LAist: Writers On Parade - WGA Rally - Day 5
UPDATE: All of Shane’s strikes update are available as Podcasts…
Here’s an interview my son Shane did with Joe Medeiros, head writer for The Tonight Show and a strike captain for the WGA. This interview was done on Wednesday in front of NBC studios in Burbank.
Grab a sign and walk the line!
Shane receives no residuals for this interview and he still has to do dishes but he is available to record things for you and he is familiar with the Zoom H4 Handy Recorder and Audacity.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Update: Here’s Jay Leno talking about the strike…
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Other WGA Strike Posts…
Do writers even need the studios?
Reno 911 and The Office on the picket lines.
November 10th, 2007 at 1:09 am
And a great interviewer is born!
November 10th, 2007 at 9:26 am
Great interview. A little cleanup and it’s ready for NPR.
November 10th, 2007 at 9:38 am
great work, shane. you did yourself proud and performed a real service. keep it up. how about an interview w/ someone from the other side? because you’re a kid they might be willing to talk to you. who knows? you could broker this whole thing!
November 10th, 2007 at 9:57 am
Great Job, Shane!
November 10th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Great interview, Shane! Can’t wait for the next one.
November 10th, 2007 at 10:10 am
Thanks a bunch, guys, I really appreciate the support! Getting an interview with one of the other guys might be harder; but, who knows, it’s possible.
November 10th, 2007 at 10:10 am
Yay Shane!
You’re welcome to come hang out with fellow online TV & movie fans who are supporting the strike at
WGA_Supporters LiveJournal Community (it’s a multi-authored blog representing many fandoms and we’re kicking around a lot of ideas there)
http://community.livejournal.com/wga_supporters/
Fans For The WGA (which covers 27 different TV show fandoms at this writing and more are being added)
http://fansforwga.ipbfree.com/
Fans4Writers (started by fans of Joss Whedon’s shows but soon to be populated by other fandoms)
http://fans4writers.org/
November 10th, 2007 at 10:21 am
Cool interview, it was nice to hear the side of an actual writer stating why he was on strike, and what the writers are striking for.
November 10th, 2007 at 10:27 am
Chris: that was mostly what I was aiming for. Thanks for the support.
November 10th, 2007 at 10:51 am
“The 80s when VHS and DVDs came about” that’s a fallacy
DVDs did not come out till the 90s!
What happened to the WGA did Ralph Nader take over? Going on strike was WAY over the TOP! Espceially when the country is at WAR and many of these writers RIPPED stories off the headlines to sell to the corps. as “patriotic propaganda” after 911.
If the UAW was able to come to an agreement with FORD ( a crippled corp), the writers could of of negotiated for as long as possible, but hey ….
George Santayana:
Those who cannot remember the past are condemmed to repeat it.
Karl Marx:
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.
Right now this WGA and AMPTP impass is playing out like BAD SITCOM, what else can you expect from the people who WROTE the BAD sitcoms.
I love the fact that he admits that he was in ADVERTISING for many years. The same guy trying to sell you underarm deoderant is trying to sell you the idea that JAY LENO IS FUNNY.
November 10th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Shane — Nice work. Not quite sure what “losing my job in 3 weeks” was trying to say…..but don’t mind that post, obviously the person is unclear on the concepts. And perhaps their chosen log-in name speaks for itself? Maybe they should join a union that could advocate for them? Your interview speaks for itself. Well done.
November 10th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Ned — you should change your log in name to “Speaks for Itself”
I am a member of a union (DGA) and I don’t use the same hackneyed phrase twice in one paragraph…that’s BAD writing technique and more ammunition for the AMPTP…
Your post was snobbish and condesending it illustrates the present mentality of the WGA.
November 10th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Losing my Job…..
I’m not a member of the WGA.
Oh, and in response to your juvenile 2nd post
….whatever.
Keep it up, Shane. No worries about this person.
November 10th, 2007 at 11:37 am
As a IATSE local 44 member I support the WGA.
