Wanna Know Who MY Guild Hero Is?

There were a couple of other standing o’s as I remember, including a very impassioned and rousing speech by a Teamster later in the evening. But no doubt, Howard stole the show.

I posted this link in the last blog entry comments. The problem Craig is it’s FLAWED logic. In the example he talks about, his kid didn’t watch the show on the “over air” broadcast, thereby lowering the RATINGS. Correct me if I’m wrong but the writers get paid the same amount if 10 or 10 million watch. The networks running imbedded ads in the stream is only making up for the lost revenue from the “over air” broadcast. Believe me, I’m not here to play the devil’s advocate but, this strike is destroying me and you. The WGA strike has shut down every show I do business with (except 1 which will be shut down next week if I’m lucky) and I’m trying to make sense of it all and give MY employees some JUSTIFIABLE reason why we will all be losing everything we have worked so hard for. No one (from either side) will give us numbers that we can get behind and this is the most frustrating thing of all. People have posted that I’m lashing out at the wrong people, and if someone can link me the Producers blog so I can post there I will. The FACT is neither side could negotiate their way out of a wet paper bag. So I will just go away and you guys can stay and drink the kool-aid.

Someone pointed this clip out in the last thread. Excellent.

The Office is Closed clip is also strangely rousing and very humourous.

Craig wrote:

“Sorry, Patric, but I just think you’re a little out there.”

If by out there you mean not crossing his own union’s picket line then yeah, I guess he’s out there.

You’ve become a traitor to this union, Craig. It’s disappointing and despicable. It’s one thing for you not to support us the way Steve Carell is, but to go after Patric unprovoked like this and smear his credibility in the middle of our biggest strike in a generation, when Patric’s the guy the other side is ultimately going to have to deal with, why?

Well, I know why. It’s because you’re a jealous little schoolgirl and you just can’t help yourself.

But you know what? I’m pulling your film permit tomorrow and my team is going to be out there at 4:30 AM on Friday and I’d love to see you try to drive past us. We’ll have camcorders too. Oh, and megaphones, the loudest ones I can find.

If anybody else feels this attack on Patric is completely uncalled for and unnecessary, especially coming from a guy who talks the talk but as of today hasn’t walked the walk, not even for five minutes on any line around town, then please post so he’ll see that I’m not just one lone dissenter.

Vendor —

You have a right to be angry. This strike didn’t have to happen.

On the eve of the strike, our negotiators made a gigantic concession to the AMPTP in an effort to avoid a strike — a concession that many, including myself, thought excessive — but they did so because they had assurances from people on the other side that it would be met with similar concessions, and real negotiations could begin. All so that a strike could be averted.

But we were lied to. The producers reneged. Then they walked away from the table. Since then they have announced that they have no intention of sitting down with us anytime soon. They clearly see a strategic advantage in “softening us up” by freezing us out through the holidays.

You are right to be angry, for yourself and for your employees. We’re angry too.

Terrific - your highest priority is shaming a Writer-Director who’s chosen to finish Directing his movie. I don’t know if I’d make the call Craig’s making - I don’t know WHAT call I’d make, but I’m glad I’m not in his shoes right now, because he’s in a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation.

Isn’t top priority supposed to be putting pressure on AMPTAS?

Thoughts:

In most negotations, you don’t want all of your cards face-up.

Your strongest card - or what you want your opponents to THINK is your strongest card - should be face-down.

That way, the opponent is afraid - with good reason - of losing.

The strike is on: so the strongest card is face-up.

Or is it?

I really think the WGA needs to get serious about hiring lawyers to go after the AMPTAS companies for a number of issues, and create fear of thousands of writers in a class action lawsuit.

Art Buchwald did win his lawsuit once upon a time, don’t forget.

Another: threaten to do business only with European prodcos who pay their writers more (in the UK it’s 5.6% royalties) whenever possible, starting now, until a fair US deal is struck.

Another: find other sources of capital by taking top scripts, attaching top directors and stars, and going straight to Wall Street (Merril Lynch has a specialty division that was involved in Ratatouille) to cut your own better deals.

The studios provide two things: money and distribution.

Who’s that famous rapper - Master P? - who became astronomically Oprah-class wealthy by creating his own label and offering distribution companies a percentage of HIS sales, instead of asking for a percentage of THEIR profit?

Any other ideas out there?

I’m all for the strike and all for picketing - I even pulled a shift myself on Monday when I was off, despite merely being in SAG and not being an aspiring screenwriter - but as one writer said, we’re intellectual creative types: surely we can come up with some better ideas than walking around with signs on sticks.

Delete “not” from the last sentence I wrote.

Travis, here’s an idea if you are a feature writer:

Sell your script and/or your services to a buyer.

Have your reps negotiate your terms. Pay them a percentage.

F the WGA.

Just a thought.

Vendor, you want the numbers? Here’s some numbers for you.

1. There’s a big fat number. Would you work for $0.00?

To my understanding, not only does the AMPTP want writers to make $0.00 on shows that are re-run on the internet, they want the writers to make $0.00 on show episodes that are created for the internet and cell phones, because they’re considered “promotional.”

DVDs. How much do they sell for? $24.95? Writers make 4 cents on those. 4 cents. And the AMPTP would like that rolled back to 0. But instead, the writers had the temerity to ask for 4 more cents. Out of every 2,495 cents.

So the writers pulled the request for the additional 4 cents, if they could make more than, say, $0.00 on the new media (and yes, the corporations are already raking in millions, MILLIONS, from advertisers, on new media, with projections in the billions).

But the writers asking for more than $0.00, was just too much for the AMPTP to bear. So they broke off negotiations.

What most people don’t seem to understand, is that the majority of writers are middle-class (if that) schmucks who are struggling like everyone else. There’s a small percentage of writers who are rich. But they’re not the majority.

So, if you want to be pissed at someone, try looking at who’s actually got all the money and who thinks they’re entitled to have people work for them for free.

I agree with Travis. It seems to me that the WGA promises to give the AMPTP a monopoly on quality scripts (i.e. scripts written by WGA members), and, in return, the AMPTP promises to pay a fair price for the use of these scripts. Given that the AMPTP has reneged on their side of the deal, I don’t see why the WGA is still keeping their side of the bargain.

Your biggest weapon isn’t a strike; it’s selling your revenue producing content to an AMPTP competitor.

Granted, there aren’t too many other companies that can afford to spend $150 million on a movie or $50 million on 13 hours of TV, but there must be some non-sig or foreign prodco out there that can spend $40 million on a movie or $15 million on 13 hours of TV. (Or maybe $10 million on 6 hours of TV. What was the budget for Jekyll? Anybody know?)

On another note—how about visualizing the 8 cents per DVD by buying a bunch of blank DVD-Rs (you could probably get away with CD-Rs which would be even cheaper), hot-gluing eight pennies to the shiny side, and then attaching lanyards to them (so you can wear them around your neck)? Then, when some passerby (or reporter) asks what the deal is, you say, “It’s what the producers are refusing to pay us—8 cents on a DVD.”

You could probably get it done for less than the cost of an “on strike” sign.

I’m still here but I don’t know why, because the never-ending screed against Craig seems, well, never-ending. It’s disturbing, and typical of a strike, that some people get all completely riled up about doing everything they can to target other workers they decide aren’t abiding by the rules they’ve decided on. Brotherhood, unity, solidarity being broken? Yeah, well, the way to ‘unbreak’ unity isn’t to browbeat and pummel someone into submission. If you want someone (say, Craig) to change his mind about doing something (say, directing his movie), threatening to hunt down his production probably won’t be the most effective way of doing it.

He’s made his choice. Name some writer-directors who have decided to stop filming. Not writer-producers. Film directors. Actual, living, breathing, film directors. And let’s not forget, there’s a difference between working in an industry involved in a strike and crossing a picket line.

