John Stewart, go. Pound for pound the best retort to the AMPTP’s new media argument yet.

If you aren�t a member of the guild yet, and you want to join, find a way to do it now while the guild still exists as a bargaining agent for working writers.

John Ireland: How exactly are us aspiring/fledgling writers supposed to join the WGA right now when the assumption is that the WGA won’t admit new members during the actual strike?

Or did I misunderstand your statement, and you actually mean we should try to join as soon as possible, following the conclusion of the strike?

Mike,

“Josh, are you really suggesting you want to beat up the author of #26? I didn’t think much of the comment either, but let’s try not to look silly.”

Not in the least. I just think it’s really easy to snipe anonymously. If you really think this is whining about money, come on down to the line and say so to the people who are doing the whining.

I can’t believe I’m going to defend an Anonymous.

He/She said: “Folks, this is simply a pissing contest over money, so spare us all the flowery rhetoric please.”

That’s a pretty crude, but pretty accurate statement. To say we’re doing this on moral principal is a joke. Our main issues aren’t exactly work conditions or a struggle to amend child labor laws (that’s a SAG issue).

We’re fighting over a percent of profit in a tertiary field (meaning non-essential).

I’m not saying our points aren’t valid and worth fighting for, but this is a pissing contest over money. To say otherwise blinds yourself, and impressionable others, to the truth.

And if this statement knocks you off your horse, just a little, maybe you should step back and check your sack. Because hardliners like you, as soon as it gets tough, are the ones who start waving the white flag first.

SML:

What compromise are you suggesting? The only deal on the table is .3% for new media. My understanding is there will be no more talking until that is accepted. So, again, what compromise?

To ALL:

Regardless of how we got here. We are here. The issue that is worth striking for is the issue a strike is happening for. Until there is movement from AMPTP over this issue, we must all stand united. No more doubts til that issue is solved. If the WGA didn’t stand up for this issue, there would be no reason for the union to exist.

My livelihood is at risk here too. And I don’t like that we’ve come to this point. But I am prepared to leave this field with my shield or on it.

Right now, how doesn’t matter. Right now, we are here.

Craig,

Perhaps, in the future, you could give some actual context to a statement like, “We are most definitely screwed” before tossing it out as standalone rhetoric. Quite frankly, it’s irresponsible.

I’m going to repost some of my comments from the other thread, because no one has really addressed it:

To be completely upfront (although I fully expect the flaming to begin, in terms of my “naivety”) - - for me (as an aspiring WGA-wannabe), the prospect of scripted series becoming completely extinct (post-strike) is devastating to me both personally and career-wise: the only venue I’ve ever wanted to work in has been scripted, primetime (or cable) series television (either half-hour comedies or one-hour dramas). I have absolutely 0% interest in doing motion pictures or animation (although I suppose I could tolerate working on reality, but nothing involving me being responsible for technical equipment, which I’m completely inept at). While I support the WGA in its goals (and in seeing a more equitable and sensible distribution of profits go to all the creative forces involved), a permanent halt to network-based scripted series basically means my life is over — in more ways than one.

Not to mention, my mom will hold me personally responsible if she never gets another new first-run episode of Ugly Betty, in the months following the presidential election. I’m saying, she’ll haunt me in the afterlife!

nail-nibbling and heartburningly yours, - Devoted Viewer (and WGA aspirant)

Anonymous #1 (post #43)…It was made pretty clear at the meeting last night (which you know and we all know was the furthest thing from a pep rally)that internet downloads is THE issue. In case you were on your cellphone and missed it…Picture a world where there are no more television-based re-runs. For every episode you write, the reruns go directly to the internet. At the rate the AMPTPXYZ are offering, we will lose 80 -90% of our customary resids. Since resids generate a shitload of dues, eventually our health fund and pension fund will dwindle down to basically, next to nothing. Without health and pension, we have no WGA.

If the Board comes back to us and says, “We got a satisfactory download deal, but zippo on DVDs, reality and animation writers”, I’m inclined to think that we would probably take it. At least we’ll get to vote on it.

I think you probably understood that last night, but…

Anonymous at #35

The DGA and SAG are also coming up against the residual issue, so a strike’s looming no matter what.

By having it be the WGA that goes on strike the collateral damage to other workers is actually minimized — since production can continue on many programs during the strike. If the WGA waits to go out with SAG then everything would close down right away since no actors = no production. Hopefully something acceptable gets worked out between the WGA and AMPTP so that there’s also an acceptable model for SAG to follow.

More seriously, I want to know better where Craig’s coming from. As we move forward with this, there will likely come a time where we may become divided on whether to take a deal or to continue striking. I suspect Craig will continue to be vocal and he does influence many people in the guild. I’m asking for a history lesson, which I think is still relevant.

Brian,

Replace compromise with cave.

“I’m not saying our points aren’t valid and worth fighting for, but this is a pissing contest over money. To say otherwise blinds yourself, and impressionable others, to the truth.”

Hey, SML, #48, can you please throw up one post where you don’t take every side of the argument? Pick a point and stick with it, fercrissakes.

I thought everyone should see this. It just went up:

November 2, 2007

Statement from AMPTP President Nick Counter

The WGA�s call for a strike is precipitous and irresponsible.

The writer is one of our most highly regarded assets and one of our most highly rewarded. Working writers on average earn over $200,000 a year. All they have to do is earn $31,000 to qualify for a full year of coverage in the finest health care plan in the country. And they are among the few employees in the world who get an �additional annuity� in the form of residuals beyond their initial compensation.

Last year alone, WGA West writers made in excess of $56 million in additional compensation from DVD residuals. It makes absolutely no sense to increase the burden of this additional compensation. Their DVD proposal would more than double the cost to Producers.

As we said on the 31st, we worked very hard to come up with a package in response to their last proposal and the companies believe that movement on other issues is possible. But the magnitude of the DVD proposal alone is blocking us from making any further progress.

Instead of working toward solutions that would give the industry the flexibility it needs to meet today’s business challenges, the WGA leadership continues to pursue numerous unreasonable proposals that would result in astronomical and unjustified increases in our costs, further restrict our ability to produce, promote and market TV series and films, and prohibit us from experimenting with programming and business models in New Media.

The WGA leadership continues to mischaracterize the current provisions for compensation in New Media. When a consumer pays to view a TV program or a feature film for a limited period of time, the writer gets a residual. When the consumer pays for a permanent download of a TV program or feature film, the writer gets a residual. As agreed to in past negotiations, the writer gets paid (plus gets pension and health contributions) for projects made specifically for New Media. The amount of the compensation is not a fixed amount, but is negotiated with the producer.

It is crucial that we have provisions that encourage—not inhibit—our ability to experiment, innovate, analyze and adapt to the transformative changes confronting us. We cannot ignore the challenges of today�s economic realities, the shifts in audience taste and viewing habits and the unpredictability of the still-evolving technology.

Our goal continues to be to reach a fair and reasonable agreement that will keep the industry working.

Good luck guys. Remember to use Youtube. Get the message out to people who aren’t watching the shows that aren’t on. Stay pissed, but try to have a good time.

35 is absolutely spot on in my view, and not just for features. I hope that the WGA collectively explores how they can help make such business models more and more possible in today’s world.

Craig, I’m hoping you can help me. I’m a strike captain and just had a rather discouraging phone conversation with one of my team members who said that the writers’ issues are “stupid” and that the only thing we should care about is DVD and that new media is unimportant and we should just cave. She tells me she gets all her information from your blog. I’m frustrated that she hasn’t attended a meeting or gone to any other sites, but even so, is she representing your POV correctly? It’s troubling to me that people are using this blog and your opinion as their only source.

Also did you attend last night’s meeting?

Thanks.

LB

SML or should I say Cassandra? Do you ever post anything except doom and gloom? God help the picket line if you are on it.

No wonder writers get such a bad deal if people like you are representative. You bitch about the bad deal in 88 and say it’s water under the bridge and yet advocate the same now?

chardkerm @51

I think Anonymous #1’s point (which I agree with) is why not make it clear and explicit that internet residuals are the game? Just come straight out and post in big letters at the top of the United Hollywood blog that internet is it? All the other stuff is obfuscating and diluting what should be a clarity of purpose.


Simple messages have power.


Simple messages accomplish goals.

As far as #50, TV shows on DVD have been a boon to the home video industry. How many reality shows sell well on DVD versus scripted shows? Is “Deal Or No Deal” even available… or are you hearing about how strongly “Dexter,” “The Sopranos,” “Family Guy,” “X-Files,” “Seinfeld” or the newest repackaging of “Star Trek” are selling?

Talk about ridiculously bad timing for a studio to have an ad touting how “Transformers” made $700,000,000 for them, with the DVD sales also making history… and that movie didn’t even have a script!

It seems that the AMPTP has now hired Mark Penn to moonlight writing its press releases…

i agree with 35 and 58. stop whining over something they don’t want to give you and realize that you - as writers - have all the control here. think and work and write outside the amptp box. i’m sure, given the sentiments expressed here, you would find many willing participants to help you. hey, cut the worker bees like me in on the residuals for the content you produce and we’ll work really hard on your projects.

LB @60

I’m a strike captain and just had a rather discouraging phone conversation with one of my team members who said that the writers’ issues are “stupid” and that the only thing we should care about is DVD and that new media is unimportant and we should just cave. She tells me she gets all her information from your blog.

Your team member seems to have severe reading comprehension problems. Craig has made it abundantly clear that his primary concern is new media and that DVD issues should be sidelined.

Chard,

Did you even read my comment? Or the others I was responding to?

Read and if you still have a problem, I’ll address all your concerns of duplicity. I promise.

Seriously Craig.

Monday morning QB-ing aside. We’re in it now. And THE ISSUE is clearly NEW MEDIA. It’s one worth fighting over. It sucks, but…

I hope whatever lingering personal animosity you feel towards Verrone, you will not take it out on your fellow writers in the guild that you say you love.

Hey, does anyone know which strike team has the most show-runners with pilot deals for next season? Just, uh, wondering.

And THE ISSUE is clearly NEW MEDIA. It’s one worth fighting over.

That’s exactly what Craig’s been saying all along. Sheesh!!

The WGA’s insistence upon asking for a raise in the DVD residual rate, when we all know internet is the real battle, has allowed the AMPTP propaganda machine make the strike all about DVD increases. Which of course it isn’t

The AMPTP are liars, but the WGA has given them the rhetorical ammunition by not taking DVD increases off the table. Now all of the AMPTP propaganda is all about how the Writers want an increase in the DVD rate, a battle that was lost long ago.

They are talking about DVDs, when we want them to be talking about New Media. If WGA isn’t able to clear this obfuscation on the AMPTP’s part, then then PR front of the war seems doomed.

Well, SML, that would be different tack from strike or cave. Strike and cave.

Seriously, accepting current deal would be accepting the biggest rollback in union history. Eventually, everything will be transmitted via the internet. Those residuals that Counter is touting will go away. Replaced by the new model: .3% on everything.

Ed,

First, I appreciate you providing an example of the blind.

Doom and gloom? Really? It’s what I believe to be a realist perspective that isn’t being contradicted (save for jabs at my person).

Read again:

“I’ve asked this question many times and I’ll ask it again: IF WE’RE GOING TO [CAVE] ANYWAY, WHY NOT [CAVE] NOW?

And no one will answer it. Why? Because they don’t want to face the truth. They don’t want to face that this organization doesn’t have the grit to let itself die. Sure it will sacrifice hordes of its members, but when it starts affecting the upper echelons… “hello our friends at the AMPTP…”

Know this, for no one has contradicted this fact and I’ve plastered it all over the place:

We can’t win a war of attrition. So why haven’t we tried to fight a war we can win?”

So Ed, stop being lazy, address my concerns so we can debate, or leave me be.

LB@60

Uh yeah… I’ll echo #66— Craig’s been arguing that New Media IS the issue, and as DVD turns into New Media any deal we make now morphs into “THE DEAL” for the foreseeable future.

AYAAW

Picture a world where there are no more television-based re-runs. For every episode you write, the reruns go directly to the internet. At the rate the AMPTPXYZ are offering, we will lose 80 -90% of our customary resids.

So why didn’t we demand that the defintiion of cable tv (CATV) in Article 51 of the MBA be expanded to include internet and similar delivery systems, where a transmission is made to device in a subscriber’s home?

That would have preserved all cable-based residuals into the future: basic, pay-per-view and VOD. It’s a status quo proposal for the AMPTP, because we’re not asking for a raise — we’d be fighting to preserve rights we already have in the face of technlogical — but not marketplace — change.

If that’s one of the primary goals of this negotiation, then why didn’t we craft a demand dedicated to achieving that goal?

• Ted

What I’m curious about is what deal the DGA will make in this arena for their general membership, namely episodic directors, since the biggest boys are invariably gross players.

Brian,

Look at ‘88 my man. That was a pure example of strike AND cave.

And that’s my point. We’ve created a situation (aided by the AMPTP) where we have to strike. And there are multiple reasons to strike. The question now becomes, are we strong enough to take them on?

And my opinion is, unless someone can tell me otherwise, we aren’t.

We can’t win a war of attrition.

I’m not trying to upset people, but pretending this is not the case will hurt us in the long run.

SML… this is you, right? , right?

If you’re so intent on “caving” then perhaps you ought to count your up-front money again, and start saving your pennies, because if the AMPTP has their way, it’ll likely be the last money you ever earn off your film “Hanna” (which, y’know, to me seems like a ripoff of La Femme Nikita mashed-up with The Professional, but that’s just my take from the logline). You sure won’t get much off the DVD sales, and given the AMPTP’s current negotiating stance, you won’t earn a dime off of online sales.

You keep asking the same stupid question over and over again (and it IS a stupid question): “We’re gonna compromise anyway, so why not compromise now?!”

So here’s the simple answer to your question: a compromise is only achievable when the other side is also willing to compromise. Short some signal from the AMPTP that they are willing to deal, there’s nothing we can compromise on.

Lacking a partner willing to engage in tit-for-tat bargaining, our only other alternative, then, is to cave and accept in full then entire slate of rollbacks that the AMPTP has put forward. Those demands would inevitably lead to the eventual dissolution of the WGA by starving our pension & health funds, and making it easier to steal writers’ work from them (gutting the separated rights).

The AMPTP has made it clear that they do not wish to pay writers one thin cent for any internet delivery, and that they will not negotiate until we accept Zero Payment Forever on Internet delivery… and yet we ALL know that internet delivery is the delivery system of the future.

Broadcast television as we know it is going away, DVD is already going away, VHS has gone away, and eventually even Cable TV will go away. Only the Internet connected to your television will remain, and the end user will pay some type of micropayment to view his desired programming, which will be delivered to him via the Internet or whatever network which replaces it.