Several random responses to “Losing my job in 3 weeks” You seem to propose that until W’s idiotic adventure in the middle east ends we should postpone all labor activity? HUH?
The studios are the ones who forced the break off of negotiations with their bad faith actions of last Sunday.
Yes, history does repeat itself. Which is why unity amongst labor has proven time and time again to be critical to the overall health, welfare and financial future of working people.
Finally, I personally don’t find Jay’s monologues to be very funny either but apparently a lot of Americans disagree. It has been number one in its’ slot for over a decade. American auto manufacturers designed and manufactured crap for years, should we penalize the UAW members?
To sum it up….HUH?
Finally, great interview Shane! I wish I were as articulate as you are at 15.
November 10th, 2007 at 11:51 am
you got it kid!
November 10th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Lost my job this week said,
Yes, history does repeat itself. Which is why unity amongst labor has proven time and time again to be critical to the overall health, welfare and financial future of working people.
I say — Right just like the WRITERS SUPPORTED THE TEAMSTERS STRIKE….Oh WAIT, they didn’t….
You guys don’t want to hear about the WAR because it does not effect you. Because YOU like to be comfortable, luckily for them most of the people on the picket line are very very comfortable….With people bringing Starbucks, Tacos, Cookies etc…to them…Our soldiers are eating Ready Made Meals and their not part of a union. Next year maybe they can send their Oscar gift bags to BAGHDAD.
Three white guys in suits telling stale jokes in late night slots….Which one do you like America? Which one is the least stale? WOW that’s a rip roaring endoresement.
The Tonight show has not been funny since Ed McMahon opened up his last can of ALPO on the air. Some show.. A COMMERCIAL WITH COMMERCIALS…PLAYHOUSE 90 it ain’t.
Re: the UAW has already been penalized, most of their jobs have been sent overseas. I’m sure you were raising holy hell over that.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1VZz5AgOqI8
November 10th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
As a fellow member of a union you should keep your mouth shut even if you disagree.
You really should hold off on the writing critique as well. Although you refrained from using the same sentence twice in one paragraph you have no problem using CAPITAL LETTERS when lower-case letters would have done the trick. “WAY over the TOP!” Am I supposed to emphasizing both of those words when I read it? If so, doesn’t the exclamation point make your sentence a little redundant?
Why did you capitalize ADVERTISING? Are you yelling it?
Stop using the war (or should I say “WAR”) as a reason why people should stop fighting for that they feel they’re deserving of. The moguls brag to their shareholders about how great things are going one day and then cry poverty to us the next.
And thanks for the lame quotes. Here are a few for you:
Robert Towne:
Until a screenwriter has done his job nobody else has one.
You’re welcome!
As a member of the DGA you should be on the picket lines with us.
Great job, Shane!
November 10th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
Glad you’re losing your job said,
As a fellow member of a union you should keep your mouth shut even if you disagree.
I say— Spoken like a true facist—MEPHISTO.
In the AGE of YOUTUBE anyone is a screenwriter.
November 10th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
WHAT’S a “facist”? DID you MEAN “fascist”? Even YOUTUBE shares it’s ad REVENUE with THOSE who PROVIDE it’s CONTENT. I’m ABOUT as much OF a FASCIST as you ARE a MEMBER of the DGA.
Your arguments have more red herrings than NATE N’ AL’S.
November 10th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
losing my job in 3 weeks,
The one recurring point you seem to have is that we shouldn’t be on strike because we should be dedicating ourselves to the war.
What?
That’s insane. We don’t devote our lives and ignore all of the other issues that we have because there are people dying in Iraq; we do what we can to get those people out, and while that’s happening, we deal with the issues that are effecting us. For instance, health care is an issue, and not at the expense of the Iraq war, but because it’s it’s own problem. Helping disabled people; are we supposed to stop running that and devote the rest of our time to the Iraq war?