Personally? I’m not sure I could direct, but I am damn glad I don’t have to make that decision, because it’s an incredibly tough one. But don’t we have other things to discuss? After all, I don’t think anyone is going to change Craig’s mind. And in the end, it’s energy pointed at another worker rather than the producers and executives and conglomerates that truly deserve our ire, passion, and commitment.

Vendor,

You’re correct, up to a point. If I watch an episode of “The Office” online the day after it aired on NBC, there’s a perfectly reasonable argument to be made that I watched it there instead of turning on the tube the night before. If the online option hadn’t been available to me, maybe I would have made more of an effort to catch it “live.” No telling for sure, but it’s a reasonable suspicion—and I imagine that was one of the stumbling blocks to the networks accepting our initial set of demands for online residuals. They feel like they’d be forced to pay out residuals instantly—during the first run of an episode, so to speak—where in the past they wouldn’t have had to pay the writer again unless that episode reran months later. From their point of view, they’re paying again for something they’ve already paid for.

The problem from the writers’ point of view is that once the episode is online, it may stay there for months (as is happening at the moment) or years (at some point in the near future) or even permanently (since no one really knows what the ultimate business model for this stuff will turn out to be). There will never be any rerun in the conventional sense, so the writer will never get a conventional residual there—yet the network can “rerun” the thing online until the end of time if they choose without ever (under the terms of their proposal) paying any additional money for that reuse. Ever. And that just isn’t tenable for us.

Somewhere between those two valid concerns (and sorry, guys, but the networks’ fear that they’d be paying out residuals for online viewings twenty minutes after a show had aired on the network in the first place is a valid concern), one would think there must lie a happy medium—or at least one that’s equally unhappy for both parties. People keep floating the idea of defining some initial time window during which all viewings, on TV or online, would be considered part of the “first run” of the episode, and I have to think that’s where the solution lies. It gives the nets a business model and a payment schedule reasonably similar to the one they’ve always had, and it gives the writers an expectation of additional future income if an episode continues to be viewed beyond its initial airing, similar to what we’ve always had.

Granted, there would still be a lot of arguing to be done about both the duration of that initial window and what percentage of the online proceeds would actually be paid to the writer, but that would at least be a negotiation of substance. It scares me greatly that the two sides, and the AMPTP in particular, don’t even seem able to budge enough to accept the basic principle at the moment. And on that point, Vendor, I absolutely share your frustration: We know we’re going to get there at some point. We have to get there. So stop the bullshit posturing, and fucking get there.

I would note, though, that this suggestion only deals with ad-supported showings online. There’s still a whole ‘nother argument to be settled for paid downloads. But in all likelihood, if we could arrive at an agreeable percentage for the kind of use described above, it could just be applied in the download case, too.

For what it’s worth, I honestly think most of us (and if rumor can be trusted, the WGA leadership as well) would be willing to live with a deal like the above, as long as the specific terms weren’t too unreasonable. (The window can’t be a year long, the percentage can’t be some meaningless fraction of a cent on the dollar. But don’t try to fuck us on those two points, and we won’t try to fuck you either.) Our negotiators have apparently made offers in that direction already, and have been met with a wall of silence from the other side. The AMPTP is the party being intransigent on this issue. We want to meet them in the middle, and they won’t meet us there yet.

If you think this strike was avoidable, as I do, then they’re the ones who need to be blamed for not avoiding it. We tried.

We can live with a compromise. We fully expect to do so. But we can’t live in a world where our work makes money forever and we simply never get paid for it—no more than you could live with a deal where the studios paid you a flat, one-time fee for your product or service (sorry, I can’t remember if you’ve mentioned previously exactly what it is you’re a vendor of) and you were then obligated to provide it to them forever. No sane person would accept a deal like that. And we in the WGA are, whatever you might think of us at the moment, sane people.

I truly do hope this gets resolved quickly, with the least possible damage to all the innocent parties like yourself who are getting caught in the crossfire. But we’ve shown ourselves willing to resolve it and the other side hasn’t. Please keep that in mind when assessing who to blame.

Great clip, thanks for that. I’ve been following this blog with interest, not least because the end result of your strike will have huge implications over here - where of course our Guild is right behind you.

I’ve been involved in many strikes over the years, either with my own union or supporting a related one and my experience is this: Very few people, very very rarely, want to strike. It’s a last resort. Sometimes management take action that is so provocative, that striking is the only course of action.

Once that course has been decided (and in your case decided emphatically, by those who chose to vote), then as far as the public out there know you support it 100 per cent. Of course not everyone agrees with certain points, or the way the committee are handling it, some voted yes with a heavy heart. But that’s the stuff you argue about in private. It’s obvious. You don’t show your hand to the opposition. In this country people have spent 25 years trying to work out what Rupert Murdoch’s next step will be, and they always fail. He always gets his own way. And he never lets anyone know until he does it.

I used to love this blog, I came here to read lots of interesting, funny stuff about writing, and the issues. Now every day I come here and I worry, ‘oh no, what new chink is Craig going to poke into the armour of this seemingly massive and solid strike?’

My advice to you Craig, like you need someone else telling you what to do, is shut down this thread now, and keep it shut until the strike is over. There is a time and a place to criticise your union, now is not the time, and this is not the place.

Does anyone know how long the strike must last for “force majeure” to kick in? I thought someone said four weeks on another thread but wanted to confirm that.

I’m guessing that the AMPTP won’t even start negotiating again until they have cleaned house with their force majeure clauses.

Fact check, Howard wasn’t the only standing ovation that night. The entire board got one. SAG prezzie got one. I think there were some more, can’t remember. But, the folks were up several times CHEERING. But, yes, Howard was brilliant.

Would an economic boycott of those companies who advertise provide more pressure for the companies to negotiate or justify their “see, we aren’t making any money” argument?

Just thinking that the letter-writers/noise-makers got Imus fired, shows canceled or edited and more to justify a single interest. Not saying there’d be the same level of outcry over this as the Rutgers basketball team incident earlier this year. Just (naively?) wondering if that provides any support for the writers beyond the business-as-usual viewing I’m doing right now.

Hey Vendor, if you think they won’t eventually include internet hits into the ratings, it’s time for you to retire from rational debate.

This isn’t just a discussion about how things work today. It’s about how they’ll work tomorrow. Keep pushing that rock up the hill though, buddy.

I don’t think you really want to advertise the whole DVD rate hike thing. From a PR perspective it plays into the AMPTP’s framing of the argument: striking for a pay-raise.

I think you’d want the focus to stay on New Media. That frames things as: striking to avoid a pay cut that could destroy the union.

Losing wages and healthcare to corporate greed is something people understand and can get behind.

If you got your story straight on ‘what this is about’ and presented something the public at large can relate to, it could only help.

And a sympathetic public is a strong card, even if you guys are downplaying it at the moment.

Jericho fans alone mustered 20 tons of nuts. That makes you wonder what even a fraction of the rabid Office/BSG/Lost/Heroes/Whedon fans could pull off.

I applaud Craig and Ted for allowing the open dialogue to debate the merits of this strike. They have never waivered in their support of their Union (Read ‘Where I Stand”).

UK Dave — These guys have allowed doubters and critics voice their opinions right along with the staunch supporters of the strike. It’s a healthy debate. But the minute you put on the blinders and blindly follow, you’re in for some trouble.

Wow…lot’s of anonymous slamming on this site towards its benefactor…Craig has investors who are not the AMPTP with whom he has entered into a contract…he is now fulfilling that contract as a director…if he writes a single new line to his script than you can slam him, but otherwise he is clearly doing the right thing.