So I guess the REAL question for you is “why is Seth Lochhead so insistent on surrendering all internet income for all time?” Did you spend all of your six figure advance on a new car and fancy clothes? Are you that willing to surrender your separated rights (such as the right to re-obtain your work should the producers put your script into turnaround, as happens 90% of the time? Or your separated right to create a television show out of your film script)?

So… why IS young turk Seth Lochhead (born: 1981) so eager and willing to throw the achievements of 80 years of negotiations onto the fire?

From variety:

In a last-ditch attempt to avert a strike, the Writers Guild of America will return to the negotiating table Sunday morning to meet with studios and networks.

SML,

“And if this statement knocks you off your horse, just a little, maybe you should step back and check your sack. Because hardliners like you, as soon as it gets tough, are the ones who start waving the white flag first.”

Jesus. This is such a blinkered, ignorant and weirdly amoral statement, I don’t even know where to begin. We are demanding to be compensated properly for our work. Pretty simple. Where ignorance comes in is when people like you become blinded by the dollar figures, and translate it into greed. The fruits of our labor generate BILLIONS of dollars of revenue. People like you are blinded by the numbers, and lose all sight of right and wrong. And now you’re contributing to the ridiculously dishonest portrait of writers that Counter’s perpetrating in his idiotic press release.

Brian (#49),

“The only deal on the table is .3% for new media.”

Are you sure that is correct? (No, I’m not nitpicking, but bear with me because I think the distinction is important.)

My understanding is that the Companies are proposing that residuals for permanent internet downloads follow the current DVD formula.

However, the number they are actually proposing for new media residuals is zero. Zero!

That’s the way I read it. Can someone knowledgeable please clarify?

From the Companies’ proposal of 10/25:

“Add a provision to the MBA stating that there shall be no residual payments for the exhibition or distribution of theatrical and television motion pictures, whether in whole or in part, in new media (other than as set forth in the “Sideletter on Exhibition of Motion Pictures Transmitted Via the Internet”). For this purpose, the term “new media” means any digital distribution platform now known or which is hereafter developed during the term of the 2007 Writers Guild of America Theatrical and Television Basic Agreement, including, but not limited to, digital video on demand, alternative digital broadcast channels, Internet exhibition, PDAs, broadband and cell phones.”

Thanks for any clarification and apologies if I’m failing to understand something really basic! I’m not a Guild member.

Propagandist @78

The AMPTP has made it clear that they do not wish to pay writers one thin cent for any internet delivery, and that they will not negotiate until we accept Zero Payment Forever on Internet delivery� and yet we ALL know that internet delivery is the delivery system of the future.

You’re mistaken. The AMPTP has offered to extend DVD rates to internet.

I’ve been following this blog with interest. It seems to portray a decent slice of what the rank and file are thinking.

I work as a composer and music editor. Going on 30 years or so. The last strike, we almost lost our house. I hope, as I assume you all do, that this can be resolved quickly. In a perfect world the producers would negotiate fairly. But we know how this business often works.

Good luck to you all.

Scott Stambler Local 700

“So why didn’t we demand that the defintiion of cable tv (CATV) in Article 51 of the MBA be expanded to include internet and similar delivery systems, where a transmission is made to device in a subscriber’s home?

That would have preserved all cable-based residuals into the future: basic, pay-per-view and VOD. It’s a status quo proposal for the AMPTP, because we’re not asking for a raise — we’d be fighting to preserve rights we already have in the face of technlogical — but not marketplace — change.

If that’s one of the primary goals of this negotiation, then why didn’t we craft a demand dedicated to achieving that goal?”

Sounds like a question you should have articulated in front of 3000 people last night. I would have been interested in the answer.

Long time listener, first time caller. But this strike is the fight of our lives, so I’ll share some thoughts.

Patric Verrone is not crazy. I know him a little bit, and he’s just as sane as any other writer. You can’t criticize every mis-step as his alone, then claim that other victories are accidental, or must have come about because someone else stepped in. I think Patric is the public face of a very smart, very committed group of writers who got together after the 2004 negotiation and realized that the power imbalance between the WGA and the AMPTP had become so extreme that pretty soon we were going to be at their mercy. Since I joined the Guild in 1995, I have seen the companies incrementally increase their leverage over us, and I have watched them use it to devise new and ingenious ways to push our collective buttons.

How do you correct a labor/management imbalance like that? You do what all the successful unions have done over the past 100+ years: you rally the membership around a key issue that’s worth sacrificing for, and you prepare for the inevitable showdown. “Showdown” does not necessarily mean strike, but let’s face it, everyone in our community knows that a strike is the only bargaining tool we have left. The AMPTP wants a showdown more than we do because they’re certain that they will win. They’re certain that they can outlast us.

When I look at the systematic way that this leadership has prepared for this moment, I take heart. The member outreach, the bridge built to SAG, the backing of the Teamsters — does this sound like a crazy person to you? Is it an accident that everyone on the Negotiating Committee is universally respected, a showrunner, or both? Even the timing of this announcement reflects good planning and judgment. By having the meeting last night, and then announcing the strike today, they have given the companies enough time to come to the table before anything actually happens. I don’t think they’re going to do that, but I keep hope alive.

Now that the Showdown is under way, we have to do everything we can to win. If we lose this, if we crumble and people start threatening to secede, we will be finished as a union. Yes, we’ll still have a building and officers will be elected and every three years there will be a negotiation with the AMPTP, but the imbalance of power will be so great that there will never be any hope of restoration — until the next huge issue comes along and we try to get up off the mat and put up a fight. Better to have the fight now, while we’re still on our knees.

I define “winning” as getting a decent deal on new media residuals. If they give on anything beyond that, it’s a rout. It will prove that a strike can be effective if the union has the will to see it through. That means, in 2011 or whenever the next negotiation takes place, that negotiating committee will have the ability to truly bargain with the AMPTP. And then, just maybe, over the next decade or so, we can incrementally increase our leverage — to restore some balance — and not have to start every negotiation with 30 pages of “Fuck You, Writers.”

So we have to win. We have to outlast them. And you know something? We SHOULD outlast them. One part of the WGA/AMPTP imbalance is that for us, it’s personal. That’s always our Achilles heel in these negotiations. They play on our insecurity and treat us like abusive parents. And we let them beat us. But in a strike situation, the fact that it’s so personal should keep us out there as long as it takes. We’re all here, and we all put up with the bullshit because for us, writing is a way of life.

If there isn’t a decent internet residual formula, I’ll probably be forced to leave this industry in the next five years. I’m being priced out of the market — can’t afford a house, can’t afford to educate my children — my cable residuals are the only thing keeping me afloat.

Some of you might say, “This stupid strike will have you out of the business next year!”

And my answer is “Not if we win.”

Can we win? Honestly, I don’t know. The Teamsters are critical, which is why we need to be out on the picket lines in large numbers. If they see us out there every day, I believe they will support us. (My grandmother was a Teamster, so I have some insight into the mindset.) They need us to hang our asses out there or they won’t be hanging theirs.

I’m not concerned about picket attendance during November. I’m concerned about January, right when both we and the companies are going to start really feeling it. We need to be out there then most of all, because if there are no picket lines, the Teamsters will do their jobs and suddenly the companies will be feeling less pain and before you know it, it’s all over but the crying.

Can we win if the Teamsters are with us and we’re on the picket lines in large numbers and we stay behind our leadership? Yes. But most of all, we have to remain calm. We have to tune out all the threats being made by the companies. We have to recognize public statements by Nick Counter and Phillipe Dauman for what they are. I mean, come on people. We write lines just like that for the asshole characters in our films and TV shows.

Remember the scene in Die Hard when the two FBI assholes show up and start running their anti-terrorist playbook page by page? Well, the companies are running their scare the writers playbook. We’re on about Page 5 of 100. Over the next days and (probably) weeks, a lot of people are going to say a lot of things. Like Patric Verrone is crazy. Like this leadership lead us into Iraq. Blah blah blah. Tune out all that crap and pay attention to what is actually happening.

Are we out on the line in strong numbers? Are any respected SAG members out with us on their free time? Are the Teamsters disrupting production in a meaningful way?

And most importantly, are the two sides talking?

Because if they’re talking, then movement is possible. And what I saw last night was a group that can do the oh-so-necessary back-channel work to keep the lines of communication open. Some of the people on that dais have the clout to talk to decision makers at networks and studios. Bridges can be built, mistakes by one side that ratchet up the anger on the other side can be avoided. Don’t forget, some of those execs are sympathetic. And don’t forget, when it starts to get tough for them, it’s not their own money they’re giving us by making a decent deal. We’re just another line item on a very long P&L.

Level heads on both sides also know that a decent deal creates genuine labor peace — not this phoney peace we’ve had since 1988. If the companies “lose,” there will be some short-term acrimony from senior management, but then their quarterly earnings reports will come out, and they’ll all move on.

But if we lose, there’s no moving on for us. There’s just moving out — of town. That means giving up my home of 17 years, and giving up the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do professionally.

So now that we’re in the fight, let’s fight hard. It’s our only chance. My first TV staff job was on a Saban show. If it weren’t for this Guild, they would have paid me $5 a week and I would have taken it just to have the opportunity to work on a real show. If we lose this fight, look for that to be the staff writer minimum the companies propose in the 2020 negotiation.

Propagandists,

I’m not saying we should compromise or cave. I want to strike. And I will die for our collective financial gains. I promise you. And I’m most likely the first to go.

But I don’t want to die in vain!!!! Get it. How many people lost their livelihoods in ‘88 because the WGA, at that time, striked AND caved?

The WGA, until recently, didn’t appear that it wanted to make a deal. I think their movement on Wednesday was HUGE. And I agree, the AMPTP spat in our collective faces. But it doesn’t mean I’m confident the WGA won’t betray us come five months from now. And I’m not confident the patriotic are being honest with themselves.

Read my whole posts before you get heated over one question that you can’t answer without a jingoistic taint.

You know who’s reading this and rubbing his hands together, Mr. Burns-style?

This guy.

I don’t know why this all has to be hashed out in public. It’s a great way to weaken any position. And if you think people on the other side of the table aren’t passing this out and cackling with glee, you’re wrong, and need to go watch some movies about PR.

SML: I’ve read most of your posts. The only reply I can come up with is “Huh?”

On the other hand, thank you, Peter Egan.

Hello to all:

Interesting weblog you have here, Craig and Ted. I have been looking at this site for the past month or so, interested in the business going-ons this industry is in flux over. To note, I am not a screen writer, nor a member of the WGA (as cool as that would be.) I am just a fan of films and a person with deep political interests.

What I want to discuss with tonight is a topic few have written about, yet I would think many have pondered. That is deception: now, when I state this, I do not refer to the WGA or the corporations; I refer to our leaders and ourselves.

Alot of times, a situation will occur when two sides have a financial disagreement, to say the least. Yet there is always a third side that will use deception to further an ulterior agenda, starting by screwing both sides of the financial argument. In this case, the writers and the producers have a disagreement over new payments. However, the third side is the multi-national banking conglomerates and the leaders of this country.

In the six years since the destruction of the World Trade Center and the subsequent plane crashes of 9/11/01, our leaders and their leaders/financiers have warned of another terrorism assault, hinting that it may occur in the West Coast this time. As well, our leaders have essentially been cornered into having certain long-standing truths be known. Yet, there are plans afoot from our leaders.

These plans include an invasion of yet another sovereign country, providing yet more of a security blanket for their fianciers, acculmulating the last amounts of limited resources to literally survive their livelihoods, and implimenting an endgame of some kind to which we think we know, yet it may not be the one that comes.

So, what does this contractual dispute between the Wga and the corporations have to do with these theories and facts I have implied and presented? Well, let me state this publically online for anyone to read: the triggering provocation will occur in relation to the dispute.

I’ll explain: in the time that Hollywood has been the center of our dreams, there have been people in this country, and indeed much of the known world, that find the community entertainment establishment to be rather condemnable. We’ve seen it with religious fundamentalists, conservative bigots, multi-national bank guardians, supposed political enemies, and even a fair deal of the common person. A listing of their deragatory remarks would be too full to list.

In this dispute, the leaders of our country (and perhaps even these enemies we are told to condemn) have found a premise beyond even the most fantastical of produced science-fiction works. To put it bluntly, our leaders have figured that to add gasoline to what is already an unforgettable fire in Southern California, Los Angeles (or “Hollywood” for the ethically challenged) needs to bear the brunt of its wrath.

You see, In New York, the World Trade Center was attacked because it was the most important business structure for international commerce in the state. In California, it is the offices and studios the entertainment industry entrusts with that give the backbone for international commerce regarding that state. Thus, if terrorists, so to speak, were to provide another attack on the U.S.A, the next time it would be in the West Coast, namely Los Angeles.

The target for destruction would be the offices and the studios of the entertainment industry; by what form, it would not matter. Valuable real estate and landmarks, and sadly individuals, would be destroyed for the wants and benefits of az few leaders and their leaders.

The fallout, to say the very least, would be traumatic. Chillingly, I forsee a scenario in which the individuals projected by the leaders to be the “masterminds” of the provocation would be a combination of “Arab/Muslim extremists” with help at least from “domestic anarchists/militants/left-wing marxists”. And these leaders, mind you, would like nothing better than to say that some of these supposed “masterminds” were “infiltrated” into the WGA, just for measure on their distaste for the creative arts.

Qui Bono, who benefits? well, certainly not you nor I, for we would be branded as “unpatriotic” at the very least. The CEOs of these businesses would benefit greatly, since the real estate insurance would go to them. Elements within the industry would benefit in putting their distorted agendas on to televisions all across the country for clear propoganda purposes. The state leaders would benefit to have certain office holders be construed as “brave” and “determined” seek higher office under false pretenses (looking the part, but not being the real deal.)

Most importantly, our leaders and their financiers would benefit out of all, so that their dreams of invasion, occupation, dehumanization, collateralization, and financial power can recommence in a situation far exceeding the benefits many unwittingly gave them after 9/11. To paraphrase Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the writers of “Team America: World Police”, these leaders need “9/11 times a thousand.” Having the provocation take place in Los Angeles, destroying the buildings and some people of the entertainment industry in the process, would provide all they need to soften up the populace into giving what they want, need, and crave, and in effect altering our lives indefinitely.

And what is even scary, is that they now have the date to do it. Our leaders could just as well commence the provocation on November 5th, traditionally considered to be Guy Fawkes Day. This date has triggered responses from Americans since the release of “V for Vendetta”, the 2006 film adaptation of Alan Moore’s graphic novel, as written and produced at least by the Wachowskis. The date has given certain people in the world a sense of hoping for changes in all of our lives. Yet, as depicted in the film, the British Parliament gets blown up on that date in the end. It is even more anarchical in the graphic novel.

