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 communications, which are vital, aren’t for negotiation per se. They are for gathering intelligence on how much the other side is hurting from the strike. New proposals floated as trial balloons from the other side are an indication that they are feeling real pain, and once those new proposals start looking liveable to the WGA, then real negotiations can restart with hope of fruition.

The more stoic the WGA membership can remain in the face of the pain of the strike, the less they will have to give up when negotiations restart. Anything the union can do to keep its members strong, healthy and resolute during the strike will benefit both itself and them immensely.

Sometime soon — VERY soon — the dam will burst. Writers’ livelihoods are not the only ones affected by this issue. Everyone who works at the studios is also, and all of those folks (camermen to the make-up department) will soon be out on the lines with the writers!

In other words, the studios will SHUT DOWN.

Watch what happens then!

Like the steel mills?

Just curious if there has been any decision made yet on Showrunners and the strike dilemma yet. Have they chosen to honor their contracts and do their producing work during the strike, just nothing that involves writing? What about editing and assembling shot episodes during the strike?

I know editing has been compared to writing in various ways, and any decisions made in organizing the assembling of these shot episodes could be argued as creative decisions made by the Showrunner. But the WGA is on strike…here are my arguments.

This show that the Showrunner is on is going to determine what work they get eventually after this strike. If the Showrunner decides to complete their “baby”, follow through with editing, SFX, etc, they are just assuring that the time and effort they have invested in their work will rightfully represent their vision that determines their future. If they don’t follow through with their work, the studio/producers may get someone else to do it, and therefore the Sowrunner’s work is no longer an accurate representation of their work.

But the WGA is on strike, and the Showrunner is a writer, makes creative decisions, and therefore must respect and support the strike.

So the big question is who owns the creative decisions these Sowrunners make? The WGA, or the studio/producers?

ok Stuart, so how much have you lost?

Fair question.

1 - I don’t work for any AMPTP company in any capacity, so I haven’t lost anything from experimental Internet distribution models.

2 - I don’t (yet) belong to the WGA or any other guild or union affected by the strike, so I haven’t lost employment due to the strike.

3 - I am not a vendor to the industry, so I haven’t lost anything to second-order effects of the strike.

I DID just get laid off from a small Internet company that’s been running losses for several years. Their shareholders have been pouring in new capital at intervals in hopes of funding their growth past the break-even point. Unfortunately, cutting my salary out of overhead was one of the necessary steps for them to get closer to break-even. Sucks for me.

I have another job lined up that starts in a couple of weeks, so I haven’t lost much (maybe a week’s pay or so). But I did have a few moments of staring into the abyss, since I am that guy with the mortgage payment and the college student with two more primed behind her.

A side effect of my job transition is a few open days before Thanksgiving. If the strike hasn’t settled in the next week or so, I hope to come down to LA from the SF Bay Area and walk the line for a day.

ok Stuart, so how much have you lost?

Fair question.

1 - I don’t work for any AMPTP company in any capacity, so I haven’t lost anything from experimental Internet distribution models.

2 - I don’t (yet) belong to the WGA or any other guild or union affected by the strike, so I haven’t lost employment due to the strike.

3 - I am not a vendor to the industry, so I haven’t lost anything to second-order effects of the strike.

I DID just get laid off from a small Internet company that’s been running losses for several years. Their shareholders have been pouring in new capital at intervals in hopes of funding their growth past the break-even point. Unfortunately, cutting my salary out of overhead was one of the necessary steps for them to get closer to break-even. Sucks for me.

I have another job lined up that starts in a couple of weeks, so I haven’t lost much (maybe a week’s pay or so). But I did have a few moments of staring into the abyss, since I am that guy with the mortgage payment and the college student with two more primed behind her.

A side effect of my job transition is a few open days before Thanksgiving. If the strike hasn’t settled in the next week or so, I hope to come down to LA from the SF Bay Area and walk the line for a day.

Craig wrote: “I’d vote for this guy any day of the week.”

Excellent!

Now…would you walk a picket line with him today?

It gets solved like this.

I�ll tell you how the conversation goes between Patric and Counter. Over lunch, just the 2 of them.

          Patric

So Nick, howzabout that Torre deal.

          Counter

What the F—-’s a Torre deal?

          Patric

I guess we�ll skip the chit chat and get right down to business, Can you just give me the bottom line on what it�s going to take to make a deal.

After that, Patric has to tuck his testes behind for a while to figure out a clever way to explain to his guild that he underestimated his opponent, and present the offer to the rank and file. After that, you all can decide how much longer you want to be out of work waiting for these huge conglomerates to bend to your will. Ya got a better chance of seeing Jesus! Sometimes someone has to step up to the plate and be the bigger man! That�s a leader, facing reality, realizing that you made a mistake, correcting it as soon as you can so you don�t continue to hurt the very people that you set out to help in the first place.

Posted by: jimbeaux at November 6, 2007 4:51 PM

I certainly hope there are some back-channeling going on. Because all the vitriole and chanting that the “Man” needs to be taken down, don’t mean much if you can’t even get the negotiation tables back open. I think that is where public (by that I mean fans) opinon of this whole deal will start circling the toilet. If we can’t hear something good, some hope that progress is being made from BOTH sides - public opinion will turn against EVERYONE involved in this (AMPTP and WGA alike).

I can see where its hard for the public to be supportive if the only thing we hear (and yes, I’m aware all media is slanted) is that both sides are basically telling eachother to “Eat shit and die!”

We search the strike news lines, and all we get is “No negotians have been set. Neither side will meet…blahblah.” That, and as if we didn’t know, “talk shows and late night will be hit first!” Wow. What a fuckin’ news flash…its the same shit we’ve been reading since Monday! Progress people! What good does it do anyone (present and furture writers) to be making no progress with getting a conract done?

I’ve read some great ideas about how to get negotiations started, what needs to be done, seen all sorts of numbers on here. How’s about putting this to good use - say like, in negotiations?!?

I know, this is but one site, one blog of opinions and points of view. If there was an AMPTP site, I’d be posting there too.

If I could find a site for the AMPTP, I’d be screaming the same thing that I’d lob at the WGA site: Get back to the negotiating tables, for the love of Christ!

“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.”

I don’t think you’ll find hate and vitriol at all. I think your presence on the picket line will be warmly welcomed. In fact, I’m sure of it.

Come on down.

Patrick Meighan Culver City, CA

Now…would you walk a picket line with him today?

I don’t know if he’s walking today. He’s also (gasp) a director, and I think he’s editing his movie.

There’s a lot of us.

We’re good for the Guild, dude. Maybe it’s hard to see right now, but we are.

“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?”

I don’t know who Peter Chernin was intending to game, but I do know that Peter’s remarks contained outright lies. To wit: Chernin declared that Fox’s primetime animation shows have a year’s worth of original programming ready to go. That, folks, is a lie.

I write for “Family Guy,” so I can tell you unequivocably that our show has exactly 1 more original episode completed and ready to go. One.

Seth MacFarlane (for health reasons, and just plain being busy) hasn’t voiced any dialogue (be it for record drafts, or animatic rewrites, or color rewrites) in two months. And, since the strike, he’s stopped all manner of work on his two shows, including voice acting… which means that all future Family Guy and American Dad episodes (after the next one or two) feature big gaping silent holes without Seth’s voice.

If Peter Chernin really wants to air a year’s-worth of original episodes from his #1 and #3 prime-time animated shows, he’ll have to: a) Get some hack actor in there to try and sound like Stewie Griffin, Peter Griffin, Carter Pewterschmidt, Stan Smith, Roger the Alien, and the ten billion other characters Seth performs, or b) Be okay with airing episodes featuring huge disorienting sequences where-in the animated characters are moving their lips but no sound is coming out, or c) Give the WGA a fair deal.

The end.

I gotta tell you, I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated my boss more than I do right now.

Patrick Meighan Culver City, CA

Pardon my silly daydreaming here. Crazy thought, but anyone think of contacting some non-industry moguls for assistance? Maybe Richard Branson would be willing to pay everyone’s salaries for a few months in exchange for services rendered to his new Virgin Pictures Studio that he’s going to build when you suggest it to him.

I am also not (yet) a WGA member, however I DID walk the line yesterday morning over at Sony and was most warmly welcomed!

I will be back for as long as it takes.

The writers do not have the same luxury of diversity of income/interests that the studios have. Just like in ‘88, you will lose. It’s worse now with all these studios/nets owned by big, diverse corporations.

Also, studios DEFECIT their prodcutions, by not being in production they save money. Nets will just produce more reality. How is their revenue stream affected??? They may feel it if the strike went on for 2 years. You really think the writers have the fortitude and the income to hold out that long? And this isn’t even considering that nets/studios will just ramp up on reality production. This could be a net gain for the AMPTP. Has anyone at all considered this?

Writers need to think not just about getting more but KEEPING WHAT YOU HAVE!!!!!!!!! Scripted television is on a precipise (before this strike)…this strike could push it over. That’s more of a concern than the big, bad internet coming in and squelching out broadcast television as we know it (God that even sounds absurd).

Worry about keeping writers employed. Worry about keeping the money you have. These are things to fight for.

JEN G -

So you ARE WGA? I thought you had stated otherwise.

I seriously meant no patronage, just offereing a silver lining to picketing. Meeting other writers. Which very established writers and unestablished writers (and everyone else in between), know you can never have too many pals in the biz. Never. It pays off in surprising ways.

In fact, one of my mentors (an A-lister who makes “Craig Money”) who really helped get my work in to the hands of the right folks when I was starting (I’d been in the business, knew people, but the right script, with right advocate and the right buyer changed everything). Anyway she was almost giddy picketing b/c of all the new writers she’s meeting.

It’s a great attitude she’s had and passed to me and I’m sure speaks to her monster success. Writers are a great resource for each other and this is a rare opportunity when we’re all out of our caves. I make a great living and still love any help I can get (or give).

I referenced newbie/ un sold/ not wga yet, in the context that there are many who post here defining themselves as such and I was offering how this anomely even could be helpful to them as well.

For me, the strike is crazy and surreal and difficult enough, I just don’t find it effective to harp on what already happened. Let’s strategize/ debate what’s NEXT. That’s my m.o. TOMORROW, much like new media.

And if you’ve been picketing, double fuck yeah. That’s great.

No 64 - KEEPING WHAT WE HAVE is exactly what this strike is about. Keeping residuals as technologies and plaforms shift. The studios are trying to weasel out of paying us these residuals in the future by calling them “promotional” or “home video” when it’s really the exact same product making them even more money.

109 - I will ask for the 5th time. How much money are they making? From the information I can gather, the number 1 downloaded movie from iTunes was 5,000 downloads. If the writer got the DVD rate ($0.04 per) we are talking $200.

I imagine most writers are only concerned about their portion of the residuals, but does anyone here know what the DVD formula is and the complete breakdown (who gets what)? Just curious.

It doesn’t matter how much money they’re making TODAY. It’s about how much money they’ll be making TOMORROW when DVD’s are extinct (like CD’s) and downloading is the defacto means of distribution. Anyone who doesn’t see that reality is:

a) Technologically inept / unimaginative

b) Wilfully ignorant

c) A corporate schill

I want to know why expressing a contrary opinion somehow implies that one is suggesting that the other person does not have the right to free speech. What a clumsy rebuttal. What an empty argument.

In spirit, there’s a picket line at every gate of every struck company.

If you are a writer-director, then there is a real writer at every gate you enter. You. It’s a shame you pass him by.

Otherwise, for what it’s worth, I like your site.

All of this is a net wash for the media companies. No money to be shared.

But more importantly…keep what you have means the money currenlty in your pocket. This argument that nets streaming their content is taking money out of your pocket is simply not a reality. Wait 3 years and see if the shift does take place and if the nets still consider it “promotional” when there are no network broadcasts. As long as there are network broadcasts and you get paid for that, then it is all a wash. You are losing nothing. They call it promotional because you are already paid for the network broadcasts and this either works to INCREASE future ratings for the network broadcasts (means you get picked up, by the way, for another season) or at least get the viewers that they used to have (again…ratings are going down). It’s not a money maker for the nets, hence it’s promotional.

Would you think it was fair for the AMPTP to ask that residuals for network reruns be cut since the networks are making LESS money on them (ratings down)? No way.

At the very least…you and the AMPTP are some greedy people. You both make tons of money. The WGA has probably the best CBA’s in the history of mankind.

On top of this all, I can’t understand why anyone thinks this will work out better than in ‘88. No one explains this. You need to understand the concept of leverage.

Can we stop talking about CRAIG MAZIN and other moot nonsense and talk about the important issues? Geez!

Governor fears for the little people

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today said he was concerned about the economic impact of the writers strike but has not yet personally gotten involved in trying to end the labor dispute.

“If I’m asked down the line, I will get involved. But at this point I’ve been talking [to people on both sides] but I haven’t been asked to intervene,” Schwarzenegger said at a press conference.

Settling the strike quickly is important “because it has tremendous impact on our state,” he said. He stressed that “the people who suffer the most with a strike are the people suffering from living with very little money,” who could run into trouble making house payments and paying for school supplies for their children.

“I think that’s a sad story,” he said. “Because the studio executives are not going to suffer, the union leaders are not going to suffer, the writers in the strike are not going to suffer, all the people who have money.”

“The electricians, the grips, the set designers are the people who are going to suffer because they are not getting paid and they are out of work.”

‘I don’t know if he’s walking today. He’s also (gasp) a director, and I think he’s editing his movie.

There’s a lot of us.

Not you evidently. Sorry but thems the facts.

112 - Do you know what the file size is for 22 HD episodes? What about 300 in the case SEINFELD? Technically inept?! Ha! One cannot have a library of shows on their hard drive until memory space expands. That technology isn’t even close. Regardless, you get paid for downloads at the DVD rate. If it replaces DVD’s, so what?!

Either way though, you are not locked into this deal FOREVER. No one wants to cop to the fact that you could make this same argument when your hypothetical situation becomes a reality. And I bet it’s easier to support, for the long haul, something that we all know exists. Cut the fantasy land stuff.

114 - Your biggest issue seems to be the timing. I (and most other writers) happen to believe that that the technologicl shift is occuring NOW and whatever precedents are set NOW will become status quo and irreversible.

I’m sorry but the concept of “Broadcasting” television is going the way of the dodo. Do millions of Americans still watch free broadcast TV? Sure. But those numbers are eroding.

What is going to happen (and everyone knows this.) Is people will have a BOX (call it a DVR, call it a computer, call it an oversized ipod) with which they watches streamed content (over the INTERNET) and store the media that they have purchased (over the INTERNET.)

“Cable TV” will go bye-bye. Plastic DVD’s will go bye-bye. Nothing to stand between NBC and their money besides those pesky creative people who produce it. Since it isn’t “TV” anymore they’ll play semantics games to try to cut us out of the residuals we’ve been getting since the 1950’s.

“At the very least…you and the AMPTP are some greedy people. You both make tons of money. The WGA has probably the best CBA’s in the history of mankind.”

Ok, I needed that laugh.

“On top of this all, I can’t understand why anyone thinks this will work out better than in ‘88. No one explains this. You need to understand the concept of leverage.”

Well, they haven’t explained it more than two or three thousand times, if that’s what you mean.

“It’s not a money maker for the nets, hence it’s promotional.”

In all seriousness, are you a shill or do you actually believe that?

There are tons of places for you to set yourself straight on that, but here’s one from this very thread:

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.”

Aside from those wild inaccuracies, as a kind of twisted bonus, you offered the worst explanation of the issues to be found on the internet.

118-

“112 - Do you know what the file size is for 22 HD episodes? What about 300 in the case SEINFELD? Technically inept?! Ha! One cannot have a library of shows on their hard drive until memory space expands. That technology isn’t even close. Regardless, you get paid for downloads at the DVD rate. If it replaces DVD’s, so what?!”

Becuase the DVD rate is a CROCK based on the costs of manufacturing a VHS tape! Downloads cost $0.00 to manufacture. That’s the POINT.

Also, you’ve apparently never heard of a MEDIA DRIVE .

http://www.nextag.com/hp-personal-media-drive/search-html

Perhaps if you were more technologically savvy…

Craig,

“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.”

Yeah, you do. Because you’re nowhere near as dumb as the audience you play to here.

“Dissent is how Patric came to become President.”

Oops. Careful, Craig. You just gave up your shit.

Again.

“I don’t know if he’s walking today. He’s also (gasp) a director, and I think he’s editing his movie. There’s a lot of us.

We’re good for the Guild, dude. Maybe it’s hard to see right now, but we are.”

Jesus, man. You won’t be happy until I change my position on you directing your movie.

I get why you’re doing it. I don’t know what I’d do in your position. It’s a tough fucking spot. But you’re NOT good for the guild right now. If the DGA hyphenates got together and did what the showrunners did, THAT would be good for the Guild. Directing your movie is fully understandable, and you’re within your rights. But man, what you are doing is NOT good for the Guild.

Anonymous#38,

Make you a deal. You post under your real name, and I’ll address every single one of your concerns.

PS: The movie’s far from dead. Sorry.

Tim W.

A LOT of people’s comments and posts attack Craig. Mine just come with my real name attached to them. I respond to what Craig writes here. Much of what he writes is wrongheaded. Feel free to fantasize all you want about what the motivations are, but at the end of the day, there’s a very vocal member of my union who’s made a concerted effort to snag the media spotlight during this strike, who’s clearly dedicated to making what we’re doing harder. Add to that the conviction I share with MANY people that it’s all about another run at the board, and hey, a few minutes a day providing a voice of dissent to Craig’s view from the house isn’t too much of a sacrifice.

For those advocating waiting til the new media comes in:

Are you planning on not being in the industry then? Do you think the AMPTP will negotiate more freely once they see how profitable new media will be? What’s the plan? Die sometime in the next three years so you don’t have to deal with a work stoppage?

The damage is going to be the same now or three years from now. I think it will be easier to negotiate now (but harder to come up with a comprehensive outline on new media). And that’s a good thing. Set a precedent (like escalators) of reworking the deal. That way there will be not rate (like VHS) standing for twenty+ years.

thanks Patrick! It would be taunting enough to be around people who have written pieces that have changed the very way I look at the world, but to then have them glowering at me would make for an severely awkward day indeed.
By the by, a friend back home won a contest and got flown out to LA to sit in on a table read for “Family Guy”. I begged to join, as I was out here anyway, and it was pretty tootin’ cool. Seth, on a drop of a dime, changing voices was awesome! I also have a friend, Mike, from my UCB classes who use to be an animator for “American Dad”, and I had Lauren the receptionist from “American Dad” in my Groundlings class. Really nice people on that floor.

Shaun,

“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.”

Come out to the line when you’re done, and you will see, first hand, what the opposite of hate and vitriol are. Folks like you are welcomed warmly. There’s a reason so many people here would happily rip out the lungs of that idiot who attacked Priya.

Anonymous - You are right about one thing, the timing on setting a new media deal is wrong… it should have been done 6 years ago.

Now isn’t too early by a long shot. It’s late.

“The internet! It’s too new!”

Shills are funny.

Josh:

I do not want to be the President of the WGA. Okay?

DO NOT WANT.

I’m away from my wife and kids enough as it is. Ain’t gonna happen. Zero interest. And I was asked. Said no. I’ll be asked again. I will say no again. Let it go.

Also, I didn’t say “what we’re DOING is good for the Guild.” I said “we are good for the Guild.” Hyphenates are good for the Guild. I grant that what I’m doing right now isn’t helping the cause of the strike. I don’t believe it’s hurting it either, but reasonable people can debate that.

Please read more carefully before jerking your knee.

Craig,

Few politicians will cop to being politicians. Let’s just say some people find your assertions dubious. The price you pay for running a vigorously political blog devoted to increasing your Q rating in this particular arena. Maybe you’re just an egomaniac. So be it.

“Also, I didn’t say “what we’re DOING is good for the Guild.” I said “we are good for the Guild.” Hyphenates are good for the Guild. I grant that what I’m doing right now isn’t helping the cause of the strike. I don’t believe it’s hurting it either, but reasonable people can debate that.”

I don’t think you’re particularly hurting the Guild in any meaningful way, but you guys could be helping, much as the showrunners are.

And yes, we all know the differences between your legal standings. That’s huge consolation, I’m sure, to the men and women who are risking everything by walking off their own shows. “It’s different for directors.”

As for your clarification… I’m confused. When you say “We’re good for the Guild,” we’re supposed to know that “just not right now” goes without saying?

Calling me a schill and attacks on guys like Craig (not the same thing, obviously, but hear me out) make me think of the vitriol sorounding the Iraq War Debate. Your either with the trooops or against them, right? There can’t possibly be two sides to this. There can’t possibly be nuanced opinions, right?

6 years ago?! Seriously?! Do you really give this strike the serious contemplation it deserves? You are glib and that scares me. My whole point is that it is really hard to coalesce around an issue that does not exist.
Do you even have clue as to how much money you are fighting for as opposed to how much you are losing?

Call me what you want, but some logic never hurt anyone.

Just like in ‘88, your hardliners and moderates will turn on each other, because people understand that making a very good wage is better then nothing and you got mouths to feed and a mortgage to pay. Disney, GE, Newscorp could f’ing care less about all of this, because you CANNOT make a dent in their bottom line. Maybe that makes you right and them wrong. Fine, take solace in the fact that you were “right”…but you are gonna do it while eating a shit sandwich. At least take the money with your shit sandwich.

Craig,

I think I understand now. Took a while. I’m tired. I wouldn’t want to be in your position. My questions were just that: questions.

Is there any way you could get away tomorrow and join the rally — even if it’s just for an hour or so? Just one day, please — tomorrow being a BIG one, that is.

Thanks.

Josh:

It’s my fault you misunderstood me. I get it.

But I’m the egomaniac.

Let’s just say some people find your assertions dubious. The price you pay for running a vigorously political blog devoted to increasing your Q rating in this particular arena. Maybe you’re just an egomaniac. So be it.

I understand that you think I’m a liar (wasn’t your version of that so pretty!). Obviously, I’ll deny that I’m a liar.

I know you think this blog is devoted to increasing my Q rating. I’ll deny that too. It’s devoted to educating other writers and spreading a professional philosophy. The union politics is at the forefront now for obvious reasons, and while I aim to be influential, I don’t aim for fame or popularity (which should be freakin’ obvious by now…I mean, shit…)

I’m not an egomaniac.

It’s possible that you don’t understand any other reason that someone would do something like this beyond ego. If so, sucks to be you.

for some reason it held my reply to you l’archiduc, but it’s coming. Keep posting though because your attempt at sounding like you know what the hell you are talking about is cracking me up. Just because you own a Mac and an Ipod and jerk off to a Steve Jobs poster doesn’t make you a techie.

num 69 woohoo:

It has been explained over and over again that there will be no money to “take” will a shit sandwich is served. Your philosopy of sitting back and waiting til there is nothing but the shit sandwich is certainly an interesting take.

Some times you have to fight City Hall, even though you don’t think you can win. But I get it. There’s no fight worth fighting in your world. Take what’s given to you and be thankful for it. History does favor those who do nothing. I can see your point.

Craig,

I don’t think you should stop directing and I support your decision ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. You’re doing the right thing for someone in your position. We know you support the strike and wish you were not put in this situation. But stay with it. This will work out.

num 69 - What does my alleged onanism have to do with it?

I never said I was a techie. Just that entertainment was moving to the Internet. Apparently everyone knows this but you.

Dear Writers, There is no doubt a great deal of perspiration being shed by all, for as many reasons as there are WGA writers on strike. Allow me to interject a little bit of erudite elucidation that I hope will uplift you.

BTW Yes, I did buy those two big words off a college student. Weren’t cheap either. Sound impressive though, yes-no? If anyone can tell me what they mean, it would be much appreciated. Yours Truly, Tyro.

“Will You Tell Me A Story, Daddy?”

At the dawn of humankind, early man told his stories upon the walls of caves. Not long after, ancient Greeks sat around campfires to listen to the epic stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Be it picture on a wall or words beside afire, it was all about the story.

In the Age of Shakespeare, the Bard riveted his audience with his phenomenal plays and morality tales, an influence that endures to this day. But is wasn’t about the fancy costumes or elaborate stages. It was all about the story.

In the days of the Wild West, journalists and pulp writers enthralled the public with their riveting tales of Wild Bill Hickock, Jesse James or Billy the Kid. No matter which despicable outlaw or courageous lawman it didn’t matter. It was all about the story.

With the advent of film, stories came alive before our eyes. Writers flocked to this new medium, whose impact upon humanity has been immeasurable and remains so today. Directors like Alfred Hitchcock and actors such as Clark Gable became household names. But it was the writers who drove this new medium forward and propelled it to the lofty heights upon which it sits today. Because it was all about the story.

In today’s dizzying world of new technologies, Everyman now has the power within reach to tell their own stories. Who knows? In a hundred years (or maybe even far less), each of us will have the power of a DreamWorks or an ILM to create our own dreams with the same astonishing quality and realism these mega-studios do so today. But special effects are nothing in and of themselves. It is, and always will be, about the story.

Yet even in this day and age, one of our greatest pleasures remain sitting by our childrens’ beds and reading to them the epic fantasies and stories upon which we ourselves have been weaned. To us, it is all about bonding and watching the pleasure, excitement and even trepidation on their faces as we lead them down the merry path. To them, it is all about the story.

If you were to suddenly wipe from the face of the earth all of the actors, directors, producers, studios, agents, stuntmen, special effects experts, even screenwriters, it would most certainly leave an emptiness within all of us, an emptiness we seek to fill every weekend with our children and our loved ones as we follow the magnificent tales of Shrek, Spiderman, Captain Jack Sparrow, and too many others to count.

Yet without all that, there would still be the story. And storytellers of every stripe and talent would be in great demand, as they always have. Because it’s all about the story.

So if you happen to be walking by a WGA picket line in the course of someday soon, don’t ask them what movies they’ve written, or what celebrities they know, or how much they’ve made. Thank them for their great stories, and wish them well.

Signed, Tyro the Magnificent

a few thing..

“Downloads cost $0.00 to manufacture.”

BUT… it costs to maintain servers and dedicated lines. High bandwidth dedicated lines cost a lot.

“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.”

The studios doesn’t sell DVDs at $24.95. You can easily buy any DVD around $15, which includes the profit for retailers. Usually studios get less then $8 per DVD if you subtract mfg cost.

In a change of topic….

We want to start running some pieces from WGA members under the headline of “Why I’m On Strike.” What I’m looking for is a few words from as many WGA members as possible talking about why they’re on strike. I really think it’s important to personalize this strike for our readers, and this is one good way to do it.

I’ve already corralled a few stories, but if you could pass the word along that I am looking for more, I would really appreciate it.

They can be any length, and from anyone in the WGA, be they well-known showrunner or brand new member. There are a lot of voices in the strike, and I would like to showcase as many of them as possible.

They can just send them directly to me at rick@allyourtv.com.

Not at all. I didn’t compile it. Just got it sent to me.

-hmm…

How much is Nick Counter paying you to post here? $0.04 a post? You should ask him to double it.

l’archiduc, just keep pressing the “I WIN” button and avoid the debate. But remember, fighting over the internet is like competing in the Special Olympics, even if you win, you’re still a retard.