As for the clip, it brings into focus how complex the issue is. Writers don’t get a dime of the TV Advertising revenue and now want a claim to the internet revenue when ‘the office’ is posted online. Is this disruptive to the biz model? Yes, on multiple fronts because it introduces new payments to the writers for what might be ‘throw in’ ads, but also has the potential to dampen syndication in the long term (or not) which hurts the writers. It’s pretty dang complex when you consider first run internet…likewise if a movie does a simultaneous box office and internet release in the future- writers now have gross participation….again very complex…or if the ‘internet’ becomes the main channel for viewing ‘tv’, how does the AMPTP give up a significant percentage in that road..this could be a very long strike.

Patrick Verrone is going to be on KTLA this morn — fyi.

Shreve, I agree with you - right up to the point at which the strike started. It was an important debate and this was one of the few places where it was out in the open. But now you’re on strike and you have to accept that these guys are batting on your behalf.

I’m not saying you should follow blindly - but if you have real, worrying issues with your Guild officers, and how they are handling the strike, by all means let them know it, but not through an open forum, it just gives your opponents more ammunition.

Is there an equivalent blog to this coming from an AMPTP member? Do you have any idea what they are arguing about among themselves? If you do, and their debate is as open as the one here, then I take it all back.

If Craig shut this thread for a week those AMPTP guys would suddenly have no idea what the Guild’s own internal debate was. I bet they’d be itching to find out.

There are lots of ways of getting around the issues of streaming-encroaching-on-broadcast-ratings and simultaneous-box-office-and-internet-release and still negotiating a fair residual model for new media. For instance: 1) a limited window of residual-less streams, as apparently is now kind of sort of on the table, and/or 2) crediting new media and television broadcast residuals against each other via some formula, during this interim time while broadcast residuals still exist.

But AMPTP hedged on even considering these kinds of solutions (and who knows, maybe the WGA didn’t pursue them in the most effective way possible), which is why we are on strike.

The only way this strike is going to be effective is if production is shut down on a massive scale.

That means people having to make tough decisions. Like not to continue production?

It might be uncomfortable for Craig if his set were pickited. But at least he’d then have to make the decision.

And until production is shut down, and advertisers and distributors and stockholders start squealing, then this may drag on to an inconclusive ending.

Curious — all you posters who are suggesting for Craig to shut down his production, how many of you are feature writer-directors?

“The only standing ovation of the night, they say, “

Then THEY weren’t there, either.

You literally cannot help yourself, can you, Craig? One of your little droogs tells you something, and you rush it into print as though you’re still relevant, as though you’re a source for anything but the curious opinions of someone who’s no longer involved in this situation. Nikke Finke’s more reliable at this point. The entire board got a standing ovation. A couple of the questioners got them. The teamster who got up and talked about what this strike meant to him and what he expected of us got one as well. It was like a fucking Springsteen show, we were on our feet so much.

You weren’t there.

You do not know.

If you want to stay relevant, write about what it’s like to be on your set, trying to direct while respecting the strike rules. Talk about the conflict you MUST be feeling about what’s going on, or just tell us how it works when a joke keeps dying on the set and you have the answer but can’t give it to anyone. I can’t imagine what a nightmare that must be, and it’s something you know more about than anyone here. But what you DON’T know anything about is the strike, what’s happening out there, what it means, and what the men and women on the street are going through. Every single time you report a “fact” about it, you get it wrong, and every single time, that “fact” seems designed to denigrate the Guild and what we’re doing.

Only the moderate got a standing O.

They’re so stupid they’re only picketing one gate.

Etc. etc.

Disappointed,

“If anybody else feels this attack on Patric is completely uncalled for and unnecessary, especially coming from a guy who talks the talk but as of today hasn’t walked the walk, not even for five minutes on any line around town, then please post so he’ll see that I’m not just one lone dissenter.”

If you’ve read this site for more than ten minutes, you know I think Craig is, on a good day, a guy whose support for the Guild and other writers is transparently self-serving, as are his reasons for running this blog. On a bad day, I think he actively works to hurt us.

And you can also put my name on the extremely long list of folks who recognize that his commentaries on the strike have become absolutely irrelevant in the last few days. Hell, I could go on for hours….

But he DO have the right to criticize our leadership, and it’s hardly news that he doesn’t see eye to eye with Patric Verrone, and while there all sorts of valid arguments for picketing a set, the fact that the director criticized Patric Verrone isn’t one of them.

Howard Gould is a great guy to have in our corner.

Stillhere,

Hollywood is littered with first time directors that have had huge success, hell, think about how many 1st time directors won Oscars.

Trust me, get a good DP and good 1st A.D. and anyone can direct. It’s the biggest ruse in the biz.

as though you’re still relevant

I’m perfectly happy to be irrelevant. “Being relevant” isn’t really my purpose here. My purpose here is to speak my mind and offer others a place to speak theirs.

If you think I’m not relevant (and by extension, this website), then why are you here? Beating a dead horse? Force of habit?

I don’t get it.

In one breath, you accuse me of being able to sway masses of people with my essays, and in the other you accuse me of being irrelevant.

Pick one, stick with it (although neither are correct, but that’s life for ya).

Let me get something straight.

Patric Verrone isn’t my HERO.

And I think he’s “a little out there.”

That’s enough to bring the hammer down from some people, huh?

We’re that weak? Failing to declare anything short of love for our Great Leader is enough to bring the whole thing down? You sure?

Patric Verrone isn’t the guild. The membership is.

I remember sitting in the Sheraton in 2001 when we had the big negotiations meeting. A member stood up and said that the reason we were facing a bad deal from the companies was that Eric Hughes and Ron Parker had gone after Vicki Riskin (our then president), and that weakened us.

Well, you know, horseshit.

Vicki Riskin wasn’t qualified to be President because she wasn’t qualified to be a frickin’ current active member of the union. If we’re not strong enough to broom out a President who can’t be President, then we’re not strong enough to withstand a strike.

In this case, I’m just saying he’s not my hero. Gould is. Oh my God…building’s on fire!

Union Blues are resurrected!

INFIDEL!

I will say this about Patric, whom I’ve known for a few years now. He’s an incredibly smart guy, and the union is in his blood. He was part of the loyal opposition for years before he rose to power, just as I’m a part of the loyal opposition now.

And because I know Patric is a guy who believes in good union democracy, and because I know Patric is a guy who understands the Landrum-Griffin Act, I know that he appreciates that union members not only have a right to freedom of speech and dissent, but that such dissent is essential to the proper functioning of a labor union.

Dissent is how Patric came to become President.

Off to the lines, but for anyone who thinks the internet issue is a waste of time…

From this month’s PC World that came out yesterday:

“Future plans for the NBC service could bring high-definition downloads. “Free, on-demand, ad-supported streaming; free, on-demand, ad-supported downloads; subscriptions; pay-per-view; and download-to-own — it’s our intention to make all of those available,: as long as the COMPANY CANS FIND A WAY TO MAKE MONEY WITH THEM, according to George Kliavkoff, CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER at NBC UNIVERSAL.”

Caps mine.

Service launches in November, by the way. This November.

I thought I should post this - from “Watch with Kristin” website… it illustrates the webisode problems pretty well:

Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica): “At Battlestar, we had a very specific situation last year, dealing with webisodes, which opened my eyes to the problems. When we were approached to do Galactica webisodes, the studio’s position was they didn’t want to pay anyone to do it—they considered it promotional material. They weren’t going to pay any of the writers or the actors or the directors to do it, which we thought was crazy. We refused to do it, and eventually came to an accommodation where they said they would pay us, but then when we were almost done, they decided they weren’t going to credit anybody. They weren’t going to acknowledge anybody who wrote it. And then I refused to deliver the webisodes, and they came and took them anyway, which is their right since they own the show…but it really made me aware of these issues. I mean, my staff writer, who is the lowest man on the totem pole, they want him to do all this work for another media, not pay him for it, and then make money off of his work. Ultimately, that’s why we’re here, because that’s just wrong.”

Curious — all you posters who are suggesting for Craig to shut down his production, how many of you are feature writer-directors?”