By having this date become synonomus over many of the sides and this issue, our leaders will use this date (and/or future dates) to totally distort the meaning of the intial significance the date has. The perfect storm would arrive for these individuals that want destruction, no matter the cost. I, chillingly, would forsee a headline to appear in the days afterwards as follows: “Terrorists related to Iran, Al-Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, etc. teamed with extremist left miltants to stage a terrorist attack on all areas of the movie and TV industry , destroying most buildings and killing at least hundreds of people. These terrorists posed as members of the WGA during picketing. Governemnt officials state that these acts of cowardice will not be tolerated. Ground troops and nuclear weaponry to be deployed to Iran and other evil-doers in a pre-emptive strike.” That headline, sadly, will be believed by at least 60% of the populace, the more average people who also dream of war and other ideals too dispicable to state.

To those concerned about what I have writtern, let it be known that you are not alone. I, sadly, had forseen this coming for at least a few months now (an interview with Dick Wolf regarding Law and Order and a potential walkout triggered this feeling), if not longer. Our leaders are now immeasureably desperate to start their grand scheme of deceptions and destruction, at the cost of us all in this world. These are not rational times, and eventually neither sides of this dispute have rational leaders. We see this lust for this wanton destruction every goddamn day.

In the end, this theory, while not having not yet happened, is certainly in the cards of our leaders to use, and use it they just may do so. Thus, the dispute will come out with ourselves even worse in the upshot of things. More propaganda, less money, less privacy, more war, more collateralization of lands and people, less freedom, less hope. This may not hapen today, tomorrow, next week, or next month. Unfortunately, with the drumbeat for war and oppression rising, it will be soon. We all privately know this: writers, producers, viewers, common people, stars, and mavericks alike. In closing, a deal needs to be reached before the third party destroys both sides. The last thing we all need in any disagreement is a divide and command and conquer strategy having suceeded.

It is my hope that by writing this publically on this forum, we all may avert a cataclysmic event that will destroy us all. If it is written now, then our leaders will know that we know. Peace, gratitude, love, and well wishes to all of you in the hope that we can celebrate these two months of holidays in peace.

With sincere hope and clarity,

Lax24

SML:

This is not ‘88. At least two circumstances are majorly different.

1. Strike starting in November not March. AMPTP could afford a walkout in March, didn’t disrupt television season at all then. Not true now.

2. Teamsters didn’t support in ‘88.

There’s a danger to ignoring history, but there’s also a danger in putting a historical label on a new thing.

Writers Strike = Faked moon landing. FACT.

Wow, i’m following #89. How does anyone do that?

Dogs and cats living together! Mass Hysteria!

Brian McCabe is correct in teaching SML what the ‘88 strike climate was like. I remember the majority of TV shows were going into their usual reruns while we walked the picket line. It took a long time for the impact to start being felt.

And one of the reasons “Moonlighting” never “recovered” from that strike was their inability to meet airdates with new episodes before a strike was ever called.

Keep in mind, SML is a kid. Probably not a bad one either. When we’re young, we’re passionate. As we get older, alcohol soothes those impulses.

Really? Really?

Does #89 mean we should be yelling “Allah Akbar” on the picket lines?

Really Josh,

You disappoint me.

I also wrote this:

“I’m not saying our points aren’t valid and worth fighting for, but this is a pissing contest over money. To say otherwise blinds yourself, and impressionable others, to the truth.”

Maybe I interpreted the pissing statement differently than you did. But I think this statement tells it how it is without judgment.

I believe the negative interpretations come from your reading.

And I don’t believe it’s greedy to fight for money that’s rightfully ours. That’s what we’re doing. I support that fight. And fighting for money is just as righteous a cause as any.

But to say it’s morally righteous is ridiculous. Morals and emotions have nothing to do with this. Morals and emotions cause endless wars. Morals and emotions make people insult others without justification.

This is business. Business.

I don’t see why me questioning, why me presenting another side, is wrong. Other than, I suppose, it questions your moral standpoint, that it allows you to ignore my main point, and use me as a soapbox to propagate your jingoistic values.Really Josh,

You disappoint me.

I also wrote this:

“I’m not saying our points aren’t valid and worth fighting for, but this is a pissing contest over money. To say otherwise blinds yourself, and impressionable others, to the truth.”

Maybe I interpreted the pissing statement differently than you did. But I think this statement tells it how it is without judgment.

I believe the negative interpretations come from your reading.

And I don’t believe it’s greedy to fight for money that’s rightfully ours. That’s what we’re doing. I support that fight. And fighting for money is just as righteous a cause as any.

But to say it’s morally righteous is ridiculous. Morals and emotions have nothing to do with this. Morals and emotions cause endless wars. Morals and emotions make people insult others without justification.

This is business. Business.

I don’t see why me questioning, why me presenting another side, is wrong. Other than, I suppose, it questions your moral standpoint, that it allows you to ignore my main point, and use me as a soapbox to propagate your jingoistic values.

During the ‘88 strike, what helped keep me financially afloat were residuals for a show I’d been working on when the strike was called. The majors had no product, so they re-ran the hell out of what they had. Residuals. Ironic.

(#89) Uhhh, what?

It’s funny, I saw a guy at the meeting last night who looked a lot like Osama. He said he was on staff at ‘Hannah Montana,’ but now I’m wondering.

Chard,

If you don’t understand what I’m saying, I’m cool with that. Just ignore me.

Dear #89:

If you composed that manifesto from the day room of a mental hospital as I suspect, please answer two questions:

1)How did you earn unfettered internet access?

2)Does the Hannibal Lecter mask you’re wearing get itchy?

You mean Lax24 ISN’T Patric Verrone?

The federal mediator has summoned both parties to talks on Sunday morning.

A glimmer?

Brian,

I appreciate the information. I cite ‘88 only from my reading of it. I apologize if I was being presumptuous.

But your points…

1. Strike starting in November not March. AMPTP could afford a walkout in March, didn’t disrupt television season at all then.

2. Teamsters didn’t support in ‘88.

…still have a time limit. They aid a short, potentially violent battle. But as time passes, these points dissolve. And, as time passes, we can’t win a war of attrition.

I guess the one point I haven’t considered is, “Will this be a war of attrition?”

Got me there.

Where’s Arnie in all this ?

Also, keep in mind, the war of attrition in ‘88 had affected writers for 3 months before it hit the studio side, at least as far as television went.

This strike would start accruing losses on both sides right away.

For the record, I am not some crazy individual with a “Hannibal Lecter” complex. I am just a rather philosophical 24 year old that has studied history and politics extensively. I have also read many fictional accounts of similar if yet more fantastical events. It is just that our current leaders our so so infantile and hell-bent on war that these ideas must have had to be at least privately thought of. I know this is coming from someone who questions the official story of the recent reasons for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it is something to think about in whatever rational spare time we have in our increasingly irrational lives. And, yes, it would be funny if there were not a ring of truth to it.

Regardless, we are all in this together to have our lives be greater for those that come, be it our children or someone else’s.

With much important respect,

Lax24

SML,

All due respect, you seem like a smart guy. But seriously, your arguments ring false to me and I bet a lot of others. It’s clear that you don’t have the experience or background to speak as definitively about this topic as you do.

I get the feeling you’ve done some internet research in the past couple of weeks and now you’re espousing these arguments as if they are something other than the naive and uninformed opinion of a greenhorn.

Plus, there’s your whole OCD, or whatever compulsion you seem to have to comment on every single mother-loving thing that gets even a passing mention on this site.

I can’t take it anymore. You’re killing me. Please, I’m begging you, stop. Please…

For the love of Mike, stop.

Anon BIO,

Thanks. I think.

Just because I’m a kid doesn’t mean I don’t have a point. I’m not arguing we should cave now or ever, I’m just saying, do we all know what we’re in for?

This question does come from inexperience (and selfishness), but it’s troubling, save for you and Brian, how many of the experience neglect to answer and instead choose to harass me or use me to get their own point across (yes, you Josh).

And I am old enough to soothe my soul with a pint. That’s what I’m gonna do now.

Brian, I wish the agents at CAA, ICM, WmM and Endeavor were as vocal about this as you are. If writers, director and actors lose on Internet, the agencies lose, too. Big time.

Yet, they are strangely silent.

What gives?

Remember, SML, when you got smacked down for invoking Hitler in an online argument? You’d never heard of “Godwin’s Law” and you justified your useage with its very definition. You had the good sense to back down because you’re smart.

There is a solution to this situation and it’s not going to be the usual increases in health care that mask what is basically yet another concession speech from our union that we bitch about for years afterward.

While I didn’t care for many of the tactics leading up to this situation from our team, I care for the responses from the other side even less. Quoting what the salaries of the average writer makes per year is an attempt to paint us as coddled children being bratty. To be honest, SML does tend to enforce some of that perception because he’s young and full of fire. I think he means well.

The producers are playing hardball with the writers because they feel they can and have always done so before. We can’t halt production across the boards the way an actor or director can, but timing is everything and the timing of both of this strike, as well as the delay in negotiations, was fairly masterful.

People never cared for the sight of Brian Walton going to basketball games with Nick Counter, looking like Wiley E. Coyote and the Roadrunner sharing a beer before returning to their customary adversarial roles, and now we’ve got the opposite relationship with Patric Verrone and the AMPTP. These guys don’t share Laker tickets. I now truly believe that Verrone is trying to score something for us so that we’ll not do our usual whining about three or four years down the road. The meeting last night finally convinced me of that.

Does anyone remember what John Wells did to his writing staffs not long after averting a strike? “The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism,” and it just underscored who was not representing a writer’s best interests at the time.

I may not have chosen this path, but I’m willing to go the distance. The concept of a strike just shouldn’t be taken lightly and must remain the last possible recourse. Right now, it is.

My hope is that Sunday goes into Monday and goes into Tuesday and takes as long as it takes for both sides to truly negotiate and walk out with a formula that both the WGA and AMPTP can live with for the rest of this decade.

We’ve already proven that we’re not going to blink, so it’s time for everyone to stop issuing exasperated statements and make a f**king deal.

First, I love this site and think Craig is a genius. Thanks for allowing the non-WGA’ers to enjoy your insight and the blog. (Thanks also to my WGA-bro, Greg, for linkning me to the site.)

That said, as a non-WGA member that has worked in this industry for more than 25 years, I can only hope that both sides can leave their egos at the door and find some common ground. Despite the popular belief of the No-Spin Zoners, the ecomony in this country sucks. It is actually cheaper to film in the US than in Canada (what?????). You work longer and take home less. Most BTL crew are struggling to pay even modest home mortgages. A prolonged strike will be much worse than 1988. It will break the crews and just push more work away to Eastern Europe, Australia and other places. It will destroy our industry.

For the good of the business, I offer the following suggestions:

1.) Make sure that you have a HUGE presence on Monday morning when the trucks first arrive at every major studio in town. At 5:30am, not at 9am. With styro coffee cups and not Starbucks coffee cups. And, when the crews go home at 8pm, be there then, too. This is not a 9am - 5pm strike. If you are going to get leverage and sympathy, BE PRESENT IN FORCE FOR THE ENTIRE SHOOTING DAY.
2.) Find out where the major casting sessions are scheduled (Breakdown Services anyone…?) and picket those sites. Why casting? Casting Directors are TEAMSTERS. If you want to impact shows that already have scripts, put the gals in casting on the spot and see if they’ll cross. It will also test just how “loyal” those SAG members are going to be when they have a choice to read for producers or not cross a picket. Best to clear that up right away, before counting on them to support you in a length walkout. 3.) I hear your concerns over new media, the DVD’s, residuals, etc. But, how many of the average writers in town are actually going to see a noticable increase in their paycheck over some of the more entrenched issues? And, are the amounts in question great enough to shut the town down. Is a compromise truly unrealistic? Is this more important that issues like health insurance and preserving your pension plans? 4.) Avoid the press with the public displays of sabre rattling. All the posturing is gotten old already and you haven’t even hit the picket line. You’ve lost the sympathy of many of the non-WGA members in the business. Please, please, PLEASE — shut the hell up (!), and if necessary, put some back door negotiating into action. Be proactive, be classy, and take the high road. Don’t keep taking the bait that the AMPTP keeps tossing your way. READ THIS AGAIN: DON’T TAKE THE BAIT! Each time you take the bait, you further isolate yourselves from those whose support you need. 5.) A prolonged strike will give leverage to the DGA and SAG to dictate the terms that you have to accept. Act now before the residuals and new media calculations are set in stone by these other guilds. Will a strike be worthwhile if the issues you are walking out for are resolved by the other unions and forced down your throat?

I know you don’t care what America thinks. But, please care about what your peers in the industry think. You guys are the class of the industry creating images and stories that entertain, inform, and educate. The non-WGA members in this industry need both sides to find a way to reach a solution to this impasse and to do it quickly. Please, WGA members, although many of you (even those on staff) don’t know our names or exactly what we all do, don’t lose site of the rest of us along the way. (Despite not getting residuals and some of the perks…) We are all in this together.

Good luck.

Bubba,

You attack the man and not the point.

Why does it ring false? Maybe because you’re unwilling to see a perspective you’ve not been indoctrinated too. Or maybe because you’re a prejudiced bigot.

I supposed you’ll take back the “smart guy” comment now… damn.

As someone once said: “A child can ask questions that a wise man cannot answer.”

This is getting boring. Beer now.

Thanks, Greg. I’ve never purported to speak for anyone but myself and I’m certainly not going to start now. I thought there was a statement from Ari Emmanuel posted here yesterday thru Nikki Finke.

I can only do my small part (which is mostly cheerleading now). I have explained my take to my clients as they’ve asked. A lot out here don’t really understand what’s going on.

I like this forum as it gives many different takes on the situation. So, thank you, Craig. It’s been really helpful for me.

And now. A beer for me too! Look forward to seeing what you guys have said over the weekend.

I’m a prejudiced bigot!!!???

When in doubt, call someone a racist or Nazi, that’s one of your tired and true blog arguments.

You really will argue anything both ways, inside out and ad naseum just for the heck of it won’t you?

And you just love to break out those quotes you store up just for arguing on blogs, don’t you! You have a Word document filled with them, just for such an occasion as this!

You crazy rascal, you!

How many other blogs do you carpet bombard with your incisive thoughts? More than dozen per day?

Can the WGA win a war of attrition?

Not if the other side wants to keep losing money forever, no.

But they don’t want that.

The studios are now all owned by publically traded companies, and their stock price will go down if they have a bad quarter.

They’re going to have a bad quarter.

And don’t forget:

No union has ever had more money than their corporate bosses.

But they won battles only when they fought.

Good luck guys….