McCabe says, “Some times you have to fight City Hall, even though you don’t think you can win. But I get it. There’s no fight worth fighting in your world. Take what’s given to you and be thankful for it. History does favor those who do nothing. I can see your point.”

It sure beats those who FIGHT for NOTHING!

It sounds to me that you think this is some moral stand. You guys aren’t striking to get paid a decent wage (min for TV is what $200k? PLUS residuals). You aren’t the grocerry workers striking to get SOME health care (no, your phw fund is the best funded in the freaking world). So give me a break. You are striking to get MORE money. You have a right to do that, but not a moral one…not in this case.

So if it aint moral, then it should be sound, principled, fiscal reasoning. No one can explain to me how losing money (going on strike) for a highly speculative gain makes sense. Think of it as an investment. You can’t possibly make that money back. No one would invest in that, unless of course they were not acting rationally.

As for the jack ass that keeps saying everyone knows that entertainment is moving to the internet, yes, someone lip synching a song to Brittney Spears is all the rage, but downloads and streaming is a joke. You simply cannot recoup the 2 mill per series episode cost by way of advertising dollars (much less all the development costs). Maybe this will happen at some point…but can we just wait till we get there?!

This Don Quixote stuff is crazy.

Silly question, perhaps, but are pickets out on the weekend or next Monday (a holiday)? I’d be honored to walk with you guys.

Showrunner/Writer/Director Ed Bernero(CRIMINAL MINDS, THIRD WATCH) posted a pretty in-depth explanation of why the writers had no choice but to strike:

http://criminalmindsfanatic.blogspot.com/2007/11/edward-allen-bernero-speaks-to-fans-of.html

145 - Downloads and streaming are not “a joke.” They are the future. You’re not going to be watching shows in your TV screen, but the delivery will be via broadband.

There’s no reason to resort to calling me a “jack ass” because I’m stating an obvious fact that you apparently aren’t ready to acknowledge.

CORRECTION - You won’t be watching shows on your COMPUTER screen.

num 69- I never said “I WIN.” That must be your conclusion.

Furthermore your previous two responses to my posts reference my masturbation habits and imply that I’m a “retard” yet you say I refuse to engage the issues…

I’m beginning to wonder about you…

Craig is right to provide this forum for free speech. When the corporate shills come here to argue, they get shut down and end up looking even more ridiculous.

Dear Anonymous, Don Quixote’s stuff has always been crazy. That’s what gives him his charm. And tell me one writer you know who isn’t crazy. That’s what gives them THEIR charm!

They may be fighting windmills but it’s their fight, and I happen to agree with it, although I must admit a certain conflict of interest. That what gives me MY charm!

All you’re going to get out here by being a wet blanket is a blanket party.

BTW I don’t think you’re taking into consideration the fact that working as a writer in Hollywood is not the same as writing code for MicroSoft, or working permanent as a studio executive.

No writing job is guaranteed for any longer than the duration of the shoot or the show. I would happen to surmise that there are quite a number of Guild members who spend more time out of work than in, sitting by the phone waiting for their agents to call.

They’re not all David Koepp or William Goldman, you know. If a writer can’t get assignments for ten years, but his work is still making a great deal of money for the studios in any number of media, isn’t it only fair that writer continue to profit from his/her work as others continue to be? Is that asking too much? Don’t answer, it’s a rhetorical question.

Lastly, if you’re going to go off on us, have the courage to sign your name. The internet’s full of anonymous nutjobs and haters. Show some cojones. Put your name to your work, like we do.

Sincerely, Tyro the Magnificent.

Writers are what they are. But it would be nice to have high profile writers rooting for the cause if they fundementally agree with the cause.

L’Archiduc - ok…so we agree that is not the case NOW, but the future. You really think that since the network has its ONLY “broadcast” done thru the internet that they wont pay you? Even if you beleive that, then why can’t you strike when that time comes..you know when it actually means something to you financially. Niether side has a clue what to expect. Sorry for the jackass comment.

No one can really put an argument out there why you have to do this now.

Natalie, if you’re still here:

<>

I’m not clear on how you’re doing us a favor. The fans already ARE helping. But remember, mobilizing a fan base to save one show is quite a bit easier than mobilizing ALL the fan bases to somehow work together. But rest assured that fans are asking what they can to do help, and they’re being told by writers. There is some internet community outreach being done here. And nobody needed you to tell us that it could help. We kinda already figured that out.

As for you sacrificing your income, you haven’t. A sacrifice isn’t something that is imposed upon you. A sacrifice is given willingly. Well. Unless you’re a baseball player. Then you just have to listen to the base coach. Your income is being affected, and that’s unfortunate. But you act like you’re the only person here who’s being affected, and that’s simply not true. So let me ask YOU a question. Why do you continuously post in these threads if you don’t think these issues are important?

<>

Honey, I’m on the picket line four hours EVERY DAY. Where are you? I’m talking to people and answering questions, both on the picket line and on the internet. Hell, even at Starbucks, for God’s sake. Where are you?

Today, there were five instances of community outreach. Fans of one particular show brought snacks. Three restaurants brought food. And a woman, with her baby in a stroller, brought coffee from Starbucks and told us we were all getting screwed, she loved TV, and she wanted to show us her support. If she’s the ONLY local who says anything like that throughout this entire strike, I will still feel like we got our message out.

All we do is try to get the word out, and you may think you’re riding in here to save us bozos with your brilliant ideas, but you’re not. We’re way ahead of you. Maybe I missed the part where you said you supported the writers’ cause. If so, I apologize. But from where I sit, all I see is someone who’s only thinking about herself, and wanting to take out her anger on the people she sees as causing her hardship.

PLEASE — and I mean it here — disabuse me of that notion.

TYRO - where is it written that the media companies owe a writer the right to never have to have a job doing anything but writing when he writes the one thing that gets him into the guild? Someone that writes code for Microsoft can get canned at any time (at wil) with no penalty and never get another job in the business again.

You get paid for what you work on. You don’t get to freeload for the rest of your life because you were a staff writer for ACCORDING TO JIM for one season. Residuals are something you negotiated for, but are not morally owed to you.

NO 64 - I said this before, but we believe that we need to take this stand now in order to set precedent. The longer we go down the current path, the harder it will be to make changes later. The AMPTP will never give back an inch of what they’ve claimed.

When two people buy a house together they don’t say, “Let’s just divvy it up later once we see what it’s worth.”

If we know TV is moving to the net, why not just create a residual rate that’s a catch all (like they did in Great Britain?)

TV is going to be delivered someway somehow long into the future. Just because the delivery method changes shouldn’t be an exuse to srew us out of our residuals.

Can you really argue with that?

Brian, I’m surprised how the level of scrutiny can be destructive in the case of the ongoing secret meetings. Things are so fragile that any reporting of them could cause a flareup. I don’t think it’s an accident that insults haven’t been hurled in awhile.

Now, the newspapers are reporting what I told you about “back channel” talks continuing. (Remember, I know someone on the other side.) It’s amazing to learn how much of this is spent massaging bruised egos, dialing down tempers and just trying to drain some of the poison out of the air.

I wasn’t able to find out if any potential new revenue formulas have emerged, as what was characterized to me were calls for calm and reason to get both sides heading back to the table in a climate that could be productive.

One thing this person did concede, they didn’t anticipate the solidarity of the showrunners, many of whom are in head to head competition with each other in timeslots. They fully expected them to protect their vested interest and continue production duties, sans writing, on shows.

They’ll probably want a media blackout if and when people return to the bargaining table, but as long as people keep whispering to Nikki Finke and others, that probably won’t happen.

NO 64 - There is a moral element to residuals. I don’t know much about writing code, but I KNOW that software developers get paid license fees that are like residuals. Authors and songwriters get royalties. TV and film writers get residuals. Drug companies pay residuals to drug developers. In America we reward people who create intellectual property that’s reused in profit-makin endeavors.

When you buy a house you know what it’s worth.

You guys are designing the house (partly)…not paying for it.

The AMPTP doesnt have to give an inch now. Time does nothing for your cause but HELP IT. It pays to know what you are fighting for.

Here’s another question: why is this going to be different than the ‘88 strike?

For crying out loud, NBC Direct’s service is in beta NOW and will launch this month. Not three years from now, not next year, THIS MONTH.

Every episode of the Daily Show is archived online in streaming video. Right now.

You aren’t even good shills.

You’ve gotten almost every fact wrong. I say almost only to cover my bases… I haven’t actually seen one you got right.

If the stakes weren’t so high, you’d be pretty funny. It’s too new!

lets drop some numbers so you can see how stupid you are sounding.
70 - The number of DVDs I own.
10 - The number of DVDs I have replaced with HD-DVDs
30 - The number of GIGABYTES per HD-DVD
3.5 - The number of TERABYTES needed to convert my DVDs to HD
3,100 - The number of dollars per 1 TERABYTE EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE.
2 - The number of hours to typically DL 1 GIGABYTE from the internet.
50 - The number of GIGABYTES I can probably DL before my ISP closes my account down.
I’m not even going to get into the technology needed to complete the networking of said drives, but this is just for my movies. I’m not building a server room in my basement just to store my movies.
Now someone will probably throw out iTunes but plug your ipod into your 62” HD TV and see how shitty it looks. You don’t want to face the reality, you just want to say entertainment is moving to the internet. Pirate Bay bit-torrent and IRC transfers are a bigger threat to your residuals than anything that’s offered for legal download.

l’archiduc, calling someone a “Shill” just because they don’t agree with you is pushing the “I WIN” button. For someone claiming to know so much, you don’t know jack.

<>

What a splendid offer! Wow! Yeah, let’s just take that, shall we, as they already make money via advertising during streaming episodes of TV shows. Let’s just take that download formula, which is exactly the same as the DVD formula. But with downloads, you have zero cost of manufacturing. THEY’RE ALREADY MAKING MONEY. So no. I don’t want to let them continue to fuck me.

<>

And it’s not costing ME a Goddam thing, right? I’ve made seven grand this year as a writer. Don’t tell ME what the cost is, and the insinuation that we somehow are not normal working people is ludicrous and beneath contempt.

<>

The minimum for an episode of television is $32,000. Since you mentioned production shutdowns, you must be talking about TV. Try to get your facts right.

<>

And FINALLY you mention the AMPTP, the rich mofos who have said IN THE PRESS that they can wait us out because they have bags of money. I’m out there picketing every day, so why don’t you take out your enmity on the people who have openly shown contempt for the writers, the crews, the support staff, and the audience. Okay? Thanks very much.

<>

Wait — they didn’t call you to discuss it? Shocking.

l’archiduc - Just because some people get residuals doesn’t mean you are ENTITLED to them. I mean, set designers “create” but they don’t get residuals. Plus, you DO get paid residuals. You just want more. When you get paid a lot and ask for more, it’s hard for avg joe to get behind that.

Moral stances are like “I can’t feed my kids on this wage” or “they wont give me health care.”

If the net effect of your efforts are that LESS writers get hired, but the ones that do get hired get a little more money, then you still feel like it was worth it?

NO 64, you obviously miss the point of what I said, and I know why. Like the Emperor said to Luke, “I can feel the hate swelling within you.” Yet another line you can thank a writer for.

Star Wars, there’s a good example. Or any one of the millions of DVDs of features and TV shows and billions of dollars made from them. So, in your opinion, the creators of those features or TV shows that continue to reap untold profits for the studios, not a dime for the writers for whom without those features and TV shows wouldn’t even exist?

BTW MicroSoft code, which is ever-changing, and TV shows on DVD like Star Trek or Lost in Space, which never change, are comparing apples and oranges and you know it. And yes, I do realize I’m talking to myself here, so say what you will. Nothing you can say changes immutable facts.

Why don’t you go hassle Bill O’Reilly or Rush Limbaugh instead? They feed off your kind of hate. Don’t need it here. Got enough problems without you shitting on the table.

Sincerely, Tyro.

It’s not just because I don’t agree. I just don’t understand why someone without a vested interest in these issues would argue so “passionately” against the strike and defend the AMPTP with such zeal. A lot of these posts smack of some kind of agenda.

By the way, I’m looking for mogul trading cards. I’ll trade you a Nick Counter and a Jeff Zucker for a vintage Sumner Redstone.

Shaun,

<>

You go on ahead and cross the picket line. If you feel you must, tell the writers that you support them. You’re not a member of the WGA and you have every right to cross the picket line. So if anyone’s mean to you, they’re ignorant about that. And you joining the picketing would be awesome!

Jen G.,

I don’t suppose the producer you spoke of was the noxious Joel Silver, was it? He’s on my shit list right now.

“…calling someone a “Shill” just because they don’t agree with you…”

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m not calling you a shill for disagreeing with me. I’m calling you a shill because you are a shill.

You keep repeating the talking points, though they were debunked many times in many threads.

Go back and redo your research and come back better informed. Hell, informed at all. Then we can discuss it like grown ups. For now you haven’t even bothered to read all the other posts and threads on the subjects.

‘Why is this different from 88’… Jesus, you lazy-ass, there has been a ton written about that. Go read it, then come back.

Shaun,

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.

You go on ahead and cross the picket line. If you feel you must, tell the writers that you support them. You’re not a member of the WGA and you have every right to cross the picket line. So if anyone’s mean to you, they’re ignorant about that. And you joining the picketing would be awesome!

Jen G.,

I don’t suppose the producer you spoke of was the noxious Joel Silver, was it? He’s on my shit list right now.

165 - Set designers are not “authors.” We don’t want more. We want the same residuals expanded to cover new methods of delivery.

Josh,

“There’s a reason so many people here would happily rip out the lungs of that idiot who attacked Priya.”

Is that so I can use ‘em to be louder? I know you’re disappointed because I’m so quiet and contemplative out there. I’ll do my best to break out of my shell tomorrow.

(thank you, again)

Announcement in PC World, Jan. 4, 2007:

Hitachi Introduces 1-Terabyte Hard Drive Colossal storage reaches new milestone with a drive that holds 1000 gigabytes.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is first to the mat with an announcement of a 1-terabyte hard disk drive. Industry analysts widely expected a 1TB drive to ship sometime in 2007; Hitachi grabbed a head start on the competition by announcing its drive today, just before the largest U.S. consumer electronics show starts next week.

According to Hitachi, the drive ships in the first quarter of 2007, and will cost $399—less than the price of two individual 500GB hard drives today. The drive, called the Deskstar 7K1000, will be shown this weekend in Las Vegas at the 2007 International CES, also known as the Consumer Electronics Show, as well as at the Storage Visions storage conference.

Hitachi will have three flavors of the 1TB drive; however, only the Deskstar version will be available at launch. The company also plans to offer a CinemaStar version of the drive, for use in DVR and set-top boxes, as well as an enterprise version with a certified mean time between failure rating. Both of those versions are expected in the second quarter of this year.

Don’t feel bad — your estimate of the dollar cost of a 1TB drive was only off by a little less than one. One order of magnitude, that is.

Are you crazy num 69 woohoo?

And I gotta be honest I know plenty about tech and hard drives and space and all that and it is getting smaller by the day. If you don’t believe me just go to the below:

http://www.news.com/2100-1041_3-6147409.html

You really can’t be serious. And of course the studios will not give the writers a greater percentage down the road as the technology becomes more clear. See the VHS argument in any number of posts on this site. It’s called fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

3,100 - The number of dollars per 1 TERABYTE EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE. 2 - The number of hours to typically DL 1 GIGABYTE from the internet. 50 - The number of GIGABYTES I can probably DL before my ISP closes my account down.

Uh, #162, are you posting through a space-time wormhole or something? Is X Files the hit show where you are? Is Clinton still president?

I paid $450 for a terabyte drive which I’m using to back up all my DVDs. When I’m done I’ll get another one to back that up.

Apparently they don’t have GOOGLE in your dimension so it’s cool.

Storage will continue to get cheaper as codecs continue to get more efficient. Hard media is going-going-gone.

The title of this post refers to WGA heros, and there’s been lots of talk of the heroic actions by the TV showrunners.

I’m curious about other potential heros — the writers working for feature animation companies (and not the companies covered by the IATSE).

Mike Arndt has a very high-profile job with Pixar, the biggest player in the animation game. Is Arndt abiding by the strike rules? Has he walked off his job at Pixar?

From Variety:

“Verrone’s statement also indicates the WGA won’t try to put its proposal to double DVD residuals back on the table — although he had hinted earlier in the week that the guild might take that step.”

It’s a surprisingly positive article from Variety. It makes the WGA sympathetic and wanting this strike to end (even though it tries its damndest to spin it the other way).

Very interesting.

Now we just need to get the fuckers at the AMPTP to step up.

I’m an HTML idiot, so I’m reposting my two screeds. Sorry about that. Won’t happen again.

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.

What a splendid offer! Wow! Yeah, let’s just take that, shall we, as they already make money via advertising during streaming episodes of TV shows. Let’s just take that download formula, which is exactly the same as the DVD formula. But with downloads, you have zero cost of manufacturing. THEY’RE ALREADY MAKING MONEY. So no. I don’t want to let them continue to fuck me.

So negotiate with them, for Chrissakes. THIS STRIKE IS COSTING NORMAL, WORKING PEOPLE WITH FAMILIES JOBS! Entire productions are being laid off.

And it’s not costing ME a Goddam thing, right? I’ve made seven grand this year as a writer. Don’t tell ME what the cost is, and the insinuation that we somehow are not normal working people is ludicrous and beneath contempt.

People who make far less than the WGA minimum ($95k for a script) are now being affected.

The minimum for an episode of television is $32,000. Since you mentioned production shutdowns, you must be talking about TV. Try to get your facts right.

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.

And FINALLY you mention the AMPTP, the rich mofos who have said IN THE PRESS that they can wait us out because they have bags of money. I’m out there picketing every day, so why don’t you take out your enmity on the people who have openly shown contempt for the writers, the crews, the support staff, and the audience. Okay? Thanks very much.

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

Wait — they didn’t call you to discuss it? Shocking.

Natalie, if you’re still here:

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.

I’m not clear on how you’re doing us a favor. The fans already ARE helping. But remember, mobilizing a fan base to save one show is quite a bit easier than mobilizing ALL the fan bases to somehow work together. But rest assured that fans are asking what they can to do help, and they’re being told by writers. There is some internet community outreach being done here. And nobody needed you to tell us that it could help. We kinda already figured that out.

As for you sacrificing your income, you haven’t. A sacrifice isn’t something that is imposed upon you. A sacrifice is given willingly. Well. Unless you’re a baseball player. Then you just have to listen to the base coach. Your income is being affected, and that’s unfortunate. But you act like you’re the only person here who’s being affected, and that’s simply not true. So let me ask YOU a question. Why do you continuously post in these threads if you don’t think these issues are important?

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.

Honey, I’m on the picket line four hours EVERY DAY. Where are you? I’m talking to people and answering questions, both on the picket line and on the internet. Hell, even at Starbucks, for God’s sake. Where are you?

Today, there were five instances of community outreach. Fans of one particular show brought snacks. Three restaurants brought food. And a woman, with her baby in a stroller, brought coffee from Starbucks and told us we were all getting screwed, she loved TV, and she wanted to show us her support. If she’s the ONLY local who says anything like that throughout this entire strike, I will still feel like we got our message out.

All we do is try to get the word out, and you may think you’re riding in here to save us bozos with your brilliant ideas, but you’re not. We’re way ahead of you. Maybe I missed the part where you said you supported the writers’ cause. If so, I apologize. But from where I sit, all I see is someone who’s only thinking about herself, and wanting to take out her anger on the people she sees as causing her hardship.

PLEASE — and I mean it here — disabuse me of that notion.

Note the comment about removal of the DVD proposal:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117975609.html?categoryid=2821&cs=1

By the way, I’m looking for mogul trading cards. I’ll trade you a Nick Counter and a Jeff Zucker for a vintage Sumner Redstone.

I had a Sumner Redstone rookie card, but the papyrus crumbled.

Kay - Wait… there was a time Joel Silver was not on your shit list? I have to guess that was before you knew him.

Hello all.

FYI There’s a story at www.newsmax.com entitled

“Impact Of Hollywood Writers’ Strike Grows Quickly.”

Looks like you’re having a bigger impact than you know.

Signing off now. Best of Luck, Tyro.

Anon BIO 179:

Read 177. We’re soul mates!

I am a schill I guess because I am caught smack in the middle of this. I could lose my job because of the strike. Now, since it was the WGA that said “we wont work” and not the the AMPTP (ie, not a lock-out), I have to focus my anger towards the WGA. I am further angered that the strike strategy is terrible and that your going to end up with a net loss. That is what ticks me off. I wish you guys were actually fighting for something for real so I could support you, but since you all get paid more than me and you say that’s not enough…well…it’s hard to swallow.

Also, my point about ‘88 is to ask how will the RESULT be different? No shit there are some different issues, but has the leverage changed?

Wally, Pixar isn’t even a struck company.

And unless Arndt is moonlighting doing sitcom rewrites, I’m hard-pressed to see how he could be violating any strike rules.

“I could lose my job because of the strike. Now, since it was the WGA that said �we wont work� and not the the AMPTP (ie, not a lock-out), I have to focus my anger towards the WGA.”

That’s some bad logic, there. Using your logic, workers would always have to take every single offer by management or you’re going to be mad at them.

Do you see why that is ridiculous?

You can be mad at whoever you’d like. But it’d be nice if you chose the people actually to blame.

re: 88… again, this has been hashed and rehashed. Look it up.

I am honestly sick over people losing their jobs because of this, and I’m sorry. But going on strike was the right thing to do. And you know what? I guarantee you that no one in the AAMTP room is sick over you losing your job. I am, and so is every writer I walk with every day. I wish that meant something to do. At least give you an indication where you should direct your anger.

Somebody posted this, but it was way up above and I’ve forgotten who it was:

Just curious if there has been any decision made yet on Showrunners and the strike dilemma yet. Have they chosen to honor their contracts and do their producing work during the strike, just nothing that involves writing? What about editing and assembling shot episodes during the strike?

All the showrunners I talked to today had already gotten their “We’re gonna sue your asses, you jackholes” letters from their studios. Not one of those showrunners crossed the picket line to honor his or her producing duties. Not only are the showrunners NOT crossing the line, or editing off-site, they’re picketing. EVERY DAY.

I know editing has been compared to writing in various ways, and any decisions made in organizing the assembling of these shot episodes could be argued as creative decisions made by the Showrunner. But the WGA is on strike…here are my arguments.

Editing is a crucial facet of a television show and those showrunners with the skill in the editing room are worth their weight in gold. I’ve seen many a show saved in editing. You, the showrunner, are delivering the cut to the studio and network. Nobody else is doing that. The editor takes YOUR notes, and listens to you.

This show that the Showrunner is on is going to determine what work they get eventually after this strike. If the Showrunner decides to complete their “baby”, follow through with editing, SFX, etc, they are just assuring that the time and effort they have invested in their work will rightfully represent their vision that determines their future. If they don’t follow through with their work, the studio/producers may get someone else to do it, and therefore the Sowrunner’s work is no longer an accurate representation of their work.

You got it. And that’s what is happening on most shows. There are a few that are breaking the rules and they will be held accountable. It’s an insanely difficult decision. We turned in an outline for a script that could possibly be written by somebody else. It sucks.

So the big question is who owns the creative decisions these Sowrunners make? The WGA, or the studio/producers?

I’m not sure what you mean by “own.” The studio owns the show. If a showrunner leaves, the studio finds someone else to run the show. Right at the outset of the strike, co-exec producers and supervising producers were being asked to do work. They refused. Showrunners were told they had to stay. They walked out.

Here’s the issue as it stands now. Most shows are in the middle of shooting an episode, anywhere from episode 8 to 11. Because we’re moving into a production crunch, where production catches up to scripts, most shows have only a few finished scripts left. One show has only one script ready to go. Because of the strike, these scripts can’t be rewritten. And because they’re not final production drafts, most of these scripts are over budget. So somebody is going to have to rewrite them to budget, or the studio’s going to have to allow them to go over. But nobody in the WGA can rewrite them. So there are non-writing exec producers doing rewrites on these shows. Even if there WAS a showrunner on set and an actor asks if he can change a line or asks for clarification, the showrunner can’t them remove that producer hat and become a writer.

It’ll be interesting to see the quality of these shows. I know most people think television sucks, but it’s really hard to produce an hour of television, even with a good script. These shows are going to shut down. That’s just going to have to happen, and it’s thanks to the showrunners that this is inevitable. Without them, the AMPTP wouldn’t be under as much pressure as they’ve got at this point.

NO 64:

Yes, the leverage has changed. ‘88 the strike started in March. Episodic television was done for the season. Pilot season scripts had been completed months earlier. It was the start of hiatus. Writers weren’t really needed for 3 months. The AMPTP could afford to wait them out.

If you just don’t get it by now, i don’t think you’re going to get it at all. What’s at stake is quite possibly the largest rollback in collective bargaining history.

John,

Kay - Wait… there was a time Joel Silver was not on your shit list? I have to guess that was before you knew him.

He’s now having a direct impact on me, so I don’t hate him only on moral grounds anymore.

John,

Read this article and direct people to it:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117975609.html?categoryid=2821&cs=1

I said because YOU struck and because of your terrible strike strategy and because you keep asking for more when you get plenty. Cost me my job, fine, but at least do it for a principled reason. You are no better than the AMPTP. You both are greedy bastards, but I generally don’t bite the hand that feeds me.

And next time quote me in context.

I’ve seen it written why the issues are different, I still don’t see how the WGA is stronger than in ‘88. Would anyone please just take a shot instead of saying “please…hahaha…its already been dealt with.” To me, that sounds like you don’t want to answer this or can’t.

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.

No, it’s not. Abridging a written work is not creating a written work. It is not writing. It is editing.

Contrary to wha the Guild has been screaming for two years, contrary to what John Bowman said at the general meeting the other night, editing is not writing.

The one group in the world that should know the difference between creating a work of authorship and editing a work of authorship that has already been created is writers … and the fact that this is even subject to debate among members of the Writers Guild is pathetic.

• Ted

You do know that reality TV exists and that every episode of a tv show is shot at a deficit, right? Please tell me you understand all of this. Studios will save money. Networks will dable in reality. But, hey, we will see. Not to mention this isn’t the entire industry (TV that is).

ROLLBACKS?! No one wants rollbacks. Well, anymore at least. That’s not even in the discussion.

I’ll tell you what, though, both sides need to at least sit down and negotiate…they owe us all that much. I also think Counter is a deuchebag. There’s some red meat for ya.

Oh I see, I price a terabyte ext. hard drive that would actually stream HD video in a home theater quality you are going to throw up the cheap ass one you use to hide your porn. Sure, that’s a good reason to discount all my points. And who are these moguls of which you speak? The only moguls I know are ones you ski through.

Hi all, I’ve been hired to scab for a studio, and I’m wondering, two brads or three?

Thanks!

Ted,

Amen.

RE: # 193

There’s a reason I love TV writers. Pencils down means PENCILS DOWN.

Jesus fucking christ.

It’s important to note that by Verrone not placing the DVD proposal back on the table, he’s showing the sort of honor the other side has not.

NO 69:

That’s what you don’t get. No deal on new media IS a rollback. It leads the elimination of residuals as it is now known.

