Same here. Didn't Kay Alden groom her to be her successor or was that just a rumor? Well, if that was true then I would def. want her to stay, assuming that Kay won't be returning.

If Bradley allowed (which I'm sure he would), Kay could continue to write for B&B and either consult or write for Y&R at the same time. That's what Jack F. Smith did for years...

At this point I'd even welcome back Jack F. Smith and I never thought I'd say that...

Ooops double post...

Edited January 8, 200817 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Same here. Didn't Kay Alden groom her to be her successor or was that just a rumor? Well, if that was true then I would def. want her to stay, assuming that Kay won't be returning.

She said earlier this year I think that is who she would have wanted to take over after she was gone. Something along those lines. I was surprised she wasn't brought over to B&B when Alden began her work there.

We never got total confirmation about Kay Alden's ordained successor but by all accounts (especially when you consider that the only other contender, Janice Ferri Esser, is only a few years younger than KA) it was supposed to be NMS. I have two thoughts when it comes to NMS not coming to B&B.

1-Brad Bell didn't need her, doesn't know her and only wanted KA.

2-She stayed at Y&R so that if LML was fired she could make a play to be HW just as Kay had envisioned all along.

I like NMS and her work. I think she's currently working as a script editor which was the position KA held before becoming AHW in 1987. It seemed that KA really wanted to have NMS go though each hoop of writing so that she had a wider breadth of knowledge before becoming HW.

In an ideal world I would love to see Natalie Minardi Slater and Trent Jones as Co-HW's with Kay Alden serving as a story/creative consultant because I think she has a lot to offer in terms of show and character history, Y&R traits and show pacing. KA knows Y&R better than anyone else since she worked at it longer than anyone else and I think her input would be invaluable. As a consultant she could stay at B&B as AHW and keep herself active without burning out. She'd also be able to avoid dealing the corporate heads at Sony and CBS which is something which I think really got to her.

Edited January 8, 200817 yr by DaytimeFan

http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/?p=3382

Thursday, January 10th, 2008

Up to 1,000 could be laid off at Warner Bros. this week

By Juontel White

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 1/9/08 – It may be Black Friday next week for Warner Bros. Studio employees in Burbank who received 60-day layoff notices to its employees on Nov. 12 last year. Though production has been ceased or interrupted in most all Hollywood endeavors, this would mark the largest job cut and signal the start of other mass layoffs.

Writers Strike conspiracy theorists say the layoffs and production company contract cancellations by force majeure clauses are being used by studios to trim fat and get rid of unproductive deals. (See related HT stories) Others see it as a sad signal the WGA strike is expected to run several more months until the Screen Actors Guild contract are up and the growing price tag forces studios back to the table on issues like Internet pay.

The notices were legally mandated by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARN), which requires that employees be given advance notification of possible job eliminations in the occurrence of a strike.

The Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) strike passed the 60-day mark as reached its 65th day on Tuesday, which means major layoffs are expected to occur throughout Hollywood during the oncoming weeks.

The Warner Bros. action “represents the first concrete sign that the strike could trigger massive job cuts across Hollywood,” according to author and celebrity publicist, Michael Levine.

“Having worked with Hollywood stars for 25 years, I remember clearly that in the 1988 WGA strike, almost every studio eventually laid off scores of workers as the five-month work stoppage dragged on,” Levine continued.

“We regret the impact this will have on our employees, and we hope to bring them back to work once the WGA strike ends,” said Warner Bros. spokesperson Stacey Hoppe.

Other studios across the country have already begun job and budget-cuts. Fox, for instance has nixed paying overtime for several positions. NBC network took a hard hit after being forced to cancel the annual Golden Globes scheduled for this weekend.

“Sure the NBC network is suffering,” said Levine, “but the really big loser is the Los Angeles economy, which is bracing to take a $75-100 million bath.”

Levine suggests that ceremony’s cancellation will lead to a negative domino effect on already scheduled pre- and post-Golden Globe events.

“As of last night, all the major studios and celebrity magazines had put the kibosh on their star-studded after-party bashes at the Beverly Hilton — including HBO, Warner Bros./In Touch, Paramount/DreamWorks, NBC/Universal and the Weinstein Company,” said Levine.

The studio may cut jobs as soon as Jan. 18, JoAnn Black, senior vice president of human resources, said in a Jan. 3 letter to employees. WB spokesman Scott Rowe said the 1,000 notices went mainly to maintenance workers.

The Warner Bros. workers would join about 10,000 industry employees who have been idled by the walkout that has cost the local economy about $1.4 billion, said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

The economic impact spread to other professions. Writers have lost about $179.6 million in pay and other unionized workers, including stage hands, about $309.6 million, according to Kyser’s firm. The total impact on the region is $1.4 billion, the private company said Jan. 7.