Does it matter? Is the point not that the best way to win this strike is to shut down production? You seem to be insinuating that being a feature writer/director means that obvious fact shouldn’t apply?

If Craig’s shoot was picketed, would he cross the line? Yes or no?

Actually, Ed, the Guild is very clearly targeting television shows, and for good reason.

My movie won’t be in theaters until March of ‘08.

Stopping television now hurts the companies now…or at least in a month or two.

Features are a long haul business. Also, there is constant writing on television shows.

I’m not writing on my movie right now. No writers are employed.

That’s one reason that the Guild’s strategy to target TV makes sense. It’s also why you see so many showrunners on the NegCom. Organizing the showrunners is one thing I give Patric high marks for.

That is true Craig. but the distributors have already penned that release in. They are going to go APE SHIT NOW!!!! if it looks like that isn’t going to happen.

Sure movies are a long term business but the business model is based on knowing what is going to be available and when.

Screw up that business model and you hit the AMPTP where it hurts.

So……I sympathise with your predicament but not your argument.

“If you want to stay relevant, write about what it’s like to be on your set, trying to direct while respecting the strike rules. Talk about the conflict you MUST be feeling about what’s going on, or just tell us how it works when a joke keeps dying on the set and you have the answer but can’t give it to anyone. I can’t imagine what a nightmare that must be, and it’s something you know more about than anyone here.”

Josh, you could not be more obvious.

First: you gave tentative approval to Craig’s position - directing during a writers’ strike is okay.

Reason: You had hopes that your long stalled project would go into production and you wanted the cover to direct.

Now: you’re straddling the fence, poking at him, trying to say that what he’s doing is wrong without coming out in black and white and just saying it.

Reason: Looks like your movie isn’t getting made after all.

Next:: You say that directing during a strike is wrong, and Craig’s a scab.

Reason: Yep, movie’s dead.

So predictable.

Shreve, I agree with you - right up to the point at which the strike started. It was an important debate and this was one of the few places where it was out in the open. But now you’re on strike and you have to accept that these guys are batting on your behalf.

You’re absolutely right. The strike is on, and the time to revisit the events and decisions that led to the strike is after it’s settled and a new contract is in place.

Right now, the focus has to be on making the strike as effective as possible to gain as much bargaining leverage as possible, thereby to reach a settlement as favorable to the WGA as possible, as quickly as possible (but no quicker). Whether that means shutting down all production, or targeting TV before film, or letting Teamsters get a half-day’s pay, or creating a marketing and PR blitz, are all legitimate topics of discussion — provided the discussion is aimed at finding the strategy which has the most impact on the AMPTP and getting the various labor stakeholders — the WGA, brother unions, vendors and the general public — solidly united behind that strategy.

And because I know Patric is a guy who believes in good union democracy, and because I know Patric is a guy who understands the Landrum-Griffin Act, I know that he appreciates that union members not only have a right to freedom of speech and dissent, but that such dissent is essential to the proper functioning of a labor union.

See above. After the settlement of the strike is when dissenters should conduct a post-mortem on how things resulted in a strike, and whether the WGA could have done anything differently to make the strike unneccessary (seems highly unlikely) or to prepare better for the strike.

Right now, the entire union membership needs to rally around the union leadership for the duration of the strike. That means focusing criticism and comment on the issues of strike strategy and tactics, not on personalities or pre-strike history.

Roc (19):

Great point. The strike isn’t about getting a pay raise, it’s about not taking a pay cut. Residuals are deferred payment for the lifetime profitability of these scripts and the AMPTP’s proposal would have set the guilds (all of them) on a course for elimination of this deferred payment.

And whether or not public opinion is critical to the success of the cause, it would be really nice if the stars and writers and anybody in front of a camera could be unified on this message.

Craig,

There was one very interesting question in Josh’s earlier post, and I’d love to hear more about that situation. What happens on the set of your movie if a joke isn’t playing? Do you just keep going with the written version? Do the actors come up with alternate versions? What do you do if you come up with a great alternate joke, but can’t use it?

There were 15 standing ovations.

You weren’t there.

You’re not on the picket lines.

You’re shooting your movie.

You’re crew is crossing the picket lines and you’re encouraging it.

You may think you support the Guild, but to everyone else, it’s clear you don’t.

And it’s not because you run this blog or because of what you say. As you stated yourself, free speech is to be encouraged, not crushed. You don’t have to support Patric or any of the NegCom.

But all of you rationalizations aside, you’re doing nothing to support the Guild. Period.

I was explaining to my class of high school juniors today why the writers are striking. I asked if they knew any writers’ names. Of course they did not. Then one boy says, “Who wrote Scary Movie Four? That shit was tight.”

I was pleased to be able to immediately provide him with the name, both humanizing the writers’ strike and astounding them with my vast immediacy of knowledge all at once.

<< There was one very interesting question in Josh’s earlier post, and I’d love to hear more about that situation. What happens on the set of your movie if a joke isn’t playing? Do you just keep going with the written version? Do the actors come up with alternate versions? What do you do if you come up with a great alternate joke, but can’t use it? >>

What do you think happens? Ask anyone on Craig’s set what happens.

You know, I’ve spent the last two days on here pleading to you people to see what is really important. I think I might have to stop visiting this site because it is a big waste of time. I don’t expect you to miss me when I’m gone, but I do want you to know that I will leave feeling like maybe writers are the arrogant, lazy and self righteous wimps that a lot of my crew family and friends want me the believe.

I don’t think one post in this entire page is something that a) hasn’t been rehashed in every post before or b) going to fix the problem. I posted a message last night about using the internet and your fan base to impact the AMPTP. Shows that were taken off the air were returned because the fans made an impact. The AMPTP loves to spin the media, but you can spin it the other way. I think I got two or two responses encouraging me to go forward with my idea. Well, FUCK THAT. I didn’t post my idea to let you know what I was doing. I don’t have fans. I don’t know high power show runners that have fans. Hell, I’m sure if I called up the WGA they wouldn’t give me the time of day. And, guess what? I’m already sacrificing my income for your cause, so I’m about out of favors here.

If you all would spend half the time that you spend bitching at each other to get your word out to people who DON”T already know what the fuck it going on and how they can help, you could make a difference. But you won’t. You will just spin your wheels. You are all a bunch of back seat drivers. It is really disappointing.

See what Redstone has to say about copyright… http://www.forbes.com/2007/11/08/viacom-cbs-redstone-biz-media-cxlh1108redstone.html?partner=yahootix

When are you guys going to start putting pressure on your guild for an interim agreement that independent production companies can sign?

Could it be soon, please?

I’m a feature writer, director and actor. I’ve also created, produced, written and starred in a network series, albeit a one-season wonder.

Long before that, I hauled my share of sandbags, cable and grip stands and endured many a long, cold night out on a dark street working production.

However, my bread and butter (sometimes only crumbs) has been working as a writer and it’s to the WGA, in spite of its various flaws, that I feel the strongest allegiance. I’ve walked a picket line every day this week and will be out there at Columbus Circle in a half-hour to convey my distaste for Time Warner’s position in the current dispute.

I am awed by the showrunners who have risked significant studio retaliation by refusing to perform even producing duties.

But I can’t quite get it up for demonizing individual directors for failing to walk off their film sets without the benefit of an organized effort. That’s what organized labor is about, unified action, strength in numbers, you can’t kill us all. One at a time the studios will kill with swift efficacy and great pleasure.

There’s no doubt the strike would end in a second if every single director walked. The same for every actor, grip, gaffer, D.P., editor, location manager and driver. But my frustration is directed at our failure to forge those alliances and create that unified front in advance, rather than at the individuals who refuse to run alone into the bullets after the battle has begun.

This is a lesson we had better learn. The companies have become too big, powerful and diversified for each of our labor groups to contend with alone and the factional battles and sniping at one another only advances their agenda.