Quote of the week, heard at the “Rally at Raleigh” today (about an hour and a half ago):

“Don’t be cheap, don’t be petty, or you don’t get your Ugly Betty!”

Jesus fucking christ, Priya. If you’re tired, make sure you re-read a post that pissed you off to ensure that, uh, it says what you think it says before you get all riled up.

Sorry, Ted. I admonished myself. Feel free to delete this and #198. I’m clearly unhinged at this point.

AnonBIO,

“It’s important to note that by Verrone not placing the DVD proposal back on the table, he’s showing the sort of honor the other side has not.”

Yes, yes, yes…

Jeez, No 64…

I’m just passing through but I’ll repeat for you the biggest reason it’s different than ‘88: back then we struck at the END of the TV season, and nobody gave shit for 3 months because it was hiatus anyway.

This time we’re affecting the season just as it’s starting, and as you can read in many places, we are stopping shows in their tracks. And as Craig has cited, the showrunners uniting has made a huge impact on draining the companies of their product much more quickly.

This fact alone makes it apples and oranges.

At 186, John said “Wally, Pixar isn’t even a struck company.

And unless Arndt is moonlighting doing sitcom rewrites, I’m hard-pressed to see how he could be violating any strike rules.”

Hmmm, Pixar is part of Disney. Isn’t Disney a struck company? And don’t the rules say that unless you’re writing for a company covered by another union, you need to put your pencils down?

Sorry everyone if I�m stepping out of line here, but I just don�t buy it.

If everything comes down to good material, which it does, because we all know a great show requires a great script, then why don�t writers just tell the studios to shove it? Why doesn�t the WGA create their own production arm and produce and distribute their own material?

If distribution is shifting towards the internet, which is what a huge part of this debacle is about, that means the writers don�t need the studios. The physical barriers of distribution no longer exist, barriers that have, until recently, been controlled by studios and have served as their leverage all these years. It costs 13 dollars a month to host a website that you can stream video from and do whatever the hell you want with. So why not just tell the networks to shove it? And do it all yourselves?

It can�t be for talent, because talent is looking for good material, which writers have. It can�t be for financing, because if you have the material and cast you�ll get the financing. It can�t be for distribution, because anyone can now self-distribute (assuming you do believe the claim that everything is shifting to the internet � and if you don�t, then what is the fight about�?). And the instant publicity garnered from an announcement saying they�re going to self-distribute their own works would be more than enough to advertise a new station�

If writers are really that unhappy, then why don�t they just go elsewhere and create a different model of working? One that allows them to retain control over their projects and provides a fair financial structure? I just don�t get it. Someone help me please. I feel like I�m missing something major here. I hope I�m missing something major. Otherwise I�m afraid the WGA sounds like whining beggers that are afraid to do their own dirty work, which I don�t want to believe….

Wow, just went to Starbucks and there on the counter was a small plastic/cardboard piece with an album cover on the front and an Itunes code on the back.

Simply pay for the album cover and download the album when you get home.

How long can it really be before dvd’s are sold this way? It was just such a physical representation of exactly what we are fighting for and just how ridiculously soon these eventualities will come to fruition.

Food for thought:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj5IV23g-fE

I’m catching up on posts and found this gem from ABIO (#158). This is fantastic intel from behind enemy lines:

“…One thing this person did concede, they didn’t anticipate the solidarity of the showrunners, many of whom are in head to head competition with each other in timeslots. They fully expected them to protect their vested interest and continue production duties, sans writing, on shows.”

Very revealing — it means they did anticipate all variables. Now if film productions shut down … hmmm.

Seriously — perhaps if everyone chose to fall on their swords, this thing would be over quicker and everyone will benefit.

CORRECTED VERSION OF MY PREVIOUS POST…

I’m catching up on posts and found this gem from ABIO (#158). This is fantastic intel from behind enemy lines:

“…One thing this person did concede, they didn t anticipate the solidarity of the showrunners, many of whom are in head to head competition with each other in timeslots. They fully expected them to protect their vested interest and continue production duties, sans writing, on shows.”

Very revealing — it means they did NOT anticipate all variables. Now if film productions shut down … hmmm.

Seriously — perhaps if everyone chose to fall on their swords, this thing would be over quicker and everyone will benefit.

204 - Yeah…the AMPTP is clawing to get back to the table. You do understand that less shows produced this time around means less fees for your guys too. But since the studios LOSE MONEY on each and every production, I fail to see how they, as opposed the writers, are losing money or harmed. None of you understand the economics of the other side of the tracks. You just think of like Jeff Zucker bathing in money. Fantasy land. All of these corps are PUBLIC COMPANIES.

anyone who thinks given the media attention this blog recieves- and the general awareness that this is widely read, who doesnt believe the AMPTA isn’t posting here is terribly naive.

anyone who thinks given the media attention this blog recieves- and the general awareness that this is widely read by the media and the town, who doesnt believe the AMPTA isn’t posting here is terribly naive.

YOU GET PAID FOR DOWNLOADS THE SAME AS FOR DVDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no 64 - Are you honestly too lazy to read back a few threads? Every single thing you’ve said has been debunked and you just keep repeating it. You expect everyone to drop everything to respond to your petulant insults and whines?

Grow the hell up and discuss it like an adult and you’d get a lot further. Why should we be your therapists?

“-hmm…

How much is Nick Counter paying you to post here? $0.04 a post? You should ask him to double it.

Posted by: l’archiduc at November 8, 2007 2:59 PM”

WOW.. I’m impressed. Is this how writers talk?

Wally, animation not covered by the guild is not part of this strike.

They are operating on non-guild contracts without guild protection, pension, health benefits, etc.

Now, ORGANIZING animation is a different story, but would be separate from this strike. And very complicated given the existing “union” covering it.

POW:

Wow, just went to Starbucks and there on the counter was a small plastic/cardboard piece with an album cover on the front and an Itunes code on the back.

Simply pay for the album cover and download the album when you get home.

How long can it really be before dvd’s are sold this way? It was just such a physical representation of exactly what we are fighting for and just how ridiculously soon these eventualities will come to fruition.

Here’s something that’s been bugging me about the iTunes Starbucks thing. That KT Tunstall album is $14.99. Now, we’re not talking about a physical CD here. This is a DOWNLOAD. For $14.99. It’s got some extras you can download as well, but $14.99? Seriously? What do you think it costs to manufacture the download? This is the problem I’m having with what the studios are charging for downloads, and what they want us to accept (current DVD formula). They are making a LARGER profit on downloads. We should share in that, too.

And hell, I’m not gonna spend $14.99 to download some compressed piece of shit. That’s why I have yet to buy any iTunes video. It makes me physically ill to think about the video compression. If it’s something I really care about, I buy it on vinyl or at least CD. I bought that U2 iTunes thing, but I already had all of it on vinyl, so that was just me being lazy and not wanting to capture all of it.

The problem is one of perception. The public isn’t thinking about how ludicrous it is to pay $14.99 to download ANYTHING. They’ve got their fancy TVs and sound systems but they don’t understand that digital quality is important. Nor do they understand that it’s highway robbery for the studios to charge the same amount of money for a download that they’re charging for the physical item.

Little known and never-quoted fact, a note to IATSE, Teamsters, and all other below the line workers who are pissed off by the strike: The Motion Picture Health Fund (which pays your medical bills and is your only health plan) IS FUNDED BY RESIDUALS. So when network television and cable slowly fade away, your only hope for pension and health benefits will be the residuals coming in from new media, or electronic sell-through, or whatever you want to call the next distribution systems.

So curse the Writers Guild for striking today, it’s your future too. Dumbasses.

John DeLorean went off to do his own car company. He found out that having one of the key talents in the car business doesn’t mean you have all of the needed talents, nor the capital. Lee Iacocca was much more successful in applying his talents at a company with existing infrastructure.

Far easier for all concerned if the AMPTP buys material from the WGA and the WGA relies on the AMPTP companies to turn that material into filmed entertainment, especially given the vast numbers of other union workers who would have to follow along to populate the new ‘WGA New Media Productions.’ Now all that needs to happen for the WGA and AMPTP to get back to working together is agreement to a contract both sides can live with.

i would pay $20 to download a $10 cd so long as I don’t have to get off my lazy ass and drive to the music store. downloading is a beautifully convenient luxury that has a price tag that I can justify.

if it were such a ripoff, nobody would be downloading.

204 - Yeah…the AMPTP is clawing to get back to the table. You do understand that less shows produced this time around means less fees for your guys too. But since the studios LOSE MONEY on each and every production, I fail to see how they, as opposed the writers, are losing money or harmed. None of you understand the economics of the other side of the tracks. You just think of like Jeff Zucker bathing in money. Fantasy land. All of these corps are PUBLIC COMPANIES.

No. Really?

If what you’re saying is that the studios are thrilled to not be producing television anymore because they don’t want to pay for production, then why are they frantically trying to make as many episodes as possible? What you don’t seem to understand is, a rather large portion of any show’s budget comes from the network license fee. This is a house of cards, and if one side collapses, the others do, too. The studios have to produce the shows for the network, per the agreement the network made when it picked up the show. If a network says it’ll order 13 episodes of a show, what that means is, they expect their 13 produced episodes. If a network makes only ten episodes, they have to pay the studio a penalty for breaking that agreement.

And even this screws the writer, because it’s money that goes from studio to network and back again, but it bypasses the writer. In the old days (not that long ago, actually), if a network cancelled a show, the studio had to pay certain high-level writers ALL of their salary, whether the episodes were produced or not. But naturally, this ended. And that made it easier for the networks to cancel shows, because they basically just hand money over to their vertically integrated studio.

It’s all about the money, baby, and studios wouldn’t be in that business if they weren’t raking it in. No show? No DVD box set. No downloads. No foreign sales, nothing the studio usually uses to recoup its expenses and make a profit. If all you’re talking about is production cost, you’ve proven you don’t know anything about how this actually works.

I’ll be more than happy to walk you through a show budget, but I don’t think you have the stones.

The IATSE and Teamsters can’t possibly be mad at the writers, can they?

Let’s review….

The studios try to jam a greed-fueled, piss-poor contract down our throats. Tossing gems into the verbiage like removing writer’s names from all advertising — simply to be douche-bags. They act inexcusably immature – doing everything from fighting over chairs to storming out of the room when they don’t get their way (what are they, 5 years old?). And for good measure, they lie…repeatedly. I.e: getting us to make concessions and then failing to follow suit as they promised.

How can anyone who does 30 seconds worth of research into this strike be anything but revolted at the studios and empathetic toward the writers?

I’m surprised the IATSE and Teamsters haven’t burned the studios to the ground yet.

But since the studios LOSE MONEY on each and every production, I fail to see how they, as opposed the writers, are losing money or harmed.

You mean, lose money to make the show, only to turn around and make money from advertising when the show airs.

The more popular the show (ratings-wise), the more money the advertisers pay.

Denying the studios the means to make popular programs means they have to turn from sure money-spinners like Grey’s Anatomy to unsure replacement programming. Biiiiiig financial risk.

If your logic was sound, the studios would shut down permanently and thereby make an infinite profit from not producing anything.

stuart…

right, that makes sense. otherwise the wga may find themselves in the same position years from now, with a guild within the guild being unhappy and striking. got it.

i suppose what confused me is hearing jaded writers claim they should have all the power because they create the material, when in reality everyone needs eachother.

thanks.

although the delorean was a pretty sweet ass piece of work…

Maybe it’s just me, but I haven’t really seen this mentioned here in any great detail.

Considering how new media has changed so much of the entertainment world and the way studios make money, and also taking into consideration the abrupt breaking-off of talks by the AMPTP right after a major concession was handed to them on a platter, has it occurred to anyone that the AMPTP might just see a golden opportunity here to break the Guild, in essence if not in toto?

I find it hard to believe corporations would engage in those sorts of shenanigans. Maybe I’m just a tinfoil hat. I leave that for you all to decide.

I’m surprised the IATSE and Teamsters haven’t burned the studios to the ground yet.

Not a very effective strategy for achieving the desired outcome, which is everyone getting back to work under a liveable contract….

But you might also consider that relations between the WGA and IATSE have not always run smooth. It would be great if one of the side effects of this strike were more fraternal solidarity (reciprocal fraternal solidarity, that is) between the WGA and other unions.

You know the story about how the DeLorean was supposed to have this really cool aluminum skin? And then the engineers realized that aluminum wasn’t durable enough for the job — so they had to switch to stainless steel, which, although really cool-looking, made the car much heavier and duller in performance. The law of unintended consequences at work… culminating in a coke bust.

Stuart Creque:

Your analysis of the TV industry is somewhat misinformed. Most shows really do run big production deficits, until they syndicate. And, contrary to your assertion, studios don’t make money from advertising— networks do. (Yes, sometimes the studio and the network are part of the same corporation, though not always, and even when they are, there’s a net loss until shows syndicate.)

And while DVDs and downloads do help out a little, pretty much every TV show that doesn’t last four or so seasons is a money loser for the studio. (Not necessarily the network, which earns more in advertising than they’re paying in license fees almost always). Since so few shows are reaching syndication lately, and syndication is less and less lucrative— and production deficits keep getting bigger,to the tune of a million dollars or more per episode of a typical network drama— we really could end up in a situation where studios cease to make television shows.

Though, I should add, this doesn’t have that much to do with the strike. A decent residual rate isn’t what’s going to push scripted TV over the edge.

Considering how new media has changed so much of the entertainment world and the way studios make money, and also taking into consideration the abrupt breaking-off of talks by the AMPTP right after a major concession was handed to them on a platter, has it occurred to anyone that the AMPTP might just see a golden opportunity here to break the Guild, in essence if not in toto?

Whether or not the intent of AMPTP is to break the WGA, the WGA is at this moment engaged in a contest with the AMPTP to see which has more leverage over the other. It is incumbent on the WGA to maximize its leverage.

I think, for example, it’s important to remind the other unions in the industry that if the WGA comes off as weak, they’ll all be in a weaker position when their contracts come up — and conversely, if they help the WGA achieve strength through solidarity, they’ll all benefit when it’s their turn to negotiate with the AMPTP. That also helps to crystallize for the other unions that any attempt to break the WGA would just be a warm-up to future attempts to break them.

a car that could travel through time has gotta be worth something…

I defer to your knowledge of the subject.

What is the impact of the studio-to-network interface on the WGA’s strike leverage? Does shutting down TV production put the studios in a more precarious position because it means they’ve failed to deliver on their commitments to the networks? Does the financial impact on the networks of losing first-run scripted programs mean that they will pass that pressure onto the studios? Or are the studios insulated from the pressures of disruptions to the television season?

I wonder… if you added up all of the economic impact of the Back to the Future movie franchise, would it turn out that DeLorean’s biggest contribution to modern mankind was inventing a really cool film prop?

Post-script to #234.

Since so few shows are reaching syndication lately, and syndication is less and less lucrative— and production deficits keep getting bigger,to the tune of a million dollars or more per episode of a typical network drama— we really could end up in a situation where studios cease to make television shows.

Is it possible that one key point of leverage in the strike is its interference with the progress of successful series to syndication? Deferring the “liquidity event” that the studio relies on to make its money back?

CMAC are you really that arrogant to think that I just watch movies for your cleverly crafted plot lines and witty dialog? Sorry to burst your overly inflated ego but, I also like the cinematography, cgi visuals, surround sound, and production design. None of which come through on my 320 x 240 ipod. Let me get on the phone to Toshiba and Sony and tell them all the millions they spent in HD-DVD and Blu-Ray is wasted because YOU say it’s so. You’d think you would be happy we comsumers have to repurchase all our movies in the new format, another 4 cents in your pocket. Your myopic vision is astounding. Apparently when Steve Jobs puts on his little turtleneck and jeans and prances about the stage telling you HIS vision of the future of entertaiment you buy it lock, stock, and barrel. So much so that you risk your livelyhoods on it.

Stuart: honestly, it’s tough to say— I think you’d have to look at it case by case, show by show. Especially because the deals between advertisers and networks are pretty complex. Certainly, having to shut down hit shows like ‘24’ and ‘Grey’s’ has a big impact on studios and networks. Losing newer shows that are running a million dollars deficit per episode and clearly not going to become monetizable assets for the studios, maybe less so, although even in those cases, I think the networks take a fairly solid hit, because if they can’t deliver the ad time they’ve sold on first-run shows, they have to make up for it (or even, I think, sometimes refund advertisers).

Put another way, for instance, are NBC and Universal happy that ‘Bionic Woman’ shut down? And again, a question like that is really complicated to answer— assuming the show is a wash, it ultimately saves Universal some money. (Especially if they just decide to cancel the whole thing so they don’t have to pay the actors.) But then, it also means that NBC has to accommodate the advertisers who bought ‘Bionic Woman’ airtime at the upfronts.

Though just to make the question more complicated, I’m sure that the totally losses incurred right now by the hit shows that have been shut down exceed whatever smaller gains the Companies make from the non-hit shows shutting down, because God knows what the revenue of a ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ episode will be over its useful lifetime, and now there will be at least several fewer of them.

Stuart,

“I think, for example, it’s important to remind the other unions in the industry that if the WGA comes off as weak, they’ll all be in a weaker position when their contracts come up — and conversely, if they help the WGA achieve strength through solidarity, they’ll all benefit when it’s their turn to negotiate with the AMPTP. That also helps to crystallize for the other unions that any attempt to break the WGA would just be a warm-up to future attempts to break them.”

They know. The DGA doesn’t care as much about the residual issue because of their membership, but if you’ve seen the news on the strike, SAGE is very aware of it. And SAG couldn’t be more on board, really. The high-profile actors are making sure to get the message out to the press.

“What is the impact of the studio-to-network interface on the WGA’s strike leverage? Does shutting down TV production put the studios in a more precarious position because it means they’ve failed to deliver on their commitments to the networks? Does the financial impact on the networks of losing first-run scripted programs mean that they will pass that pressure onto the studios? Or are the studios insulated from the pressures of disruptions to the television season?”

Nobody is insulated from this disruption. The studio-network relationship is already precarious because of how shows are made. When a network picks up a pilot, it’s picking up an entire series based on an hour of television that usually shoots for ten to fourteen days, for a budget that can go above ten million dollars. A network has an expectation that the show they order is gonna look like the pilot. But the studio budgets episodes at substantially less money. So the studio’s under pressure to deliver to the network and the network is unhappy because they’re not getting what they expected. I would not expect this disruption to go smoothly at all, even with vertically integrated companies. Everybody knows that there’s a lot of strain and tension between Touchstone and ABC, for example. What the WGA really needs is for these asshats to start fighting amongst themselves, and this could get the ball rolling.

wgatv.com (wtf?) “i suppose what confused me is hearing jaded writers claim they should have all the power because they create the material…”

Wow. I just want to look at those words for a second. I’m in film, so I never get to see “writer” and “power” linked like that.

Wanting to have all the power is such an absurd way of summing up the writer’s position that you clearly are hanging out with weird-ass writers.

Get us within a hundred miles of fair and we will fold like a pup tent.

Kay R. - We should definitely swap Joel Silver stories sometime.

num 69 woohoo, it’s safe to say that you would NEVER watch a movie for my cleverly crafted plot lines. Unless “it’s Die Hard… but with monkeys!” constitutes clever crafting these days.

well, that’s one way of looking at it. you cannot forget the impact that franchise had on so many millions of americans. without B2TF, there is no way the delorean my unlce owned would have gotten me laid my senior year and i’d probably still be working the coffee stand in my hometown because of it.

I don’t think you can place a pricetag on the value of a better universe. Let’s just say if Delorean and Mother Teresa spawned a child, the second coming would already be over.

The latest letter from SAG to its members, fyi:

November 8, 2007

Dear Screen Actors Guild members,

First, let me thank the hundreds of SAG members who have been on the WGA picket lines in Los Angeles and New York. Rank-and-file members and entire casts of SAG shows have been extraordinary in support of WGA striking writers. The WGA is extremely grateful for your solidarity, as am I.

Clearly, the WGA is facing the issues and challenges we will face next year in our negotiations. The WGA is taking a stand for fair compensation for new media. Their fight is our fight.

I would like to give some guidelines for those of you on the picket lines:

Please stay at studio locations, and do not join picketers at on-location sites. Screen Actors Guild is not condoning or participating in disruption and/or attempts to shut down location shoots.

It is critical that SAG picket signs not be displayed at any locations other than the appropriate sites at the studios and networks.

If you are contracted to work on a television series or motion picture that continues to produce while the WGA is on strike, you are obligated by your personal service agreement and the “No Strike” clause in our collective bargaining agreements to go to work. You can continue to audition for work and accept new work if you choose to do so.

Screen Actors Guild members should not perform the duties covered by WGA contracts. Simply stated, you should not write anything normally written by striking WGA writers.

Finally, and most importantly, we must support our fellow SAG members on every set even if they have to cross a picket line to get to work. They are simply following the advice of their union and honoring their contract. It is not reasonable to expect SAG cast members to risk the potentially enormous personal liability that may flow from refusing to work in the absence of a SAG strike. Please note, the WGA contract includes a similar “No Strike” clause and writers would be bound to the same rules as you are if another union were striking.

We will continue to send updates and information on picket locations to you on a regular basis. Thank you all again for your support of striking writers.

In solidarity,

Alan Rosenberg

“Now whatever you do, don’t touch this button.” “wait, this one? Yaaaahhhhhh” “Sigh. That was the panic button.” -from Yellow Submarine, not sure of specific writers

Panic is in the air; it is not observable, but people can feel it. Of the many things going on in this panic, one to my mind stands out.

I go on a political web site, whatreallyhappened.com. It is run by a gentleman named Michael Rivero, whom when not influencing pretty much everyone with a computer and a need for change in this world, is a visual effects artist. It is a little-known fact that one of his services is for Bad Robot, a company run by J.J. Abrams. Abrams, with the mutual services of Darlton (Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse), deveoloped, write, and produce Lost. Lost happens to be the most important television series today, in my opinion.

Now then, Rivero’s work in visual effects is his day-job, not running What Really Happened. In the last few days, he has made statements telling both sides of a noted dispute to essentially eat dirt. Rivero has stated that due to this dispute, his day-job is on the line, and not in full recovery mode. Therefore, money is tight; he makes no bones about that.

So, what does he have to do with this contractual dispute. Well as I said, he is influential in the online community. For example, more voters are jumping into this Rep. Ron Paul bandwagon (not myself, not being a conservative) since Rivero’s endorsement for his presidency a while back. With this dispute going, the public as such online has now told the sides off. AICN, for example, have posters that are livid that this is occuring.

On the Lost front, it has been said that if this work stoppage drags on (or does not), we may not see a new episode of Lost for 2 years. That is right, 2 years. Heck, in another example, 24 (which has lost energy coming from a fan) has now been postponed indefinitely; that is code for series over, I think. Now for 24 a lot of crap has gone down that needs to be addressed.

Anyway, back to Lost. The people who go on Rivero’s website will and do sympathize more with Michael Rivero than the others, including the writers. And now the reality has set in; first from “we are striking!” to “we are striking?” As well, who knows what the moguls might do. Force majeure is not the worst of it, let me tell you. How about cancelling every program on television that has a script and replacing it with crap of reality. How about concepts like “I am thinking of fucking my daughter” or “real-life running man” or “The Long Walk: live or Memorex.”

Does this remind you of anything. For myself, yes it does. It reminds me of the 1987 NFLPA strike in the early season. For those in the know, a week was cancelled, then the following three weeks, replacements came in. This occured along with a noted contigency of hall-of-fame players and other noted stars. Needless to say, the process was criticized and some factions of worksmanship never recovered. I know for a fact that Walter Payton never forgave Mike Ditka for calling the Bears replacments “real” as opposed to the pros such as Payton. It is also known that NFLPA head Gene Upshaw figured that labor peace would not be at hand until, at least, Tex Schramm left the ownership of the Cowboys. In a recent biography of Pete Rozelle, Jeff Davis indicates the point when Upshaw and the NFLPA felt that the issue of free agency was out of touch with the Rozelle contingent. It was during a diatribe of Schrammn’s that stated no free agency from the owners ever, ending with “you’re the cattle; we’re the ranchers”, statements a Texan would make. Evidently with the likes of Joe Montana, Lawrence Taylor, Ozzie Newsome and others crossing the picket line, the strike was called off after three weeks. Fortunately, starting with Paul Tagliabue’s ascension to the commissioner’s office in 1989, labor peace structures were acheived, and in 1993 free agency became a reality to all players.

20 years later, a panic is amiss, not virulent in any means but subtle. With these ideas by the moguls bandied about, there will be individuals that will want to save face, soon. I think one of them will be Bad Robot. This could be due to Abrams’ other directing work under the new Star Trek film, and with Cloverfield, not wanting to cause businesss harm with multiple distributors. (Sidenote: when you are directing a film from a written screenplay you wrote, you are still writing.) As well, the Michael Rivero factor will be played on their hands. Lindelof and Cuse would also feel the temptation to write.

So, I could see the three of them returning to work on Lost, starting with the already written drafts and afterwards writing new material. By the way, pencils down does not literally mean pens down, or computers down, or typewriters down. It can be proven in a court of law. As I said, this would be to save face on all their fans and clients alike. Plus, they can and have negotiated higher rates than most writers for specific purposes.

After that, I’m not sure: it seems Tim Kring and those from Heroes want to really save face almost immediately. In a new EW article, Kring essentially apologizes for the mistakes made so far. I would guess that film screenwriters and others in similar fields in film would save face (if not done so already) by moving films forward. Of course, some will not continue for the long haul, understandable. But I do think many will go back. The idea of months without writing (years?, Decades?), will be unbearable to a great deal. The idea of loosing everything and then some is even worse.

In this dispute, I think it is fair to say that the strike card was made too early, an achilles’ heel on both sides. Now that it has happened, the best way to move forward is to save face and return, if it is wished. Seriously, this is a business; nothing should be personal, not one feeling of slight. That is bad business for all. Then, a deal can be reached before Thanksgiving, or before December. I do not know if it will be any better, but it cannot be any worse.

Maybe then, with new leadership or different ways of negotiating, labor peace can be at hand. Labor disputes are being shown to be losing actions, with the viewing public disgusted at the predicament. Man up on all fronts, swallow your pride, and do what is done best in your fields.

Grateful to all involved in this weblog,

Lax24

I think whoever posts the 250th comment wins a free toaster.

At the end of the day all the moral indignation and outrage on the part of the WGA towards the AMPTP isn’t going to mean a thing. This is all about leverage and attrition.

I just fear the AMPTP can wait a lot longer than the WGA. For one thing writers employment options (in the main) amount to episodic television or features. The Networks can program News, Sports and Reality or Episodic. So they have more options.

One possibility I haven’t seen mentioned here is that the Networks are considering running programming from the sister companies. If that happens and they start running Monk, Nip & Tuck, The Shield, Battlestar Galactica, etc… then suddenly they’re not nearly as desperate for programming as the WGA was counting on. There maybe some legal issues preventing them from “re-purposing” that content, but if they can do and this runs on long enough then they will.

And it goes without saying that the Studios have much deeper pockets with which to wait this thing out.

