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