They’re all problems that have to be dealt with. We don’t exclude the others from taking an important place on the list of things we’re dealing with, but we deal with all of them. Individual people usually deal with the individual problems that effect themselves first, and then deal with things effecting people that can do little to protect themselves or at least deserve more protection.
Writers serve an important function in media and entertainment today - obviously, because of the lull in TV and film production. And the writers are suffering (because, no, they aren’t all head writers and screenwriters who end up landing major movies) from lower income than they deserve to be getting. So - is it wrong for the WGA to strike because their members aren’t getting enough money? No. That’s what unions are there for: to protect the rights of workers (whether they be writers, actors, or anybody else), and that’s all that this union is doing.
November 10th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
glad you’re losing your job—
I knew you would be able to spell that word. When you tell people to shut up, you are denying their right to FREE SPEECH.
November 10th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
I am not on any side. I appreciate this interview. It does give some good insight.
What I don’t like is no one seems to be asking the harder questions. Like how the strike is affecting those not shielded by a large bank account. Or those of us who are not in any union and are “apparently” so far down the pipe in the production process that no one seems to notice.
Sure many lower end union jobs are being affected by this mess. But even more NON-UNION workers doing things most these guys don’t even realize are also being hit hard.
Slowly but surely more people are not showing up to work at my place of employment. Not because they’re backing the strike but because there is no longer any money to pay them with.
I guess my point is I wish the WGA had waited longer, and tried harder to negotiate before pulling the pin on the grenade. My sector of the Hollywood industry is losing a lot of great people. People that when this mess is all over most likely will have moved on to other jobs or will have been replaced by cheaper over-sea alternatives.
November 10th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Dear losing my job in three weeks,
Re: The WGA didn’t support the teamsters. My point exactly, as long as we all keep finger pointing and squabbling the studios continue to run laughing all the way to the bank .
Of course the soldiers aren’t in a union. If the government allowed them to form one they might strike for functioning body armor, or up-armored Humvees or maybe to just to to stop fighting a stupid pointless war. Don’t presume to tell me I don’t want to hear about the war. There are plenty of blogs and websites devoted to that topic & I discuss it on THEM. The topic HERE is the WGA strike.
And if I liked to be comfortable I wouldn’t do a job that requires dragging around wet 2 1/2″ fire hose at three in the morning, or running a gag that requires me to be inside of the exploding building, or feeding 250 pound blocks of ice into a chipper on the back of a moving train etc. etc.
Yeah I have an American Express Platinum card, it keeps them from mistaking me for a homeless person when I go into the market at 4 am, covered in soot, grease and that mystery stuff that lifts up out of the alleys downtown when we blow steam into them.
P.S. Actually our troops do get Taco Bell & Pizza Hut, we paid Haliburton & KBR to build giant bases where they sell American fast food to our troops. See I do follow the war.
November 10th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
losing my job in 3 weeks-
Everything you’ve written up to this point relates to your basic premise that the writers should just shut up. Aren’t you being a tad hypocritical?
I know that you know I’d be able to spell that word. It’s because I’m literate.
Let’s summarize what you’ve said up to this point:
1) Writer’s should shut up because there’s a war going on.
2) Joe Medeiros has nothing important to say because he’s not that funny.
3) Anybody in a union that expects other union members to sympathize with their cause is a fascist.
4) Anyone can call themselves a screenwriter.
You’re brilliant. Since you’re out of a job in 3 weeks and care so much about this war, please visit goarmy.com and enlist. You can take them all the tacos, cookies and Starbucks your Lilliputian heart desires.
November 10th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Shane –
There are several wars (Iraq, Aghanistan and soon maybe Iran)going on and to put a lot of people out of work during this sad time in our history is and was ill advised (actually it’s embarrasing). The more I hear you say it does not effect you…the more you sound like you are cloistered in BURBANK and want to remain that way.
Most of these posts are myopic and lack empathy for those who are losing their jobs. Interestingly enough when Los Angeles is semi-recovering from all the work going to CANADA.