That all said, the AMPTP is being ridiculously petty about this. As an agent noted, the amount of money being bickered over is what they’d piss away on a couple of bonuses and redecorating a few executive suites. So for f*ck sake, somebody at AMPTP do the right thing.

To the WGA,

I’m sorry guys, but all the studios and networks are public companies. Profits need to go to the shareholders. And entertainment stock isn’t great stock in the first place, so paying you more just doesn’t make sense. Studios definitely lie in their accounting, but they’re not lying about their margins.

Plus, remember if they cut writers in for more money on anything, they have to cut actors and directors in, too. That’s one thing people aren’t really talking about—that the AMPTP isn’t dealing with just the WGA right now. In effect, they’re dealing with all three of the major guilds.

The costs of development, production, marketing, distribution and general overhead are too great these days to be born by any other kind of business entity. You need the public companies to make the sorts of TV shows and movies you write, and those companies need to maximize their appeal to investors.

Studios do everything they can to pay you properly for your work, but the hard truth is, there’s really no way for more than a few thousand of you to get rich as writers. And there’s really no way for more than a few thousand more of you after that to even have careers at all.

For you middle class writers, it’s not so much that the studios are ripping you off. It’s more that you’re just not talented enough to earn more money.

So by striking, you’re just cutting off your nose to spite your face. You guys need to cave and get back to work, otherwise it’s a no win situation for both sides.

You can’t shame, argue or strike your way into more money, even if the studios do wind up caving. If they cave, they’re just gonna cut your upfront money, they’ll start ignoring fee precedents, make fewer movies and TV shows, and spend less on development. They’ll spend less on marketing, which will hurt your chances to succeed, or they’ll cut you in some other way. It’ll just be a wash. You can’t win. But you’re ruining tens of thousands of other careers and lives by thinking that you can.

If you feel you’re getting ripped off, your only effective recourse is to form new companies that pay you what you think are fair rates, and empower yourselves to take your business elsewhere, to non-AMPTP companies.

Then, if the AMPTP companies want you back, it’ll have to be on your terms, because you won’t need them anymore.

But today, the reason you can’t win this fight is, the AMPTP can outlast you. They can go for a year or longer if they have to on the TV side. For features, they can stretch themselves out for two years if they have to. And when they run out of product, they have decades of stuff they can repurpose and milk for another year after that.

C’mon guys. Just give up. You can’t win. Let’s all get back to work.

And again, if you’re all unhappy with current pay structures, start working on creating new companies for youselves outside the AMPTP whom you can take your business to. It’s going to take years, but that’s the only way you’re going to really get everything you want.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I did one of the series regular deals for “The Shield.” I put a clause in there that they can’t repurpose on a different network without first renegotiating the deal. After all, cable deals aren’t as lucrative as network deals.

They put the show on Fox, they might find themselves with a surprise.

I agree with you that the AMPTP has no real reason to settle- it would be extraordinary for them to give in too much if at all. They can easily go a loooong time.

But none of us have any real “right” to work in this business. And frankly this is one of the risks of working in the business- labor strife. You kind of have to take it or leave it and plan for it- especially when times are good. I agree that writers should find other ways to make their money but BTL should as well. Personal Economic Diversification (PED) across the board.

Anonymous at November 8, 2007 7:11 PM

Now THAT was funny. I hope you don’t do scab work on sitcoms or we might be in trouble.

But your subtlety needs a lot of work. You want to leave people with at least a tiny, 1% doubt whether or not you are a studio shill.

Being so obvious takes away all the fun of guessing.

toaster!

Hello all.

Just posted the following in the comments section (slightly amended here - writing is rewriting) of the article “Schwartzenegger Works Backstage on Strike” at the Politico website. There seemed to be a lot of hostility toward writers there (as, amazingly, there is here also), so I wanted to give those who read them a little balance, and perhaps a little clarity. I hope I represented your views well. Sincerely, Tyro the Magnificent.

THE WRITE THING TO DO

I’m seeing a lot of hostility toward writers here.

An analogy. A novelist spends a year writing a great story that sells five million copies, of which the novelist is entitled to royalties, and rightly so.

Step ahead: the publishing company converts the novel to pdf format and sells another five million copies online, but since it isn’t in his contract, the writer gets exactly zilch in royalties on those internet download sales, which are pure profit for the publisher.

Is that fair, I ask you? This is basically the crux of the WGA strike as I see it vis-a-vis new media.

Yes, not every book makes a profit, yet every writer is paid an advance or by contract, including royalties and residuals. This is the nature of intellectual properties. Losses are the nature of the game as much as wins. And don’t think the studios don’t write off the enormous amounts they lose come tax time. Think Mel Brooks’ “The Producer.” I don’t see any studio executives out on the street holding cups.

Not all writers make a fortune either. If a Guild writer only sells one produced script in his/her lifetime, yet the film is highly popular and continues making the studio a fortune on DVD or download content, should not the writer, without whom that content would not exist, profit also?

This isn’t building a car, or writing code for an existing computer program. This is intellectual property we’re talking about here, and a lot more work goes into screenplays than you can imagine. It’s not a manufacturing job. Writers pour their hearts out into their work and expose their nakedness for all to see. Writers ARE their work!

A few parting quotes as to some of those intellectual properties:

“Say hello to my little friend!” “You can’t handle the truth!” “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” “Go ahead, make my day!” “You takin’ to me?” “I’ll be back!” “Where does he get such wonderful toys?” “That don’t cut no ice with Homey!”

How many times have many of you quoted those lines? You can thank the men behind the curtain who thought them up. Is four cents out of a DVD sale really all too much to ask for what is contributed both to the studios and our culture, and which would not exist otherwise? ‘nuff said.

PS Sorry, the Homey line was mine. Go ahead and steal it. I’m just a writer.

Does the ArtfulMogul board sound something like this?

Les, the strikers pwned u. LOL.

Pete

Eff U, Charmin Wipe. How’s 24 going? Double LOL.

Moon Man

I bang Willow Bay. LOL on U both.

Iger Sanction

Teamsters are refusing to deliver the cream for my neck flap.

Rad Red

John #249,

I’m not a writer or a studio shill; I’m a feature producer.

How am I wrong? Please explain.

Wow, Kay. I support the writers 100%. If you actually have read my posts you would know that. I come here to educate myself and better understand your position.

It really isn’t your business where I am. But, since you ask, I spent the day working (because my husband was laid off, you see. Something to do with a strike…). I don’t think I have earth shattering ideas. i just think that I might have a different perspective. And, you know what? Not one person has ever mentioned on here anything about working with fans to make an impact in this strike, but me. So if it had occured to anyone else, I wouldn’t know. And you wouldn’t know by looking at any other sites, because all the writers are so busy bitching at each other they don’t stop and actually point out how fans can help. Hell, I emailed UnitedHollywood days ago to ask them to put up a post just for the fans because so many commented on the site that they wanted to help - and they still haven’t done that. So, I’m sorry that I had no idea that was being “taken care of”.

So, I’m going to pretend that all writers aren’t as miserable and snarky as you and go on supporting your cause. But thanks for stopping in to make snap judgements!

Oh Kay, And I see you felt the need to repost your rant! Marvelous! Now with twice the venom!

Natalie: 1 Kay: zilch

Nice. The alienation of potential allies continues.

Unbelievable.

Lame.

No matter what month, day, week, every single topic here devolves into the same old shit. Even now when so much is at stake.

There’s no fucking unity online. Read through all these posts.

The worst thing is, it’s not even new shit. It’s the same gripes.

What’s the point?

I don’t know how many people posting here are working writers, but I hope most aren’t. Cuz it’d be sad to think our peers walk those picket lines and lose all sense of the big issue the second they check in here.

A LOT of people think we’re gonna fold.

I’m an Associate Member, as of a few months ago.

I never was clear on whether that meant I could still do non-union work, (pre-strike). I assumed it did.

And at this point, if it does mean I can still do non-union work, is that being a Scab? By non-union work, I mean writing screenplays for non-union companys. Independent film producer types.

As a side note, I think it would be a good idea if people started petitioning the advertisers and retailers to refuse to advertise or set up Point of Sale displays for product until the WGA demands are met. If you want something to speed along the process, that would do it. And it might be good P.R. for these big box corporations.

Natalie, I appreciate your support of the writers, in all its strange “hey why don’t all you lazy dickheads ever listen to me?” type of way.

Malcolm #257,

You need to fold. You really do. Because you can’t win, as I explained above in post #246. The WGA needs to re-direct its energies in a different direction, away from the AMPTP companies.

You need to make all your movies and TV shows outside the studio and network systems, use hedge fund or foreign money or whatever, and if the AMPTP co.’s want to distribute your stuff, it’ll have to be on your terms. Otherwise you’re just trying to wring blood from a stone.

You’re not really going to be able to inflict actual pain on them until you can take your business elsewhere, and leave them hanging permanently, rather than just for however long you can last in a strike—which will never be as long as a studio/network can last.

You need to empower yourselves, rather than trying to force multi-national corporations to capitulate. They’re not designed to just ‘give up’. And as I explained above, even if they do cave, they’re just going to nick you in other ways that’ll render all your efforts moot.

Thanks Dave. I want you all to know that I am as Norma Rae as they come. It took me a few days to get on board because I had to get over backing out of escrow on our first house (cue tear drop) and knowing that my husband may not work for a long while. But, I believe that the producers are greedy pigs and I also know that it will trickle down to IATSE soon enough. Now that I am on this train, I am desperate to see a win - we are in this together, like it or not. I know that there are thousands of ways to impact this strike and feel that time and energy is wasted in arguments, so I get frustrated. Picketing alone will not win the battle. And I don’t think that the focus should be on why there is a strike anymore - I think it should be on how we can end it quickly to our benefit.

Sorry that was me.

I and others have tried to be IMMENSELY supportive of the strike here, but you must realize that those with the intent to sow discord and shatter wills are also here in force.

The tone of many comments here reflects that, as well as the rightful anxiety many WGA members feel right now, and they are feeding off of each other. It is far easier to generate discord than harmony.

Anyone reading comments here would conclude that the WGA is a house divided against itself. Discussing the issues is one thing, but bickering and mudslinging could not be more counterproductive. And who knows who, EXACTLY, is out here stirring the shit pot.

All Guild writers who have a stake in this fight must hang together, or they shall most certainly hang separately. I am in total agreement with Mr. Gould on that point.

Perhaps a better idea would be to create a password-controlled blog that only WGA members can enter. You know who you are. Have your closed door meetings there.

In the meantime, I will continue to support you all as best I can from this end of the ether and wherever else Writers In Good Standing are disparaged, be it by shills or a public totally unaware of the issues involved, and who don’t know every screenwriter doesn’t live high on the hog at Playboy Mansion or Mar-a-Lago.

If you believe that you are striking for the right reasons (and I believe you are), remember the famous line from Monty Python’s Life of Brian: “Soildarity, Brother!”

Best of, The Amazing Tyro.

And I don’t think that the focus should be on why there is a strike anymore - I think it should be on how we can end it quickly to our benefit.

Amen to that!

Anonymous just gets more entertaining.

Malcolm, I am having the opposite experience. We have had more picketers every day where I’ve been, and not one of them has seemed skeptical or unsure.

The AAMTP was shocked at the 90% vote, stunned at the 3,000 person rally last Thursday and completely befuddled at the showrunner mass exodus.

I think it’s pretty funny that people think we are going to fold. Even the shills should know better.

You need to empower yourselves, rather than trying to force multi-national corporations to capitulate. They’re not designed to just ‘give up’. And as I explained above, even if they do cave, they’re just going to nick you in other ways that’ll render all your efforts moot.

The WGA doesn’t need to force the AMPTP to capitulate. They just need to force them to moderate, to offer a bit more than they have. At the same time, the AMPTP is trying to force the WGA to capitulate — to keep the camel’s nose of residuals out of the new media tent — but perhaps will be willing to settle for the WGA moderating its demands.

The settlement point is somewhere between the AMPTP’s offer of nothing and the WGA’s demand of 2.5 percent, but could end up at either of the two extremes (‘capitulation’ by one side or the other). It’s too soon to tell where the final settlement will fall.

By the way, you’re the feature producer? Are you advocating an instant end to the strike because your projects are being disrupted, or is it because you dislike the general industrywide disruption the strike is causing? Are you also urging the AMPTP to settle?

It is funny. Picketing, I feel all “yay.” Then coming here, I’m all “who are these self loathing shut ins?” Except for John - he’s cool.

I can’t wait for the rally tomorrow.

And Anon Producer Dude -

There’s been lots o’ talk that the deal the writers get would include DGA and SAG. But there is plenty to go around. And there will continue to be. People love entertainment as an escape from daily life.

That ain’t goin’ anywhere, just its delivery system. And the population is exploding. More people, more audience.

Point is. They are already making money off the net and they are drunk on not having to share it. If it didn’t mean so much, they wouldn’t be fighting so hard to save it all for themselves.

It’s worth the fight. I’m sorry producers don’t have a better guild.

Anon of post #260,

More and more movies are being made outside of the studio system, or no?

Seems like it but I don’t have stats.

Is it just me or does it seem like the tide (i.e. press) is turning in the WGA’s favour?

I’m getting super excited.

Stuart,

I’m not urging the AMPTP to cave. I’m urging the WGA to cave, for two reasons:

1) Even if you win, you’re not getting your 2.5%. The AMPTP will offer 1 or 1.5% and you’ll settle for that. In which case the strike will have cost you far more than you’ll gain. If the studios and networks are minting money putting TV shows up on the net (they’re not), buy their stock, and you’ll get it back.

2) You’re not fighting in the right direction. You can’t inflict any actual pain on a studio or network unless you have the choice to take your business elsewhere. That’s where you need to focus your energies, so you’re not in this perpetual fight, with a work stoppage on the line every three years. Which is damaging to the business as a whole, including writers.

While I couldn’t disagree more with your “resistance is futile” mantra, you are absolutely right about one thing — we need to empower ourselves.

When the dust clears, the lasting legacy of this dispute will be a sea change in the way writers view “the biz”. It’s already happening. The studios — in their own fumbling, myopic way — are prompting writers to ask questions that they never really asked before.

There will always be a need for “content”. There will not, however, always be a need for the specific corporate entities that finance and distribute content now, nor will there always be a need for the way they currently conduct business.

Whatever allegiance consumers have to networks and/or studios is content-based. There’s not a single “average viewer” in America who thinks…

“God, if ABC folded, where would I go for my product placement fix?!”

“I’d like to give Fox a try, but I’m hopelessly addicted to those chatty NBC radio spots where rad people one-up each other while praising their Thursday lineup!”

“CBS pwns! They have the best execs!”

This dispute will eventually be resolved, but there will be longterm consequences that the AMPTP hasn’t factored into the equation.

Writers are thinking… and not just about how to punch up that line on page 67.

YES, there are many films being financed outside the studio system! That’s exactly what I’m talking about!

Because producers know that relying on, or demanding that studios ‘pay a fair share’ is fruitless. So producers are gathering their own financing to get their stuff made, which puts us in control and affords us the privilege of TAKING OUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE if one distributor doesn’t offer good terms.

And it gives producers an ownership stake in the project, which is where the real money is.

Writers, actors and directors need to think the same way. We all need to work together to empower ourselves, so we don’t have to rely on studios to pay us fairly. The only way we can do that is to FORCE them to pay us fairly, because if they don’t, we’ll go somewhere else.

Random Contributor,

Amen. You get it!

“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.”

It’s only happened probably 20 times a day. So, you know, only 80 times since the strike started. Wardrobe needs a Teamster to drive them to Paramount to pick up a costume. Two crew members cross the line twice. Teamsters has to go to Warner Brothers to pick up something for props. Two crosses. The caterer is a fucking Teamster, fer chrissakes! Is the studio flying him off location??? Director changed his mind about the size of the money-fart? Teamster and prop guy drive to fart rental place at Universal, cross the line twice, have their photos taken, are videotaped, and heckled. But, both remain fearless. They cross the line jeopardizing their livelihoods because the bottom line is this: the wrong fart could fuck the director’s career.

Fucking ludicrous.

Yeah, but those indies financed outside the system ( and don’t get me wrong, there are some bitchin indie financers and I’ve been lucky to work with some of them, who by the way, all called me pre strike to tell me how supportive they are of writers and a us getting a good deal and the Amptp sucks).

Anyway, those people STILL NEED STUDIOS for distribution and marketing! It’s NEVER entirely independant.

And, by the way, if the AMPTP had a REAL offer on the table for 1.5, we would have never gotten into the the strike! Don’t believe everything you read in Variety - they own it.

Anonymous,

I’m coming to this late, so please redirect me if you’ve already answered this question…

I agree that a long strike will fuck us, but a short, efficient strike could get us what we want without sacrificing the lower and middle class of the WGA. Do you agree?

I think an argument can be made (and I’ve made it a few times) that the WGA was digging in for the long haul (they were hitting the pavement, they put a contentious issue they took off the table back on [DVD], they were spitting insults, putting up a public wall, and, seemingly, were unwilling to start negotiations ASAP).

But today they’ve permanently removed the contentious issue, have been toning down the insults, expressed a willingness to negotiate to the press (they expressed a willingness on Monday, but their statements were drowned out by biased reporting… cough… Variety sucks… cough…) and their strike action is suddenly becoming very interesting.

Take a look at this Hollywood Reporter article:

http://tinyurl.com/ysexc2

What we’re fighting for is worth a short, bloody battle.

But I agree with you, I’m not sure a long fight that ends in us caving is worth sacrificing the lower and middle classes of the WGA.

Another WGA Writer,

There are independent distributors. Magnolia. Thinkfilm. Or, you can form new distribution apparati. The theater chains, Netflix, and Wal-Mart don’t care who’s distributing content, they just want product they can sell.

I didn’t say empowering yourselves will be easy. It won’t, and it’s going to take years. But that’s the only way you’re going to avoid getting into fights with the AMPTP every three years.

Isn’t it fascinating that the one place that was interesting to post… the ONLY place… a month ago? has turned into something so irrevelent? Bummer. Psudo debates from below to above the line… a resentment thats lasted since the beginning of time, but has to be taken seriously now, because Craig is directing? I can only think if Craig wasn’t directing this pic, the dialogue here might be even mildly interesting…. but its just stupid. It’s great that in the thick of it there are more vital blogs to attend to. Those of you in support of us.. fans, newbies, wives like Natalie… we love your support. Those of you who resent writers? You always did and you always will. Two grips came out at Sony today and shared their lunch. What’s posted here is, indeed, not relevant.

Anonymous #246,

I understand what you are saying, even if some might think it inflammatory. My problem with your theory, however, is, first, the studio system is, itself, completely inefficient, and more costly than paying a bunch of writers, directors and actors some residuals. The redundancy in just about any studio is not much of a secret. Could the studio be run as well with possibly three quarters of the staff? My guess is yes. That’s more than enough money saved in order to pay for the residuals. Am I suggesting laying off staff? If they are redundant, yes. I’ve always been a realist.

My other problem with your theory is that producers get a pretty high residual rate, yet that doesn’t seem to be a problem. Why? why are studios able to pay high residuals to producers, yet not the people who actually created the movie?

Basically, your logic is a little flawed.

SML,

“I agree that a long strike will fuck us, but a short, efficient strike could get us what we want without sacrificing the lower and middle class of the WGA. Do you agree?”

No, because you don’t know how long the damn strike will be when you walk out. Studios are aggressive, hostile organizations. They don’t like to be challenged, much less bloodied in a fight. They will stay away from the negotiating table for longer than they want/need to just to spite you, and teach you a lesson.

iknow!,

Your comment is superfluous and paradoxical.

2) You’re not fighting in the right direction. You can’t inflict any actual pain on a studio or network unless you have the choice to take your business elsewhere. That’s where you need to focus your energies, so you’re not in this perpetual fight, with a work stoppage on the line every three years. Which is damaging to the business as a whole, including writers.

I don’t disagree that it’s always better to have choices. That doesn’t obviate the need to come to terms with the AMPTP in this contract cycle.

How do you envision the ideal “someplace else” of which you speak? Who owns what, who brings what to the table, and how does the product get made? Is it simply independent filmmaking writ large? Or is there some type of structure in your proposed alternative that makes it possible for the new entity to raise large sums of capital?

AWW - Thanks. And it is worth the fight. And I think Craig has done a great thing with this site, but right now the comments are being dominated by shills, some writers with f[ent-up frustrations and some third-parties who are justifiably upset, but pointing their anger in the wrong direction. Too bad Moonves doesn’t have a blog.

Like someone (Kay?) said earlier - it would be naive in the extreme to think that there isn’t a concerted internet effort (ala Ron Paul) by the AAMTP to disrupt the guild.

Anonymous Dude Claiming to Be a Producer - “You can’t inflict any actual pain on a studio or network unless you have the choice to take your business elsewhere. “

You can’t possibly believe that. If you don’t think they are already feeling pain… pain that will only get much, much worse… then you don’t understand the simplest thing about the industry.

Can we bust them? Nah. Can we inflict “actual pain?” Without question.

“Even if you win, you’re not getting your 2.5%.”

Do you really think it’s that simple? That that is the only sticking point? Or even the biggest? The question is not 1.2 or 2.5… the question is something or nothing. And if you think otherwise you are not paying attention.

If we got 1.2 on new media across the board, no loopholes… you think that’s a loss?! Interabang that shit.

Really, the quality of dissent on this board has got to improve.

Tim W.,

If a producer has a healthy back end, it’s because he has hit movies to his credit and he’s earned it, or he financed the movie independently and the studio is just earning a distribution fee (see above about ‘empowering yourself’).

Beyond that, producers get the worst deals of anyone. We don’t have a union, the Producers Guild of America is just a trade organization, we have no MBA, nor any signatory relationship with anyone.

Credit proliferation has rendered our profession a joke. There’s no more grotesque practice in town than line producers and AD’s earning Executive Producer credit. Gil Adler gets FULL PRODUCER credit on the movies he line produces. How insulting is that?

As far as studios being wasteful, you sound like a Republican. Studios aren’t wasteful, they’re cheap—I know, I worked at one. And they are strapped for money. Their costs and overhead are astronomical, and they’re under intense and constant pressure to maximize shareholder value. So if they were able to cut any fat, they wouldn’t just give it away to writers.

Anon producer:

Your presumption is similar to Bush’s: studios (you and your ilk) are more powerful, have deeper pockets, control the press and will/must eventually win THEREFORE we the writers will/must capitulate, and the sooner the better. Just like Bush expects the Iranians to capitulate. And the VC came around too, as we all know.

Those like you have an enormous blind spot. What you don’t understand is that when people are exposed to naked injustice, greed and encroachment on rights and privileges that group has come to expect - that members of that group will fight brutally and mercilessly even if they don’t believe they can win. Maybe you are correct in your analysis of the leverage and the outcome. But if the studios are going to break this guild we will make sure that we bite off a few fingers on the way down. Those fingers might be yours. The blunt hammering of workers to feed the egos and pockets of fat-ass executives may be common and irreversible - but that doesn’t make it right.

We are “knowledge workers”. It is a prudent investment to keep us motivated, engaged and entrepreneurial in our efforts on your behalf. Wonder why Google and other new media stocks so hopelessly outpace behemoths like Time Warner? They give stock options to employees. Note: they don’t capitulate to a labor action (have you ever read anywhere of computer programmers going on strike?), they CHOOSE to invest in the morale and well being of their knowledge workers because they see it as a sensible and lucrative infrastructure investment. They have an egalitarian ethos. They know deep in their hearts that the strength of the business is the talent they have inventing and imagining for them. The employees feel that and wake up wanting to kick ass for them every day. We are prepared to do that and able to do that - for want of a similar epiphany by our clueless employers.

As to creating our own means of production and distribution - yeah, it will probably come to that. The music industry is about four artists away from the end of the record labels as we know them. They have killed their golden goose and so may the studios. But the bottom line is, if we have a choice between being part time financiers or full time writers we’d rather be full time writers.

Another thing you don’t realize is that we are more conscious than other unions of the meaning of this strike. It is very high profile and is being watched carefully by other unions. One of the many casualties of the last horrific seven years in this country is any pretense of a level playing field between labor and employers. The gap between haves and have-nots is growing. Americans don’t get exposed to successful labor actions in Europe - they are beginning to believe that labor has simply lost the war and must accept whatever scraps the companies are willing to throw them.

This is not the case. Monopolistic corporations can unify and unions and other guilds can unify. Even if we lose - which we probably will - we are heartened at the thought of causing maximum economic pain to the companies because they will think twice before risking the wrath of ANOTHER union. So if our strike doesn’t succeed, maybe SAG’s will, or DGA’s, or the Teamsters, or IATSE’s. We see a need beyond our own economic gain here. And if you come out to the picket lines you will see every single car honking like crazy because they hate the soul-crushing abuses of power by these corporations more than we do. In the face of anything close to a reasonable deal and a millileter of respect we become powerful partners. In the face of what has come thus far: lies, insults to our intelligence and offers that inspire only laughter we stop being rational actors. That’s why the studios keep getting surprised. Why would the showrunners band together? It isn’t rational. Right. We are unified by our distaste for your greed. And it will keep us unified for a long, long, long time. Bet on it.

So if you’re reading this Nick Counter - I hope you realize that you will pry this Guild from our cold, dead hands. And on our way out, we will make sure to cause you and your rapacious patrons as much professional and economic suffering as our imaginative minds can dream up.

280 Anon,

Their egos will only make them stubborn to a point.

I made this analogy in a previous thread:

“Think about our strike as a virus. The AMPTP can ignore a minor cough without going to the Doctor to save its life. It may take a long time for that cold to become life threatening and if the AMPTP can weather the symptoms for long enough, that cold just might kill itself.

“But if the AMPTP got a 24-hour flu, starts vomiting right now, verges on dehydration, it will call 911 ASAP. It’s flu might not be life threatening, but the panic will sure as hell make the AMPTP want it to go away. It will do anything for the cure.”

The congloms are powerful, but they’re also hedonists for their bottom line. If we can make our virus seem terminal, make them fear for the comforts of their bottom line, it’ll scare the congloms back to the bargaining table.

But… if we can’t make our virus seem terminal, we should pull stakes and run to solitary existences.

But… I’m optimistic.

Although… when December comes around or when the WGA reverts to a more long-term strategy, I 100% support you.

The British Writer’s Guild has stated that its membership will not write for American producers with a strike on, effectively not crossing the line from across the pond, and are also advising that UK produced programs not be used to fill the void of the American television networks.

285 - “As far as studios being wasteful, you sound like a Republican. Studios aren’t wasteful, they’re cheap—I know, I worked at one. And they are strapped for money.”

HE sounds like a republican? The studios are strapped for money? HAH!

“Their costs and overhead are astronomical, and they’re under intense and constant pressure to maximize shareholder value.”

Of course they are. They always are. Always. And it has NOTHING to do with being strapped for cash. It has to do with the nature of corporations.

“So if they were able to cut any fat, they wouldn’t just give it away to writers.”

Yeah. That’s what we demand, too! Just give us money! Don’t make us write or create, just throw it at us! How ridiculous you are.

I sure wish I knew who you were so I could avoid your production company like the plague. Let’s have a safe word. If a writer named John walks into a meeting with you and says “Parsnip”, you respond “Areola” and we’ll both back away slowly.