The teamsters are contractually obligated to take their studio calls no matter what. Doubt they’re going to honor pickets held by the same guys who poured over their most recent picket lines. Teamsters, contrary to the above poster’s suggestion, are not going to “disrupt” production. That’s ridiculous. Imagine a driver who’s been on a TV show for 12 years doing anything to screw up that gig. Fucking please.

Seth Lochhead aka SML,

You are truly pathetic, you come on here with one project and proceed to lecture to people with over 30 years in the business with such vehemence and righteous indignation.

How many times will you continue to type “war of attrition” as if you coined the phrase or even know its meaning in the context it was used? Weren’t you 7 years old in 1988?

Not to mention the fact that your blog makes you look like a lunatic and a megalomaniac.

I suggest you don’t burn your bridges before they are even built.

WHY YOU ARE NOT “SCREWED” - YET.

I’ll condense this since, from what I understand it’ll be posted elsewhere in more detail.

This is going to cost the studios every bit as much as it’s going to cost members of the Guild.

1) Big ticket shows like LOST (to pick one example) are going to tank. They’re going to lose their audiences, and those audiences aren’t going to come back.

Those shows have been off the air for so long that nearly ALL the fans of the show can no longer remember what the hell was going on, let alone what had them sitting on the edge of their seats in anticipation of what might happen next.

2) Endless re-runs of, what were highly rated one hour dramas and half hour sitcoms, are going to completely suck the life out of them. Compelling or hilarious characters will become faces audiences are sick to DEATH of looking at. People are going to want something new, and networks aren’t going to have anything “new” to offer them.

3) Trying to put up recently released features (that have been BRUTALLY cut for runtime, and any possibly offensive content) to fill prime time slots, WON’T increase DVD sales, they’ll depress those sales even further, because even the best of them will be perceived, as broadcast (i.e. as shitty, cut to death, stories), as opposed to something people want to own.

WHERE THAT COULD QUICKLY LEAD

Advertisers are going to figure out more quickly than anyone, that without fresh content that will hold people’s attention, their advertising dollars are being flushed down the potty.

Rates are going to tank across the board, and it’s going to be dammed near impossible to get them back up to where they are now, as advertisers find new, more effective places, and means, of hawking their wares.

If the WGA is able to survive a LONG strike, and these problems begin to hit home faster than the studios anticipated, and the WGA digs in its heels by refusing to accept compromises made by the DGA and SAG, then driving the WGA into a strike like this could well go down in history as one of the biggest mistakes the AMPTP ever made.

THE STUDIOS’ NIGHTMARE

The longer this strike goes on, the more powerful the WGA’s position is going to wind up becoming.

As viewership begins to tank due to a lack of new content worth watching, ratings are going to begin to drop - precipitously.

As ratings, and the effectiveness of TV advertising begins to drop, ad rates are going to drop - precipitously.

As ad rates drop, quarterly profit reports are going to become more, and more dismal.

Pressure, irresistible pressure, could begin to mount FAST at that point.

Major, and until now “not to be defied” studio heads, are going to begin to roll, as parent companies, completely unsympathetic to the “details” or “context” of the issues involved, start firing those who aren’t able “to just fix it”.

All of this depends on how long the WGA can sustain a strike. In 88 it was five months.

But that was back in 88. These days information flows more quickly.

Investors expect returns more quickly.

If those returns aren’t forth coming, within say six months, pressure on the AMPTP from unsympathetic, “nothing personal, it’s just business” parent companies, to “settle”, with precious little concern over how the strike is settled, is going to reach the point where the AMPTP no longer has any real leverage over negotiations.

They will have forced themselves into a “settle at any cost” position, and their ONLY remaining hope at that point, will be that the Guild doesn’t realize just how desperate and pathetically weak the AMPTP’s bargaining position has become.

At that point it’ll come down to “whoever blinks first loses”, and whoever loses is going to LOSE BIG.

BOTTOM LINE TIME

It’s hit the fan. Should have beens, and could have beens, are of little use now. Maybe this bloodbath could have been averted, but it wasn’t.

This is crunch time, the stakes are higher than they have been in decades, but keep in mind that the other side has just as much to lose.

The thoughts and prayers of all of us hoping for any future in this industry are with you and your families.

I only wish there was more we could do to help.

Godspeed.

M.T.

IF WE�RE GOING TO COMPROMISE ANYWAY, WHY NOT COMPROMISE NOW?

There is one and only one answer:

A compromise is only possible if there is overlap between the most one side will allow and the least the other side will accept on every point being negotiated.

There are clearly points being negotiated for which there is no overlap between the uttermost limits that both sides will accept. The strike will force one or both sides to adjust their limits until there is overlap… and a deal.

The strange, sad fact is that the deal that will be reached after the strike is one that could not in practice be reached before the strike, because one or the other side currently believes in its heart of hearts that such a deal is intolerably unfair.

Mike Tully —

I couldn’t disagree with you more. The longer it goes on, both sides lose. I think you’re putting too much faith in the viewers — the same ones that supported DUKES OF HAZARD for how many years? Thanks, but no.

As far as the advertisers go, they would love to see rates drop, and it will just reinforce that more eyes are on the web and alternative media, not “free” television (Free…? Hmmmmm?).

Studio heads to roll…? First thing that will happen is force majure will be put into action and the studios and networks will cut any and all deals. Not just ongoing series deals but development deals and anything else they want to clear the deck of. Might even clear deals on “hits” like LOST since they can always renegotiate once the strike ends and maybe pair down staffs. That ought to starve off the wolves for a bit on their side, yet make it a longer, colder winter for those taking the hits on the WGA and crew sides.

BTW, where are all the agents? Doesn’t anyone aside from some of the bloggers above wonder where they are? Too bad we can’t unilaterally cut commissions down a percentage point or two and let them take a hit. Maybe even reconsider the formula on packaging fees? Come to think of it, have my agent’s assistant bring that latte to the picket line for me in a show of support. Yeah, right.

Tina and Micah:

I’ve gone through this a while back on another thread here, but I’ll reiterate:

When the WGA was attempting to organize Nickelodeon, Jerry Daly (then the WGA organizer) contacted The Animation Guild about working to organize designers and background artists while the Writers Guild covered board artists and writers.

For months we worked in tandem — with minimal success or impact. Artists and writers — the “trouble makers” — were being steadily laid off.

Sometime after the vote that the WGA organized in front of Nick, I visited Jerry Daly’s office at the WGA. He said to me: “The guild’s getting pretty much nowhere with this. We’re going to walk away.”

Eight months after that conversation (with nothing still happening at Nick) the Animation Guild organized a small animation company owned and operated by Fred Seibert (former head of Hanna-Barbera). After we had signed a collective bargaining agreement, Seibert moved his studio from its Ventura Boulevard location to Nickelodeon.

That led to me walking through Nick … which led to me collecting rep cards … and ultimately a contract.

Jerry Daly was angry that I never gave him a “heads up.” I reminded Jerry that he had told me eight months before that the WGA was “walking away” from the organizing drive; he was unmollified.

I won’t claim to be a simon-pure idealist in all this. I’m not. What I am is a former animation writer who now works as a union rep and is paid to, among other things, organize the unorganized. Which I do.

The BBC is inviting comments from writers over at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7074306.stm

Please also note the article did not include/clarify the AMPTP’s new & improved definition of “DVD” - if someone(s) would like to set the BBC’s reporting straight:

“Earlier, Mr Counter had said no progress was possible at the talks “for overriding business reasons” as long as writers insisted on increasing royalties from DVD sales.

“The DVD issue is a roadblock to these negotiations,” he added. “

Where are the agents?

Agents work for the studios. They are paid by the studios. Their clients come and go. It’s the studios that aren’t going away. It’s the studios that pay their salaries.

Not to mention agents don’t get a cut of residuals.

SML,

“Maybe I interpreted the pissing statement differently than you did. But I think this statement tells it how it is without judgment.”

Heh.

Of course it does.

Or maybe you’re such a horrible writer, you don’t understand how phrases like “pissing contest” are unmistakably perjorative. In either case, what you’re posting here is essentially gibberish.

“I don’t see why me questioning, why me presenting another side, is wrong.”

Quit wrapping yourself in the flag. You’ve been reading Ted too long. Nobody’s saying you’re wrong to ask questions. People are saying that your declarative statements are fundamentally unsound. There’s a difference.

“Just because I’m a kid doesn’t mean I don’t have a point. I’m not arguing we should cave now or ever, I’m just saying, do we all know what we’re in for?”

I hope you live a long, full life and actually make a career for yourself in this business, so that one day, some kid with a few weeks experience and a blog can lecture you on shit you’ve understood since he was in grade school. Only then will you realize the level of eye rolling you’ve induced here.

Do we all know what we’re in for? Nope. You sure as hell don’t. Which is why you keep harping on this Cave Now notion like a dog with a bone. Jesus. Give it up.

I don’t see these factors as you do.

1) Big ticket shows like LOST (to pick one example) are going to tank. They�re going to lose their audiences, and those audiences aren�t going to come back.

Those shows have been off the air for so long that nearly ALL the fans of the show can no longer remember what the hell was going on, let alone what had them sitting on the edge of their seats in anticipation of what might happen next.

It’s entirely possible that absence will make the fans’ hearts grow fonder. That, and endless re-watching of past seasons on DVD to tease out every possible hint and clue.

2) Endless re-runs of, what were highly rated one hour dramas and half hour sitcoms, are going to completely suck the life out of them. Compelling or hilarious characters will become faces audiences are sick to DEATH of looking at. People are going to want something new, and networks aren�t going to have anything �new� to offer them.

Syndication stands as a counter-argument to this point. Indeed, Scrubs is so over-syndicated (Comedy Central, WGN and now local broadcast) that even people who don’t watch it see enough of it to know all about it.

3) Trying to put up recently released features (that have been BRUTALLY cut for runtime, and any possibly offensive content) to fill prime time slots, WON�T increase DVD sales, they�ll depress those sales even further, because even the best of them will be perceived, as broadcast (i.e. as shitty, cut to death, stories), as opposed to something people want to own.

Given that consumers are now fully conditioned to expect that the DVD will contain more material than the theatrical release did, it won’t be difficult for them to understand that the DVD version is tons better than the broadcast version.

If those returns aren�t forth coming, within say six months, pressure on the AMPTP from unsympathetic, �nothing personal, it�s just business� parent companies, to �settle�, with precious little concern over how the strike is settled, is going to reach the point where the AMPTP no longer has any real leverage over negotiations.

Could happen. On the other hand, the integrated media companies may be willing to accept poor returns from one or two divisions so long as their other divisions are chugging along fine.

And don’t underestimate the ability of the companies to adapt to whatever new conditions arise. It wasn’t so long ago that primetime game shows were considered archaic — and then Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and The Weakest Link brought them back with a vengeance. If people are willing to watch Howie Mandel and 26 (or whatever number) of Zero Halliburton briefcases, they’ll watch anything — ANYTHING.

“Not to mention agents don�t get a cut of residuals.”

/////////////

This statement is only half true. Actually, 2/5 true.

DGA and WGA do not pay commissions on residuals. Actors do.

Remember, in pattern bargaining, it’s 1 part WGA, 1 part SGA, 3 parts SAG. So, the agents have a lot at stake.

And, regardless of what you might feel, by contract (and therefore by law) the agents work for their writer, director and actor clients.

Yes, they have coprparate clients, too, but they also have ethical walls and arbitration mechanisms to sort things out.

I’m disappointed the big agencies haven’t taken public positions. (Ari on Defamer is hardly public.) Whoever suggested we artists cut back the agents’ commissions until they get some religion actually has a great idea. Maybe this can get some traction as the strike goes forward.

Craig, I’m hoping you can help me. I’m a strike captain and just had a rather discouraging phone conversation with one of my team members who said that the writers’ issues are “stupid” and that the only thing we should care about is DVD and that new media is unimportant and we should just cave. She tells me she gets all her information from your blog. I’m frustrated that she hasn’t attended a meeting or gone to any other sites, but even so, is she representing your POV correctly? It’s troubling to me that people are using this blog and your opinion as their only source. Also did you attend last night’s meeting

You can’t be serious.

Someone said that?

Wow.

What a lunatic they are.

I’ve been incredibly consistent in here. What I’ve said, repeatedly, is that DVD residual rates do NOT matter anymore for negotiations, that EVERYTHING is about internet residual rates (or New Media, whatever you want to call it).

So this person got it completely wrong.

Which makes me think that the whole thing is made up, because it’s so ludicrous.

I did not attend the meeting downtown, because I was directing my film. I did have about fifteen close friends who were there, some of whom live blogged it for me, and I’ve been filled in at length on the meeting by Howard Michael Gould, a good friend and member of the Negotiating Committee.

I hope this answers your question. If this caller was for real, please tell them that they are misrepresenting my views terribly and bizarrely at that.

Also, anyone who say things like “writers’ issues are stupid” is basically a mongoloid.

What’s the saying, “level heads will prevail”?

I read a lot of anger in these comments. Anger comes from fear, and fears ok, you just have to acknowledge you have it and find your center. You are struck. That is fact. Playing the “blame game” is not going to help you. Trying to “control” others decisions, such as Craigs on what he posts or not is not going to help you. All you have control over is the decisions YOU make, so make yours and know that, for good or bad, the rest takes care of itself.

Craig, thanks for your remarks. I assure you this is a real person; she’s actually not only a team member, but a long-time friend of mine which added to my disbelief. I will set her straight. While you and I don’t agree on everything, I do believe that new media/internet is the #1 issue here.

Peace.

Bubba 116,

The bigot comment was over the top and shouldn’t have been directed at you. I was just tired of no one addressing my point directly and, instead, pointing out reasons why I should keep my mouth shut. It’s frustrating to be told you have no voice because of an age deficiency. Hence the “prejudiced bigot” statement. But, looking back, I temper-tantrumed the wrong person.

So I apologize.

Stuart 121,

Thank you for your response. I agree. But the question now becomes what if they never overlap? Is the WGA willing to literally kill itself for us?

Travis,

You have a point.

Steve H 123,

That’s interesting.

Josh 126 (if that is really you),

I’m still really disappointed.

My declarative statements are MY OWN. Debate them. Or ignore them.

(Note #1 (because I’m a cocksucker): “…you’re such a horrible writer, you don’t understand how phrases like “pissing contest” are unmistakably perjorative.” Who’s the “pissing contest” insulting again? Oh, yeah, FOLKS. Meaning people in general. Potentially meaning both the AMPTP and the WGA. You wrongly assume that statement is only disapproving of WGA’s flowery rhetoric. But it seems to be disapproving of all FOLKS’ flowery rhetoric. You are, however, right about one thing, it is a pejorative statement. So I apologize.)