We will either dispense with the feudalistic squabbles and prejudices and overcome the challenges of our varied interests or organized labor will perish as a force. If this is the only thing we get out of this strike it will have been worth it.

Per my conversations with the WGA Legal Department, there will be NO interim agreements with any small companies in the short term. They only players the WGA is ready to make deals with are the major ones, and it seems very unlikely that the studios and networks are going to splinter off and make deals with us – they are a monopoly and act like one – too bad all the workers who actually make TV and movies can’t do this…

Second, that was not the only standing O, as mentioned by folks who actually, you know, were there. And still, the question remains: could this strike have been averted? And the answer remains: Howard Gould thinks we had to strike. Craig Mazin seems to think we had to strike. Patric Verrone thought we had to strike. 5000 writers mailed in ballots that if Patric and David and the others on that podium thought we had to strike, we had to strike. And so we’re striking. It sucks. For all of us. And sadly we have to poke through the crews and studio execs and producers and everyone else to pin-prick the AMPTP, but there’s not a whole lot of other options.

So, what do we do now? Thankfully, this issue is clear-cut enough that almost all the showrunners get the concept and are foregoing big money and inviting long legal battles to fight it (so far anyway, it’s really early in the game.) But much as people think this or that or the other, I still haven’t seen anyone put out a strategy that got us any movement on new media and kept us out of the strike.

That’s the problem.

I love my wife very much. I tell her that I love her every day, but I also do little things, small actions (don’t go there) to demonstrate my love for her. I cook, clean, watch the kids, etc. - so that she gets some well deserved ‘me time.’

Actions speak louder than words.

Keep circling the wagons.

Disappointed and Anonymous 42,

Enough. Your constant criticism of Craig, despite nearly EVERYONE saying how tired they are of it, is not helping anything. Is it going to help your strike at all? No. Shutting down one production of a movie that won’t get released for many months is pointless. It’s a personal vendetta and that’s all it is. It’s exactly why people get sick of union crap, because of people like you. You turn unions into the backstabbing, infighting and vindictive organizations that so often are. The ONLY reason you are going on a personal vendetta against him is because he happens to run the site you come to. He doesn’t delete your comments, which says something. I find it a little funny that he allows you to continually attack him, yet neither of you will say your real name.

You’re creating hate. It doesn’t help.

Josh,

I think every comment you post here and on Kay’s site attacks Craig. Now I don’t know Craig and you couldn’t pay me to see Scary Movie 4 (sorry, Craig), but it strikes me as completely obsessive, because if I recall your discussions, you’ve never met him either. In any movie, you would either end up admitting that you are in love with him, or there would be a shot of your apartment with surveillance photos of Craig plastered all over your walls.

You remind me of a rhyme from an old television show episode.

“A wise old owl lived in an oak. The more he saw, the less he spoke. The less he spoke, the more he heard. Why can’t we all be like that wise old bird?”

You remind me of the guy who said that.

Did anyone read Peter Chernin’s rosy remarks from this week’s guidance to shareholders? How the strike will benefit FOX in the short term… Is it possible Chernin’s gaming not only us but the other moguls as well? Maybe after the strike takes its toll on all of the other networks, he’ll come back to the table in January… Is he pretty much telling Les Moonves to bend over and grab his ankles? Thoughts?

Integrity vs. Dichotomy

It’s got to be tough to wear many hats and to try to be true to each of them. Ironically, one becomes a writer/director to have greater control and greater integrity in trying to bring one’s vision to the screen. And how do you not write while you’re shooting? A line that seemed great when you wrote it just collapses as the actor delivers it. You try a dozen takes. It doesn’t work. You cut it. That’s writing. You change it. That’s writing. You OK the actor’s adlibbed change. That’s writing. How do you NOT WRITE? How do you not SCAB if you cross that picket line?

I have to ask… how do you vote for a strike and then walk past the picket line created by that strike and look at the non-hyphenates that are out of work and suffering… on your way in to work with the people with whom negotiations failed so miserably that you felt justified voting for the strike in the first place?

How do you support the strike wearing one hat and break the line wearing another? Do you really pretend that you are two different people? Are you that disintegrated?

How does one fail to see the hypocrisy? One becomes a hyphenate for the purpose of bringing integrity to one’s work. But bringing integrity to one’s work has to mean more than satisfaction with the flickering light in the dark. It has to mean the moments spent creating it as well. It has to be about the means and not just the ends. It has to be about that moment when you cross that line. It has to be about that moment when you walk past your brothers and sisters who are sacrificing for the cause you say you believe in instead of picking up a sign and standing with them. In that moment… do you feel integrity? If not, don’t pass that moment. Don’t pass that line.

There’s no doubt the strike would end in a second if every single director walked. The same for every actor, grip, gaffer, D.P., editor, location manager and driver. But my frustration is directed at our failure to forge those alliances and create that unified front in advance, rather than at the individuals who refuse to run alone into the bullets after the battle has begun.

This is a lesson we had better learn. The companies have become too big, powerful and diversified for each of our labor groups to contend with alone and the factional battles and sniping at one another only advances their agenda.

We will either dispense with the feudalistic squabbles and prejudices and overcome the challenges of our varied interests or organized labor will perish as a force. If this is the only thing we get out of this strike it will have been worth it.

I totally agree. Build as many bridges as possible with brother guilds and unions during the strike, and redouble the effort to build those bridges once the strike is over.

What happens on the set of your movie if a joke isn’t playing? Do you just keep going with the written version? Do the actors come up with alternate versions? What do you do if you come up with a great alternate joke, but can’t use it?

Since the strike began, I have stuck to the script. No new jokes. If something isn’t working, then frankly…I’m fucked. I’ll probably just cut around it.

An actor asked yesterday if he could add a line, and I allowed it, because it wasn’t my idea (and better yet, it ended up being off-screen, so I doubt I’ll use it anyway).

I have zero intention of violating the strike rules.

Now, for those of you who might question this, I should point out that this kind of movie I’m doing…spoof comedy…is all about shooting the script. The gags are technical, so everything has to be laid out before hand and planned carefully.

Those of you who hate my movies will certainly find this amusing, but what can I tell ya?

Regardless, this isn’t an Apatow movie where ad libbing rules the day and scenes are shot in a fluid style.

It’s very structured.

As such, I don’t think I’ll run into too much trouble, but if I do…well…sucks to be me.

I won’t scab.

Also, I hate to keep reiterating this, but not one member of my crew (including myself) has crossed a single picket line. If it happens, I’ll talk about it. It hasn’t yet, and I hope it doesn’t.

Holy shit — did you just quote an old Magnum P.I.?! That episode — was it a two-parter? — was great! You totally just took me back to the 80s, man.

I think most of us are behind the issue of why we’re striking. But, for me, it’s all about the strategy of the strike. The timing — going out now instead of when we could have joined forces with SAG. Yes, I realize there’s the issue of stockpiling, but I’d rather take that chance then the real potential of a ten month strike plus we’d have the obvious leverage with talent on our side and the much needed publicity that the A-list actors would bring. I feel badly for the btl crews, esp in television. These guys don’t read the trades on a daily basis like we do. The potential of this strike has been on our radar for over a year unlike your average crew member who has been blind-sided by their shows suddenly going dark this week. They haven’t saved and prepared for this. These guys thought they’d be working for the next six months. Sad. And lastly — Verrone/Counter. I’m sorry. Verrone is a smart guy, an intellectual, but he’s not commanding respect from “the enemy.” And I think that’s vital. In my many day-jobs, I’ve worked for some of these top dogs and was (way) behind the scenes in some well known negotiations. Seems to me, the suits would play fairer if they thought their opponent “got it.” And, as we know, “getting it” is everything in this town. Why are there so many mediocre writers working? Cause they “get it” and therefore, execs feel comfortable working with them. I think we’d be negotiating with a tad more fairness if this were the case which is why back-channel communications, preferably with someone who “gets it,” is so vital right now.