John,

I’m a producer. I have one EP credit on a feature, at a studio. As for the ‘qaulity of my dissent’, your insults are not arguments. Don’t insult me; correct me.

“You can’t possibly believe that. If you don’t think they are already feeling pain… pain that will only get much, much worse… then you don’t understand the simplest thing about the industry.”

You’re not inflicting any ‘long term’ pain with a strike, which is the only way the studios are ever going to capitulate to the extent that you’ll get what you consider a fair deal, and all the damage you’re causing to yourself and to others will be worth it.

“Do you really think it’s that simple? That that is the only sticking point? Or even the biggest? The question is not 1.2 or 2.5… the question is something or nothing. And if you think otherwise you are not paying attention.”

I don’t know what you mean here. The WGA and the AMPTP are stuck on internet re-use. You make a deal on that, the strike is over. So yes, it’s that simple. That’s what Howard Gould’s speech is about, posted above, that’s what all the press is reporting, along with Verrone and Young, and Counter. Am I misunderstanding you?

And yes, if you get 1.2%, it won’t be worth it for you because it’s probably not gonna happen until the Spring, which is longer than the WGA can stand.

You would have been better off waiting for the studios to really start raking in the dough a few years from now, when you’ll be able to point to a mountain of money, and THEN say, “We deserve a share.” It’s just a more compelling, less speculative case. The studios and networks would be totally naked then, and much more hard-pressed to come up with an excuse. They wouldn’t have any support in the press, or with the public, or with the other unions, or with the Hollywood community at large, or with mediators, which would put you in far better position to win a concession.

I just heard that all the shows at Fox have pushed call times back tomorrow to avoid the rally. Of course, a rally planned on a Friday from 10-12 a.m. would generally miss call times anyway. Perhaps it should have been planned for later in the day?

I understand why folks are criticizing “anon producer“‘s admonishment to “cave in”. It feels inflammatory given the current situation. Everyone is on edge. Careers and livelihoods are at stake.

I don’t agree with that portion of his message.

Having said that, his thoughts on “empowerment” have merit.

I’m sick of bellying up to the table every few years and asking, gruel bowl in hand, “Can I have some more, please?”

I’m sick of having the same faces glaring back at us across said table. You know — the ones who employ the same schoolyard bully tactics every time.

I’m sick of the entire paradigm.

I’m confident I’m not alone.

In order to thrive and prosper over the long haul, we need to get to a point where instead of worrying whether the AMPTP will “bust” our union (a valid and crucial concern in the “here and now”), we’re the ones chipping away at the AMPTP, eroding their power base by forming strategic alliances and diverting our creations elsewhere.

Will this take time? Yes. Will we be required to think outside the box? Of course.

But I can’t think of anything more discouraging than playing by their rules, over and over again, and remaining locked in this dismal cycle.

The most satisfying form of “cosmic justice”, IMO, would be beating them at their own twisted game.

Anonymous:

1. “Any pain” and “long term pain” are two different things. The money they are losing right now hurts. That pain is going to get worse. And that lost income is not recoverable… it’s gone.

Honestly, man, I don’t know what to say to you if you think this strike doesn’t hurt them. That’s silly, and I suspect you are well aware of that.

1. If you don’t think a BLANKET, no loophole 1.2% would be a victory for the writers, then you are not reading the proposals. From either side. If I was offered 1.2% across the board for anything from downloads to ad-supported streaming and their infamous “promotional use”, I would consider that pretty frigging cool.

2. I don’t know what you mean by “longer than the guild can stand.” Did you take a poll? Do you think we will hold out until just before the actors deal is up and then cave instead of waiting for them to join us?

3. This oft-repeated “better off waiting a few years” is really, really sad. That would be the very worst thing we could do. Better to take a lower cut now and then argue percentages next time instead of having to argue the whole paradigm again.

No sir. We would have been better off fighting this battle years ago, not years from now.

And where is all this studio support you talk about? I don’t see it. Anywhere.

And any unbiased mediator in the world would take our side of this in a heartbeat.

I know you don’t really believe what you are posting, but I still feel obligated to respond in case any innocent wanders in and takes it seriously.

“…they wouldn’t just give it away to writers.” Good freaking lord.

Parnsip! Parnsipparnsipparsnip!

John,

No way. You might be an awesome writer—in fact, you probably are, I just laughed out loud at your code-word joke, so why would I wanna walk away from you?

You seem to hate me, so I’ll never tell you who I am. You should post your full name, though, and the titles of your screenplays—I betcha I’ve read one of ‘em.

Wouldn’t that be crazy?

Do it. Gimme your whole name and a few titles.

291 - call times are all over the map.

Besides, the picket doesn’t end at noon. It just morphs into a regular, but really, really big picket line.

Anonymous #290

You have obviously thought this out, and I appreciate the detail of your argument. But your premise has a major flaw: the notion that we wait for the companies to start raking in the dough before we ask for our share.

We saw that movie already, and it was called “DVD Residuals.”

We have been pointing at that “mountain of cash” for 20+ years now and they’ve said no every time.

And let’s face it…they wouldn’t be fighting us so hard if the notion of internet revenue was simply speculative.

Parts of Pico and Olympic will be closed down. This is going to be a zoo and many people probably won’t be able to find a place to park, so be prepared.

AnonBIO,

Tomorrow will be amazing.Wish I was there. Good luck to all.

Malcolm,

“No matter what month, day, week, every single topic here devolves into the same old shit. Even now when so much is at stake.”

There’s nothing at stake here, except the fact that every now and then, this site gets quoted in the press as a viable source, when it’s clearly not.

If you’re out there, on the line with the people who are striking, it’s a completely different story. The unity and camaraderie are awe inspiring. Which has a LOT to do with what’s going on here. People come home from a tough day on the line, check this site out, and here’s this guy who isn’t out there sniping at us, sniping at the strike, sniping at the leadership, sniping at people who are making painful decisions and sacrifices…. tends to get ‘em riled up.

294 -

I’m sure in a different context we would get along famously… who knows, maybe we already do and don’t know it!

I am sorry for snapping, I think I need to take a break from arguing with the plants… everyone starts to look like one and that’s not fair to you.

But I think you will find that your pessimism is misplaced. It’s a terrible affair, but it’s a terrible affair all the way around.

I think people are starting to get an idea where we’ll end up, and it’s up to the AAMTP to decide that they’ve saved enough face and scared the actors enough to settle. That or the DGA stabs us in the back.

Either way, and even if you are right about most of your thoughts… we still didn’t have a choice. We really didn’t.

Everyone knows this has been put off too long and everyone knows it has to be settled. Not even the most die hard big business people think there was any way for the writers to take anything without new media covered. And that means all new media revenue streams. And they haven’t done that yet.

Anyway…. I pray for a short strike for all of us… you, me, even them. And certainly everyone in the blast radius.

Best to all of you. I’m hitting FOX early, so I think I’ll hit Sportscenter and see y’all tomorrow.

John,

And read Random Contributor’s post #292, he makes my whole case, and he puts it better than I have.

My main theme is, it’s a lost cause trying to fight with these companies. As long as you’re entirely dependent on them, you’re just trapped on a hamster wheel.

297 - Yeah, I have friends meeting at my place and taking a cab.

298 - Agreed. In some weird, cosmic coincidence, I (a complete music ignorant, had never heard of him) have been playing as Tom Morello in Guitar Hero III because in the game he looked the most like, well, a writer.

First off, I would like to say let’s give up the yelling or judging Craig by his decision to go to work and stay shooting his film. The time wasted writing about this here is enormous. And I say that as someone who reads this blog and read for his film a couple of weeks ago and he DIDN’T cast me and I’m still not pissed. I could agree with Josh, who I know and respect, about what does he do when a gag needs punching up, but in the end we have bigger fish to worry about right now…

Second of all, as someone who’s been walking your picket lines in support the last few days you people are writing really long posts on things that are never going to happen. Get out there and support your guild. Walk the line, take a stand and know you are trying to hasten this debacle by showing our strength in numbers early on and not all day on a chat board. The guild sent us over to break up a film, hotel for dogs and I went but felt rather weird about it. As the crew looked at us with amusement then annoyance. In retrospect, I’m not sure I see the point of disrupting films already done before the strike that are shooting now. There were other sag people there but it worried me they will try to take on every production and water down their effect. It should be a lot of people at every studio gate and leave productions started before alone, in my opinion.

Finally, for those of you who dislike your guild leadership who think this strike is a failure, and I agree with you on that… but know this, SAG’s current leadership is as militant as we have had in years. They are the board who wanted the last sag strike, who pushed for no agent agreement that left a lot of us with scary contracts, who pushed to kill the aftra/sag merger which would have given a lot of our members health insurance… They are very very likely to strike over this if the writers don’t get a deal they like. So get out there now, walk the line and help, yell loudly in support of your current elected leaders or get ready to be shut down again in late june. Our guild is 140,000 strong with most making a thousand a year who like to vote to strike to feel like they are having a say as a ‘actor’. You should be scared if you fold early and don’t get what we all deserve in new media because this will just happen again in a few months.

Let’s stop the bitching and whining here and come up with ways to stay strong and united and get both parties to come up with a way to save face for them and to give us fair payment as artists.

Let’s don’t lose the thruline here….

Thanks,

John,

I wish you luck. I hope the studios cave and cut you a proper deal. They owe it to you, and they know it as well as everyone else.

But you really are going to need a better strategy for the future. Going back every three years with your ‘gruel bowl in hand’ as Random Contributor said, ain’t gonna get it done.

Hope I get to read your stuff some day. Put your ‘Parsnip’ safe-word on your title page for me.

Josh,

As much as the negative shit flows in these forums, there’s a lot of positive shit as well. Not all WGA members live in LA and can be involved in the same way Angelino writers can. We come to Craig’s site to be a part of it. We come here to have our voices heard.

As for the negative shit, just ignore it (especially if you agree with it). Don’t use it as a springboard to attack Craig’s site.

You’re someone who used to be open to debate, to the free flow of dialogue, who in a discussion of free speech defended the dreaded anonymous, and could, sometimes, sling the shit with the best of them.

Don’t go all high and mighty on us.

(And, yes, I do realize the hypocrisy of this post…)

Anon -

If it doesn’t hurt them, why did my agent tell me today they are freaking out b/c noone planned for showrunners walking off and picketing their own shows? And, turns out, they had less stock piled TV scripts than they bluffed.

And I’m willing to guess they’re features aren’t as set either. I am one of those writers who had major pressure to hurry scripts in (some I had only been 3 weeks commenced on), and I can assure you, mine certainly ain’t shootable yet.

Your logic is so defeatest I’m concerned about your producing skills. Producers are supposed to be the fighters in the face of all odds. Maybe you should just quit producing b/c, you know, it’s so difficult and hard to succeed. You’re just going to fail anyway.

I’m with the Parsnip. See y’all at Fox. Woohoo!!!

Am I the only one who sees the irony in the amount of stories we write with our heros fighting against all odds. And now we’re living it?

Can someone explain to me why American Writers should be overjoyed at the prospects of hoping to get 1.2% residuals when British Writers already get 5.6% royalties?

And about most TV shows running deficits until they syndicate - I won’t say you’re wrong: you surely know a lot more about TV than I do, but since Reality doesn’t syndicate -

Why are networks making Reality shows?

So they can lose money?

And re: downloads being unimportant right now because the Internet is moving “slowly” - well - Myspace and Facebook went from being worth nothing to being worth billions - one in just 7 MONTHS.

Starbucks is indeed giving away free song cards, and allows free WiFi - but only for those who want to buy iTunes.

The Internet download phenomenon isn’t in the far future: it’s happening right NOW and it’s going to pick up steam rapidly.

Don’t believe me?

Go to Netflix.com: they already have instant downloads.

Lessions I’ve learned tonight: 1. When you have an idea at 11pm, Ralphs is the only place to get chalk. 2. Ralphs doesn’t sell the big thick chalk, only the thin “school board” chalk. 3. The thin chalk breaks easy. 4. I am NOT a ninja. 5. It’s weird being in a familiar place in a state of fear. 6. Not knowing if writing on a sidewalk with chalk is considered graffiti puts me in a state of fear.
7. Bums are scarier at night. 8. Doing only a small part of what I envisioned in my head makes me feel moronic and pathetic.

and lastly, read the post that says, the Avenue of the stars gate not the Pico gate before you go out.

Travis,

One-step at a time my brother. My guess is that the WGA will not allow a fixed, indefinite percentage. It will negotiate for “an elevator” as Brian calls it (a percent that expands over time).

If we can get our foot in the door with this strike, with a fair new media formula, the future of writers in the US will be bright.

Cross your fingers and bring up the 5.6% in 3 years.

Brian - congratulations on the toaster! I hear they are sending you Lister’s model from Red Dwarf!

For those of you who are saying that the writers should cave or that the writers should have been willing to wait until the money was on the table before negotiating for a percentage of it - when was the last time you asked for a raise and tried to negotiate for a higher salary than what was first offered to you? What happened?

For those of you who are wondering why writers should get residuals, here is why. When creative work is sold, there is uncertainty as to how it will perform so the base payment price is LOWER than the expected value. Residuals (theoretically) keep the payoff equitable to the creator since they sold their work for less than its expected value at the outset.

In terms that more people might understand, it is similar to a compensation package where there is a base salary plus commission. Many sales jobs are structured this way. A job applicant takes a gamble on their own performance, negotiating to accept a lower base salary but compensates by asking for a commission structured around their performance after they are hired.

We’ll see, man.

I emailed the WG of GB again to ask how the funds are received and verified, but didn’t get my last quick reply duplicated - perhaps a British Writer here might care to chime in.

I just finished watching The Conformist earlier - matches the mood of the town these days, if you ask me.

I feel all alone.

From Defamer (an anecdote about Jeffrey Katzenberg):

http://defamer.com/hollywood/strikewatch/-320701.php

(I’m just going to keep posting until I’m caught up…)

Despite all the solidarity pledged amongst showrunners, Glen Gordon Caron has been arriving at Paramount before nine and leaving after five to avoid crossing the picket lines. He’s still working on “Medium.”

You’re all causing my irritable bowels to act up.

These entities already pay you more than is reasonable. Fact is you make plenty more than the average bus driver. And look what happened when they went on strike.

I say, tell them writers to go fuck themselves. We can get writers from Tijuana or China. It’ll be cheaper, that’s for certain. Move the damn production there too. The entire film crew will make $0.04 a day. How’s that for profit?!

The bottom line is the bottom line. Corporations face pressure from shareholders who continually ask them, “Why aren’t you making me richer, you worthless bags of shit? I tell you I want MORE!”

And damn it all to Henry, the AMPTP better deliver, or I’ll see every one of their droopy sacks set for the chopping block for a right prompt clipping.

Now there’s a good boy… Bob Igor does deserve a big fat raise - just heard this good news, “…another year of outstanding financial results. We posted record net income and record earnings per share for our 2007 fiscal year, bolstered by a strong fourth quarter performance. These results stem directly from our emphasis on the creation of high-quality content across all of our businesses, backed up by a clear strategy for maximizing the value of that content across platforms and markets.” Blah blah blah, you get the point, I am getting richer.

Those two pennies you are asking for are my two pennies. And you will have to pry them from my dead, arthritically crippled, liver spotted fingers before I give them over to a fucking writer. Now get back to work, you ingrates, before we outsource your asses to China.

Greedy and loving it.

Mr. Hades

P.S. A couple of my board room pallys and I, are penning the next great American movie, In the Ass of the Tiger — An executive’s tragic fight for his rightful stock option dispensation (kind off like the Godfather meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Where might I find some free tips on formatting?

Does anyone ever actually read all of these laborious, long-winded, wholly extraneous posts?

Or do they just skip to the ones where Malcolm points out what a grandstanding fucksore Mrs. Ellison…er, Mr. Olsen is?

This is starting to look a lot like the forums at americanzoetrope.com.

I joined there last year and quickly split. You see, I was under the illusion that writers’ forums were supposed to be supportive of writers. Yet at every turn every compliment, every piece of advice made from my own experiences (and even though I’m not William Goldman, I’ve been through a few), people whom I could hardly believe called themselves writers attacked me at every turn, biting the hand that feeds. It was beyond comprehension, like a drowning man trying to pull his rescuer into the sea to flounder and sink right alongside him, out of pure spite.

It is lemming-like, and serves no useful purpose. Combine that with the shills here, it’s the blog equivalent of driving a dynamite truck into a nitroglycerin factory (yet another great line I can thank a Guild writer for, ha ha!)

I am with a previous poster. If you want inspiration, go to where the picket lines are, or meet privately online or elsewhere. But if you want to get totally pissed, frazzled, frustrated and defeatist, come here. They’re waiting for you. ‘nuff said.

Best of luck, guys! Sincerely, Tyro The Magnificent.

One last qualifier: I do not hang responsibility for the shitstorms out here on Craig Mazin or Ted Elliot, whom I greatly respect for what he has accomplished in his storied career (if you’ll pardon the pun). No more than I blame Francis Ford Coppola for what goes on at zoetrope.com. It’s the nature of the beast.

They both set up their sites with the best of intentions. Unfortunately, the sensible are ALWAYS shouted down by the raised voices of unreason. Or the willfully malicious, of which there is never a shortage.

As long as you realize all that, you can put everything you see here in perspective.

Best of, Tyro The Magnificent.

Anon Producer -

You say it’s a lost cause. The WGA is willing to do a Rocky Balboa and test your theory.

And though I’m in the hope-to-be-a-WGA-member category, I have to say I’m damn proud of the writers willing to risk all.

What other union in recent history has dared to take on the congloms, in an industry as big as this one, in spite of the odds against them.

Now British writers are giving support. Excellent news. Let’s see how many worthwhile, talented scabs the AMPTP can find.

Craig thinks the union would do better with a moderate leader. I think Patric is the perfect leader for this time.

He understands that moderation is not a word you’ll find in the vocabulary of corporate CEOs.

Sorry, Craig — you’ve grown too comfortable sitting on that fence. How you can turn down your cognative dissonace and remain perched there is really amazing to me.

The congloms’ capacity for total arrogance leaves them with huge blind spots. And, as another poster mentioned above, they’ve been doing a little bluffing about how prepared they were for this strike.

The cause is not lost. In fact, it’s winnable.

“You would have been better off waiting for the studios to really start raking in the dough a few years from now, when you’ll be able to point to a mountain of money, and THEN say, “We deserve a share.” It’s just a more compelling, less speculative case. The studios and networks would be totally naked then, and much more hard-pressed to come up with an excuse. They wouldn’t have any support in the press, or with the public, or with the other unions, or with the Hollywood community at large, or with mediators, which would put you in far better position to win a concession.”

Anon/290,

The studios have never, in the history of ever, granted a concession because they were “naked” or “hard-pressed to come up with an excuse” or because they lacked “support in the press, or with the public, or with the unions, or with the Hollywood community at large.”

The studios have only ever granted a concession (any concession) because the economic cost (to them) of not doing so outweighed the economic cost (to them) of doing so. That’s the purpose of a strike (or threat of same): to make the economic cost of withholding concessions (or, in the case of a strike threat, the fear of said costs) greater than the economic cost of granting them. To inflict economic harm upon the studios until such time as they feel incentivized to reach a deal rapidly, and at terms advantageous to the guild.

That’s basic power dynamics, and it’s the same whether the studios and the guild are arguing over 10 dollars, or 10 trillion dollars.

As it is (and has been pointed out above), the studios are already making billions of dollars in DVD revenue (an enormously profitable revenue stream for them), and they are giving the writers next to nothing. They are “naked”. They are “hard-pressed to come up with an excuse.” And has the Alliance, in its embarrassed state of nakedness, ever said, “Okay, fair is fair, let’s give the writers a legitimate share”? No. To the contrary, they’ve declared even the merest mention of the DVD residual issue to be off-limits, and an utter dealbreaker.

Why in the world would the studios be more malleable on the New Media issue in 3 (or 30) years than they are on the DVD issue today?

No, this fight will have to happen. If not this year, then 3 years from now, or later. But here we are now, fighting the fight. So on the picket lines I walk, every single day, until there’s a fair settlement that’ll benefit the members of this guild, and, perhaps more importantly, benefit the guild members still to come, in future decades.

Patrick Meighan Culver City, CA

John, tinfoil hat much?

Great opinion from ew.com:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20159387,00.html

Patrick wrote —

— “No, this fight will have to happen. If not this year, then 3 years from now, or later.”

My interpretation of Howard’s video clip was that it had bleak undertones. To me, it sounded like we may take a beating, and we may not get a great deal, but the point of the strike is to make the statement that “we will dole out pain if there are rollbacks.” Hopefully to discourage further roll backs in 3 years.

Doesn’t mean we WON’T get fucked, it just means we’re gonna scratch up the person fucking us.

RE: the negative comments,

I wasn’t talking about anyone specifically. Hopefully we’ll ignore the baiting that people are still tossing out.

Can someone explain to me why American Writers should be overjoyed at the prospects of hoping to get 1.2% residuals when British Writers already get 5.6% royalties?

U.S. work-made-for-hire-law automatically assigns copyright ownership in our work to the corporate employer. This changes the balance of power in the negotiation. Instead of their having to bargain with us to get our economic rights, we have to bargain with them to get economic rights back, as contractual equivalents.

This is also why our payments pursuant to the economic rights in the work are called “residuals” rather than “royalties” — the corporations are loathe to recognize even the fact of our authorship of screen and teleplays and motion pictures.

• Ted

And yes, if you get 1.2%, it won’t be worth it for you because it’s probably not gonna happen until the Spring, which is longer than the WGA can stand.

You would have been better off waiting for the studios to really start raking in the dough a few years from now, when you’ll be able to point to a mountain of money, and THEN say, “We deserve a share.” It’s just a more compelling, less speculative case. The studios and networks would be totally naked then, and much more hard-pressed to come up with an excuse. They wouldn’t have any support in the press, or with the public, or with the other unions, or with the Hollywood community at large, or with mediators, which would put you in far better position to win a concession.

I think the WGA can win a percentage on Internet “promotional” use. If it earns direct revenue from page views, it ain’t merely “promotional.”

Even if — God forbid — the strike ends with the WGA getting no residuals on Internet “promotional” use but with the AMPTP using the excuse that the revenue stream isn’t known yet, that puts the AMPTP on record that the WGA should receive a cut of revenues once they are demonstrated. At the next contract negotiation, the studio’s own SEC filings will demonstrate whether they’re earning revenues from this source and how much, and they won’t be able to use bullshit excuses for denying the writers a share. Without this strike, the bullshit would only get piled higher and deeper with each successive negotiation.

Those like you have an enormous blind spot. What you don’t understand is that when people are exposed to naked injustice, greed and encroachment on rights and privileges that group has come to expect - that members of that group will fight brutally and mercilessly even if they don’t believe they can win. Maybe you are correct in your analysis of the leverage and the outcome. But if the studios are going to break this guild we will make sure that we bite off a few fingers on the way down. Those fingers might be yours. The blunt hammering of workers to feed the egos and pockets of fat-ass executives may be common and irreversible - but that doesn’t make it right.

Great passion. Keep it focused. I worry that the following is also true:

In the face of what has come thus far: lies, insults to our intelligence and offers that inspire only laughter we stop being rational actors.

I think every striking writer needs the raw, white-hot passion of your first paragraph. I think that every striking writer individually and collectively as the WGA need to channel that passion into a cold, calculated campaign to win the strike. Keeping a rational focus on the gains to be made at the bargaining table will maximize those gains, and that’s what will yield the maximum emotional gratification to the writers once the strike ends.

Using the example of Dupea in Five Easy Pieces, it’s important to remember that the objective is to get the toast and not to make the waitress feel bad about following the ‘no substitutions’ rule. That’s the genius of the scene that Joyce & Rafelson created: Dupea understands that giving into his emotions and venting on the waitress, while impressive and cathartic, didn’t get him the breakfast he wanted.

Hm…what’s the average royalty of an American novelist - 7.5-15%?

So let me get this straight. It is morally OK for the WGA to come every 3 years and ask for MORE…but it is morally REPUGNANT for the AMPTP to ask for LESS (ie, rollbacks)? The sooner you all realize this is an OPEN negotiation like all others and that both sides should act in their best financial interests (stress should because from what I can see, the WGA is acting against it’s own interests with this strategy).

Further, AMPTP took its restructuring (rollbacks) off the table. It was a negotiating tactic, just as your push to get jurisdiction over non-scripted programs (a reach to call editors “writers”). Neither side is “evil”.

To conclude, you get paid on downloads. You get paid a fixed rate for every repeat, irregardless of the fact that ratings keep going down. This has not changed. You will still be getting all of these things plus a raise (3.5%). How has your slice of the pie been diminished by internet streaming? It hasn’t. Your argument is that you THINK it will at some unkown point. I ask you all to consider the real world. The concern should be how all of your compensation as it exists will be maintained, not asking for MORE residuals (you say you are entitled but the nets very reasonably say its a) promotional and b) covered by the broadcast residuals you get). The internet may “merge” with TV, but you really think that Time Warner Cable, Comcast, etc are just going to fold tent? What about all these affiliates that hold the broadcast licenses? You think these guys are just going to dissolve? There is this whole complex model for broadcast televison that has been around forever. Simply ending “over the air” or “cable” broadcasting as we know it seems ABSURD. Mind you, many of these companies are owned by the networks or studios (Time Warner for example or Directv and Fox for another). At the very least, this is NOT right around the corner.

When you are the little guy fighting the big guy, it really pays to have a solid and strong position for people to coalesce around. This was such a terrible idea.

“irregardless” is not a word.

If it earns direct revenue from page views, it ain’t merely “promotional.”

Actually…the WGA CBA says just that. But you guys have no clue about the business. You get paid on GROSS. Just because they actually receive revenue doesn’t mean they are making a PROFIT. In fact, they aren’t. Just like you spend money on marketing as an EXPENSE, they are willing to LOSE money on the streaming to drive viewers to the broadcasts (you know, where they have a whole business model on how to make money that has been in place for, I don’k know, 100 years or so). The networks are fighting this because they don’t want to be forced to STOP (which paying your residual times 3 — for each guild — would make them do) in light of incurring additional losses. Furthermore, they feel like you can go F yourself because you are getting paid for each repeat anyway. The same amount…regardless of ratings. The internet is a marketing tool. That’s it. Maybe it changes in the future. Can we wait and see?

Dear AMPTP,

Come back to the table. It’s not like the WGA is asking you to get down on your Dis(knees) and beg them to come back. (some would say they could). Also, the WGA also isn’t asking you for 20(th)% of new media; just a measly 2.5%.

Come on AMPTP, the WGA knows you know the ABC’s of negotiating, they give a little – you give a little. They gave a lot on Sunday; you didn’t give at all. The WGA can (NB)Cee what you’re doing, you’re mad and you want to cut off the WGA’s head and (Para)mount it on your wall.

In the end aren’t you all, AMPTP and WGA (Warner) Brothers in all this? I’m sorry AMPTP, but you’re being the “ Universal dick” of an older brother who won’t share his Halloween candy.