(Note #2 (because I’m a giant cocksucker): When you’re calling someone a “horrible writer” maybe you should use spell check first. Hint: you spelled pejorative wrong. The Josh I admire would not be so sloppy in his insults).

Does anyone have any specific locations for non-wga supporters to join in the strike line at 5:30 AM on Monday?

On news that Jerry Seinfeld’s “Bee Movie” took in an estimated $10M on Friday, Dreamworks Animation announced they’ve acquired Jessica Seinfeld’s cookbook “Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets To Get Your Kids Eating Good Food.”

Pending a WGA Writers Strike, Mrs. Seinfeld will pen the adaptation of her personal opus.

“The Seinfelds are modern-day mythmakers as well as culinary geniuses,” said Dreamworks spokesman Turvis Buttle. “They know what stories your children will enjoy, and they know what you should be feeding your young too. What a family!”

Buttle has high hopes for the cookbook’s big-screen fortunes. “As long as we’re the only family film opening in all fifty states, what are the idiot moviegoers and their big fat kids going to do, choose to see something else? Ha, like what?! Who cares if we poison children off movies for life by failing to provide lasting cinematic memories… important thing is we took their money today.”

Um… in the midst of all of this turmoil, has anyone at the WGA given thought to filing an unfair labor practice charge against the AMPTP and attempting to make their case to the NLRB?

From my understanding of the law as it pertains to the collective bargaining process, Counter’s (and by extension, the AMPTP’s) repeated public refusals to discuss DVD and new media residuals… which, by any sane interpretation are “mandatory” issues subject to bargaining (i.e. wages, hours, living conditions, etc.)… could compel them to come back to the table.

Just a thought.

Mike Tully:

I actually brought up the situation about Lost over at thefuselage.com (the official Lost messageboard sponsored by the show’s producers). Gregg Nations (who posts there when he can) said that you doomsayers are wrong, and the situations that many of you have alluded to (scripted episodic television going BYE-BYE forever — aka “Devoted-Viewer-has-no-shot-at-a-satisfying-career-and-ends-up-committing-suicide”) are completely off-base.

I’m still nervous and on-edge (such is the theme of my entire life), but Gregg’s words have made me a little calmer and more centered than I had been earlier today.

In Lost’s case, it’s not a matter of IF the remaining 48 episodes get written, filmed, and aired — it’s a matter of WHEN.

As I said, part of me still can’t help but be scared shitless about everything…however, the other part of me is inclined to give Gregg Nations the benefit of the doubt over you (mainly because I have no clue what your credibility and/or agenda happens to be).

Devoted,

LOST is safe.

I made a MOONLIGHTING reference earlier (that the ‘88 strike was the cause of death), but it appears that the ‘88 strike was the straw that broke its back.

So, I guess, your best bet is to go through your shows, see what ones have a viewership receding past 8 mil (and their shares… I have no clue how those work).

As for the future of TV: if there’s demand for scripted episodic television there’s a way. Worst case we could all send peanuts. Actually… hmmm….

Brian 107,

You’re right. We do have the ability to strike a blow quickly and it might actually be enough to end the strike before people get hurt. It’s something I didn’t consider. I appreciate the info.

re: Steve Hulett, organizer for IATSE Local 839, aka the Animator’s “Guild”, and post #123…

Steve Hulett & his anonymous comrades claims not withstanding, the Animation “Guild” did most definitely screw the writers who had signed WGA cards at Nickelodeon, simply by incorporating all those same writers who had not yet been fired for signing WGA cards (and all new writers) into their bargaining unit. They COULD have exempted us, as they initially promised the WGA they would when we initially agreed to work together to organize Nickelodeon, but they chose instead to offer their services to Nickelodeon as a means to lock out the WGA permanently, and thus to get their Local most-favored-union status.

Oh, and it wasn’t 8 freaking months later, either… it was 3 weeks, maximum, before the long knives came out and Steve Hulett was walking around the building arm-in-arm with the same Nickelodeon Executive who had just blacklisted us, handing out IATSE Local 839 signature cards.

He did this, incidentally, while we had cases before the Local 839 protesting the en masse firings of people who had just coincidentally signed union cards toward a WGA election. It was Steve & IATSE Local 839 who made continuing our organizing attempts at Nickelodeon into a superfluous effort.

Incidentally, what do you think is going to happen when you’re an artist in a building and you see people getting fired left and right for union activity, and then your boss comes walking into your office introduces a “friendly” union organizer and hands you a signature card?

It was smart of Steve to cease being an animation writer… I’m sure the money is much better putting the screws to other writers as an organizer for the AMPTP’s Pet Scab Union. I’m certainly glad that I stopped being an animation writer… my pay went up by 100% immediately (y’know, after my year of fucking unemployment, vainly trying to get work at any of the animation studios that Steve Hulett’s worker-friendly union covers). Too bad I loved writing animation, or I’d be happy about how things turned out.

As for the WGA’s fault in this story, yes, I think I’d pointed out that this entire incident happened BEFORE Patric Verrone ran for President, and that the WGA was of no help whatsoever when we were fired & blacklisted. Hopefully those days are over (except at Local 839 studios, where supporting Viacom’s blacklist is still Job #1).

And lest anyone here ever wonder who’s telling the truth about this situation, dig around a little bit and find one of the writers from the Dreamworks Animation/NBC primetime animated show “Father of the Pride.” A show which was CLEARLY supposed to be covered by the WGA, where the writers were hired and told it would be a WGA show, and where they showed up to their first day on the job and were told they HAD to join Steve’s IATSE Local 839. A deal was eventually brokered between the 839 & the WGA whereby we would share the writers, but they would pay into their WGA Health & Pension plays… a deal which was later scuttled by the 839 AFTER the work had been completed.

Scabtastic, Company-funded, will-never-strike, Syndicate-run, racket union: the Animator’s Guild. Where the President of the Union once offshored work to non-union artists in Canada on a film he was directing WHILE serving as those artist’s union president! THIS is the future of the WGA under the AMPTP’s tender mercies. Vote with your feet (and your fists, if need be).

Devoted,

From TV guide:

http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Strike-Fallout-Heroes/800026358

Thoughts?

Looking at the other side… a must read from Broadcasting & Cable

“Can a Strike Save TV?”

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6497197.html

Hi everyone:

Great idea to donate your time and blood to a worthy cause. I do wish I was there to help.

Regarding the calling for a Sunday morning meeting by the federal mediator; I can forsee three distinct processes occuring which, yes, relate to that ulterior motive for global conflict theory I wrote of last night:

1. The federal mediator (forget his name) will issue an edict signed by President Bush and the “Governator” ordering the writers and producers to go back to work, for the sake of national security. Of course, the reasoning why will be known to all, thus a deal will be reached while work continues. The work produced, however, may start to become more of a leader-sponsored propoganda campaign to which there will not be a way out for any side, unless they want to be canned from their jobs.

2. Whomever shows up for the corporations will state that the plan is in fruition to destroy the lots and resources of Los Angeles, civilian collateral be damned. Nothing will stop them, they will state, in acheiving the objectives of their fianacial masters. They will also mention that if the writers fail to co-operate in the ensuing cover-ups, the writers will get a share of the public blame in a scenario I wrote of in greater detail last night.

3. The WGA can state that they know of the ensuing plans ahead of time, and have taken measures to invert the process of public blame. That is to say, the destruction of Los Angeles will be inevitable; yet, they could come out and state that the corporations did this to themselves for financial fraud purposes. Thereby the terrorism assault that has been planed in these strange creatures will fall right back at them, leaving the assault to be limited to fianancial fraud rather than a supposed act of war by a supposed international enemy. Of course, the long-term effects of that cataclysmic event will not reach overseas, where in this masterful game of chess our leaders are playing, the world will be different than what it is at the moment.

“The only winning move is not to play”, so was stated in the screenplay to WarGames written by John Badham: however, our leaders and their financial backers have invested far greater times in doing this. In these instances, the sides of this dispute need to publically address the real issue of wanton global destruction, including the very real possibility of an actual Global Thermo-Nuclear War these leaders want. All other issues, including New Media and Internet payments, are now secondary. I get the feeling that this has been on the minds of those leading these factions in this dispute. To paraphrase a line in “The Sentinel”, even when you are not talking about this issue, you are talking about this issue.

To all reading this, the leaders’ endgame has been set. The town of Los Angeles, California has been set to become the pawn in a rather imminent global conflict. The least both sides of the dispute over contracts can do is to lessen the damage to only the target area; as well, publically announce the financial deal of the new MBA that has privately been in the works for finalization for quite some time.

Hoping for peace to all involved and all watching,

Lax24

Jim Adler asked:

Craig - I’m sure you’ve articulated this before, but if you wouldn’t mind doing it again - what course of action are you saying leadership should have taken to avoid putting us in the position we’re in now?

I’ll tell you what I’d have liked - I’d have liked to not fucking read in the Los Angeles Times this past Wednesday that the “negotiations” on Tuesday were “the first serious negotiations” in THE ENTIRE FUCKING PROCESS! (and yes, I wrote that in caps because I am damn mad)

Patric Verrone had the chance to negotiate with the AMPTP back in January! His little cabal had the chance in March, in May, in July. Our own little third-rate George W. Bush was as hell-bent on going over the cliff from the get-go as Little Georgie was in 2002, and voting a strike authorization for this incompetent asswipe made as much sense as giving an AUMF to Bush to “avoid war” in Iraq.

You wankers deserve the ass-fucking they’re going to give you - what’s unfortunate is all of us who don’t deserve it will get it with you. Thanks loads for your stupidity. You’ll settle in week 23 for what you could have had in hour 23, just like my fellow halfwits did 20 years ago, and as a result you’ll destroy what little life writers had here that wasn’t destroyed 20 years ago.

Okay, I am a British writer, and I am due to have a meeting (in London) with an American production company on Monday. There are as yet no contracts etc - and might not be if they don’t like me - and it is not a discussion about an existing show.

In your opinion, should I not go to the meeting?

SML = See Me Lick

What happened to the writers who went to financial core status during the last strike? Were there longterm reprecussions, or were these people who didn’t want a long-term writing career?

I’ve been putting some general info, and slightly inside info from my workplace (which is why I’m not putting in my name) up at

http://www.wgastrike.info

Lax24:

Funny stuff. Similar to an idea I had about the world as we know it coming to an end shortly after Scorcese won an Oscar.

:-)

I don’t understand Counter’s DVD propaganda. Who is he hoping to persuade with his “Writers average $200,000 per year” song?

Who is he targeting with this spin? Joe minimum wage?

It makes no sense.

TC - you presume that rationality on our side would be met in kind, but only if you believe the press coverage would you find that to be true. The producers have engaged in no meaningful dialogue at any time during this process.

Their first offer was: “These are all the things we’re going to take away and in new media you get nothing.” They have hardly budged from that position. Young and Bowman were careful on Thursday to articulate their efforts to get the other side moving. We could argue the effectiveness of the things they took off the table to do so, but I was convinced that a genuine effort had been made and that the studios believe that being intransigent will bring them success.

Craig said at the top “these circumstances didn’t have to be the circumstances” so if he has the time, I’d like to know where he thinks we went wrong. From what I know now, his attitude seems to be - let’s stop wasting time with the things that don’t matter and get to what does. Not speaking from personal experience, but attorney friends who negotiate for a living in businesses other than entertainment tell me that no negotiation ever goes that way. One side cannot dictate getting down to brass tacks when the other has no willingness to do so. A game has to be played and ground gradually given on both sides.

Getting into this business and working in it we play games all the time. We pretend to be nice to people we don’t like, we act like notes are meaningful when we know people are talking to have something to say, we put positive spin on our work and our projects because that’s what people expect to hear. It doesn’t surprise me that in a fight for our livelihoods, it still is a game, the stakes are just so much higher.

Does anyone know what will happen to soap operas? Are they finished?

Susan C,

“I don’t understand Counter’s DVD propaganda. Who is he hoping to persuade with his “Writers average $200,000 per year” song?

Who is he targeting with this spin? Joe minimum wage?”

Sure. And others. He’s trying to convince people it’s a “pissing contest about money.”

Regarding the stuff between Nickelodeon, the WGA, and the Animation Guild (local 839), Micah writes:

Oh, and it wasn’t 8 freaking months later, either… it was 3 weeks, maximum, before the long knives came out and Steve Hulett was walking around the building arm-in-arm with the same Nickelodeon Executive who had just blacklisted us, handing out IATSE Local 839 signature cards.

Here’s the real timeline:

The WGA got involved at Nick in early 2001. They eventually collected Rep Cards from most of the writers and board artists at Nick.

The WGA organized a picket of Nick on 8/30/01. Steve Hulett and several members of the Local 839 Executive Board joined that picket, in support of the WGA.

The WGA held a unofficial vote on 10/3/01 to confirm that the Rep Cards were legit. Assemblyman Paul Koretz oversaw the vote, which the WGA won 19-2. However, the WGA chose NOT to go to the NLRB to have an official vote, which would have required Nick to actually negotiate. I’ve never been able to understand why they chose to not to go the official route. Instead, they publicized the vote and tried to shame Nick into negotiating. Nick, having no legal requirement to recognize the WGA as the bargaining agent for the writers/board artists, ignored the WGA.

Months later, in late spring 2002, the WGA organizers, who were regularly meeting with the TAG 839 organizer Steve Hulett, told Hulett that they were “walking away” from the effort at Nick.

In August 2002, TAG 839 organized Frederator, an independent studio that supplied content for Nick.

In Sept. 2002, Frederator relocated to inside the Nickelodeon building in Burbank, giving Steve Hulett his first access to Nick. It was after this that he began collecting Rep Cards for TAG 839.

In Oct. 2002, having collected an ovewhelming majority of cards from employees at Nick, including cards from board artists and writers, TAG 839 and Nick signed a contract.

Sooooo, that’s a tad more than 3 weeks. Sorry, Micah, but your vilifying the Animation Guild is full of shit.

Susan: “I don’t understand Counter’s DVD propaganda. Who is he hoping to persuade with his “Writers average $200,000 per year” song?”

He’s playing to the viewing public as well as some people in the biz, who incredibly, will believe that b.s. And then he adds that we have wonderful health and pension plans. Yeah, in spite of effers like him, who we had to fight trench battles with every three years to reach those gains.

We can depend on this type of AMPTP misleading propaganda to be the daily diet from here on in. The Guild has got to publicly counter Counter’s crap at every turn.

Ed (#144),

I’d go to the meeting. It’s a chance to build a relationship, which is what this business is all about. Cancelling at the last minute is also unprofessional. That said, I recognize your desire to stand in solidarity with those of us here on the other side of the pond.