No, I’m not saying they should not be striking. All I’m saying is that the time they picked to go out was stupid. A time when the country is thinking more about the WAR than who writes 30 ROCK.
It’s real hard to have sympathy for those who are putting people out of work, when everyone is thinking about their relatives who are in Iraq or Afghanistan. Now they have to think about being unemployed too.
The working - class writers you refer to are working class because the 5% who monopolize the writing jobs, do so because they don’t want to spread the wealth. They can’t even pay their assistant (who probably do 90% of the work) a living wage, and now those assistants are losing their jobs too.
This is a conversation that should be happening, because ethically as fellow union members we should all be thinking about keeping people working, not whether 4 cents more on a DVD is enough. Negotiations should never have broken down….it is shameful…Like any chess player the WGA should of thought out 10 steps ahead and seen that the corps were ready for this fall out and declare it as a loss in their corporate books.
November 10th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
I support the WGA writers in their strike. As an animation artist myself we see no residuals for the work we do under the studios draconian work for hire contracts. I wish we did, my life would be so different considering the mega money makers I have worked on in my career. Even though my corner of the entertainment industry sees no residuals, I want to see the writers get theirs. In the hope that someday we animators could get a small piece of the pie. If the writers are shut out of the future technology then our lowly corner of the entertainment industry doesn’t stand a chance, and to completely loose all hope is something none of us wants to experience.
With this topic in mind I present my latest cartoon, “The Writers Strike Back”, it’s up at my website now.
http://www.whatnowtoons.com
November 10th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Shane,
I couldn’t have done a better interview myself and I’ve been doing them for 15 years. Thanks for sharing this with the world.
November 10th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
LMJI3W - “Finally, great interview Shane! I wish I were as articulate as you are at 15.”
I kind of wish you were as articulate as him now. If you feel the need to talk this much, about what NOBODY else here is talking about, an idea would be to start your own blog, link to it and quit crapping up the comments here with your bizarre rambling, kthx.
Shane, great job. I look forward to hearing more interviews.
November 10th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Losing my job in three weeks –
What I’m unclear on is…you’re in the DGA. Clearly, you have chosen a career in entertainment…which means Hollywood. Unless you’ve been working on product that has a very specific message about the topics you mention, such as documentaries or the news, how can you spend all these hours posting rants about war and unions and who supports whom when you most likely are working as a DGA member on product that is designed as frivolous, non-message entertainment? You seem more than just a bit hypocritical. And, one would ask, have you been attending the numerous DGA meetings in preparation for your own guild’s contact negotiations, which could technically begin anytime in anticipation for the June ‘08 contract expiration? What are you personally doing in response to all the things you are taking issue with WGA members about and what will you do if your own union goes on strike? Because, don’t forget, untill 3 weeks ago, the DGA and WGA and SAG were all anticipatd to go on strike together in June. Your own union might have been first to the picket lines. If all your posts are assembled as one long op-ed piece, and you take your “name” into account”, it becomes painfully clear your real issue is that you’re upset because you’re about to be out of work and you think the WGA is responsible. OK. Makes sense. But I will say again: you chose to make a living in Hollywood, where people go on strike. Where unions, including the DGA, take stands. Where big business takes stands. And where most everyone doesn’t spend a heck of a lot of time talking about, working on, or doing something about serious issues. That’s the game in this industry and by chosing to work in it, you’re the pot and you’re calling your WGA kettle friends black. So…if you’re genuinely not happy with your peers and co-workers and neighbors, as your posts suggest…find a new career!
November 10th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
Dear Shane,
Great job and good thing you’re voice has already changed!
I got the feeling, “losing my job in three weeks” was envious of, everyone. And very bitter. I also got the feeling he could be losing his job for reasons not associated with the strike. Like professionalism. Why can’t the guy use Spellcheck?
But I have a riddle for you if you’re going to sniff around journalism.
Name the one court most used by the public most often, and for the longest period of time that the media doesn’t cover?
Give up?