Guys - Craig is right. An active healthy debate only makes the union stronger. People who want to silence dissent or label it “unpatriotic” or damaging to the union are the same people who say you can’t criticize a President in a time of war. This country was founded on dissent and debate. It’s what makes us stronger.

The essential question that no one is asking is: how are we going to get the two sides to start talking again? The above poster was right - the threat of the strike was the ace card. It was the loaded gun on the table. That’s where Patric blew it - he had far more power and leverage with the loaded gun than he did once he shot it.

There is a deal to be made - the studios have already offered a window of free streaming to be followed by a residual-based formula. They already offered the DVD rate for downloads. So negotiate with them, for Chrissakes. THIS STRIKE IS COSTING NORMAL, WORKING PEOPLE WITH FAMILIES JOBS! Entire productions are being laid off. People who make far less than the WGA minimum ($95k for a script) are now being affected. How can either side look at this and not see that they have a responsibility to this community to get back in a room and solve this ASAP before it gets really bad.

Where is the pressure from the members of the WGA to get back in a room?

As an outsider I am curious to your reactions to this article. There must be something missing….. Is this strike about non existent revenues?

Eisner calls writers strike ‘insanity’

By Mimi Turner Nov 8, 2007

Strike Zone: Latest news and updates

NEW YORK — Former Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner dismissed the Hollywood writers strike as “insanity” and “too stupid,” warning writers that they were sacrificing real income for a hope of revenue that studios did not yet have.

Eisner — speaking Wednesday morning at the Dow Jones/Nielsen Media and Money conference in a Q&A with Neil Cavuto, senior vp and managing editor of Fox Business News — said writers had been premature in pressing for digital revenue when the model was still unproven, and should have postponed action for at least three years.

“For a writer to give up today’s money for a nonexistent piece of the future — they should do it in three years, shouldn’t be doing it now — they are misguided they should not have gone on the strike. I’ve seen stupid strikes, I’ve seen less stupid strikes, and this strike is just a stupid strike.”

The former Disney boss, now founder of the Tornante Co., suggested that studios had embarked on a “harlot’s parade” over the past few years when they had talked up the potential of digital revenues to a point when they could not back down.

Writers, he said, were striking for a piece of “a nonexistent (revenue) flow.”

“Studios are there because they have to be there. They don’t want to be in the transportation business and telling people they should be in the train business — god forbid they should miss yet another track,” Eisner said.

Eisner indicated that currently only content aggregators such as Apple were generating income from the digital boom.

“The only real winner here is Steve Jobs. They should be striking up at Cupertino or wherever he is,” he said.

Eisner said the studios had been involved in creating a storm of “rhetoric” over something that would eventually be the major avenue of content distribution, but was not there yet.

“I don’t want to be critical of (studio) people because I would have been in the middle of making mistakes. Digital will eventually be the dominant medium for distribution but not yet,” he said.

Eisner said that the current financial pain within the subprime and mortgage markets could go on for as long as two years.

“It will be a year or two and there will be a lot of pain — we have resetting of rates — banks maybe have to go back to their original businesses and not be taking fees and handing off to packagers in this whole process of financial musical chairs.”

Chernin has about three or four files predominately displayed on his desk. File #1 — WGA STRIKES NOV 1st. File #2 - WGA WORKS W/OUT CONTRACT. File #3 - WGA AND SAG STRIKE. File #4 - JENNY CRAIG PROGRAM (couldn’t resist).

So Chernin’s had his business affairs people (one of them will run the studio some day), legal dept, production heads and publicity folk all come up with various scenarios. All he had to do was reach over, pull a file and read the playbook.

local399 @ 47

When are you guys going to start putting pressure on your guild for an interim agreement that independent production companies can sign?
Could it be soon, please?

I don’t understand the lack of at least making something like this available too. Surely a couple of the many lawyers of former lawyers in or associated with the WGA could take some time off the line and come up with a contract that would satisfy guild demands yet be reasonable to a large number of smaller companies — and even be reasonable to large companies once they realize that other people are making money while they’re busy losing it.

My thought was include a revised 2007MBA that focuses on the key residual changes that we’re asking for, perhaps .6% for DVD and 1.2% for internet — the kind of deal we’d accept but also a deal we think we could reasonably get (perhaps with some space for making a cut).


Then include a clause in the contract that, if a different MBA deal is signed with the big six (or however you’d frame it) the companies that signed the interim deal could choose to operate under the big six deal instead — their choice.

The effect of this would be that the companies willing to sign the interim deal would get to be working right now without any risk, since if the WGA later offers a lighter contract, then the interim guys could simply take the best deal out there.

Obviously, the purpose of this is to drive a wedge between the AMPTP. But this is simply the wedge of supply and demand. There are a lot of people and companies out there with cash who like to make movies. Many of the smaller companies are far more friendly to their talent at all levels and thus wouldn’t have an issue with the resids formula the WGA is proposing.


This would enable a bunch of people to keep working and lessen the pain suffered by our compatriots. Moreover, it’d place the blame for the town being out of work more squarely on the shoulders of the AMPTP who haven’t signed the interim agreement — since obviously the deal is reasonable to a bunch of these independent companies.

I imagine you couldn’t break off any of the big guys — at least not right away. But there are other multi-billion dollar corporations on the planet who might see this as a golden opportunity to break into an industry that’s been closed to them. And, importantly, it helps keep as much of the town as possible employed — that the WGA is doing what it can to minimize the collateral damage. Can the AMPTP say the same?

Tim W.

I criticize Craig and he puts up with it and answers. He knows that this criticism is what gives this site some juice. Without it, he’d have no traffic.

You on the other hand don’t add anything. Sorry, but, as someone else pointed out, this site is becoming irrevelant, so you might want to check some of the other sites or go down to the picket line and talk to people and see what’s going on.

Stirking now for speculative income seems premature. Everyone seems pretty much in agreement that there really isn’t much money in internet distribution right now. Media companies are experimenting in internet distribution because if they aren’t out there, then pirates will be and also they need to keep their toe in the water, so to speak. No media company sees the internet as a big money maker at this point. In most cases, and a few have pointed this out, the internet viewership is taking AWAY from traditional, broadcast viewership. And nets are still running the same amount of repeats they used to run. So, for the networks, if ratings continue to plummet (and this is a fact), yet the residuals remain the same, then any income that the media companies receive from internet distribution is offset. Everyone scoffs at promotional uses, but don’t those increase the chances that your show will get picked up and that, in turn, you will get picked up for another season? This does help you, just somewhat indirectly.

I also want to point out that even if you were succesfull in getting what you want, the networks will continue to DECREASE their license fees to the studios for the shows, which will cause, with the continued soaring production costs, studios to hire LESS writers. Your net effect of even your best case scenario will most likely create less work for writers. Not to mention that networks may decided to put more reality programming on, which will again cost writers more jobs. The two most popular shows on TV right now are DANCING WITH THE STARS and AMERICAN IDOL (before you say less money is made on these shows because of much lower DVD sales, you forget that product placement and sponsorships are much, much easier to come by in reality, plus you get to license the format in other territories).

Last, everyone says that the writers MUST take a stand now. WHY?!?! You renogotiate in 3 years. Why not wait and see if the internet streaming really does become a money maker? Then at least you know how much money you are striking for and whether it’s worth while in a cost-benefit analysis. Right now you are just guessing and assuming the internet is this all powerful, money making giant. An example, you settled for what you think is a bad DVD rate. You continue to renegotiate that, don’t you? Why can’t you do the same for the internet? There is no money there now. You get paid well. No one earns $0 (maybe in one area of distribution, but not in total compensation which is well over $200,000).

Obviously, I am not a writer. I really am not sympathetic to either side. You can pan my comments and brush them aside if you want. But this is reality. Put a freaking pin in it and readdress in 3 years when you actually have some understanding of the business model.