Or how about this, the WGA is like your Son(y). Yeah, he’s pissing you off because he’s being rebellious but that’s what sons do. You gave him a beat down 20 years ago with home video, and he’s learned from that lesson and won’t let it happen again. Deep down, where you’ll never admit it, aren’t you just a little proud that he’s no slouch? (CB)yeS? No? gotcha. Can’t look weak in front of anybody.

Everybody realizes it’s time for a New Line in this town, but you want to stick with the old one.

(Sorry CW…I got nothin’ for ya. But you’re used to it)

Hm…what’s the average royalty of an American novelist - 7.5-15%?

Does it cost 100 million dollars to print copies of a book?! Do you need someone to “direct” the book? Act it out?

You guy are morons. If you want that, then go write a book.

“The internet is a marketing tool. That’s it.”

Wow, that is a blatant lie and you know it.

shaun - you struck in the middle of negotiations. it’s cute to blame the AMPTP, but you know, take a share of it too.

the AMPTP cannot react to the strike. they don’t want to strengthen it as a weapon. they prefer to discourage you from every using it again, otherwise you would use it every 3 yrs and they can’t do business like that.

so by striking, you effectively created at least a 4 week period of no talks. as much as i wish they would just sit down, it’s hard not to appreciate their position.

Anonymous #??? (use a friggin’ name so we can differentiate a bit, please)

I’m Canadian, so not only is it impossible for me to be a Republican, our political scale doesn’t even go that far right. In Canada, liberal isn’t even a bad word. It’s just the name of one two most popular political parties.

As for producers, I’d like to know what the average salary of a producer is. I’m guessing it’s a lot more than an average writer. A lot. Now I’m not saying producers shouldn’t make more, but claiming financial hardship doesn’t really wash. And most producers, as far as I know, don’t put any of their own money into a production. They may risk more of their salary, but that’s not the same thing. Hell, Craig and several other screenwriters worked hard to get a deal where they were risking their front end for a cut of the profit.

As for studios, I have worked at several large companies, all successful, and all seemed to be strapped for cash, yet the salaries of the top executives were almost obscene. And there were a whole lot of them. Besides, what the WGA is asking for, even if you add in what the DGA and SAG will need to be given, is not really much. It’s probably much less than a top executive’s salary for a year.

“The internet is a marketing tool. That’s it.”

Wow, that is a blatant lie and you know it.

First off, no one is trying to “lie”. You may disagree and you can say I am wrong, but I am not lying.

No…I know that networks lose money on internet streaming. I know that you get paid for internet downloads. I am at a loss for why you know more than I, since I used to work at a network.

You live in a fantasy land where the AMPTP just lies and lies and the internet, as everyone clearly knows, is simply an ATM for everyone to cash huge sums of money out of. No one could every possibly lose money on an internet venture! It is promotional because just like a stinking ad in a magazine, streaming the shows on line COSTS THE NETWORKS MONEY. The networks main focus when streaming content is to drive viewers to their broadcasts where the make BIG BOY MONEY. Eye on the prize people.

Tim W - “producers”…who are you talking about? Trust that the WGA makes more money on average than your network or studio executive (in fact, you also get better PHW AND you lets just look at the minimum…you think the lowest executive on the corporate ladder makes the WGA min for a tv series writer of $200k for 2/3 of a years work? NOT EVEN CLOSE). Since the “producers” as you call them are PUBLIC CORPORATIONS, it’s about the shareholders. So if you own stock in Time-Warner (and appologies if that’s the case becuase it’s completely stagnant), then presumably you are the one who ultimately wins or loses.

Now I am wondering why the hell I even responded to that, since that is the silliest argument I’ve heard yet. It’s irrelevant.

Btw, I am a democrat too. Doesn’t mean I feel bad for wealthy writers who want more.

Btw, Ted, thanks for that reply earlier -

This should be an easy one for you: the residuals WGA members receive are based on net, not gross, right?

I ask because a studio person has said otherwise - and that if they were to start paying out residuals on dowloads, they’d immediately be stuck paying out residuals regardless of whether or not the studios net any income from downloads.

(Which sounds dubious, considering all the Ads in downloads.)

Okay, maybe it was harsh to use the word lie because I don’t know you. You could honestly believe that. But if the networks are indeed losing money on Internet streaming, as you claim, they need to fire all management in their Internet departments. You’re right that the big money is still on the traditional TV box at the moment but everyone knows that’s changing. Even if, as you claim, it’s all promotional to send viewers back to the TV, uh… well, that means more viewers, more ad revenue, and more money for the studios.

But seriously, it’s not hard to make money off the Internet when you have a powerful brand behind you such as a popular TV show. I think you know this but don’t want to admit it.

YOU GET PAID OFF OF GROSS!!!!!!!!!! But the residual for network repeats is kind of a different animal in that it is a fixed payment and not a percentage. This is why the royalty and residual distinction gets blurred. The residuals are a deffered payment and that’s why they are fixed (2nd run gets you the scale episodic fee). The DVD/internet download share is really a royalty…extra compensation and that’s why it’s a PERCENTAGE of revenue.

Btw, gross is smart. I wouldn’t and don’t blame you for not wanting to deal with corporate accounting.

“You’re right that the big money is still on the traditional TV box at the moment but everyone knows that’s changing.”

Everyone does not know this. Who is everyone? All of you writers doing what you do with that creative imagination??? Affilliates…cable providers…these people have a huge interest in TV as it exists. I hear you that it may happen. I cannot rule that out. But I feel safe saying it’s not happening in the next 3 years…when you can renegotiate.

The nets are LOSING viewers…they internet stream is to try and bring em back. Your residual is unchanged in spite of the fact that ratings (therefore ad revenue) goes down. If you keep adding costs on the studios productions, at some point they will stop incurring huge defecits and start cutting writer slots. You may get better paid writers, but less of them. This aint crazy talk.

…what’s the average royalty of an American novelist - 7.5-15%?

8%/10%, usually: “eight and ten,” as we say, meaning “eight percent up to a specified ‘rollover’ number of copies: ten percent on everything thereafter.”

The rate runs much lower for “work for hire” books such as media tie-ins. Some licensed properties pay the novelist no royalty at all, or something like 1%/3%.

And I suppose NBC isn’t getting paid for the ads all over their web site. They probably just donate that web space to advertisers out of generosity. Seriously, they’re not making money on the web?

You have to get paid off gross. Otherwise the studios will use dishonest accounting to claim they never make a profit. Of course, you can use that kind of accounting to make it look like the Internet is also unprofitable.

Yes it’s still emerging, but the days of the Internet being merely for promotion ended at the end of the 90s.

Anonymous @ 336: Btw, I am a democrat too. Doesn�t mean I feel bad for wealthy writers who want more.

The wealthy writers don’t need the strike to get internet resids. They already can and do get them via their hard-negotiating agents and the fact that they can demand a premium for their highly sought-after services. The strike helps benefits the young writers, the writers who have a harder time getting regular work, and sets a precedent to help the less well-known actors, who often live pretty erratic lives.

Anonymous @ 327: So let me get this straight. It is morally OK for the WGA to come every 3 years and ask for MORE�but it is morally REPUGNANT for the AMPTP to ask for LESS (ie, rollbacks)?

Let’s make it clear that asking for internet residuals is not asking for more — it’s preventing a massive rollback.

In the past actors and writers for television shows would get some money for the initial run, then, if they did their jobs well and built an audience, earn additional money for syndication. That additional money via syndication is a terrific merit-based pay system that rewarded talent, creativity, and hard work. Syndication was a key part of the payment package.

Nowadays syndication on TV is being replaced by syndication on the internet (which pays nothing) or DVD boxed sets (which pays substantially less due to the crappy DVD rate). Thus that syndication money is being taken away and pocketed by the corporations.

To sum up, not having internet residuals is a hidden rollback — and, stupidly, it’s a rollback that affects people who do a good job more than people who do a bad one.

Re: fear of too many gross points:

If the studios were just HONEST and made their net points actually MEAN something, then they could offer REAL net points and share a piece of the pie with less worries over losing money.

You know damn well that the total of ALL the residuals paid out is a similar amount to one single CEO’s Golden Parachute.

That’s ludicrous.

When the cost of manufacturing DVDs became tiny compared to VHS tapes, did you pass on some of the savings to the Guilds?

No. Why? Greed.

Be honest: you’d rather not pay ANY royalties or residuals.

The studios can become irrelevant, you know, thanks to this Internet thing we’re all using as we speak, if that’s the way they really want it.

Steven - “Nowadays syndication on TV is being replaced by syndication on the internet”

YOU ARE INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is absolutely not the case. It’s also apples and oranges. The networks stream content…the studios sell to syndication.

Maybe, maybe the streaming lessens the value of syndication, but you don’t care about that because you get a FIXED residual.

If it pulls from the broadcast ad revenue, then you don’t get paid for the initial broadcast anyway (that is included in your upfront fee).

Also…just because the nets have REVENUE coming in against internet streaming doesn’t mean that they have PROFIT. They do have costs. Whether you believe they aren’t making money I can’t help. It’s fair not to trust the nets.

However, let’s not fool oursevles that you are trying to prevent rollbacks. You are asking for more. Maybe it’s more of nothing…maybe it’s more of a lot. But it’s more.

When you stop getting residuals from repeats, then you can complain.

I’m a WGA writer for a tv series. Now on strike.

The average salary is NOT 200K a year. That is pure bunk. It is misinformation put out by the AMPTP.

Please don’t assume it is true.

Furthermore: most tv shows don’t last very long. That means a tv writer has to scramble every year for a job.

Actually…the WGA CBA says just that. But you guys have no clue about the business. You get paid on GROSS. Just because they actually receive revenue doesn’t mean they are making a PROFIT. In fact, they aren’t. Just like you spend money on marketing as an EXPENSE, they are willing to LOSE money on the streaming to drive viewers to the broadcasts (you know, where they have a whole business model on how to make money that has been in place for, I don’k know, 100 years or so). The networks are fighting this because they don’t want to be forced to STOP (which paying your residual times 3 — for each guild — would make them do) in light of incurring additional losses. Furthermore, they feel like you can go F yourself because you are getting paid for each repeat anyway. The same amount…regardless of ratings. The internet is a marketing tool. That’s it. Maybe it changes in the future. Can we wait and see?

Even a store that offers a popular product as a loss leader still pays the manufacturer for the product. Or, as a better analogy: even if the manufacturer ponies up co-op dollars to help defray the store’s cost of that loss leader, the workers who made the product and the suppliers who furnished the raw materials for the product still got paid.

Are you sure that studios and networks will cease marketing their products if they have to pay for the promotional samples, especially in a context where they can actually monetize the process of giving the samples away?

You CHOSE to be a writer. The AMPTP is not obligated to make sure that once you chose to be a writer, you never have to work another job again.

Bunch of crap…you write for one season on GHOST WHISPERER and want to be set for life.

If the studios were just HONEST and made their net points actually MEAN something, then they could offer REAL net points and share a piece of the pie with less worries over losing money.

I AGREE 100% WITH THIS. I HATE THAT THEY COOK THE BOOKS AND I THINK IT ENDS UP HURTING THEM.

You know damn well that the total of ALL the residuals paid out is a similar amount to one single CEO’s Golden Parachute.

GUYS. THEY RUN A MULTI BILLION DOLLAR CORPORATION. I THINK THEY ARE OVERPAID, BUT IT’S NOT EVEN A FAIR COMPARISSON.

SHOWRUNNERS GET PAID A HELL OF A LOT OF MONEY. YOU DON’T ALL MAKE BUBKIS. ASK THEM TO TAKE LESS AND GIVE YOU MORE. AFTER ALL, YOU ARE THE GUYS THAT WRITE THE SCRIPTS. THEY JUST GIVE YOU SOME NOTES.

As for Creque, the AMPTP is the f’ing manufacturer. You are the guy that creates the thing they manufacture. AMPTP takes all the risk.

The internet is a sales tool, as well as a marketing tool.

And anyone who contends just the latter is also a tool themself.

So let me get this straight. It is morally OK for the WGA to come every 3 years and ask for MORE…but it is morally REPUGNANT for the AMPTP to ask for LESS (ie, rollbacks)? The sooner you all realize this is an OPEN negotiation like all others and that both sides should act in their best financial interests (stress should because from what I can see, the WGA is acting against it’s own interests with this strategy).

Further, AMPTP took its restructuring (rollbacks) off the table. It was a negotiating tactic, just as your push to get jurisdiction over non-scripted programs (a reach to call editors “writers”). Neither side is “evil”.

I agree with this (except the part in parentheses in the first paragraph). The AMPTP wants to maximize what it gets out of this contract just as the WGA does on its side. That’s what rational economic entities do, and that’s where the focus of the contract negotiations should be.

You are arguing that the WGA’s demands are so obviously unachievable that the WGA shouldn’t waste time trying to achieve them. It’s evident that the WGA leadership and members disagree with you. The strike will either prove you right, to the great cost of the strikers, or wrong, to their great benefit.

That will depend on what the AMPTP’s reaction to the strike is, and whether they feel as distressed about the strike as you do. (Maybe, as you suggest, they’re rubbing their hands with glee that the strike has played right into their hands. I tend to doubt that.)

Sorry I haven’t read all of the comments before posting this, but I want to share something with the striking writers - you are INSANE if you accept anything less than a percentage of revenue the first time something you created appears on the Internet and every time thereafter. I am in the Internet advertising industry and I can tell you that it is the single most monetizable, MEASURABLE outlet that media companies have ever had. Don’t let them keep telling you that they don’t know how much they will make. They not only know exactly how much money they make every time a person watches a show online, they know who that person is, what their online viewing/shopping/blogging/social networking habits are and how to further monetize that. What you are asking for - a small piece of just the revenue - is so miniscule compared to the value you are creating - the draw that gets people to freely make themselves part of an overall information database to be used to market DIRECTLY to them for the rest of their lives - that you really must get it.

From an analyst report that I read every morning:

The latest eMarketer internet advertising forecasts are more bullish than ever, projecting that online advertising will double as a percentage of total media in the next four years and rise from $21 billion this year to $42 billion in 2011. The benchmarks are based on data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Good luck, and hold out until you win.

Anonymous @ 345: Maybe, maybe the streaming lessens the value of syndication, but you don’t care about that because you get a FIXED residual.

You get a fixed residual for the number of times and places that syndicate a program. DVD boxed sets and, in the not at all un-predictable future, streaming will mean that fewer stations will syndicate programs, and will syndicate them less frequently.

And you know, it’s kind of annoying to be called insane by someone who’s mistaken. I’m at least being respectful.

Sorry Anon, I really really can’t take any responsability for the strike at all. I’m a PA, and although many in the industry will tell you we are the top of the food chain and make most of the decisions, we tend to be more humble and claim ourselves simply, the “sexist” part of the whole food chain.

Steven - sorry for the insult. I get worked up and frustrated, but it is not right.

You can speculate all you want that internet streaming and DVD rev (which you were prepared to drop as an issue, right) are taking away from syndication, but you have no idea. I can certainly say from the inside that studios DEPEND on syndication revenue. DVD’s are cute and all…but not where the business is focused. If the syndication business was materially harmed, studios would have a huge issue.

Point is…you are all speculating and acting PREMATURELY.

Btw, for the writers that suggest that they should look for other outlets. KNOCK YOURSELF OUT! Enjoy getting paid pennies on the dollar. And I presume that if you can go elsewhere, than the studios can also go outside the guild, right? I mean, I know you writers make so little money that no one would ever consider becoming a writer (it’s hardly worth it, right?). Wherever would studios find the talent to write the next thrilling installment of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER or MEDIUM. Those things take special skill.

To think that the internet is going to bring viewers back to television is insane. Find me one person that watched an episode online then went and watched it again on television. If you are around the younger generation at all, you’ll notice the kids don’t watch television at all because they are watching online.

AT THE RALLY TODAY: Just got back from the rally outside of FOX city. Great turnout and spirits are high…hope it lasts. I only have 2 criticisms:

1) WGA LEADERSHIP needs to get bigger amplifiers and speakers for these outdoor mega-events. I wasn’t that far from the speaking platform and still had a hard time hearing the speakers.

2)WGA MEMBERS (AND SUPPORTERS) need to be quiet when someone is speaking. You can talk to your friends later. If everyone would have been quiet and listened, more people could have heard what was actually being said.

Other than that it was a great show of support. Many spoke about how they felt that the tide is really turning, even in the media, and that most people outside of the union are sympathetic and supportive of what the WGA, SAG, and AFTRA is going after. In other words, anyone with a modicum of intelligence sees the unfair way we are being treated.

Thanks to the many many who showed up today. And to the LAPD for giving us both The Avenue of the Stars and for shutting Pico Blvd. down at the end for one last hurrah!

Sometimes you have to forgive, Craig. He means well. He is empowering writers by becoming a director, something we all should do. Congrats.

But Craig is from Staten Island. Might want to check the history. In the revolutionary war, Staten Island sided with the British. A Tory.

Jack M (#346) is absolutely right that the “average salary is $200K” thing has to be revealed for the sophistry it is. Even if the MEAN WGA salary does approach that amount (which is dubious to begin with), the MEDIAN salary that reflects the usual income of a regular WGA member is nowhere near that. Put another way, by the AMPTP’s logic, if my friend Austin, Alex Rodriguez, and I went out to dinner, our “average” salary would be about $8 million a year each. Let’s please make an extra effort to clear up at least this one toxic piece of spin, since it’s starting to circulate in the press without any mitigating context.

Isn’t the real problem in the end here is that writers don’t own what they write. For the most part, you write a script and then give away all ownership of it. That’s the mistake right there. If you invented something and then patented it, and a company wanted to make something out of your invention, they license the patent from you. You sill own the idea and are legally guaranteed to get a piece of whatever profit is made with the invention. I remember reading that Cary Grant got rich not from acting, but because he owned the negatives of some of the films he made and licensed them to the studios. Writers who don’t own their scripts really have no legal right to any further compensation, which is why they have to resort to Unions to extort the studios for residuals. And let’s not mince words. It is extortion, however right it may be.

Anon 355,

“You can speculate all you want that internet streaming and DVD rev (which you were prepared to drop as an issue, right) are taking away from syndication, but you have no idea. I can certainly say from the inside that studios DEPEND on syndication revenue. DVD’s are cute and all…but not where the business is focused. If the syndication business was materially harmed, studios would have a huge issue.”

DVD has been officially dropped. The WGA has shown a willingness to talk.

And if DVD and internet are so cute, tell me why the AMPTP gives us our cute 2.5%?

Calm down. Take a step back. And realize we’re not asking for that much.

And if you’re worried the writer will go extinct, well, that’s the risk we’re taking. It’s true five months from now the WGA could sell its members’ sacrifices down the river. But, again, that doesn’t seem to be apparent.

Is it not daunting that you guys are striking against corporations whose pockets are deep enough to weather anything? Regardless of how much financial pain you can inflict, isn’t it just a write down for them?

I’m below the line. Me… I could last a month or two. I realize there are a fair amount of WGA folk who have made enough income to never worry about bills again. And I know there are others who may live closer to my economic status.

I also believe in men like Dalton Trumbo whose personal beliefs and courage I admire greatly. I believe he would have walked for a strike. But times have certainly changed. Where and when does one draw a line when you have to feed your family?

I suppose there is no individual voice at this point. It would certainly be a lovely thing to see the producers give an inch.

Anonymous,

Sorry to be so confusing. By producer, I mean, well, a producer. Not a network executive, or an assistant to a studio executive, or a guy who makes toast for the star in the morning.

And as several other’s have commented, you seem to need to educate yourself a little on how much writer’s really make. I have not heard of very many writers getting into the business in order to become rich. That’s a good thing, because very few do. Ask any number of television writers on this thread if they’ve ever made anything close to $200,000 in a year. Those who also produce the shows, probably have. The majority of writers would take 5 to 10 years to make that much, I’m guessing. Not exactly what I would call wealthy.

“Writers who don’t own their scripts really have no legal right to any further compensation, which is why they have to resort to Unions to extort the studios for residuals. And let’s not mince words. It is extortion, however right it may be.”

By that logic, any union that ever existed has earned every concession that ever was earned via “extortion.” Such things as weekends, the 40-hour work week, sick pay, pensions, a middle-class wage… all thanks to “extortion.” The American middle class (what’s left of it anyway), owes a great debt to collective bargaining… something most of us recognize as a long-held fundamental economic right in this nation, but which the anonymous Alliance shill gracing us with his/her presence denigrates as “extortion.”

Patrick Meighan Culver City, CA

I belong to no Union. I’m just calling this as I see it. I believe writers should get a piece off any profit made from their work, but if you had any legal right to it, you wouldn’t need a Union to settle this. You’d just take the studios to court. By any definition this is EXTORTION. I’m not placing any value judgement on this, I’m just defining what the Union, and all Unions, do.

While I’m not interested in being a poster boy for “new media,” I gave Ray Richmond an interview at www.pastdeadline.com about how two irrelevant words in my contract protected my DVD interests, back when DVD didn’t exist.

The companies involved with putting out my DVDs weren’t happy when they had to spend hours upon hours removing a laugh track, one canned laugh at a time, from those analog tracks as that was something I’d stipulated for discs. They were even unhappier at my financial participation.

However, if they decide to make the series available for download… the language in my contract won’t protect me then.

Personally, I can’t wait to see the caliber of guest hosts who are willing to step in, as well as what guests will cross the line. I hope the animal acts show solidarity.

ex·tor·tion n 1. the crime of obtaining something such as money from somebody using illegal methods of persuasion 2. the charging of an excessive amount of money for something (informal) 3. the acquiring of anything through the use of force or threats

I would say #3 applies to “collective bargaining”.

If the writer’s guild were serious about union solidarity, they would support their local unions by charging a higher rate for shows produced out of town.

Your idea of solidarity is for you, not for the crew.

“I belong to no Union. I’m just calling this as I see it… By any definition this is EXTORTION. I’m not placing any value judgement on this, I’m just defining what the Union, and all Unions, do.”

No, you don’t belong to a union. Very likely, you belong to the AMPTP.

And, again, what you call “EXTORTION” is the right that American workers possess to band together and bargain collectively, and is to be thanked for every middle-class benefit and wage earned in this nation over the past 150 years.

“Anonymous,” here, can’t be swayed on this. Everyone else, if you’re in the middle-class, or know someone who is, thank “EXTORTION.”

Patrick Meighan Culver City, CA

Alan,

I’ll bet you $20 bucks Arsenio Hall will be guest hosting…

Again, I’m not from the AMPTP, or a producer, just a working stiff. I am not saying extortion is necessarily wrong. I extort my daughter all the time. It’s the only way I can get her to eat her vegetables. Words like “collective bargaining” are just a nicer saying of this, like calling someone ‘physically challenged’ instead of crippled.

I think that’s a great idea. Do you know if that’s ever been suggested (by IATSE or the Teamsters)? Your verbage (“Your idea of solidarity is for you, not for the crew”) makes it seem as though the Guild is outright opposed to your suggestion… a suggestion that this particular Guild member has never once heard until this very moment.

You should know, by the way, that one of the WGA’s current demands is to have the right to honor other unions’ picket lines. So if you, “industry worker,” are in the IA, and you strike in the future, WGA workers would have the right to honor your picket.

That’s not a demand made by a union whose “idea of solidarity is for (themselves), not for the crew.”

I suggest the IA make a similar demand in its next contract. Then we can have some real solidarity.

Cool?

Meantime, save your anger for our Anonymous (AMPTP) friend here, who thinks that you, “industry worker” have no right to bargain in common with your fellow workers, but should be left with your ass hanging out on its own. Bye-bye health plan!

Patrick Meighan Culver City, CA

Patrick, quit putting words in my mouth! I never said you don’t have any right to bargain, just no LEGAL right to residuals because you don’t actually own what you write. If you owned what you wrote in the first place then you would have a greater position of power to demand what you wanted and wouldn’t have to rely on threats from a Union to get what is rightfully yours.

Dear Disappointed, I’m with you! Craig’s one of those WGA members that doesn’t get it and he’s a thorn in the side of the union. I’m a strike captain and I’m logging 40-60 hours a week between picketing, committee meeting, spending my weekends at the guild, and taking care of my team and I’ve personally never seen Craig at any of the studios where I have picketed and if it’s true that he’s working, even as a director, during the strike, well that speaks for itself.

I stop in here every once in a while to see what he’s up to and always go away disappointed in him and ashamed to be associated with him through the union we share. If you check out the definition of pathological narcissist I think you’ll find that he fits the bill which is why he’ll always blow off criticism as lunacy, never feel guilty about what he says and never change.

Anonymous,

We own what we write before we sign the contract. If that contract stipulates 2.5% residuals, well, guess what? We should get 2.5% residuals.

We’re not asking for retroactive fees, dude. We’re fighting for the future. Why is that so hard for you to understand?

Ten to one this annonymous is a shil for the AMPTP.

He has the facts wrong.

He’s attacking writers.

His logic is convoluted and self-serving.

I actually think this is a very good sign. The AMPTP is so scared that they’ve resorted to using this blog!

376, What happens after you sign the contract? You don’t own it anymore. You should.

Anonymous,

Your writer revolution is happening. What do you think will happen if the AMPTP refuses to negotiate? We’ll be left with our pens. We’ll have no choice, but to start over.

This is the revolution, brother. Stick your fist in the air.

A) There is more than one annonymous. If you are truly interested in helping writers, i suggest you differentiate yourself with a nickname.

B) If you really want to help writers, i suggest not pointing out the obvious information that WGA writers already know. (Unless in true AMPTP fashion, you merely want to shift the subject away from what’s in mportant.)

C) I’m on strike with no income and a family. How about you?

“I actually think this is a very good sign. The AMPTP is so scared that they’ve resorted to using this blog!”

I agree.

If the Alliance had such a fundamental, structural, unassailable advantage on the writers in this negotiation, they wouldn’t bother shilling (anonymously, no less) on writers’ blogs. They’d just wait, forever if necessary.

The fear and desperation is showing.

Patrick Meighan Culver City, CA

Vis-a vis the strike “extortion” charge:

Hmmm, let’s see. So by that logic, any union, including the WGA, is guilty of racketeering during a strike and subject to RICO laws. Is that about it? Is that where you’re coming from?

How can anyone talk logic with a person who comes to the forum with that attitude? Miss the good old days of sweatshops and robber barons, are we?

You are either a shill, a union-busting goon, or both. Or just somebody who didn’t get enough love from Mommy. Or too much, like, say, Norman Bates.

‘nuff said.

Off topic a bit — for those writers who are so gung-ho about the strike, who sees anyone with an opposing thought or POV as a traitor, well gosh, love to see the material you guys write. Your characters must be so complex, so insightful — wonder why film today is so painfully bad. Wonder why the characters are flat, black/white, no nuance, no dimension…

A writers greatest asset is the ability to be able to see both sides of a situation and reflect. Ponder. And often, not judge. I see little reflection here and just black/white scenarios. The studios are the assholes and we’re on the righteous side! Hee, haw!!

Both sides f-ed this one up, folks, and shooting down those who want to discuss the situation with sincere reflection and grace just shows your arrogance. You writers. Makes me want to produce. (Almost).