Family Court.
And, because Family Court, isn’t covered, neither does anyone really know how often parents wig out and kill their children.
But I do. See http://www.FamilyLawCourts.com/kids.html
(Dead kids listed alphabetically by state.)
As it turns out Shane, “family values” is but a myth.
So it’s always nice to see a Dad brag about his kid like your father does you. That’s very cool, Shane.
You and your family don’t appear to ever be likely to be in the grasp of family court. . .the single most intrusive, privacy invading court in the nation.
Other than family court - name one other court that has jurisdiction over where you live, when you can go on vacation, whom you take, where you can go, and whether or not you can smoke.
Give up?
There isn’t one.
Now…ask yourself in this world of the “watchdog press” why the most repressive court in the nation, seems to have escaped the notice of the “watch dog press?”
Kinda spooky, eh?
Take care Shane. You conducted a great interview so rock on.
November 10th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
FGO said: “I guess my point is I wish the WGA had waited longer, and tried harder to negotiate before pulling the pin on the grenade.”
FGO, in the 80s the studios asked the WGA to accept a decreased residual on home video until the then-new market found its footing. Well, the market found its footing and for the 20-plus years since, the WGA have been fighting the studios over numerous contract negotiations — with no luck — to get the home video residuals up to scale. Now there is a new market, the Internet, and the studios are trying the same needs-to-find-its-footing argument to deny writers residuals — residuals that once forgone, history has proven hard if not impossible to gain. So, I ask, how much longer than 20-plus years do you expect them to wait?
The time is now and the fight is writer. Go WGA!
From a proud SAG member.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:15 am
A Message from “Below the Line”
I like many other “Below the Line” employees will be out of work in the next 3 weeks. I’m a Property Master in Local 44. I’m a Union member. I understand what it means to have union solidarity. I also am in favor of fighting for what you believe is a fair deal. What I don’t support is putting other people who, like me, are “Below the Line” employees out of work for my own selfish needs or wants. A writer is not “Below the Line”. A writer is usually a “Producer” or “Executive Producer” or “Show Runner” who has not only his Union contract, but also a personal contract, negotiated by his or her personal “Agent” and or “Attorney” or both. And while they are on the Picket line doing the “right thing” for their union, they are also collecting their checks from the shows they walked out on, as a result of their personal contracts with studios or networks. What is even more incredible is that the reruns that the network is forced to show while the strike is in effect, are also the shows that the striking writers will receive a residual check for. But no “Below the Line” employee will. What has not been made clear to the public is the long lasting ramifications that will affect the thousands of people who work paycheck to pay check. Homes foreclosed, Cars repossessed, Children and families dispossessed. What the public doesn’t know, and has not been enlightened to is the “Pay or Play Deal”. Most writers who are on a show / series / movie will be payed regardless of the following Consequences such as Show cancellation, Walk out, Strike, what ever. This has been negotiated by their personal Attorney or Agent or Both. No “Below the Line” person has any such Deal! So when a show goes down, “Below the Line” peeps go down. Not the Writers, Not the Producers, Not the Actors, Not the Studio Heads. They All still get payed regardless.
I was once told by a Writer Executive Producer how little he really cared about a show we worked on because he would be payed for it know matter if it was cancelled, or not.
We the public have not been given any financial documentation that substantiates such drastic measures as a strike. All we have been told is that the Producers are making loads of money in DVD and Internet Downloads. If that is true then show us. If that is your assumption then shame on you!
If you are negotiating for a contract on what (could be) instead of what is, then shame on you! You are being selfish and Greedy, at the expense of many “Below the Line” people, and you are hurting us.
WE think you were too eager to strike
WE think that you are not compassionate to others less fortunate than yourselves.
WE think that you and your Union have not tried every avenue to resolve your differences.
WE think the term Writer Executive Producer is a complete oxymoron.
WE think the writer’s strike is Narcissistic.