I don’t like that Josh keeps attaching Craig either, but well, Craig has set this up so he could have a voice here. I’ll just keep readin, BUT it does raise a question I have for writers out there picketing. My last day is next Friday (I’m a PA) I had planned on joining the picket line the next monday, at least for a little while as I’m looking for a new job. I’ve had to cross the picket line for mail runs, I’m not a scab as I’m not a writer. Is there going to be nothin’ but hate and vitriol toward me for having crossed the picket line for these two weeks to get those last two checks? I don’t want to be where I’m not wanted.

64 -

Zero-Summers won’t get what you wrote.

Moderates (or people in touch with reality) will.

Prepare for the flames.

64 - TV and the Internet are going to merge. Not a question of if, only when. Everyone knows it. When that time comes, the “Internet” will be the major distribution channel for entertainment product. We’re striking now in order to set precedent for the eventuality. If we wait for it to become “profitable” it will be too late (see DVD debacle circa 1988.) Your argument swings both ways, if they don’t think they can make any money off of this “newfangled Internet thingy,” why not give us a cut? Last I checked 2.5% of ZERO was ZERO.

Under the rubric ‘Know Your Adversary’ — from today’s Wall Street Journal:

News Corp.’s profit fell 13% in its fiscal first quarter after a gain on a sale in the year-earlier period, but operating income rose 23% on strong box-office results for films such as “The Simpsons Movie” and “Live Free or Die Hard,” as well as higher earnings from cable-TV networks.

Net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 fell to $732 million, or 23 cents a share, from $843 million, or 27 cents a share, a year earlier. Year-earlier results included $428 million in gains from the sale of shares in Sky Brasil and satellite-TV business Phoenix. Revenue rose 19% to $7.07 billion.

News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch highlighted the results at Fox Interactive Media, the division that includes the company’s social-networking Web site MySpace. The company said losses at the division narrowed as search revenue improved, driven by a partnership with Google Inc. that took effect in January. “With more than four years under its belt, MySpace is seeing a stable and steady growth curve,” Mr. Murdoch said. He brushed off concerns about competition from Facebook, saying such fears were “misplaced.”

Operating income at News Corp.’s filmed-entertainment unit jumped 51% to $362 million. At the company’s television segment, which includes the Fox network and News Corp.’s TV stations, earnings fell 4.7% to $183 million. The company said improved results at Fox Broadcasting Co. were offset by lower contributions from its TV stations and a full quarter of losses at MyNetworkTV, which was launched in September 2006.

Operating income at the company’s cable-network-programming unit rose 16% to $289 million. Operating income at Fox News channel more than doubled, offset by start-up costs. News Corp. launched two cable channels, Fox Business Network, a competitor with General Electric Co.’s CNBC, and the Big 10 Network, a college-sports channel.

67-

Maybe because it would cost money to set up the devices to prove it’s zero. Spending money to prove you dont make money isn’t good business.

Eisner’s argument is a conceit. He takes a valid economic concept - the time value of money - and leverages it to negate the economic rationale of the strike. The problem with his argument is two-fold:

1) As Mr. Gould points out, people are already monitizing WGA jurisdiction content distributed via the internet

2) Investment decisions (cash out-flows of current dollars with the intent of picking up cash in-flows of future dollars) are made all the time. And, such investments even happen - god forbid - with the internet (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, etc.). These investments have market defined valuation norms. In short, despite what is said, there is an economic model to assess the value of internet distribution.

My guess is Mr. Eisner is mostly addressing institutional investors, not his former peers. The objective is to discount the validity of the WGA’s claims.

lt

69- Anyone who doesn’t understand the reality of digital media distribution is living in the Stone Age. There aren’t any “DEVICES” to set up. Digital media costs nothing to reproduce. Once you get rid of the plastic discs and the cable companies it’s all gravy.

And what’s with all of these ANONYMOUS entries? Pick a name to differentiate yourselves! It doesn’t have to be your real name - DUH! (See earlier comment about Stone Age.)

People are losing their jobs.

71 -

I didn’t mean “device” as in hardware, I meant device as in “bureaucracy” to calculate all this money you claim you are losing. Sorry for the confusion.

I love the people on this site that keep slamming Craig.

I’d bet any amount of money that a lot of them are anti-Iraq war and are vociferous about it. That makes them traitors! Oh, right, I forgot, this country has free speech.

The people attacking Craig seem to have forgotten that, too.

To them I say: grow up. If Craig Mazin was so powerful that his words would create “chinks” in our armor, then he’d be able to call Counter and Young and say, “End it.” And they would.

Personally, I think that having this site is HELPING the strike by giving those of us with doubts a place to vent.

59??/ ‘The above poster was right - the threat of the strike was the ace card. It was the loaded gun on the table. That’s where Patric blew it - he had far more power and leverage with the loaded gun than he did once he shot it. ‘

Huh????? When you load the gun, point the gun, take off the safety, count to ten, count to 3 , say this is your last chance, and the guy still says fuck you, fire. I don’t care. Then…..any suggestions what should have happened next?

Ther WGA had no choice in my opinion. I think even Craig is agreeing with that.

Chris,

Wow! Impressive! You are absolutely correct. That’s an episode (part of a two-parter)that always seemed to be on and I can never forget that creepy guy’s voice. I haven’t seen it, possibly since the 80’s, but it sticks in my mind.

Anonymous,

Actually, very few people are now attacking Craig, which means that the dialogue is more more interesting and informative. I have no problem questioning Craig on it, but he’s already answered the same damn question many times. How many times do you guys want to repeat yourselves and make him repeat himself?

And I have no problem with being critical of Craig if need be, but it seems petty if it’s ALL you do, or if you just say the same thing over and over again. It’s like when I’m watching a badly written movie and I want to yell “Okay, I get it already! Move on!”.

As for adding to the site, I still question the fact that the WGA has not officially tried to contradict reports by the AMPTP that WGA members are all rich and average $200,000 a year. When regular people think it’s just rich people fighting, they don’t care. I’ve had discussions on some other entertainment sites and had to look around on the internet for some facts to dispute this, but there are very few official numbers and nothing from the WGA directly.

Here’s an update I got on television shows. I think it’s important to understand what effect you guys are having because it’s hard to get a sense on the line. Progress report Day 4:

30 ROCK * Shooting #210 through November 9th. * No additional scripts have been written.

BIG BANG THEORY * Production shut down.

CAPTAIN, THE * Shooting #102 November 8th ­ 14th. * Have scripts for #103 and #104 (production will conclude 11/30).

CARPOOLERS * Production shut down 11/16

CAVEMEN * Shooting #113 November 7th ­ 13th. * No additional scripts had been ordered.

COLD CASE * Production shut down 11/16

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES * Production shut down.

DIRT * Prepping #206 for a November 20th ­ 30th shoot. * Script written for #207 (only).

DIRTY SEXY MONEY * Shooting #111 November 8th ­ 19th. * Prepping #112 next week. Shoots o/a 11/21. * There are other scripts written but it¹s unclear if production will continue.

ELI STONE * Prepping #111 now which shoots ~ 11/15­11/26. * Not clear if there¹s another script that¹s been written.

GHOST WHISPERER * Shooting #312 November 12th ­ 21st. * No additional scripts written.

GREEK * Shooting #1018 starting November 15th. * No additional scripts (20 episode order) written.

HEROES * Production shut down 11/9.

K-VILLE * Shot #110 October 28th ­ November 8th. * No update.

MEDIUM * Prepping 069-09 for a shoot November 15th ­ 28th. * No additional scripts have been written.

NUMBERS * Prepping #412 for a shoot November 19th ­ 30th. * No additional scripts have been written

OCTOBER ROAD * Shooting #210 November 9th ­ 21st. * Have scripts through #213

OFFICE, THE * Production shut down.