381, I am responsible for Anon posts 360 to 379. I’m not on strike, I’m an editor, have a family and will be affected by this strike if it goes long. I can always do the loathsome work of reality tv if I have to and so have less at stake than you do. On a side note, I don’t think the majority of reality tv ‘writers’ should be classified as such, as I have seen what they do and consider it to be more akin to script editing. Unless you are writing words that talent says or does, and generally these aren’t the same people as the ones who assemble editing scripts, they shouldn’t be called writers.

Anon don’t want to be yelled at,

Both sides fucked up, that’s a given, but who’s fucking the pooch now. Not the writers, boyo. Empathy can only go so far, especially with logic slapping you in the face.

Anon Dude,

I agree with you. Editing is an art in and of itself and should not be classified as anything other than it is… it disrespects both editor and writer.

That said, the WGA is not fighting for reality “writers” anymore. The focus is on new media residuals.

Jack M.

“Ten to one this annonymous is a shil for the AMPTP. He has the facts wrong.

He’s attacking writers.

His logic is convoluted and self-serving.

I actually think this is a very good sign. The AMPTP is so scared that they’ve resorted to using this blog!”

You realize, of course, you just described Craig.

Josh,

You and Craig need to have sex and munch some Buddha. Peace and love.

“I believe writers should get a piece off any profit made from their work, but if you had any legal right to it, you wouldn’t need a Union to settle this. You’d just take the studios to court.”

That sort of legal battle would cost the union far more than a strike. Did you know that the courts have already ruled studio accounting as fraudulent? And yet they still use it…

“By any definition this is EXTORTION. I’m not placing any value judgement on this, I’m just defining what the Union, and all Unions, do.”

You are incorrect. The word “extortion” is legally defined as a crime. Going on strike (with certain tenuous exceptions) is not criminal. Thus, by legal definition, you are incorrect.

And, also, the reason they don’t, as yet, have a legal right to it is because the technology did not exist as of the last time they negotiated. They are working now in order to ensure that they have a legal right to something that anybody with half a brain realizes they have a moral right to (ie: residuals for the use of their intellectual creations), and which they have a legal right to in every other medium to date (all of which they had to fight for when the medium was new).

Amazingly enough there are people who hate this strike that aren’t producers. The people who have nothing to gain by this and everything to lose, like me, are definitely desperate.

From VARIETY:

The crowd chanted “We want a deal” repeatedly. And MacFarlane evoked perhaps the loudest response by recounting that all “Family Guy” assistants had been fired on the third day of the strike.

“Instead of negotiating, they lashed out at the little guy,” MacFarlane added. “What a classy move.”

Now, MacFarlane both chose to strike and to not honor his non-writing obligations. Yet its the AMPTP’s fault? This is dellusional. I am not saying the AMPTP has clean hands at all, but they were negotiating on Sunday when the WGA refused to delay the strike. Think about that. So the producers should just keep paying people to do nothing based on Seth’s concept of morality? Plus, how f’ing rich is Seth MacFarlane.

391, Can it be legally defined as extortion? No. Can it be defined as extortion according to Webster’s Dictionary?

ex·tor·tion n 1. the crime of obtaining something such as money from somebody using illegal methods of persuasion 2. the charging of an excessive amount of money for something (informal) 3. the acquiring of anything through the use of force or threats

See #3.

Moral right crap again. It’s business. You don’t “deserve” jack shit. You deserve what you negotiate for.

Maybe the studios should ask for money back if a project tanks or a pilot doesnt get picked up? You really, morally, shouldn’t keep money for creating crap, right?

Move on from moral talk crap and focus on what you can negotiate for.

Also, writers on a network tv series get a min of 200k if the series is successful. They get about 60% of that if it goes 1 yr. Less if its just 12 episodes. The only thing is, about 10% of writing staffs get paid scale for network tv. The rest of you all get overscale and you know it.

And, look, if you write for the History Channel, be lucky you even get paid. I don’t see the extra skill in writing for WORLDS GREATEST BATTLES…it’s even a push for any sitcom on TV.

Btw, 384’s comment is pure genius.

393,

Striking isn’t the use of force, nor it is a threat. It’s not working until the terms for said work are agreed upon, and publicly displaying dissatisfaction with an employer’s proposed terms.

What is the threat? What is the force being used?

And even if the third definition applied — and I don’t see that it does, but I’m sure someone could do some word juggling to make it sort of fit — it could only be applied in the loosest sense, and would, so far as I can tell, only be used by one who wanted to use a pejorative to describe what unions do.

OMG i am always right so if you disagree with me and the other sheep you must be a PRODUCER!

Anon 392,

“…[the AMPTP] were negotiating on Sunday when the WGA refused to delay the strike.”

That’s a fact. Do know what else is a fact: by 9:30 Sunday night, the WGA had removed 12 of its 26 demands including the “offensive” doubling of DVD resids. The AMPTP did not respond in kind. It made no real concessions. And yet in a public statement by Nick Counter, two days prior, he said once DVD was off the table the talks could begin.

DVD came off the table at 10am Sunday morning (a fact both sides acknowledge). And yet there was no movement on the AMPTP’s side. And not only was there no movement, they also had the audacity to be offended when the WGA allowed the strike to take place.

That strike would have been delayed if the AMPTP had made an offer on a new media formula. They didn’t. End of story.

re: the shift to online

Just released, a study on advertising by IBM:

“About 30 percent of the advertising revenue now resting in the coffers of traditional media companies will shift to online ad exchanges like Yahoo! and Google in the next five years, according to a new report from IBM Global Business Services. More than half of the 80 industry executives IBM polled for its survey anticipate a shift of this magnitude, which would involve billions of dollars, said Saul Berman, a co-author of the report, “The End of Advertising as We Know It.” What’s more, two-thirds of the execs expect 20 percent of today’s ad revenue to shift from media channels with rates based on numbers of impressions to those that are tied to actions, such as click-throughs on Web ads.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE 28 PAGES REPORT HERE: http://www-03.ibm.com/industries/media/doc/content/resource/business/2898468111.html

396, Are you kidding me? What the hell was the strike authorization for? To THREATEN the AMPTP that if they don’t agree to their terms, or at least negotiate decent ones, that they would stop working. I’m only harping on this because in general I don’t like people re-phrasing their actions so they seem more attractive. If I decide to go hunting, I’m not going to ‘liberate animals from the pain of consciousness’. I’m going to KILL them. Anyway, I’ll do you guys a favor and stop lurking here as you have more important shit to worry about than some anomymous internet jag-off. Just don’t delude yourself into thinking I represent the AMPTP. They probably don’t even know what a blog is as it’s on that new-fangled internet thing they can’t seem to figure out how to make money from.

398 - the AMPTP stopped negotiating because you went on strike…they didn’t just chose not to counter your proposals on a whim. can you blame them?

Anonymous Dude -

I was not attempting to argue that there was not any way to find a definition of ‘extortion’ which could not be bent to include striking; I was responding to the comment (which I included) that it was extortion by “any definition”. It is, in fact, not. The very first definition you posted proves absolutely that it is not.

And, when quoting the dictionary, you should know that the first definition is standard; the one you’re citing is a loose definition which applies more to metaphoric use of the word “extortion”.

I would also disagree with even the definition that you are using; there is no “threat” involved. The WGA contract expired. The WGA refuses to work without a contract. The AMPTP knew the contract was expiring, knew the WGA had authorized a strike, and they refused to do any serious negotiation, and ultimately they walked away from the table. There is no force. I am curious what you think the “threat” is.

401 - they walked away from the table before the strike was made official. That’s why the strike was made official. Or did I miss something?

399 - first…30%. 70% still left. Meaning, you will still see network broadcasts and syndication. Means you still get your residuals.

What this does prove though is that the networks aren’t lying when they say they are scared shitless and losing revenue that they used to have every day. Revenue that MAY be REPLACED by the internet. No one has proved how the networks are somehow better off because of this. You want a portion of the SHIFTED ad dollars. So you get your network residuals AND a share of internet dollars. The nets are just trying to get back what they lost. Greedy, greedy, greedy.

Furthermore, just because ad revenue is going to the internet doesnt mean that it is going to the streaming of content. It will follow the sites people visit the most…so MY SPACE. There are, gasp, other things to see on the internet (PORN).

If you are going to strike and cost people their jobs, then at the very least be fair about the issues at hand.

400,

Yes, by god, I see now. Telling an employer you won’t work unless you can both agree on terms for that work is a threat, and following through is extortion.

When I go to a car dealership and tell them I won’t buy the car I want at the sticker price, I’ll walk right off the lot, I’m THREATENING them, and when they finally agree to my terms, or we find some middle ground between the sticker price and my first offer, I’ve EXTORTED them, as I got that lower price by THREATENING to walk away.

I get it now.

Anon 401,

Then what you’re saying is that the AMPTP is incompetent. They made a request that DVD resids be dropped. The WGA honored that request. They should’ve been prepared to counter.

So, yes, I can blame them.

A strike is a legitimate negotiating tool, just like “lack of preparation.” The AMPTP chose to be unprepared, so the WGA decided to strike.

The only difference is the AMPTP is now unwilling to negotiate. They took the strike personally. And emotion has no place in business. End of story.

No, Sean. They walked after the WGA E was already striking. It barely matters, but I’d say if someone went on strike in the middle of negotiations, I personally would take great offense. It’s just bad faith. This is pretty broadly accepted.

Natalie:

Wow, Kay. I support the writers 100%. If you actually have read my posts you would know that. I come here to educate myself and better understand your position.

Huh. I must’ve missed that amongst the “YOU PUT MY HUSBAND OUT OF WORK!” rants.

It really isn’t your business where I am.

Good Lord. I asked because here you are, complaining that the WGA isn’t doing what it should be doing. Basically, Natalie, you’re sitting at home. You’re not on the picket line. You’re not REALLY showing your support, are you? I’m there every day. That’s why I asked where you were. Clear?

But, since you ask, I spent the day working (because my husband was laid off, you see. Something to do with a strike…).

Oh. So you could just lay about at home while he was working, but now you have to do what the rest of us have to do? Priceless.

I don’t think I have earth shattering ideas. i just think that I might have a different perspective. And, you know what? Not one person has ever mentioned on here anything about working with fans to make an impact in this strike, but me. So if it had occured to anyone else, I wouldn’t know. And you wouldn’t know by looking at any other sites, because all the writers are so busy bitching at each other they don’t stop and actually point out how fans can help. Hell, I emailed UnitedHollywood days ago to ask them to put up a post just for the fans because so many commented on the site that they wanted to help - and they still haven’t done that. So, I’m sorry that I had no idea that was being “taken care of”.

I got impatient with you because of your tone, which came across as shrill and annoyed that nobody was stopping everything to listen to your wisdom. You WOULD have no idea that anything was going on because you’re not a part of it. I’ve been telling people every day what they can do. I have my own blog and I tell people what they can do. We ALL do. We’re all telling people they can picket, they can write letters, they can correct stupid shit on the internet. They can send food. They can illegally download current television to avoid letting the companies get the money they won’t pay us.

So, I’m going to pretend that all writers aren’t as miserable and snarky as you and go on supporting your cause. But thanks for stopping in to make snap judgements!

Backatcha, Nat.

Oh Kay, And I see you felt the need to repost your rant! Marvelous! Now with twice the venom!

No, it’s the same amount of venom. As I said in the repost, I was fixing the formatting. And I accept your apology.

Actually, let me amend that; to the guy who originally said that it was extortion, and that the writers should instead take their legitimate grievances to court… I’d like to see a definition of extortion which would include striking but exclude taking somebody to court.

I mean, any force or threat involved in the one is surely involved in the other, right?

406 - the AMPTP needs there to be a cooling off period before they go back to the table. they want to discourage the use of the stricke as a tactic. if they respond to quickly, it emboldens you guys for years to come.

its not like the WGA is clamoring either. It’s always…we are willing to negotiate WITH THIS PROVISO…

This idea of a “counter” is cute, but it was 10 guys in a room talking. They werent in seperate rooms exchanging pieces of paper. I presume it was a back and forth between Bowman and Counter. Everyone says both sides made progress until the strike ultimately scuttled it all. Look, this is silly…I know deep down you are pissed at your guild for not delaying the strike. But here we are. Again…lets just move past the moral high ground stuff. Point is…the people getting fired…their blood is on BOTH SIDES’ hands. MacFarlane is a jack ass.

And, yes, it is a legit negotiating tool. WGA just mangled it.

Kay,

I’m sure you’re correct to chastise poster Natalie, but, shit, suck some of your righteousness back.

Not all WGA members (specifically me) live in Los Angeles and can support the same way you do. It’s very narrow-minded and prejudice. You usually don’t come off as being narrow-minded and prejudice. I understand you’re emotional, but that’s not a free ticket to scream martyrdom.

Natalie is wrong, but she’s not wrong because she’s not in LA fighting the good fight. She’s wrong because she doesn’t understand the issue. She’s wrong because she’s being narrow-minded and prejudice. Debate her, inform her, but don’t act like her.

(And, yes, I do realize the hypocrisy of this post)

Anon 410,

Deep down in my soul, I wanted the WGA to give these negotiations a fair shake. In my opinion, they took a long time to start shaking fair. But by Sunday they did all that was reasonable, in the time remaining, to stop this strike.

The AMPTP did not respond in kind. They came off as petty, unprepared, and lacking testicular fortitude. And if you’re going to sit there and tell me it took balls to walk out of those negotiations, please. Real balls would have stayed there all fucking night, would have ignored the picket signs, and would have fought for what they believe in, no matter what offense came their way.

Take a freakin’ breath Kay — talk about tone, you’re coming across like a royal, well, y’know. Now Natalie has come across as someone truly torn with mixed feelings about everything — what’s the word that I’m looking for? Oh yeah, human being! Her husband has been laid off, without any warning, due to someone else’s strike (at least, that is what I remember in my scanning…). And still, Natalie says she’s supportive of our efforts.

Kay — go back and work on your sci-fi/procedual crap, please. We all need another boring tv show to fall asleep to when the strike is over.

Steven Palmer Peterson: “Nowadays syndication on TV is being replaced by syndication on the internet (which pays nothing) or DVD boxed sets (which pays substantially less due to the crappy DVD rate). Thus that syndication money is being taken away and pocketed by the corporations.

To sum up, not having internet residuals is a hidden rollback — and, stupidly, it’s a rollback that affects people who do a good job more than people who do a bad one.”

EXACTLY. It’s not an obvious rollback, but it IS a rollback. And the studios are being sneaky about it. There aren’t any reruns anymore. There isn’t even true syndication because companies just run their shows on their own cable networks (David Duchovny sued Fox for this years ago). So now they’ve found a way to avoid paying us all that money. They already rip us off for DVDs and now they’re getting ALL the iTunes and streaming money. Of COURSE they don’t want to give it up. They know what they’re doing is wrong, which is why they try to miscategorize it as promotional and shit like that. They will eventually avoid paying ANY residuals at all, so we have to put a stop to it before that happens. The internet – IT’S TOO NEW!

Jack M: “I’m a WGA writer for a tv series. Now on strike.

The average salary is NOT 200K a year. That is pure bunk. It is misinformation put out by the AMPTP.

Please don’t assume it is true.

Furthermore: most tv shows don’t last very long. That means a tv writer has to scramble every year for a job.”

As a fellow scrambler, word. I haven’t been on staff for two years, so it’s even worse!

Worker Bee: Thanks for posting. Your insight into the internet is much appreciated!

“Off topic a bit — for those writers who are so gung-ho about the strike, who sees anyone with an opposing thought or POV as a traitor, well gosh, love to see the material you guys write. Your characters must be so complex, so insightful — wonder why film today is so painfully bad. Wonder why the characters are flat, black/white, no nuance, no dimension…”

Heh. Nice one. Just for your edification, the reason we’re all so gung-ho about the strike is because IT’S A FUCKING STRIKE. We HAVE to be unified. What happened to get us here is no longer relevant. This is where we are. And we NEED to stick together. But I suppose that’s too nuanced and dimensional for you to understand.

“A writers greatest asset is the ability to be able to see both sides of a situation and reflect. Ponder. And often, not judge. I see little reflection here and just black/white scenarios. The studios are the assholes and we’re on the righteous side! Hee, haw!!”

I’m seeing exactly what kind of a writer you are, and I’m less than impressed.

“Both sides f-ed this one up, folks, and shooting down those who want to discuss the situation with sincere reflection and grace just shows your arrogance. You writers. Makes me want to produce. (Almost).”

Stupid writers! Yeah. Heard THAT one before. What a simplistic, narrow viewpoint you have of the world.

“I am not saying the AMPTP has clean hands at all, but they were negotiating on Sunday when the WGA refused to delay the strike.”

And writers all make $200,000 a year. This is patently untrue. They were NOT negotiating. The WGA took DVDs off the table and the producers refused to discuss internet. As for delaying the strike, the producers knew on Thursday when we were going out. They had plenty of time to talk. They chose to walk out because their feelings were hurt. Pussies.

RDJ: You’ve forgotten one thing – we are renegotiating a contract. We didn’t willy-nilly say, “We suddenly want more money. Don’t want to give it to us? We’ll hold the town hostage.” IT’S A CONTRACT NEGOTATION. Geez.

One word, Kay — wellbutrin.

Anonymous Writer Who Doesn’t Want to Be Yelled at,

I’m yelling at you!

Unless you’re willing to post under your real name and put your work to equal anonymous scrutiny, keep your sophomoric criticisms of people’s work to yourself.

I’ll take Kay’s post over yours any day.

First off, SML, thanks for the defense, but no thanks. I am not your enemy here. I do understand the issues and I do support this strike. I have never “complained” that my husband lost his job. I have only made reference to it because the goal should be to get back to the negotiation table. I have money in savings and will look forward to actually spending time with my husband. But, there are many others out there that are not as lucky. Sorry, if I have an ounce of sympathy for others. Please show me where I have been narrow-minded or “wrong”. I would love to know. I have posted pro-WGA comments on every blog I’ve read. I have asked my friends to support. I have brainstomed ways to get your message out there.

Kay, you are the exact reason why many non WGA members (mostly BTL crew) don’t sympathize with your strike. You come off as an arrogant, “I don’t give a shit about anyone else but myself” bitch. Do you think you are making such a big fucking difference because you march for four hours a day? Give me a break! There are crew members who stand for four times that long holding a boom pole over their head or a camera on their shoulders. From what I’ve seen from the lot of you, exercise could do you some good.

My comments make reference to what I see from reading every post in this blog and several other blogs. I have just as much a say as you. How dare you say I’m not a part of it! I am forced by association to be a part of it. You really need to consider that now is not a good time to making enemies.

One of the great strategies in the art of war is to divide your adversaries into warring fractions amongst themslves, thus weakening the opposition, making it easier to defeat them.

Sound familiar?

Natalie,

An example of narrow-mindedness:

“First off, SML, thanks for the defense, but no thanks.”

You are being narrow-minded when you reference the loss of your husband’s job, when you accuse writers of being unsympathetic, and then saying you support the strike without proving you understand it.

You don’t have to agree with us. You can debate us. I, for one, welcome it.

But appealing to our sympathy bone, no matter how genuine, will get you bit. Writers aren’t feeling a lot of sympathy at the moment, read the trades, so coming here, giving us a hollow nod of support, and then criticizing us for not doing the same is going to stir shit up.

Take it or leave it. And when a writer shows you support, no matter how backhanded it may seem, appreciate it.

Kay,

You wrote: “RDJ: You’ve forgotten one thing – we are renegotiating a contract. We didn’t willy-nilly say, ‘We suddenly want more money. Don’t want to give it to us? We’ll hold the town hostage.’ IT’S A CONTRACT NEGOTATION. Geez.”

I know. I’m in agreement.

I’m not sure why you’re YELLING AT ME. If you read the first post I was replying to (393), my response (396), AD’s response (400), and then my last post (405), I think it would be obvious.

The internets can sometimes suck the tone right out of a post, but you know, we’re on the same side.

I’ll even picket with you.

SML: “I’m sure you’re correct to chastise poster Natalie, but, shit, suck some of your righteousness back.

Not all WGA members (specifically me) live in Los Angeles and can support the same way you do. It’s very narrow-minded and prejudice. You usually don’t come off as being narrow-minded and prejudice. I understand you’re emotional, but that’s not a free ticket to scream martyrdom.

Natalie is wrong, but she’s not wrong because she’s not in LA fighting the good fight. She’s wrong because she doesn’t understand the issue. She’s wrong because she’s being narrow-minded and prejudice. Debate her, inform her, but don’t act like her.

(And, yes, I do realize the hypocrisy of this post)”

I’m a little confused, and I mean that honestly. Natalie is complaining about how the WGA is handling things but she doesn’t really know what’s going on. She assumes fans aren’t being included, but she doesn’t really know if they are or not. She got huffy because nobody told her she had a brilliant idea. She’s NOT on the picket line, and she’s miffed because she knows what to do, and we don’t. You, on the other hand, have been engaged in the discussion and never once have I wanted to bonk you on the head because you aren’t here picketing. I understand not everybody can be here with sign in hand, but support goes beyond that. You seem supportive of the strike. Natalie does not.

Hope that clears something up.

The word you’re searching for is ‘procedural,’ and I have only done one procedural in my life. Hated it. Haven’t done any ‘sci fi’ on TV, either. So I don’t know who you think I am. But hey, at least I post under my own name, scumbag.

Apologies, Kay —

Ya know, I feel bad. I shouldn’t have attacked your work. It was wrong. Snarky. Bitchy. Wrong. I just don’t like seeing the little guy or gal (Natalie) attacked so I went on the attack which was stupid.

Sincere apologies. I appreciate your passion, none-the-less.

SML, I didn’t accuse writers of being unsympathetic, I accused Kay of being unsympathetic. There are many people that will suffer due to this strike -and it doesn’t matter who is at fault. That is the harsh reality. So, a little compassion is warranted. But I have never wanted your pity. I do not need it. What is needed is a reminder to focus on getting back to the table.

I don’t need to PROVE to you that I understand this strike. I am a smart girl. It isn’t too complicated. Also, I’m not quite convinced that I am narrow minded for reasons you are stating. People like to throw that word around and it rarely fits the occasion.

And Kay took it upon herself to assume that I have never walked the picket with you. That sure doesn’t make me want to go do it again. If there are people on the picket like Kay, I am better off staying at home.

RDJ: Mea culpa! I didn’t see that you were responding to someone.

It’s the anonymouses. They’re driving me CRAZY!

And thanks for your comments AWWDWTBYA. It is funny how some people think that only they can be frustrated, have an opinion, or matter at all…

Anonymous writer-guy: ‘S cool. Thanks.

Natalie: Sorry, but you’re all over the place. All I’ve seen you say is that the strike put your husband out of work, and then you yelled at everyone because they didn’t take your suggestion. I understand that a lot of people are suffering and are going to suffer during this strike. You’re selfish. I’m selfish. We all are. That makes us individuals. But I honestly haven’t seen you say anything supportive of the strike, so I’m a little confused about your position and about why you’re posting here. Not saying you shouldn’t, I just don’t know why you are.

I’m gonna be able to weather this thing until about the beginning of February, so I’m not exactly in fat city either. Don’t assume you’re the only one struggling, okay?

Natalie, we are all below the line in this corporate world.

Your husband’s career inevitably lasts much longer than a writer who is subject to ageism, shifts in tastes, executive stupidity in their selection of material, sexism and a whole lot of other factors that give us early expiration dates. How about a decline in scripted shows to make the chances for success harder?

Writers have to make it while they can, which is why the value of the work they do manage to create is so important. The AMPTP is advocating their own form of legal piracy by cheating artists. Vent rage at them as they could give a rat’s ass about you, your life or your home. They use your suffering and vitriol as validation that the writers are misbehaving and greedy.

A writer wrote “greed is good” as an indictment of their philosophy, not ours.

Show me any TV career that features a scribe who worked in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s up to today. (Walon Green is probably a sole exception.)

This is a fight for the future of all writers who don’t have resumes as long as the BTL folks often have. When we get laid off in our careers, it tends to be more permanent.

I don’t want to count them, but I bet there are more posts of Writers criticizing each other here than there are constructive posts of Writers criticizing and brainstorming strategies against AMPTAS.

Kay,

I jumped on you because… well… I took your post personally (which I had no right to do). When I hear people use, “You don’t matter unless you’re putting in your time on the line…” it gets my goat. It gets my goat because that argument can go both ways.

You said it yourself:

“You, on the other hand, have been engaged in the discussion and never once have I wanted to bonk you on the head because you aren’t here picketing. I understand not everybody can be here with sign in hand, but support goes beyond that. You seem supportive of the strike.”

So if, all of a sudden, my voice turned to dissent (and I’ve dissented plenty in past threads) you would bonk me on the head and tell me my opinion counts for shit because I’m not beside you, in LA, fighting the good fight.

You would attack my personal circumstance instead of attacking my points.

But I too apologize if you took offense. I was using you as a soapbox unjustly.

I love everyone, even Nick Counter.

Kay, Here are several posts of mine that show a genuine interest in the strike and my support:

“We know all the scripted tv will be down soon anyway, so why isn’t there a more concentrated effort on striking movies? This isn’t in reference to Craig’s movie… I really am curious.”

“Sorry, I meant to put my name. And for what it matters, my husband went down with The Office ship and I am terribly proud of Steve Carell.”

“This was on the Unitedhollywood site. It is a great idea. All the hit shows have fan sites. The Office has several… “My friend suggested every showrunner call upon the fans of each show to send in 4 pennies, representing the 4 cents the Companies won’t add to our DVD formula. (The 4 pennies would just be a symbol, but the fans would be saying, “I’m willing to support this show and the people who create it — why aren’t you?”) Millions of envelopes with 4 pennies in each envelope, sent to every network with a show that’s being shut down, along with a downloadable form with the fan’s name, imploring the network to make a deal with the writers because they love these shows so much they’re willing to chip in the 4 cents the companies seem unwilling to give the writers. I thought it was a great grassroots campaign that could galvanize some of the writing teams & solidify their ongoing relationships with their fans.”

“Holy hell, it just hit me. That is how this strike is different. In ‘88, you guys didn’t have the online advantage. Now, who cares if the AMPTP owns the media? They sure as hell don’t own the internet. You have thousands of blogs and fan sites to plead your case. We are already seeing it with you YouTube videos. It has worked to educate and garner sympathize. Now it should be used to let fans know how they can help you win. I now actually feel like this strike can work.”

Also, if you go to the LA Times page, I use my full name in support of Steven Carell and his decision to not cross the picket even though - gasp! - my husband was laid off. I also have comments on the United Hollywood site voicing my praise of the strike. Funny enough, the key grip left a very different message on the LA Times site about Steve’s decision and I have been chastized by other crew members for my support. If anything my position has not waivered, so I’m not sure why I’m all over the place.

Natalie,

Consider my sympathy and attention revoked.

This should be an easy one for you: the residuals WGA members receive are based on net, not gross, right?

The majority of our residuals are a percentage of the licensing fee paid for the specific use of the motion picture. Where the viewer has a limited window in which to view the motion picture (like cable or satellite transmission), its a percentage of 100% of the gross receipts from licensing fees. Where the veiwer has an unlimited window to view the motion picture (lVHS, DVD), its a percentage of 20% of 100% of gross receipts of licensing fees. The AMPTP wants to apply this same rule to internet delivery, as well.