Narcissistic Synonyms: arrogant, big talking, bigheaded, chesty, cocky, crapper, gall, ham, hot shot, hot stuff, immodest, know-it-all, loudmouth, narcissistic, overweening, phony, puffed up, self-important, smart-alecky, snooty, stuck up, swollen-headed, vain, vainglorious, windbag.
When it is all said and done it will be the “Below the Line” people who will suffer the most and be heard the least.
WE the “Below the Line” people DO NOT endorse your actions!
Good Day!
November 11th, 2007 at 10:25 am
just got my ‘I SUPPORT WRITERS ON STRIKE’ tee!
http://moeschwag.com/isuwronstt.html
November 11th, 2007 at 11:05 am
I was once below the line - way below. I worked for years to become a writer and get into the WGA. I lost my job in 88 as a below the line employee. Even then I never forgot where my money came from - people with ideas who took the time to write them into script form and sell them. We appreciate everyone who is working with us on a project. But it’s the studio who decides what you’re paid (they have a budget) and whether or not you’ll get paid. We show runners have no control over where they air the product and the publicity they give it. They cancel things on a dime and there’s no court of appeal. That’s the life we signed on for. Every project is a Vegas crap shoot for the above the line people as well as the below the line people. It’s an open market. Some above the liners do make a lot of money. One project can garner them more than I’ve ever earned in my entire lifetime. I don’t begrudge them that - Heck, I hope to achieve that. It’s called the American Dream. If you were clever enough to come up with an idea that everyone wants, say the car, the iPod, the show “Friends”, you should earn a lot of money. It’s alchemy. Lightening in a bottle. It may only happen once in your lifetime. If you can’t take the constant pressure of having and losing a job then you must move onto a job with more security. Oh wait - even Corporate America doesn’t offer security. That’s the world we live in now. If you don’t like that world, then open your own business and treat the employees the way you want to be treated.
November 11th, 2007 at 11:41 am
The Above The Line / Below The Line debate reminds me of the ‘tip worthy’ speech from Reservoir Dogs.
I’m below the line although my show isn’t effected by the strike because it’s News. None of that determines my sentiments on this, though.
It benefits the Studios for people to think it’s WGA vs. Below The Line. While the workers fight it out and point fingers, management whistles. It’s an old story.
November 11th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Whoa, someone finally did talk about my point I made earlier. And my champions post was for the LA TIMES of all places?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2007/11/i-was-until-rec.html
November 12th, 2007 at 6:13 am
this is better coverage– both interview and comments– than anything in the MSM, or even the major blogs covering the story, like HuffPo. Thank you, Shane! I love the Towne quote, and I would take it further… in any communication enterprise, there is no “there there” until the writer does his job. And yet we’re so “disposable.” I support the WGA for many reasons, but one in particular is that we so rarely see a place where writing gets noticed at all, as if it is something of value. Most writers who make money for others get paid nothing, a tiny fraction get paid pennies, and the only ones who are organized are in the film/TV business. I hope the WGA pins the studios to the wall, and that I get to see a “trickledown” effect.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:01 am
is it just me, or does this post allow no access
to the actual interview?
what up?
computarded.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
The DGA would not make a suicidal effort to go on strike. The DGA is a union that believes in people working, not unemployment. As a matter of fact, the DGA is one of the only unions to study runaway productions and it’s impact on the Los Angeles economy. The DGA went on strike for 15 minutes back in the late 70s and soon settled it. The DGA negotiates, negotiates, negotiates. The DGA was looking to negotiate the contract early to hold of a strike by the other unions.
I have nothing against the WGA…I just think their strategy is and was flawed to go on strike….First of all, who goes on strike before the holidays? Sure the stagehands in Broadway can do that ’cause what do people do on their holidays? They go to Broadway to see plays…so strategically it works for them. Los Angeles empties out during the holidays are the writers still going to be walking the picket line during Thanksgiving? the Jewish Holidays, Christmas?
Strategically maybe pilot season would of been better because then the corporations do not have product to sell to the advertisers during the summer upfronts.