To show solidarity with us you can go to the meeting, While being charming and intresting you can say something breezy and casual like “God, it was great meeting you guys. I know things are at a standstill right now because of the strike and evertying but as soon as things crank back up again I’d love to work with you.” The benefits of this approach is that you’re making it clear where you stand without offending anyone (and why offend these people - they’re not AMPTP decision-makers, after all, and for all you know, they may even be sympathetic to the WGA’s position).

If they like you and your work enough (and assuming they haven’t contacted you for the sole purpose of getting around the strike), they really will keep you in mind. And at the very least, you will have left a good impression (that you’re unreliable, honest, principled, polite) so that if an opportunity to meet with them in the future about another project arises, they won’t have a bad taste in their mouth.

In summary, be professional and show up, be wildly interesting (“good in a room”), and acknowledge what you can and cannot do for them in an honest but casual way (in other words, don’t beat the war drum). If they’re expecting you to pitch an angle and you don’t want to under these circumstances, you can politely explain that you don’t feel comfortable doing that today, in light of events over the weekend, but you’d love a chance to pitch when the dust settles. In other words, be a human being. You might also check out the WGA strike rules (I think there’s something in there that pertains to non WGA writers, but I’m not sure). That may help you decide what to do here and how to handle yourself if you do decide to keep the appointment. For example, if the strike rules say you cannot write for signatory companies during the strike, I would assume that this applies to pitching as well. Since we’re several hours behind you here in L.A. you proabably won’t be able to call the Guild for advise before your Monday meeting, but the strike rules may help.

Best of luck to you.

Josh —

Well, if you’re correct Counter is severely out of touch with reality.

Even Joe Average Wage gets regular reports on BO gross thanks to cable.

Who will he sympatheize with — a $200G per year writer? Or a studio that grosses millions upon millions in an opening weekend.

Corporations make the mistake of believing the little guy is stupid. The little guy is indeed powerless, but he’s not stupid.

More baloney from Micah:

And lest anyone here ever wonder who’s telling the truth about this situation, dig around a little bit and find one of the writers from the Dreamworks Animation/NBC primetime animated show “Father of the Pride.” A show which was CLEARLY supposed to be covered by the WGA, where the writers were hired and told it would be a WGA show,

DreamWorks Animation, both TV and feature, had a contract with TAG 839 from DreamWorks’ inception. There was never ANY possibility that “Father of the Pride” could or would be done under the WGA. The jurisdiction of DreamWorks was, and is, 839. There apparently were some overeager writer’s agents who told their clients that “FOTP” would be WGA, but they were mistaken. Perhaps someone at DreamWorks suggested it, perhaps not (DreamWorks execs denyed ever clouding the issues). Since 839 wasn’t involved in those writers getting hired, whoever suggested or let them believe that those were WGA jobs had nothing to do with the Animation Guild.

A deal was eventually brokered between the 839 & the WGA whereby we would share the writers,

No, despite John Wells banging on tables and pronouncing that the show would absolutely be done under a WGA contract, the jurisdiction was 100% 839. There was NO shared jurisdiction.

but they would pay into their WGA Health & Pension plays… a deal which was later scuttled by the 839 AFTER the work had been completed.

Again, completely wrong. Local 839, as a favor to DreamWorks and in an attempt to keep everyone happy, tried to arrange a situation where pension and health contributions would flow to the WGA plan instead of the 839 plan, even though the employment was under 839. Despite the best efforts of 839, it was the WGA pension and health plans that couldn’t accommodate the arrangement, so that plan fell apart.

Scabtastic, Company-funded, will-never-strike, Syndicate-run, racket union: the Animator’s Guild.

Scabtastic? Bullshit. Company funded? Nope, funded by members dues, just like the WGA. Never strike? Our last strikes were in 1979 and 1982. Strikes the WGA did not support in any way.

I know it grieves some animation writers, but the WGA’s history towards animation writers is one of contempt, neglect, and misinformation.

Where the President of the Union once offshored work to non-union artists in Canada on a film he was directing WHILE serving as those artist’s union president!

So, tell me, do WGA writers refuse to write for shows that have any part of their production sent out of the country? Do they support other Hollywood unions with such a policy? Uh, no, they take the money and run.

Tom Sito, past 839 president, was offered the chance to direct a movie that was scheduled to have most of it’s production done in LA under 839. Warner Bros. had already decided that a chunk of the movie would be done outside LA. After Tom accepted the directing job, he actually succeeded in getting a bigger part of the movie done in LA under 839. And for this some chumps want to criticize him, instead of applauding him for busting his ass to get as many people in town employed as possible.

THIS is the future of the WGA under the AMPTP’s tender mercies. Vote with your feet (and your fists, if need be).

I love internet tough guys. Hey, WGA members, try punching out an animator if you want to feel better about yourself! Just don’t be surprised if you get punched back.

Ed - I’m in a similar position, being a British writer who just had a meeting with an american producer. All very friendly, and producer just assumed any actual writing will take place once the strike is over, without me even having to broach the subject.

So as earlier poster said, best thing would seem to be to go to the meeting, but don’t leave them with the impression you’ll be doing any actual writing until the strike is done and dusted.

Susan C,

“Well, if you’re correct Counter is severely out of touch with reality.

Even Joe Average Wage gets regular reports on BO gross thanks to cable.

Who will he sympatheize with — a $200G per year writer? Or a studio that grosses millions upon millions in an opening weekend.”

That’s the truth of it. But if you think the spin doesn’t work, you’re not out there. It’s already a done deal. We’re perceived as a bunch of whiny rich guys who just can’t get enough. It’s not always as in your face as that, but it pervades. SML’s “pissing contest” gave up his shit completely, and while he probably doesn’t even understand how he feels about really, that’s what he’s saying.

It’s a tough road for us, fighting the PR spin and making it about what it’s really about. When you point out to folks the disparity, they usually get it, but the great thing about sound-bites and spin is you have to make your case as compellingly and as simply as they do.

Rich guys. Wanting more money.

BAM. Done deal.

As for Joe Average Wage, first of all, he doesn’t give a crap about box office results, and second of all, if the majority of folks in this country were so discerning, we wouldn’t be in year six of the Bush administration.

Is Propagandist the screen name for Micah Wright?

Propagandist already made demonstrably false statements at post #78 and now seems to be trying to drum up some sort of fight between the WGA and the Animator’s Guild.

I don’t think we should be fighting our sibling guilds. And I don’t think the front page of the WGA’s blog should have a post up (Why the Time Is Now Nov 2 at 3:26) that calls one of our sibling guilds “a racket union which exists only the screw the WGA and its own members” — especially when it seems that the facts in the post are in question.

From www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com:

I’ve just learned that the federal mediator has called the surprised parties together for a meeting on Sunday at 10 am to avert Monday’s writers strike.

149, Jim “Their first offer was: �These are all the things we�re going to take away and in new media you get nothing.� They have hardly budged from that position.”

I may be wrong, but I thought the first offer from the AMPTP was “Status Quo + 3 year study of new media”. Don’t get me wrong. I understand why that deal was completely unacceptable. But the rollbacks weren’t in there yet.

It was after the Guild refused to come to the table early (repeatedly) that the AMPTP introduced all the rollbacks. Even more completely unacceptable.

Whether or not it was the actual Guild strategy, it appeared from the outside that they would only negotiate in close proximity to a potential strike. This gave them less time to negotiate on issues that will take time to work out.

From my perspective, that is the main criticism of how the Guild handled the lead up to the strike.

This is not to absolve the AMPTP for their part in this mess. When the Guild didn’t come to the table early the AMPTP took an unacceptable, punitive stance that they have not backed down from. If they had kept their cool, they might have been able to have a few weeks of productive negotiations in October, when the WGA would have been willing to come to the table for real. The WGA might have seen enough progress to not recommend the strike at this time.

The problem is this is simply a “what if?” scenario. We’ll never know if a deal could have been brokered without a strike because the Guild leadership miscalculated the AMPTP response to not coming to the table early.

YES…strike like there’s no tomorrow.

All for the strike, but also don’t like the way WGA membership is as closed as it is.

I’ve read more than my fair share of tv and film scripts by WGA writers…..and there’s just as many blatantly bad, awful, etc., writers in the WGA…as there are those on the outside.

Talent has nothing to do with Guild membership.

I’m thinking post-strike here, for those who survive it, but while on the picket line please consider what’s at the core idea of these two statements:

-and-

Amen. It’s time to begin flexing our economic power to wage real revolution. And let’s not wait for the WGA to do it. Let’s do it ourselves.

Power in our economy — not just Hollywood — has increasingly shifted to capital away from labor, so if we wish to truly achieve our goals for a fair share of the money (and ultimately, for more creative control and respect) then more writers should become producers who both finance and develop features.

Imagine a world where the producers are writers, and studios are mere participants in a transaction whose control and impact on the project reflects the value they add rather than the capital they control.

This is no fantasy. Given the boatload of investment capital looking for a place to land, coupled with the ease of film production in a digital world, this is achievable for the entrepreneurial-minded among us. (Well, at least to those of us with the name brand to attract capital and talent. But hey, even that’s a start.)

The rapid transformation in the industry is a huge opportunity to stake more stable positions for ourselves, even if we don’t completely succeed in taking over the asylum.

Thanks for listening.

JP Wolff

Lax24: You should try to get your speculative fiction to the studios before the strike hits. I doubt that any of them have heretofore seen the strike negotiations as a potential “inciting incident” for a nail-biting global thriller.

I did find something in your post that I can disprove: The credited writers for War Games are Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes. If director John Badham contributed, he either declined or was denied credit.

I find it a little odd that another Ed is posting at 144 [not me] followed by another disputed Travis Fields post. Coincidence? I hope so.

Josh, you write:

”..if the majority of folks in this country were so discerning, we wouldn’t be in year six of the Bush administration.”

May I point out the majority of folks in this country do not vote. Period.

Apathy is a problem. Sure.

But has the WGA actively communicated the cause to the public at large?

You know — those average folks for whom “at the end of the day” is not a conversation requirement.

Those same average folks who are the end users of films and TV?

The writers’ strike is really a ‘little guys verses the mega-corporations story.’

The WGA could spin it that way. Average Jane and Joe would get it — because they too are victims of the meag-corps.

But then you’d have to ask average folks to boycott the mega-corps.

And I wonder how many WGA members own stock in SONY, Viacom, GE, Time-Warner-AOL.

It gets sticky, hmmm?

To 146: I don’t know that any writers actually went financial core during the 1988 strike. What happened was that 22 members of the “Writer’s Coalition” (who were hyphenates that wanted to get their TV shows up and running) threatened to go fi-core and cross the line if the WGA didn’t make a deal right away. In the end, they didn’t actually do this, but their threat served to extend the strike - as it convinced the AMPTP that the WGA was divided.

150: During the last strike, the networks aired the remaining new shows they had in the can, which I believe was enough for a little less than 3 weeks. They then turned to scab writers to continue the stories, with disastrous results. Mark Evanier writes on his blog that he walked a picket line with a woman who was a head writer on one soap opera and listened to her bitterly denounce what was being done to her show. According to Evanier, her planned-out arc of two characters falling in love somehow morphed into one of the characters trying to kill the other. The striking writer’s comment was that they were ruining the novel she had been writing. (Evanier is a good resource, by the way, if a little hawkish about these matters. His enthusiasm about shutting down television is a bit disconcerting to me, and feels more than a little self-serving. On the other hand, he wrote a great comic book called GROO back in the day, and he makes some terrific points about 1988. Another of which is that the show he was working at that time tried to hire scab writers to stay in production, but their work was so bad that when the strike was over, most of it had to be reshot and the rest had to be rebuilt by the real writers of the show. Evanier notes wryly that the scab writers were promised they could get in the WGA and would be kept anonymous, but that at the end of the strike, the producer immediately gave their names to the WGA and ended their careers. I think there’s a lesson in there…)

My TV series has one more episode we can shoot, which we’ve started as of yesterday. We have 8 more days of production scheduled before we will have to shut down. This assumes we can shoot without our drivers, including a difficult location day next Wednesday. Before we went to lunch yesterday (Friday), one of our showrunners made an announcement to the crew on the set. She explained her opinions to us - that the strike was necessary and that she understood that the strike would hopefully be short as the WGA’s negotiator was known for “keeping his strikes short.” She made a point that there will be no writer on set as of Monday and that she hoped that we wouldn’t change the script in the writers’ absence. She made a point of thanking the Teamsters for their support, but didn’t address this directly with the Teamster Captain who was standing in the room with the rest of us. She also made the point that “crossing a picket line is an individual choice and a difficult one, I know, but hopefully this will be over quickly if enough people do the right thing.” I chose not to ask the obvious question as it would be deemed impolite, but it is still hanging. She was effectively asking us not to come to work on Monday, while telling us to complete the episode. Quite the conundrum there. I understand that the same speech was made on sets across town, including on “Dirty Sexy Money” and other series.

I remain hopeful that the mediator can do his job tomorrow and get the two sides to actually talk to each other. I think the simplest approach would be to ask the WGA negotiators “Do you really want to go on strike?” and then to ask the AMPTP negotiators “Do you really want to send these guys out on strike?” If the answer is no to both questions, and I suspect it is, I hope we get the cooling off period I mentioned in earlier posts. If the negotiators just walk into the room and refuse to talk, then we’re all in trouble. BTW the writer of our current episode (on her only day on set - Friday), repeated some of the smears thrown at the mediator - that he’s too young and inexperienced, that he doesn’t really know anything, etc. I reminded her that it doesn’t matter how old he is or how experienced in the business he is - if he’s a good mediator, he’ll be very helpful. It’s a sad statement that we’re so polarized that people want to take potshots at this guy.

Assuming the strike starts on schedule, and that production continues unabated (meaning that the Teamsters continue to report to work), we likely won’t hear much for the first two months. Just the expected soundbites from each side saying alternately that the strike is strong and enthusiastic, and from the producers’ side, that it’s having no effect on anyone. By the holidays, you’ll hear the pithy comments from both sides about this being tough on the families of the crews that are now unemployed.

From my calculations, the television season could still be saved if there is a contract by January 1. This is because it would take us a minimum of two weeks from that point to reassemble a crew, reassemble our equipment packages, and spend 8 days prepping our first episode back. It would then be over a month before any new episodes could be broadcast, given a 9-10 day filming schedule per episode and then post production time. Assuming we then filmed a lot of 6 day weeks and double-unit days, we could actually get our remaining order for the season on the air starting at the end of February and running through into May sweeps. (We would effectively finish the last one a week or so before it aired) However, if there is no contract until February, we’ll be forced to make fewer episodes and air them later. And if we’re looking at Valentine’s Day and there’s no contract, in my opinion there is no way we could actually make enough episodes in time to do anything for this season. (By Valentine’s Day, you’d be looking at early April as the first new episode…) (And I should qualify that this mostly applies to one hour episodic shows)

Now, the networks can and will air their midseason shows to fill the void, along with Presidential Election stuff, but this will run dry pretty quickly. Once we pass the point of no return on being able to make this TV season, I believe you’ll find the negotiations will come to a halt. At that point, the networks will have no incentive to talk to the writers until June or July, and they likely would not do so until after they have contracts with the DGA and SAG. When you do the math on it, that’s a recipe for a 7-8 month strike, which would be a record.