The ones that don’t adhere to this rule are the first two residual formulas the Guilds negotiated, for network television re-use of motion pictures produced for network television (ie, episodes of series) and use of theaterical motoin pictures on network television. Residuals for network re-use are calculated as a percentage of applicable minimum fee, becasue those (re-)uses are included in the licensing fee paid by the network for the episode. Residuals for network broadcast of theatrical motion pictures is figured as a percentage of 60% of 100% of gross receipts from licensing fees.

I ask because a studio person has said otherwise - and that if they were to start paying out residuals on dowloads, they’d immediately be stuck paying out residuals regardless of whether or not the studios net any income from downloads.

That’s pretty much the gist of the conflict that’s brought negotiations to a standstill. The AMPTP Companies do not always receive discrete licensing fees for the internet use of motion pictures. In fact, the term “promtional use” is shorthand for “non-licensed promotional use.” That used to be reserved for things like B-roll interviews and clips, but the Companies have been appying it very liberally in order to build consumer awareness of their internet presence and web portals. Their corporate parents have been doing the same to build awareness of network internet presence and web portals.

Which, by th way, I think is a good and necessary thing. Building awareness of studio and network inernet presence, I mean. What I don’t like is my employers using our work unfettered in such a way that it does not generate revenue from licensing. There’s a balance to be found and defined, but neither side’s really been trying to do that. If I have one fundamental criticism of both parties in this negotiation, its that they have demonstrated an absolute failure of imagination.

(Which sounds dubious, considering all the Ads in downloads.)

If those ads generate revenue for the networks that is not passed on to the AMPTP Companies in the form of licensing fees, then the AMPTP Companies aren’t seeing any additional revenue from that use of tv episodes. We (meaning writers and the Guild) tend to ignore the distinction between the AMPTP Compaies, the networks that license programming from the Companies, and the corprations that own them all. Sometimes, ignoring that distinction serves our interests — but, in some cases, it would serve our interests to recognize that distinction and work to take advantage of it.

• Ted

“Do you think you are making such a big fucking difference because you march for four hours a day?” - Natalie

She is, actually. I know, because usually I’m standing right next to her. She’s getting cars to turn around. Maybe, in the grand scheme of it all that ain’t so big, but a car here, a truck there — it’s gotta be kind of inconvenient, as I’m sure you’ll agree.

That said, I do think the fans could be a great help. I do think that’s a great idea.

Actually, I think it’s already being done. I know fans of SUPERNATURAL are doing things. I know fans of ANGEL and BUFFY are organizing a day when a shitload of them can come out. I know that there are fuckloads of websites being started for the sole purpose of organizing the fans of ALL shows, to show their support. So, yeah, it’s a really fucking good idea.

Natalie, there’s a man who has his name on “The Office” as an executive producer who makes a fortune. He doesn’t write the show. He doesn’t creatively contribute. He looks at cuts, but has nothing to offer. He does nothing except represent the main ATL talent and sometimes visit the set and nosh on craft service. He’s a manager who gets the title of a producer as a negotiating point that the bum actually doesn’t warrant, deserve or earn. For his lack of abilities he’s gotten to share in an Emmy award.

If idiots like this bum weren’t handed producing titles and large salaries, the AMPTP wouldn’t be so loathe to compensate people who actually truly do work for a living.

SML: “I jumped on you because… well… I took your post personally (which I had no right to do). When I hear people use, “You don’t matter unless you’re putting in your time on the line…” it gets my goat. It gets my goat because that argument can go both ways.”

I certainly didn’t mean it that way, even to Natalie. I responded to her the way I did because of how enraged she got about why us writers weren’t taking her suggestions. That came after her posts about how this strike was hurting HER. Rubbed me the wrong way.

“So if, all of a sudden, my voice turned to dissent (and I’ve dissented plenty in past threads) you would bonk me on the head and tell me my opinion counts for shit because I’m not beside you, in LA, fighting the good fight.

You would attack my personal circumstance instead of attacking my points.”

No. I would go, ‘Hey, SML… I totally disagree with the point you’re making.’ But see, here’s the difference. I like your posts, even if I don’t agree with them. You come across as a thinking human being. Natalie is constantly hiding behind HER personal circumstance, so she’s making it available for criticism. You are not. Does that make sense?

“But I too apologize if you took offense. I was using you as a soapbox unjustly.”

Don’t worry about it. I have no beef with ya.

SML, no problem. It was really only half-assed in the first place.

Priya, I don’t mean to say that picketing is a waste of time. It really does make a difference. I should have worded that differently - I was upset by Kay’s assumption that I have never been on the line with you. What I mean is that it isn’t the be all and end all. It won’t end this strike alone. But I appreciate that the fans are being utilized. I noticed some new sites up today and I am happy to see it!

ABIO, you are preaching to the choir, brother. I have met that man you speak of - and he is miserable. My husband and I always joke about the many ways money is wasted on a set. I guess it isn’t really funny.

Kay,

I’m beginning to realize how right you are…

I also committed the grave error of reading your post our of context…

Re-commence spanking…

“Natalie is constantly hiding behind HER personal circumstance”

Kay, that is were you are wrong. First off, I’m not hiding. Second off, I have already stated that I’m not worried about my personal circumstance. I’m worried about others much more…And thirdly, doesn’t constant imply repeatedly, more than once, always? I don’t think you really know me that well to make that statement.

Natalie,

Wow. Your true colors have certainly emerged, haven’t they? First off, examples of your posts didn’t exactly prove your point.

Now let’s get to the heart of the matter: “I do understand the issues and I do support this strike. I have never “complained” that my husband lost his job. I have only made reference to it because the goal should be to get back to the negotiation table. I have money in savings and will look forward to actually spending time with my husband. But, there are many others out there that are not as lucky. Sorry, if I have an ounce of sympathy for others.”

Wait for it…

“Kay, you are the exact reason why many non WGA members (mostly BTL crew) don’t sympathize with your strike. You come off as an arrogant, “I don’t give a shit about anyone else but myself” bitch. Do you think you are making such a big fucking difference because you march for four hours a day? Give me a break! There are crew members who stand for four times that long holding a boom pole over their head or a camera on their shoulders. From what I’ve seen from the lot of you, exercise could do you some good.”

The money shot! Yes, Natalie, you certainly seem to have a great deal of sympathy for others, you cold-hearted lil thing, you. I have known a lot of crew members. I’ve known a lot of editors, and others in post. They fucking ROCK. And oddly enough, every crew I’ve worked with has been incredibly appreciative of me and what I do. EVERY job in TV is hard, and it’s attitudes like yours that cause this schism. I’m sure your husband has worked with asshole writers or producers, and that’s too bad. We’ve all worked with jerks.

But you just showed that although you claim up and down that you support the strike, you don’t. You don’t give two shits about writers. Actually, you loathe and resent writers. All you care about is getting things back to normal so your husband can go back to work. It’s super-swell that this gives you the opportunity to spend time with your husband. How completely groovy. I’m out there on the picket line for four hours a day and thankfully, how I feel about it doesn’t depend on small-minded people like you.

Why don’t you stop being a hypocrite and just tell the truth? You’d probably be a lot happier.

“My comments make reference to what I see from reading every post in this blog and several other blogs. I have just as much a say as you. How dare you say I’m not a part of it! I am forced by association to be a part of it. You really need to consider that now is not a good time to making enemies. “

Yeah. That’s all I care about — not making an enemy of somebody who whines about how she has to go get a JOB because her husband got laid off. What a rough life you’ve got.

I don’t appreciate being threatened but hey, it’s like being threatened by a fuzzy kitten, so whatevs.

SML: “I’m beginning to realize how right you are…

I also committed the grave error of reading your post our of context…

Re-commence spanking…”

It’s not very difficult to read posts out of context with all the anonymouses!

Seriously, Natalie. The man we speak of is the true villain, a non-writing producer who fought tooth and nail for his title and salary… while selling out his own clients and other key contributors to the show.

He’s a sychophant to those in power, blowing air kisses to Kevin Reilly and Ben Silverman, whilst being condescending to the rest of the world.

And you know what? He’s also given himself big fat pay raises at the expense of the show.

To me, he represents the AMPTP at its worst.

Oh, and he participates in DVD revenue because he negotiated a piece for himself.

The fact that you know who I’m talking about says it all.

Oh, he’s also been encouraging some of his writer clients to “scab” during the strike and continue doing “under the table” rewrites on pilots to aid their chances of going into production.

He’s a producer on all of them, so that’s what he’s got to gain.

To me, there’s the problem and where all vitriol should be leveled.

Isn’t the real problem in the end here is that writers don’t own what they write. For the most part, you write a script and then give away all ownership of it.

No. The “real” problems is, as I mentioned in a previous post, the law is jiggered so as to assign ownership in the script to the financier of the movie as a virtual default. Screenplays are not just work-made-for-hire if written by an employee in the course of employment; they are also work-made-for-hire if they are commissioned or ordered for use in a motion picture.

Tell you what: if the media conglormerates who dominate the copyright exploitation industry use their political muscle to get rid of the work-made-for-hire law, then writers will stop trying to win back contractual equivalents of our authorial rights through individual and collective bargaining.

The law compels assumption of ownership of our copyrights by the AMPTP; the law also compels the AMPTP to bargaing with us for compensation. Either both are “extortion,” or neither is.

• Ted

Natalie:

Thank you for saying that. You should have worded it differently, I agree. Because, you know, some of us aren’t just doing 4 hour shifts. Some do both shifts. Some come earlier to help set up and some stay later to help clean up.

I’ve bartended, I’ve worked at Starbucks, I’ve been a PA. I’ve done a hell of a lot of standing in all three jobs. I’ve pulled doubles in the first two. I wasn’t even close to as tired then as I am now, when I get home from being on the line. As well as the whole walking in circles thing, the yelling and screaming thing, it’s also emotionally exhausting. That last one’s the killer.

So, no. Kay’s not holding a boom or whatever your example was. But know, please, that Kay’s working her ass off — not that she needs to in a literal sense (this is in regards to your [paraphrased] “writers are fat” comment).

In regards to meeting folks like Kay on the line? Frankly, it’s what makes going down there a nicer experience in these not-so-nice times.

I’m not sure how I threatened you, but okay…

I actually have many friends that are writers. The writers on The Office are awesome people and my husband loves working with them. Greg Daniels is one of the nicest guys ever. My husband actually has written and produced short films. His best friend just wrote and directed a high profile movie. I have friends that are actors. I have friends in all areas of production.

I made those cutting remarks about you and not writers as a whole. Because I think that you are nasty and combative. I also think that you have terrible perception about people and love to pretend like you know all about them when you really don;t and have no interest in knowing the truth. My comments in no way reflect that I am not in support of the strike. They reflect that I am not in support of you. Of course, we could laugh this off as a big misunderstanding, but I doubt that you would even concede to that.

Oh and Kay, I didn’t go get a job because my husband got laid off. I already had one. Just another example of you pretending to know…

“I made those cutting remarks about you and not writers as a whole.” — Natalie

“…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.” — Natalie

“From what I’ve seen from the lot of you, exercise could do you some good.” — Natalie

If you have followed the dialogue from beginning to end you must excuse why I flew off in verbal rage. I know it sucks to be out there. I’ve been there (shhh, don’t tell Kay). I also know it sucks to not know how or when it all will end. And I appreciate and respect you standing up for what you believe. My ranting on this site has never been directed at the writer’s strike or the reasons behind it. It has been frustration that all this bickering is doing nothing to actually solve anything. I can promise I will never get these few hours back that I wasted tonight in cat fights. I am passionate about this and I am a good person to have on your side. I am sorry that Kay can’t see that and I am frankly a little ashamed that I even took her bait and stooped to that level.

Sorry that was for Priya. Put the wrong name in the wrong place

LOL! It’s Not-Me Me!

Yay!

Not-Me Me makes a good point, though: “I can promise I will never get these few hours back that I wasted tonight in cat fights.”

Dammit! I was hoping it was Not-Me Me. You did make that good point, though.

I think all the women who have been posting of recent need to be tamed by the physical prowess of real men.

Kay, Natalie, Priya — I’ve taken a testosterone booster and am ready to give you joy.

Yea, it was a good point and I’m sticking to it. No more cat fights. We are all emotional. We would much rather have life go back to normal. In fact, I’m going to ignore this site for a while and go visit some of those fans sites we talked about. And then on Monday, maybe I will go stand on a line. With one of my writer friends…

ABIO, well maybe I could stay for just a while longer….

Thanks for those explanations, Ted - I understand the issue better, even if the last paragraph of #433 leaves me wondering what else I don’t understand, not being privy to the inner accounting methods of the AMPTAS corporations.

Re: the work-for-hire/copyright laws, we do live in California, where wondrous things have occurred after the public voted Propositions into State Law. I don’t see how a spec script should be treated the same as an assignment, even if it is.

I wonder…

It may sound far-fetched (and be ultimately futile due to Federal laws) to consider trying it, but a number of Propositions which are now State law would have been considered insane to even propose 20 years ago.

And fwiw, I second the idea of putting a visible IP address by all the post signatures here.

kay is a moron. no syndication now? i am SMOTHERED in 2 and Half Men.

if anyone believes that paying you guys NO residuals would last a law suit, you are, again, not understanding the complete picture. it’s a f’ing loser of a case. remember too that there are 3 very important guilds that would definitely strike in unison if and when that ever happened. and then you would actually have some leverage and everyone would plainly see how despicable that act is from the AMPTP.

and duchovny sued fox for taking imputing below market rates for it’s internal licenses (google it) for the purpose of calculating modified adjusted gross. zero to do with residuals. everything to do with contingent compensation (you know the % of adjusted gross profits that any writer/actor/director with clout gets) and the definition of MAG. it’s more similar to what peter jackson sued New Line over.

residuals, as you should know, are a FIXED, pre-negotiated percentage of your base compensation (50% for the first repeat). it is not connected in any way to the studio’s revenue, so whether they “cook the books” or not, doesn’t matter.

internet distribution is not the start of some sinister plot. the AMPTP players may very well be trying to find a way to get you to take less (as you would say “screwing you”), but thru negotiation. there are still laws. the nets argue they can stream and not pay you because 1) the promotional language in the CBA supports their position (see bernero’s post on that) and they aren’t profiting and 2) you already get a residual on every “re-broadcast” of an episode and we still broadcast the exact same amount, thus not affecting your total compensation package as negotiated. if point 2 did not exist and point 1 was no longer true, then WGA sues and wins. at the very least, you strike with the other guilds (see above). fact is, the AMPTP isn’t acting crazy at all. They offered a cut, you asked for a raise dressed up as “preventing a rollback”. the AMPTP countered with a 3.5% increase. you declined…still wanting more. YOU WANT. So do we all in our own worlds.

correction…fox for taking an imputed below…

Okay, last one.

Natalie, I’m responding to what you say in your posts. So maybe — just maybe — you aren’t as clear and concise as you think you are. You made a comment before about having to get a job, so that’s what I was responding to regarding that. You also don’t take any responsibility for your words, as Priya pointed out. People aren’t just going to say you’re wonderful because you’re here. Sometimes you’re going to get called on the things you say. But you’re acting like you can do no wrong. Maybe you don’t see how you come across but to me, you act like a victim and anyone who disagrees with you or ignores you incurs your wrath.

I honestly don’t know what your game is but based on your comments about writers, I don’t care if you like a few of them. You don’t respect writing at all, so I have to think you’re only here because of how this is affecting you and not because you really give a shit.

ABTO: Heh. Nice offer.

duchovny case is very interesting…thanks, kay.

“Adding an unusual twist, Duchovny also alleges that series creator and executive producer Chris Carter conspired with Fox to cover up the self-dealing, and was paid hush money amounting to millions of dollars for his compliance. Carter, however, is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.”

GASP. Could some writer’s be greedy, bastards too?

you know, kay, i was gonna insult you and talk about your career thanks to imdb and you would deserve it for being such a condescending, self-righteous ahole…but, whatever…you write for television, man.

one question…to everyone…who here when you chose to become a writer…when it all clicked…said to themselves, “last pro FOR this darn writing thing…residuals…definite deal breaker. but for this form of compensation, i would not be writing.” kay, you didn’t even know what they were when you wanted to be a writer. i bet you felt you were getting paid pretty fairly when you were a staff writer for Millennium. you gonna say without you it wouldn’t have become the smash hit it was? look, i’m not trying to belittle you here. i think you should negotiate hard and get exactly the best deal you can. but don’t act like you are just looking for a “fair shake”. it’s so cliche.

Kay, I used to be senior editor of a magazine, so I am passionate about writing. I understand its importance and I not only respect it, but love it. I will chalk this up to us both being assuming and snarky. I am sorry that I have not come across as an ally. I most certainly am, so I will attempt to post with more care. I don’t pretend to believe that you and I could be friends, but I am on the same side of the picket line as you. And it doesn’t matter to me whether you believe me or care or think I’m wonderful for choosing it. I don’t need my head patted like you infer. I make my choice based on what I perceive to be the just cause.

Anon 262,

You’s dumb.

Anon 462,

You’s dumb.

SML 464,

You’s suck.

I love you anonymous cats who can scream at people from behind the veil of anonymity. But moreover: “you know, kay, i was gonna insult you and talk about your career thanks to imdb and you would deserve it for being such a condescending, self-righteous ahole…but, whatever…you write for television, man.

one question…to everyone…who here when you chose to become a writer…when it all clicked…said to themselves, “last pro FOR this darn writing thing…residuals…definite deal breaker. but for this form of compensation, i would not be writing.” kay, you didn’t even know what they were when you wanted to be a writer. i bet you felt you were getting paid pretty fairly when you were a staff writer for Millennium. you gonna say without you it wouldn’t have become the smash hit it was? look, i’m not trying to belittle you here. i think you should negotiate hard and get exactly the best deal you can. but don’t act like you are just looking for a “fair shake”. it’s so cliche.”

WTF are you even talking about? And if you’re not trying to belittle me, what’s with the ‘whatever, you write for television, man’ bit? And by the way? Yeah. I do. I like it. I don’t see it as a comedown, or the only job I could get. I want to write for TV. So whatever, man.

But seriously. Can you post your question in some form of English?

I’m assuming this is from you as well: “kay is a moron. no syndication now? i am SMOTHERED in 2 and Half Men.”

That just needed to be repeated. Because ugh. You must be one of those anonymous producer shills. And based on your verbiage, you’re the moron, sweetheart.

The fact remains that shows are not being rerun as often as they used to be. The writers on Lost receive no rerun money. Ergo, no residuals. I don’t care what you’re smothered in. You’re being disingenuous, and you know it.

Natalie: I accept your gracious apology.

Heh.

But seriously, if that’s your attempt to shrug and move on, I’m down with that.

Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design! Muahahahaha!

yeah…lost definitely wont make syndication. kay - you make tv sound like a good job. you must like what you do. even though you are getting screwed every day.

lady who works at wal mart = getting screwed.

lady who works on tv show = fortunate.

ask anyone without a red shirt.

sorry for the backhanded belittling. you are right. i just thought you were pretty crappy to that woman.

Scrooge,

“lady who works on tv show = fortunate.”

Christ, can we jam stake into the heart of this one?

Yeah, genius. Scratch anyone who makes their living in the arts, and there’s always a little luck there. But try making it without talent, bubba. If you had a talent that could generate millions of dollars of revenue, you’d stop blowing junkies for dime bags in a heartbeat.

If it were easy, everybody would be doing it, even you. Go peddle petty jealousy somewhere else, ass-bag.

Mwah.

Anonymous 100069785755:

“yeah…lost definitely wont make syndication. “

Learn to read. It isn’t being rerun. Writers get nice residual checks when a show is rerun. I can’t make it any clearer than that.

“kay - you make tv sound like a good job. you must like what you do. even though you are getting screwed every day.”

I never said I was. No other writer ever said they were. But as someone who’s used residuals to make ends meet — and not to buy a new car or a pony or anything even remotely fun — I know how important they are not only to people like me, but to the health and pension fund. Yeah, residuals help THERE, too. And TV can be a great job. Like any job. But it’s a job all the same. So it’s not always sunshine and roses. Again, like any job. Sorry to burst your bubble on that one.

“lady who works at wal mart = getting screwed.

lady who works on tv show = fortunate.”

Aw. How cute. Seriously, aren’t we above this second-grade logic? Simpleton.

“sorry for the backhanded belittling. you are right. i just thought you were pretty crappy to that woman.”

Hilarious. That makes it all better, cupcake.

Seriously, if not one of your personalities understands the point of residuals, I alone cannot help you. But if you have any actual questions, ask away. If not, post all you want. You’ll be posting in a vacuum.

Geez, where the hell’s Josh???

“Yeah, genius. Scratch anyone who makes their living in the arts, and there’s always a little luck there. But try making it without talent, bubba. If you had a talent that could generate millions of dollars of revenue, you’d stop blowing junkies for dime bags in a heartbeat.

If it were easy, everybody would be doing it, even you. Go peddle petty jealousy somewhere else, ass-bag.”

Oh. There’s Josh.

Cool!

I don’t see how a spec script should be treated the same as an assignment, even if it is.

Companies that acquire screenplays make it a condition of sale that the writer sign an agreement that the screenplay be considered a work-made-for-hire. Because they do, the Guild got them to agree to pay MBA minimums for the work, and to offer the writer first refusal of a rewrite. If the writer accepts the rewrite assignment, the Company pays P&H contributions on an amount equal to the acquisition price of the spec plus the rewrite fee.

However … the MBA also covers screenplays that are licensed to Companies, with terms identical to those for a sale (first refusal of rewrite, P&H contributions). So the writer could refuse to sign the work-made-for-hire agreement (and so retain authorship), and demand that the Company license the copyright, in whole or in part, instead.

• Ted

Ted,

Do you know of any cases of films made from scripts that were licensed to Companies, rather than a work-made-for-hire?

• keith

Keith —

I’m not aware of any, no. But I do think writers should know that the MBA anticipates that possibility.

• Ted

Kay, after looking at your IMDB page this blog must be the most you’ve written in 4 years. LOLOLOL

Heh. As you know, nothing is more accurate than the IMDB. I love people who treat it as gospel. Hilarious.

Kay, L2update

Anonymous writer of #384.

Don’t confuse characters with character. A lack of character doesn’t make you a better writer of characters. But it’s only Act I. Too soon for your arc, I suppose.

Not really sure if it matters all that much. I’m a complete outsider; a computer programmer. I know nothing about this side of the entertainment industry.

Just from watching the news, reading blogs, and, perhaps more revealing, the comments of those blogs, I have found I have lost a lot of respect of the Guild and it’s members.

I would be getting a contract breach notice if I decided to just walk off my job; not to mention the bill collectors would start getting antsy.

Yet it seems the Guild wants to throw a hissy fit when the corporation that hired them comes up with more productive ways of using it’s -own- resources.

If the meaning of ‘demand’ is as lose as this post implies, there could be a resolution to the strike. Fingers crossed Ted’s involved in Paris Negotiations.

Ted:

“However … the MBA also covers screenplays that are licensed to Companies, with terms identical to those for a sale (first refusal of rewrite, P&H contributions). So the writer could refuse to sign the work-made-for-hire agreement (and so retain authorship), and demand that the Company license the copyright, in whole or in part, instead.”

Ted:

“Someone who writes a screenplay on spec is NOT an employee. Someone who licenses or sales a spec screenplay to a Company is NOT an employee.

The Guild has jurisdiction over employees only. The Guild represents employees only. The Guild cannot bargain on behalf of anyone who is not an employee. The Guild cannot enter into a contract that sets terms for anyone who is not an employee.

And this means that the MBA cannot include a term that requires the acquisition/licensing of liteary material from non-employees be subject to the MBA.

It also can’t include a term that requires a non-employee and the Company may agree or disagree that the acquisition/licensing of literary material is subject to the MBA.

The MBA cannot include any terms that require non-employees to do anything.

And it doesn’t.

…

The fact that the passage says that the Basic Agreement “shall not, nor is intended to, cover the purchase of literary material … with a person who is not a professional writer” does not mean the purchase of literary material from a person who is a professional writer must be subject to the MBA. I have no idea why you continue to insist this is the case.”

broughcut:

In order for an agreement for the license or acquisition of literary material to be subject to the MBA, the writer and the Signatory Company must first agree it will be subject to the MBA.

If the writer and the Company agree that the license/acquition of literary material will be subject to the MBA, then all terms of the MBA apply, including the terms regarding licensing and acquisition of literary material.

The MBA does not and cannot compel that agreement. Guild Working Rules compel members to option/license/sell literary material under the terms of the MBA, but if you’re not a Guild member, whether or not you want the terms of the MBA to apply to the option, license or sale of a spec screenplay is stricly a matter of choice between you and the Signatory Company.

In a case where the the writer and the Signatory Company agree that the license/acquisition of literary material shall be subject to the MBA, if the writer does not meet the definition of “professional writer” in the MBA, the Guild could enforce the MBA so as to prohibit the license/acquisition from being subject to the MBA … but that’s a term of the MBA that the Guild has not enforced in a long time.

So, summing up:

The MBA does not compel someone to enter into an licensing/acqusition agreement for a spec screenplay that is subject to the MBA, and the Guild doesn’t act to prevent someone who does not meet the MBA definition of “professional writer” from entering into a licensing/acquistion agreement subject to the MBA.

Which means:

If you want to license or sell a spec screenplay under the terms of the MBA, the only thing that stands in your way is finding a Company that wants to license or acquire your spec screenplay under an agreement that is subject to the MBA.

If you don’t want to license or sell a spec screenplay under the terms of the MBA, the only thing that stands in your way is finding a Company that wants to license or acquire your spec screenplay under an agreement that is not subject to the MBA.

In both cases, it’s the “find a Company that wants to license or acquire your spec screenplay” that’s the obstacle. The Guild ain’t even a factor.

• Ted

Hey Priya,

Isn’t it true that the reason you can’t get into the WGA nowadays is because the script that you almost sold to Disney was discovered to be the result of plagiarism and that fiasco destroyed your chances on both fronts? As it should have. Stop acting like you’re some victim when you stole someone’s work and passed it off as your own. The only way you’re a victim is of your own stupidity for even trying it (and getting caught - though not as quickly as some of us would have liked). So I find your holier than thou posts all over the web to be really annoying.

Holy misinformation, Batman. I am not in the Guild because I do not have the units required, because I was fired from Disney before I could accrue those units. I am not barred from joining the Guild.

I have never, nor will I ever, plagiarize(d) anyone’s work.

Bullshit, Priya, and you know it. Stop lying.

Funny how Craig shut down the other thread for degenerating, when this thread hit bottom a long time ago.

Hey Anonymous,

Not entirely sure what I did to you, but this whole thing is kind of silly. Don’t get me wrong, it’s totally flattering that you’re spending the time!

Listen, it’s that important to you? Denise, with my permission, posted the entire story on Writer Action. It should be there in the archives. Have a poke around.

Sorry, that was to #484 Anonymous.

Craig,

see what happens when you don’t give the internet free meat.

get your priorities straight: new threads vs. directing.

Well, that one’s true.

Let them eat cake!