OLD CHRISTINE * Production shut down.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT * Canceled production on #210 (was meant to shoot 11/7-11/13) * No additional scripts written * Production shut down.

SAMANTHA WHO * Production shut down 11/12

SWINGTOWN * Shooting episode #103 11/9­11/21. * No additional scripts written.

ŒTIL DEATH * Episode #212 completes production on November 9th. * No answer at casting office

TWO AND A HALF MEN * Production shut down.

UGLY BETTY * Shooting ³Odor in the Court² 11/9 ­ 11/20 * Prepping ³A Thousand Words Before Friday² next week, starts o/a 11/21. * No additional scripts available after that.

WITHOUT A TRACE * Production shut down 11/22.

ok everyone, so WHAT IS GOING TO SOLVE THIS?

Who gives a rats ass about all the he said/she said - what is going to get them back to the table? Shouldn’t EVERYONE’s energy be focused on that????

Me: I think we have to walk the lines, not panic, and let negotiations work themselves out. I think you can assume that back-channeling in some form is continuing, and also, as always, the media is exaggerating the tensions between the negotiators and the intractability of both sides. (And Nikki Finke in particular, has a habit of this— like the time she reported that Arianna Huffington and David Geffen weren’t speaking, while they were on vacation together in Greece, etc.)

Let me answer the question as to whether Chernin is playing the other moguls to his own advantage. YES. Fox centers its entire January-May schedule around “American Idol,” which already demolishes everything in its path. Can you imagine what happens when it’s competing against only other reality shows? Vested in scripted hits as they are, Moonves and Iger have the most to lose, which is why they’re being described as the “moderates” among the bunch. Zucker runs a small division of GE, so he sees an opportunity to cut Q4 costs and probably won’t be too upset to table it til the new year.

Thus, optimal timelines for a settlement:

ABC and CBS: Now or at least soon. NBC: January or February. Fox: June 29th, 2008.

There’s got to be some kind of opportunity there, though, right? These guys obviously hate losing to their employees, but don’t they hate losing to each other even more?

If you’ve heard of Sarbanes-Oxley, you should know that the law and the SEC require that public companies put extensive “devices” and systems in place to verify where they make or lose money and where they take in and pay out money. The SEC already forced the companies to spend the money on the necessary means of measurement.

Jen G -

I recall you saying you aren’t WGA yet, right? All I hear from you are the “I support you, but…” critiques. And frankly, there is more to be gleaned by actually being a member of the guild.

Such as, Verrone is the pres., but David Bowman is chief negotiator and the dude is pretty level headed and calm. And smart. And that we have a whole negotiationg committee, of which Howard (subject of this thread) is one. And beloved for his thoughtful approach.

And it’s entirely ineffective to go on and on about how the timing was wrong. Hell, if we went in Spring, all we’d hear is how that was too late. Is there ever good timing for a strike? I doubt it. War is hard, suck it up. You made your same point on multiple threads, are you done now? No offense, but it’s a dead horse, we aint goin’ back in time.

If you really support the cause, contribute an idea relevent to NOW, or better yet, pick up a sign and give an hour or two because one day it will be your union too.

And I, for one, have a had fun on the picket. Meeting all sorts of writers. If I were a newbie, I’d get my enterprising ass out there and make some friends and contacts. Golden opportunity. Seriously. Isn’t that what people are always complaining about - who you know, you need help, blah blah blah.

John August is practically offering up his insight for those who join him on the picket.

And, it can’t be said enough, thanks SAG any other non WGA peeps who have jumped it. You people rule. And generally are better on the bullhorn than nerdy, shy writers.

More ‘Know Your Adversary’ in the Wall Street Journal: WSJ.com - AOL Pains Counter Other Gains at Time Warner

Excerpt:

Addressing the current strike of movie and television writers, Mr. Bewkes said at the conference he doesn’t expect it to have any “material adverse impact” on the company this year. He added that he expected the strike to be “resolved before it would have any impact next year.”

The challenge is to make AOL-Time Warner feel that “material adverse impact” sooner than later.

“… I think you can assume that back-channeling in some form is continuing…”

Mike S — So I’m 23, straight outta film school, getting a file folder thrown at me from the president of a major production company at WB. I’m his assistant. He yells, top of lungs — “NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING!!!!”

Yes, I did duck, btw. And more importantly, I haven’t assumed anything since.

ok Stuart, so how much have you lost?

I get the argument that since “their is no money in internet distribution, why not cave if your the media companies?” It’s false. Residuals are paid on GROSS REVENUE. That means that writers get paid BEFORE costs are deducted. What that means is…if costs (including residuals) exceeds the gross, then you are losing money. That is exactly what would happen. I would guess that the networks would probably just stop streaming if they had to pay the residuals you ask for.

Also, there are significant costs. Maintaining a website is very expensive, especially when you are talking about the amount of servers you need to distribute all that very large media content (especially to distribute with any quality), not to mention the employees, office space, etc. There are also significant start up costs.

As for setting a precedent…that doesn’t matter. All that matters is what it’s worth to you at the particular moment in time when you have to make the decision. Furthermore, agree to disagree…don’t set a rate. What if you take this rate and it ends up sucking?

Anyway…where does everyone get this idea that the internet IS the future? You know how much it costs to produce a television series?! The networks and studios aren’t going anywhere. They will still be the providers for the foreseeable future. All that will change is the MEANS of delivery. Instead of just through cable or broadcast, it will be delivered on the NBC channel over the air. I still think this is speculative. What happens to the affiliates? They aren’t just going away. Plus, internet penetration isn’t even close to broadcast/cable. Major parts of the country still have DIAL UP! This issue simply isn’t ripe yet. Should save the strike card when it matters.

”I imagine you couldn’t break off any of the big guys — at least not right away. But there are other multi-billion dollar corporations on the planet who might see this as a golden opportunity to break into an industry that’s been closed to them.”

Now there’s a thought. On the basis that the AMPTP are essentially bankers with an in to distribution and not much else, what an opportunity for a player to come in and corner the market by offering a fair deal?

another wga writer —

Um, I’m NOT a newbie writer and what makes you think I haven’t been protesting? Geez. I’ve been working in the biz for years, hey, but thanks for your patronage. Do you not want open discussion here? Or should we just hear you yack on. I’m signing off and get another half-hour in on that spec that my imaginary reps were suppose to take out next month, then back on the line… maybe I’ll see you there, Mr. Fabulous Writer or John August — wow! You can both teach me about formating. Gee, whiz.

”Maintaining a website is very expensive, especially when you are talking about the amount of servers you need to distribute all that very large media content (especially to distribute with any quality), not to mention the employees, office space, etc. There are also significant start up costs.

yeah? Really? Very expensive? How very is very? The cost of a movie? Or Sumner Redstones salary? Or a couple of hundred writers salaries? That will still generate far more in revenue by many factors than the cost.

The WGA should be asking for the figures from the ‘secret’ AMPTP establishment in Encino giving all the studios the figures for worldwide distribution. Though might not be possible due to the anti-trust laws they are bending by doing so.

You guys/gals do realize you are competing with a kid in Indiana lighting his farts on fire? You may not like it, but you are in bed with the people you are fighting right now. Besides, I’ve never seen a “webisode” go viral. If you dont get paid for them. Don’t WRITE them.

ok everyone, so WHAT IS GOING TO SOLVE THIS?

Who gives a rats ass about all the he said/she said - what is going to get them back to the table? Shouldn’t EVERYONE’s energy be focused on that????

Plainly speaking, the only thing that will solve this is pain — when one or both sides feel enough pain to change their bargaining positions, then the two sides will come closer together.

The vehicle to focus all WGA members and their union allies on getting the two sides back to the table is the strike. Focus all your energies on making the strike effective, making it bite into the finances of the companies and cause “material adverse impacts” that the company managers and executives have to report to their boards, and that those boards then have to report to their shareholders and Wall Street analysts.

Backchannel co