@166: “… another Ed is posting at 144 “

Just coincidence - it’s a common name!

To those who’ve answered my question - many thanks. And the best of luck with the strike. We in the UK already have a much better deal on this issue, which is surely evidence for the reasonableness of your cause.

Regarding WARGAMES, jbryant is correct that Lasker and Parkes were the screenwriters. But I note that director John Badham didn’t initially direct that movie. He was finishing BLUE THUNDER at the time. But after a brief period of shooting, WARGAMES producer Leonard Goldberg fired original director Martin Brest and pulled Badham into the shoot. Some of Brest’s scenes survive into the film - most notably an early scene where Matthew Broderick’s character visits a computer software company and gets advice about backdoors. (This is the famous “Mr. Potato-Head!” scene, and it shows the level of great character interaction Brest has been known for in all of his films.)

It is a pissing contest about money. Don’t be a hero. Hand it over and bask in relief that you’re left with any respect, reverence or livelihood at all.

Ingrates.

Sara,

Without shattering your veil of anonymity, let me ask a few questions:

1) Why do you consider screenwriters to be ingrates?

2) What do you do for a living?

Thanks Sara for your brilliant insight.

Sara, say hello to your grandfather Mr. Counter.

1. I don’t consider writers ingrates.

2. VP General Operations, who would much rather make a living writing. I also enjoy playing the part of the bad guy to show them as the muggers I believe them to be.

It would be helpful if there were a font for sarcasm. Point taken, Sara.

Hi all: I’ve heard from a credible source that a specific executive at a specific studio has asked her assistant to put together a list of decent non-WGA feature writers. I guess for a signatory to make this kind of list in and of itself isn’t a violation of terms, but is there a department of the WGA I should contact anyway so they can keep an eye out on this particular studio/exec?

Sara #175 —

Writers are muggers?

You’re either a moron or… well, you’re a moron. Good luck with that writing career.

Anon #179,

Remember, “mug” also means make a face. (“Mug for the camera…”?)

I took Sara to use “muggers” in that sense.

Give Sara a break. She’s either totally frustrated in some way or just straight up jealous that others have a talent she doesn’t. Whatever it is, she’s bitter and today her targets are writers. Tomorrow maybe actors. When her contract is up, it’ll be management. We all know “saras”… They’re always such joys to be around!

Anon #179,

Remember, “mug” also means make a face. (“Mug for the camera…”?)

I took Sara to use “muggers” in that sense.

Philo - thanks for the info - just fyi, to my mind, 3 year study=nothing.

I remember the WGA refusing to come to the table early, but was never clear why that was.

Thank you, Working AD!

In #171 I was playing the part of the bad guy, who was obviously not a writer, so, no, I wasn’t saying writers are muggers, I was saying the opposite.

Writers are not muggers. Writers are not ingrates. Writers are sometimes misunderstood. At this point, I’m all for an official sarcasm font.

Sara,

Sometimes, you can use fake code…

Like this will work

OK, I’ve actually read all the comments.

It’s still a pissing contest about money. And in a pissing contest, nobody wins, and nobody’s “right”. Despite all the flowery rhetoric.

Meanwhile, who cares what the public thinks of us? What do they have to do with anything? They’ll either watch what the studios give them, or they won’t, regardless of who they think is “right”, and 99% of them won’t think of it at all.

I’m not saying to give in. Somebody pisses on me, I’m gonna whip it out and start pissing right back. I’m just hoping somebody finds a way for both sides to stop pissing and start talking.

Just saw CBS puppet prexy Nina Tassler give a particularly boneheaded quote about this entire new media situation, which is appropriate for somebody who championed “Viva Laughlin.” She claimed there’s no “real way to know” how much money her network is making off downloads and streaming video and that ulimately CBS may “never know.”

I used those little arrow brackets.. and they disappeared… so maybe just square brackets…

[sarcasm]Nick Counter is so respectful of others.[/sarcasm]

Much better.

Again, for Nina Tassler:

http://tinyurl.com/39z9yy

Re Nick, TAG, WGA: Anon. #152 is correct in the chronology of events. The only thing I’ll amend is it wasn’t WGA organizerS who told me the Writers Guild was “walking away,” it was Mr. Daly.

One more thing: the Animation Guild attempted to organize Nickelodeon in 1997 and 1998. We held multiple pickets in front of the studio, the largest of which was the night of the “Grand Opening” of the studio. The Burbank police forced us to picket across Olive Avenue, but there were hundreds of us there.

Like the WGA in 2001-2002, we failed to get a contract.

Tom Sito — former TAG President — is accused of overseeing the outsourcing of work on Warner Bros. animated feature “Osmosis Jones.” In fact, Tom was an employee on the picture (one of two animation directors) who successfully argued for more of the work to remain in L.A. So instead of 60% of the work getting outsourced as originally planned, 30% of the work went up to Canada.

Nevertheless, Tom was villified by some TAG members as being the instigator of outsourcing, when in fact he came to the production after the pipelines to Toronto had been set up.

Lastly, “Father of the Pride.” This series was set up at DreamWorks Animation, which has never had a contract with the WGA. DWA execs hired a lot of WGA comedy writers for “Pride’s” writing staff. Apparently it was never made clear to a number of agents what contract FOP’s writers would be working under. I was present at meetings with Katzenberg, an agent, an IA lawyer, and a WGA rep, and nobody at the table could pin down exactly what had been said to whom.

The writing staff, after being contacted by the WGA, threatened to walk out. Jeffrey Katzenberg brought IA lawyers together with WGA staff to broker a deal, and an agrement to pay WGA equivalent residuals was hammered out. There was another wrinkle: Pension and Health contributions for the “Pride” writers could flow to WGA Health and Pension OR the Motion Picture Industry Health and Pension Plan at each writer’s option.

Jurisdiction remained, first to last, with The Animation Guild. WGAw had no standing because it had no contract. TAG has had a collective bargaining agreement with DWA since 1995.

All the above was brokered by the IATSE and the WGA, not TAG. The deal was not scuttled by the IA or TAG. (TAG had virtually nothing to do with it.) The WGA had difficulty getting its health and pension plan to approve the deal; ultimately it was approved.

TAG is not “my” union, guild, whatever. I’m an employee. As Mr. Young is an employee of the WGA.

But being a scabtankerous IA thug has its rewards. I take home $1540 each and every week.

I think Rich Little made a good case for writers when he appeared at the White House Correspondents dinner and did hopelessly outdated material.

Late night doesn’t necessarily have to do “dark.” Perhaps Leno and Letterman could deliver “classic” monologues from previous decades. After all, material from the late eighties would still feature mentions of an idiotic “President Bush.”

Nina Tassler is an even more idiotic president. Her statement about being “smitten” the first time she met the star of one of her failing series lowered the bar for all women in Hollywood.

Yeah right, lady. Twenty years from now you’ll still not know how much money CBS is making off new media advertising revenue. There’s a professional term for the amount: A sh*tload.

Is eBay considered part of new media? We should get a piece of that too.

[grateful]Thanks, Dave.[/grateful]

[sad]Jon Stewart would understand. Maybe, if I’d done a video comment, the results would have been different.[/sad]

[sincere]I hope on Sunday the other side brings something genuine to the negotiations, like a fair new media offer.[/sincere]

Me again, you all everybody:)

I have to ask something: let’s say you are a witness to two people fighting over a vase. The argument gets loud and quite unsettling. then let’s say, it gets petty, and you, the third party, are a parent overlooking two of your children fighting. You want this over, and you want it over 5 minutes ago.

Many in this situation would take a rule Bill Cosby said in “Himself”; parents do not want justice, they want quiet. Thus, you break the vase, reprimand severly both of your children for interrupting you and your ulterior motives, and just for good measure, you sit them down to tell of your struggles, such as eating dirt most nights as a child. And you would end it by saying “and I was thankful for eating it.”

Well then, those two people fighting over a vase would learn not to ever piss off your parents in that way again. As well, you make the situation become about your motives and needs.

We are seeing this with our leaders getting involved in this contractual dispute. The negotiators may still be only concerned about their petty differences (dick-measuring), but by way of the federal mediator, our leaders will state; too frickin bad. You are stuck with each other, therefore a strike is by our decree averted. Now get back to writing and producing our propoganda, because a terror attack and subsequent series of wars of our choosing is imminent, sooner than we think.

Just for good measure, with this strike averted, they will hammer the decree by still destroying Los Angeles as described in my initial posts. Because you see, our leaders and their leaders want the writers and the corporations to be quiet. They do not give a shit about your contractual dispute; in fact, with their ulterior motives, the leaders will at once both punish both sides and have their pretext for war.

In this case, both sides will be at the mercy of the financial leaders and their elected puppets, perhaps for the rest of our times. And yet, certain people still cannot see and hear beyond their personal needs, which are understandable yet not important to immediatly solve.

To those writers posting their grievances, I fully support you. I do, however, know that the theory outlined in these posts I have written is not only possible, but downright will happen eventually; sooner in this case since the involvement of our leaders has come to the forefront.

In context, Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan has declared a State Of Emergency, suspending the country’s constitution and public rights. Syria is on track to be invaded unless they strike their adversaries first. The nation’s money and resource supplies are running out. And our leaders continued to fianlize their plans for continual Global War. there are fine alternative media websites to know these issues. You may know quite a few of them.

By the way, I stand corrected on the WarGames writing credits. And interesting trivia to boot about Badham’s role; I would not have guessed Martin Brest shot some of the earlier scenes (the Maury Chaykin-Eddie Deezen scene namely.) Nonetheless, the film is still interesting even today, and may provide a thoughtful insight into what may and will occur, and perhaps what can be done to avert these forms of pain and suffering.

All the best in the times ahead,

Lax24

I understand your point better now, Lax24. We need to deploy “shock and awe” during the last ditch negotiations on Sunday, overwhelming the producers with bright lights and loud sounds, so perhaps they’ll grow disoriented and put a better offer on the table.

Gee - it was clear to me Sara was being sarcastic. Subtext people! We’re writers — do we really need a sarcasm font?

Language is powerful. I reread the Counter press release above. Very carefully written.

Especially his reference to screenwriters as “employees.”

Screenwriters are not employees in any real sense of the word. They have no real job security.

They’re contractors who work on a per project basis.

Yet, if Counter and his ilk truly consider writers as “employees,” the ramifications are clear — employees can be replaced.

But isn’t it true that when the big corps started buying up studios “fairness” went out the window?

I still wonder how many 7-figure WGA-members own stock in the very companies they’re striking against.

Show of hands? Who owns shares of SONY, GE, Viacom, Disney, Time-Warner-AOL?

I am hoping for a fair and just outcome with the strike. That’s all I have to say about that.

I knew SML once. He used to give me “the finger.” Quite often. It’s how he says hello.

183,Jim: I agree with you on the 3 Year Study. The AMPTP wanted a 3 year study, while during that time they’d pay the home vid rate. “Just for the time being.” Then bang, in 3 years they say they have the precedent rate for all internet.

The AMPTP underestimated history’s influence on these current negotiations. You can only say trust us for so long.

Oh well. Whether we like it or not we all need each other at the end of the day. Long strike or short we’ll be back to work again making the magic.

Add me to the long list of folks who hit post, not preview, and live to regret it. Or in other words, post #198 was me.

see you on the picket lines philo!

SML:

My take on the Heroes article you cited is that the producers are taking precautions in order to give the show’s fans a “season-ender” (as blandly as that term can be defined, in this situation) with some degree of actual closure, rather than a full-fledged cliffhanger.

If the last episode they’re able to produce, prior to a long drawn-out strike, ends up being a cliffhanger — who knows how long it will be before the resolution to that cliffhanger is resolved? (because for all we know, the actors could strike just as the writers’ strike reaches its conclusion…or the writers’ strike may continue and overlap into the beginning period of the actors’ strike) Twelve months? Eighteen months? With the Nielsen numbers for Heroes eroding this fall, I don’t think they want to do anything that might drive even more fans away.

In my opinion, it’s a smart move on Tim Kring’s part. By giving the Heroes fanbase a moderately “closure-filled” season finale (assuming it functions as the de facto season finale, for the forseeable future), there’s less of a risk of already-impatient fans being alienated…and it increases the odds that Heroes itself will live to see many additional seasons.

Okay, Steve & anonymous Local 839 members, please allow me to apologize. I’m sorry for bringing the Father of the Pride situation up, because frankly, I was only a third party observer to those events, and I might have gotten bad information. I will say that two of the writers of the show told me that they felt they’d been hired under false pretenses by NBC and were told that it would be a WGA show (they’d asked in advance because they understood that Dreamworks was an 839 signatory), but that conversation is the end of my direct involvement with the situation, and I’m sorry I brought it up. For all I know, you’re 100% correct about that situation.

Similarly, I’m sorry I mentioned the Tom Sito situation (though I will point out that YOU were the one who brought his name into it). While what you say may well be true about how he fought to retain work here in the US, I will only say that it struck many of us on the outside as an unusual situation that the President of your Guild was offshoring jobs on his production, taking work away from the members he was supposed to be representing. You can deny that”the WGA” has ever fought offshoring, and say that we “take the money and run,” but I think I can confidently state that no sitting president of our Guild has ever hired foreign non-Guild writers to write on a Guild-covered show while serving as President of our Guild. What else could Tom Sito have done? I don’t know, I wasn’t there. Resign as President of his Union, perhaps? It’s what I would have done, rather than be seen to be getting paid by Warner Bros. to offshore my rank and file’s jobs, but that’s ME. I don’t know the particulars of his situation and I’ve never met the man, so I shouldn’t have brought it up. I’m sorry.

Now, all of that said, I stand by my impressions of the Nickelodeon organizing effort 100%. We signed cards, we got fired, you came in with the approval of management and locked us out, even though you had specifically agreed to exempt the writers from your coverage since we’d taken the first steps in organizing that non-covered-by-anyone workplace.

Perhaps you sense animosity in my words, but if so it’s because myself and another writer were the ones who DEMANDED that the WGA organize Nickelodeon in conjunction with the Local 839. We had heard from our fellow WGA animation writers that the 839 was not to be trusted, that they were a pack of snakes, etc, but we told Gerry Daly & the organizing department that if they didn’t coordinate with you, we would not aid in the organizing effort — because we felt that it would be UNFAIR to the artists if the WGA was covering the writers, without a corresponding union to cover the people working on our shows.