Sure creative people come up with ideas, but let it be known that “below the line” crew are also creative individuals who write, direct and produce their own projects with the money they earn working as say craft service or as a camera assistant.
A project is nowhere without the art of the dealmaker. The agent, manager, lawyer and producers. You can write all you want, but if you do not have a producer or network to pitch it to, then your writting will sit on the shelf, or in this AGE of You TUBE one can shoot it, edit it, cast it and produce it themselves. Remember the most talented writers, like Hemingway, can be found for free at the library or a used book store for 50 cents, then you can pass it on to your kids without ever having to pay the Hemingway estate for the re-read of the book.
My point is that as unions we should be interested in people working in Los Angeles, not unemployment and strategically I think this strike move was flawed.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Losing,
Okay - I’m really asking.
So you think the WGA should have signed a contract that gave them 0% of digital revenues? Nothing at all, they should have agreed to that?
November 14th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
No —Lee —they should of kept working and kept talking…Sooner or later they would of reached a real negotiated agreement. Like diplomacy…it takes time and effort. They spent 4 months talking about it, then pulled the trigger on the “nuclear option”, thus causing collateral damage to the Los Angeles economy.
November 14th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Well - the contract was up, right?
And it doesn’t seem like the WGA are the ones who stopped talking, right?
November 15th, 2007 at 6:05 am
Interestingly enough the WGA waited till the last minute to present their laundry list of demands. Many unions keep working after the expiration of their contract. The DGA has done it as has the WGA, SAG, AFTRA, UAW and so on in the past.
That is why I question who and why they pulled the trigger on the “nuclear option”. We bitch about Pres. Bush not using more diplomacy and using the war as the final solution. This strike mirrors the same steps he took, to take us into Iraq.
A strike should happen only after they have exhausted all negotiations. Their 4 months of negotiation was spent more on getting them to the table than talking. Everyone should of put their egos aside (and there are HUGE egos in Hollywood) and thought about every single move they made.
Obviously, the corporations were in the cat bird’s seat. I hate to beat a dead horse, but in the AGE of YOUTUBE…one can find many talented individuals who are producing content for FREE hoping to be discovered by these corps…
And they are getting development deals…So I don’t know what anyone was thinking about going on strike before the holidays.
This strike effect economies in California, New Mexico, Louisiana, Texas, NC, NY…All places where series are filmed. Does no one at the WGA watch CNBC? Foreclosures, high oil prices, a mortgage meltdown…It’s like they are living in an insular pod and we are all out here saying…HELLO?
November 15th, 2007 at 7:59 am
I’ll strongly disagree with one point - the age of YouTube shows two things…
1) Airtime is a commodity; there’s an limitless supply now so the studios no longer have a monopoly.
2) Talent isn’t a commodity and neither is that ineffable quality that makes people want to watch.
So, I think the WGA is really in the power position.
November 15th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Three years ago, the WGA’s contract expired, and writers worked under terms of the old pact for five months. Eyeing the impasse, the DGA reached out to management to launch its own talks, with the directors sidestepping a fractious debate over DVD residuals to secure a deal providing $60 million in health and pension gains.
The WGA ultimately accepted a similar new contract.
—-This from todays Hollywood Reporter–
2) Talent isn’t a commodity and neither is that ineffable quality that makes people want to watch.
Everyone has some kind of talent , if it’s being a jerk or auditioning for American Idol..Stupid dog tricks….etc.
Talent is a commodity….For example, CENTRAL CASTING, FILM SCHOOLs in Los Angeles.The plethora of aspiring screenwriters sitting at Starbucks. The Walk of Fame. Music Inst. of Technology.
…The question is who gets through the gates and who dosen’t…Remember it’s who you know, who your agent knows (if you have one) or who a friend knows. So Johnny Smith, school teacher from Greenville, KS has a less chance to have his historical feature read than someone in the club. Just ’cause one is a member of a union does not mean the golden seal of talent.