WOW! Those are huge numbers. Thousands of workers. Millions of dollars. Makes you realize that this strike could actually push the hand of the recession people think might happen this year.

That is terrible. I firmly stand united with the writers but this cause is costing many bread and butter people big time..... :(

Esensten and Brown have gone fi-core.

What awful news!

does that mean that after the strike they are gone?

In a perfect world? Yes.

Frons will be so grateful most likely that they have been given a LONG grace period.....

http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2008...at-abc-studios/

Force Majeure Ax Falls At ABC Studios

By Variety.com.

The force majeure ax has swung at ABC Studios, which on Friday notified nearly two dozen writers and nonwriting producers it is terminating their overall deals as a result of the strike.

While all of the major studios had previously suspended deals for their scribes, the ABC Studios action reps the biggest move yet by a major to cut ties to talent. Studio wasn’t talking specifics, but based on industry estimates, it appears ABC Studios has cut nearly a quarter of its roster.

Almost all of the deals axed involved producers or writers who weren’t currently working on major series. There were no reports of ABC Studios cutting loose big-bucks deals with the likes of Marc Cherry or Shonda Rhimes.

“The ongoing strike has had a significant detrimental impact on development and production. so we are forced to make the difficult decision to release a number of talented, respected individuals from their development deals,” ABC Studios said in a statement late Friday.

Industry insiders said Warner Bros. TV was also preparing to make some cuts to its roster — though nothing as dramatic as ABC Studios’ action.

“It’s a strike. Everybody’s going to be doing this,” said one high-level agent, who’s bracing for a hefty round of terminations in the coming days.

Broad scope of the cuts suggests the Disney-owned studio isn’t simply reacting to strike economics. It appears ABC Studios is making a concerted effort to downsize its roster, perhaps anticipating the likelihood it will be producing fewer pilots in coming years.

Indeed, in recent weeks, network execs have been openly discussing their intention to use the strike as an impetus to finally end the decades-old pilot development season.

Some webheads said they plan to simply do away with pilots — at least this development season — and go straight to series on projects they believe in. Whether networks will be able to take such decisive action in a nonstrike season remains to be seen.

Among the ABC Studios talent cut loose: Gabe Sachs & Jeff Judah (”What About Brian”), Nina Wass & Gene Stein (”Less Than Perfect”), Bill Callahan (”Scrubs”), Larry Charles (”Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Sean Bailey (”Project Greenlight”) and the team of Joshua Sternin & Jeffrey Ventimilia (”That ’70s Show,” “Surviving Christmas”). “Private Practice” thesp Taye Diggs, who had a production deal at ABC Studios with partner-manager Abe Hoch, has also had that pact terminated.

ABC Studios has also ended its formal relationship with helmer-writer Rod Lurie, though Lurie had already met all of his contractual obligations to the studio and thus isn’t expected to suffer any financial loss because of the move.

Over the weekend, a spokeswoman for ABC Studios declined to confirm or deny which deals had been ended.

– By Josef Adalian

Esensten and Brown have gone fi-core.

They are determined to cancel AMC. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted these last 18 years... but after past four, it's time for me to call a turd a turd and get off the pot, already.

“I love nothing more than to write so to have to go off and be a cocktail waitress or a bartender, it’s not for me. I didn’t go to UCLA and earn a bachelor’s degree in communication studies to become a cocktail waitress or work at Nordstrom’s. Those are fine things to be, and fine places to work, but they are not me. It’s not what I came to Los Angeles to do ... I love writing. It’s just who I am,” [Marina Alburger] said.

First of all, you stuck up little-- No, Sin, don't go there.

Okay.

First of all, you can either write or you can't. All the degrees in the world don't make you a good writer. Just like all the MTV Video Music Awards in the world didn't make Britney Spears a good singer.

Secondly, I can't stand this superior smug attitude. She is INCREDIBLY LUCKY to get a job on a television writing staff to begin with and NOT be working at Nordstroms or serving cocktails. For one single episode she's written, that's like half a year's salary for the average American alone. Most of us in the real world who do dream of being writers know that getting these jobs is a rare, rare, very rare opportunity and like it or not HAVE to work at Nordstroms, Hooters or a freaking coffeehouse to pay the bills like any other person.

So any sympathy and/or respect she could've garnered has all been shot to hell with that air of "I'm too good and have too much education to even THINK of doing that pissant grunt work those mere commoners do." No wonder this strike is happening. It's humbling the writing community as a whole -- and you can tell the weak links from the strong. If writing is that important to her, go fu*king FiCore and do what you gotta do and shut the hell up already. Or here's an idea, get off your high horse and take your broke ass to Nordstroms and get a job!

So, she has a bachelor's degree. Guess what, Marina? In today's world, that's about as useful as a high school degree.

Now, if she had a doctorate, perhaps....