That was a hard fight, Steve, to get the WGA people to ignore whatever stupid history of animosity had been brewing between the two unions for decades and concentrate instead on organizing the biggest non-union employer in town… it was a hard fight, but one I considered important.

So yeah, when I was illegally fired, then blacklisted at all the studios your “Guild” reps, and then heard that the 839 rep was walking around arm-in-arm with the president of the studio handing out cards (the exact description I heard from about 30 people that day, all of whom called my house, furious and feeling intimidated by your visit), yeah, I felt betrayed by the Local 839 Animators Guild.

Further, I note that in all of your “corrections” about timelines, and Tom Sito’s maligned honor, and the Father of the Pride health & pension plan, you’ve neglected to contradict my main points:

(1) that animation doesn’t pay residuals to its writers because they’re mostly covered by The Animators Guild, which doesn’t consider them something worth fighting for;

(2) IATSE Local 839 has been brought in more than once specifically to lock out the Writer’s Guild, indeed, that it has sold itself to non-union studios with exactly this argument;

(3) That the same AMPTP producers who own the animation companies which have used this tactic to lock out the WGA from covering animation are using other IATSE locals to lock out the WGA from covering Reality show writers;

(4) That Local 839 told the WGA that they would carve out an exemption for writers from Local 839 coverage at Nickelodeon in return for helping you organize the studio, a promise which you broke;

(5) That the “ringleaders” (not really, but so named by Nickelodeon) of the Nicktoons organizing effort were blacklisted at all the same studios where YOUR union is in force, yet you’ve never lifted a finger to help any of us; and…

(6) That this is the future for all WGA writers in the vision of the AMPTP: that they’ll find a way to push out the “problematic” and “expensive” Writers Guild, and replace it with other, cheaper, more malleable unions, such as those IATSE provides. Y’know… until there is no more WGA, and then it’s your turn.

Incidentally, when I said “fight with your feet… and your fists, if you need to” I meant “walk out on strike… and fight the AMPTP because they’re trying to destroy our Guild.” How ironic that y’all from the Local 839 thought I could ever be referring to you.

Now, the rest of us are here to talk about WGA business, so if you need to respond, feel free to write me at leperous@mac.com -Micah

p.s. All my best friends are animators. I’d never hit an animator; he’d be risking his livelihood if he broke his hand punching me back.

Devoted,

I think it’s a smart move too. A mini-season is a little easier for the peeps to swallow. Now all they have to do is bring back HEROES: ORIGINS. That sounded like an exciting idea.

Micah, I appreciate your apology about some of the misinformation you put out.

Regarding Tom Sito co-directing animation on “Osmosis Jones,” a production which had some work outsourced, while president of 839: I want to go into this because Tom is a friend of mine, and it really burns me up to hear this crap still thrown around the way you have.

First, some background. Outsourcing started in animation in the ‘60’s, though it was pretty minimal then. It ramped up in the ‘70’s. Yeah, waaaaaay before there was a name for it, way before anyone else in Hollywood had heard of it. By 1979, Local 839 drew a line in the sand and insisted on a no-outsourcing clause in their CBA. The studios refused, and a nasty strike ensued. Yep, the “scabtastic” union hit the bricks.

Local 839 won. Three years later, the studios refused to again include the no-outsourcing clause in the CBA. Another strike ensued. A stike, by the way, that no other union or guild supported. After several months out, and after seeing the producers happily outsourcing anyway, the strike crumbled, and the producers won.

Since that time, virtually every animated TV show has been heavily outsourced. What most people don’t realize is that there was also outsourcing on virtually every traditionally-animated feature, including the Disney, DreamWorks, and Warner Bros. films. “Osmosis Jones” was Warner Bros.’ third animated feature. The first two failed badly. Warners greenlit “Osmosis” only if it could be done cheaply, with more outsourcing than usual. Otherwise, there would have been NO local jobs on that production, because there would have been no production.

Tom Sito accepted the job of co-director of animation with those conditions. Once in the position, he managed to keep a substantially larger portion of those jobs in town. You write as if it were Tom’s decision to outsource, that he had control of all those jobs. That decision was already made, and Tom did his best to undo it.

Should he have resigned as union president for that? For keeping jobs in town? If the answer is yes, then NO member of 839 could take a leadership role in 839 and also have any kind of supervisory position in the field. Because virtually every such job, in TV or feature, involved some outsourcing.

Now, let’s turn the lens around. Let’s get this back to the WGA. The WGA has long trumpeted that it stands for residuals for animation writers. That’s what they’ve insisted they could provide, including in daytime cable TV. So, here’s a “hypothetical” question for you: if the president of the WGA was offered an animation writing job, covered by the WGA, but one which did NOT involve residuals, should he take it? Wouldn’t that be a betrayal of what the WGA claims it stands for? Wouldn’t it undermine the rights of all animation writers? Wouldn’t it set an obvious and damaging precedent? Wouldn’t you feel betrayed? Shouldn’t the president of the WGA resign first if he were going to do such a terrible thing?

So, next time you’re talking to the current WGA president, ask him about the WGA deal he got on “Class of 3000.” Ask him about the claim that the WGA really can get residuals for animation writers. You might be surprised by the answers.

SML:

I would think Heroes: Origins would be back for Spring 2009…but perhaps NBC will plug it in during January/February of 2009 (sandwiching it between two blocks of the original recipe Heroes), rather than doing a March season finale for Heroes with an April/May run for Heroes: Origins (the blueprint NBC had planned for Spring 2008)?

Two things - one a statement and one a question (which I’m hoping gets answered and not eclipsed by the statement)

1. To answer the questions put to Craig, “What else could have been done?” Well, we could have gone to court to enforce the Internet download formula that is already in the MBA, which is for 1.2% of 100% (yes, two-and-a-half times what we are asking for now). The problem is, that formula was for Internet “rentals,” and since that term doesn’t apply to anything that actually happens on the Internet, everyone chose to ignore it. That was idiotic on the part of our leaders. In every other contract dispute in the world, when there is ambiguity, you have it resolved by a court of competent jurisdiction. We could have sued to have the word “rental” interpreted, and if it was not all-encompassing enough, then brought it to the negotiating table. Our leaders didn’t do that because they wanted a strike, for whatever external reasons they have. For everyone who accuses them of bad PR, you’re wrong. An incredibly successful and long-running PR campaign has been happening internally, which is how the pep rally at the convention center happened. A three-minute standing ovation for the Board and Negotiating Committee? Jack Abramoff couldn’t have orchestrated a better result after a 3-year campaign. It’s been brilliant and impressive.

2. Question: I worked successfully as a screenwriter for a few years, had some good times and some disappointments, but all of that dried up in 2004 for a whole slew of reasons that had more to do with trusting the wrong people than anything else, and I haven’t earned any money as a screenwriter in the last three years.

Last year, I decided it was time to go back to the real world and I am now an executive at a company that has nothing to do with the entertainment industry. Eleven employees answer directly to me. That said, I love being in this union and still write scripts in my free time and maybe some day another one of them will sell.

So now I am getting strike assignments from my “Strike Captain” telling me I am supposed to show up for four hours a day and picket or the Guild will take disciplinary action against me. I have explained to this person (who is the same one who called and strongly encouraged me to vote, and when I said “you seem to know that I haven’t already voted,” replied, “Well, yes, it’s my business to know” - hey, thanks WGA for respecting my privacy and the integrity of the voting process)anyhow, when I explained to my “Strike Captain” that I have a 60-hour a week job for which showing up is not optional, and my current employers are very good to their workers, have no qualms with organized labor and by this point I own a significant share of stock in this non-entertainment company, then inquired how the WGA feels about the fact that picketing 4 hours a day is not really an option for me, all “Strike Captain” could say was that everyone is required to picket.

I have a writer friend who lives in Utah. Will she be required to picket? Craig is directing a film. Will he be required to picket? At least half the membership of this union has “day jobs.” Is everyone supposed to sacrifice their livelihoods, even if they are not currently paying the rent writing screenplays?

So my question to this extremely knowledgeable crowd is - what are the actual requirements? What are the exceptions? Do I have to show 6 months of pay stubs, or get a letter from my mommy, or has the George Bushness of it all finally culminated with “you’re either with us, or agin’ us?”

Craig - thanks for a great forum. It’s a super place to get answers, hear diverse opinions, and most importantly, ask critical questions without having to reveal your secret identity in an increasingly polarized and vindictive industry.

Thank you for your response. I agree. But the question now becomes what if they never overlap? Is the WGA willing to literally kill itself for us?

If the positions of the two sides never overlap, there will never be an agreement. In practice, there are only two ways that would ever happen: the strike drives the AMPTP out of business, or the strike breaks the WGA as a union. The former is a virtual impossibility, and the latter will only occur if the WGA decides to commit organizational suicide by refusing as an organization to shift positions even as the vast majority of its individual members do shift their own positions.

So what will, inevitably, happen is that one or both sides will feel increasing pressure and come to the realization that maybe they could live with a little less than they’d previously insisted was their non-negotiable minimum. The questions are: which side will move first? which side will move farthest? how long will it take?

From out in left field, is there a font for irony?…
(irony preview = no money in downloads? yeah right)

…Because I just got this email from Amazon.com, as I offer books off my website through them:
= = = = = = = = = = = =

Earn 20% on Amazon Unbox Referrals during November

Dear Amazon Associate:

The Amazon Associates program is excited to announce that for the month of November 2007 Associates can earn 20% in referral fees on Amazon Unbox Video Downloads. Take advantage of Amazons popular movie and TV download service to earn twice as much as you normally would with this limited time high promotional referral rate. Plus, you can take advantage of the Associates programs new tools and widgets to promote Unbox.

What is Amazon Unbox?

Amazon Unbox is a video download store that has thousands of high quality TV shows, movies and more for you and your site visitors to purchase or rent. One can view these downloadable videos on PCs, Portable Media Players, or TiVo DVRs.

Whats New at Amazon Unbox for Associates?

Last month we launched the Unbox Video Player Widget [ http://widgets.amazon.com/Amazon-Unbox-Widget ] for Amazon Associates, which means that you can now show, directly on your site, movie and TV trailers and previews for a huge range of recent and classic titles from Unbox. If youre looking to earn money using online video and increase stickiness on your site, this widget delivers streaming video directly to your site, allows you to customize and choose what you want to show, and includes Buy and Rent buttons. There are also purchase links to the corresponding DVD and CD, if they are available.

The Amazon Unbox selection has grown significantly over the past several months, with top TV shows from NBC, CBS, Fox, Showtime, Starz, the WB, and more. Our movie downloads are released at the same time as DVD, so you can offer hits like Spider-Man 3 or Fantastic Four: Silver Surfer as soon as they are available on Amazon.com. In addition, the Unbox 2.0 client is now available with reduced download times and increased performance. You and your site visitors will see a whole new look and feel to Unbox.

Earnings from Unbox

Associates are eligible to earn 20% during the month of November 2007, on all Unbox referrals (up to $3.00 per item). There is no limit to the number of items on which referral fees can be earned…
= = = = = = = = = =

There’s more, but I think you can see, if any link-maker can make $3.00 commission of every Internet download, why shouldn’t the writer get a piece? etc. etc. etc.

Stuart,

I agree with you.

But, I think, we’re just as (more?) likely to get what we want without a strike.

So when I say, “If we’re going to compromise [anyway], why don’t we compromise now?” (notice both the IF and the question mark), I’m not saying we should compromise/cave, I’m saying if we’re going to waste lives we better honor those lives by being willing to give ours as well (meaning the WGA better be willing to go all the way – off itself per your assessment – for it’s righteous cause). Because (dare I say it again) the WGA will lose a war of attrition against the plump AMPTP. And, if we strike, a war of attrition this will quickly become. (notice the IF)…

Thanks again…

But, I think, we’re just as (more?) likely to get what we want without a strike.

How could that possibly come to pass at this point in time? The WGA has demanded something, the AMPTP has refused, neither side has moved its position on that point… so how can we “get what we want” without a strike? Maybe if there had been continuous negotiations over the past year, things would not have reached the current impasse, but woulda, shoulda and coulda, plus a buck-and-six-bits will get you a tall drip coffee at Starbucks.

So when I say, “If we’re going to compromise [anyway], why don’t we compromise now?” (notice both the IF and the question mark), I’m not saying we should compromise/cave, I’m saying if we’re going to waste lives we better honor those lives by being willing to give ours as well (meaning the WGA better be willing to go all the way – off itself per your assessment – for it’s righteous cause). Because (dare I say it again) the WGA will lose a war of attrition against the plump AMPTP. And, if we strike, a war of attrition this will quickly become. (notice the IF)…

Compromise is a process involving two parties. When only one party “compromises,” the correct term is capitulation.

If the objective of the WGA leadership has all along been to persuade the AMPTP to give the writers something it doesn’t want to give, then all along there should have been efforts to show the AMPTP what compensating reasons there are for making that concession to the writers. What has apparently actualy been happening all along is that the WGA leadership has been telling the AMPTP that if they don’t make the demanded concession, there will be a writers’ strike.

Since the strike is a fact, how long should it go on? By definition, it should continue until one side or the other — and it may be actually preferable if it’s both — decide that conceding ground from its original position is acceptable. At the point that the movement from one or both sides meets the position (whether original or itself conceded) of the other side, the strike should end.

All the talk about committing to the bitter end and not caving even if the union gets busted is frankly a bit silly. A union that continues a strike to the point that management brings in permanent non-union replacement workers hasn’t won anything except its own tombstone in the graveyard of labor relations.

“All the talk about committing to the bitter end and not caving even if the union gets busted is frankly a bit silly. A union that continues a strike to the point that management brings in permanent non-union replacement workers hasn’t won anything except its own tombstone in the graveyard of labor relations.”

I don’t know about you my man, but two months from now I’ll be working at Starbucks and it would make me feel better to sacrifice my fledgling writing career for people willing to give up theirs.

But I would hope that I and others don’t have to give up our careers to an organization that will, after 5 months of striking, settle for a deal they could’ve settled for right now.

Get it my man. If they aren’t going to kill themselves for me, why should I kill myself for them?

Linked here from the TAG blog (animation guild), fascinating reading (should I expect less from writers? Of course not!). One thing I would like to clarify, although not very deftly, is the issue of residuals and TAG shops. It’s my understanding that the studios DO pay residuals, but that money goes to paying our health insurance and funding our pensions. I don’t know what the WGA covers as far as health and pensions, and I’m sure the amount of money you’d get in residuals from writing on a prime-time show far exceeds what these animation studios pay into our free health insurance. The residuals are there, it’s just used to benefit all the members, not just the individuals. At least, that’s my understanding.