Writer's Strike Thread

[TC]

You and a few others appear to be well-versed in the strike of 1988. Do you, or anyone else, know how supportive the teamsters were back then? I'm curious to find out if they made the same declaration back then about not crossing picket lines.

[stenbeck212]

It's getting rough out there:

[Y&RWorldTurner]

^Hopefully, his devil, I mean wife, is out there picketing with Bernard. We don't need her as an EP and HW.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Oops, double post!

[Khan]

>> Doesn't quality count for something?

Quality counts for a lot. At the end of the day, however, television is a business like any other.

"Arrested Development" is a perfect example of a series that seemingly had everything going for it: solid cast, spectacular writing, numerous honors, and marvellous (sp?) support from critics and cult fans alike. Unfortunately, the one thing AD didn't have was strong ratings. Despite everything FOX did to boost the show's profile - and believe me, they did a lot - the masses simply stayed away. Therefore, since TV shows in general are dependent on ad revenues generated from ratings to cover their licensing fees, and since the ad revenues, or lack thereof, from AD did not justify their licensing fee, which was rather large, FOX had no choice but to cancel the show.

Now, we could argue that AD was perhaps an acquired taste, or that Americans, by and large, don't know or appreciate uniqueness when they have it. Either way, it doesn't make business sense to keep a show on the air, no matter how good it is, if nobody's watching.

>> i think it would be great if scabs came on and turned the soaps upside down!!

And yet, JackPeyton, you side w/ the WGA, and actually want to picket with them?

Forgive me, but, I'm confused.

>> This whole thing is beyond stupid.

Fabulous. I'll pass that along to the writers.

>> In short both sides are dumb. The writers especially since these shows are probably going to hire new writers or just wait it out and not give them anything.

Again, even if the networks and/or production companies were to hire scab writers for the duration of the strike, they are required by law to restore employment to the striking writers, if and when the strike is over, or else risk a serious lawsuit on behalf of the Guild.

Plus, since scab writers face considerable fines and even banning from, or prohibition from ever joining, the WGA, the prospect of crossing that picket line to write for this-or-that show is most likely not an attractive one. (Not to mention, to those non-union workers out there, it's morally reprehensible, too.) And yes, it IS better for all working writers to be affiliated w/ the WGA, since not only are their contractual rights protected through the union, but membership w/ the WGA allows them access to basic health and insurance benefits as well.

BTW, all this information? Has been covered already in this thread, by several well-informed posters; so to continue making statements like that is, to be perfectly frank, extreme ignorance on your part. To quote stenbeck212:

"They won't just hire new people unaffiliated with the WGA. Get used to that."

[NeoAngelicLiz]

Umm you're no one to be calling me ignorant. Just because I don't think this writers strike is a big deal doesn't mean I'm ignorant about it. And to further tear apart your random attack at me that comment you were referring to was MY FIRST COMMENT in THIS THREAD. So I don't know where I was "continuing" to say statements like that. To "continue" to do something means that I would have had to have started somewhere if I'm remember my English vocab right....

And forgive me (actually don't since I don't need it) for not reading 12 pages or probably repeated back and forth arguing about whether this is the end of daytime or tv in general just because the writers have their panties all up in a twist over wanting more money.

As for unions they can go disappear or w/e they want to. Unions use to be good but nowadays they're just full of overzealous nutjobs who will attack anyone who they think is "anti union". When they're not complaining about one thing or another they're threatening to "strike". If I were a writer I wouldn't give a damn about some stupid union and I would stick to my beliefs. If someone wants to write for a show and has the TALENT not to mention is being payed a decent amount then they should take the job.

As for the WGA and the whole lawsuit thing where exactly is that coming from? You're saying that they HAVE to hire these people back when/if the strike ends? And even if thats true whats to prevent them from firing the people who participated in the strike? I mean after all aren't THEY violating/hurting the company by refusing to do THEIR JOBS?

At the end of the day it wouldn't surprise me if the businesses just decided to do business with different writers. Whether they're affliated with the guild or not....

Personally I don't care. As long as my show is still on the air and providing the same enjoyment and familiar faces then I'm satisified. Yes the writers have a part in that but ultimately anyone can write a show and their probably thousands if not hundreds of thousands undiscovered writers who could write a decent show.

[Toups]

Isn't there some clause that gives the studios the right not to hire writers they don't want back? I think it's like after 8 weeks, the studios can enforce this rule.

[bellcurve]

Well, it's a good thing that's an "if," because you'd be banned from writing for any US Produced TV Show.

But what is decent pay? That's the question of the hour here...and that's what this strike is about.

Would you, as a writer, feel it was justified if a production company continued to make money off a product you wrote? Is it fair for those network heads to get that money and continue to support their families if you are still starving and are struggling between paying writing gigs?

If I were a writer in Hollywood, I'd much rather join a union in Hollywood that protected my rights, paid me fairly, and helped me between paying gigs than to just freelance it. That's a downright suicidal move.

[Khan]

I apologize for implying you were ignorant, NeoAngelicLiz. Poor choice of words, on my part. That said, I think it's only fair to tell you that you should at least skim any thread before posting. That way, you, me, and everyone else can avoid unfortunate confrontations such as these.

>> To "continue" to do something means that I would have had to have started somewhere if I'm remember my English vocab right....

Again, mea culpa.

Perhaps, what I should have was, "...so for posters to continually make statements such as these...," or something to that effect. My point being, despite what several have cited in the way of WGA rules and regulations regarding this matter, several others continually make remarks, such as yours, that are, at best, misinformed.

>> just because the writers have their panties all up in a twist over wanting more money.

It's not just about money. It's about how, once again, the industry believes that writers are insignificant, and don't deserve a more substantial part of what they made possible in the first place.

>> Unions use to be good but nowadays they're just full of overzealous nutjobs who will attack anyone who they think is "anti union".

Where are you from, Haymarket Square, lol?

>> If someone wants to write for a show and has the TALENT not to mention is being payed a decent amount then they should take the job.

The fact is, though, those individuals stand to pay hefty fines, so is it really worth taking the job in the first place? Plus, with the way things are in the industry, anyone who crosses the picket line willingly, regardless of talent, carries an unfortunate "stain" in the eyes of most who did strike, or who are at least pro-union, which, in turn, will prevent that onetime scab a chance to secure employment down the road.

So, again, is it worth crossing the picket line?

You may happen to be against the WGA - or, at least, their position in their current situation - but the fact of the matter is, there is a union for writers, they have rules and regulations and stipulations in place to protect their rights, and no production outfit is going to buck against all that w/o asking for serious trouble, no matter how powerful they think they happen to be.

>> You're saying that they HAVE to hire these people back when/if the strike ends? And even if thats true whats to prevent them from firing the people who participated in the strike?

Let's put it this way: if your union went on strike, and once it was over, management decided to replace you b/c you wouldn't cross the picket line, how would you feel?

On second thought, given your stated opinion of unions, forget I even asked that question.

But, let's say it is you who is in the same position as the writers. Doesn't it stand to reason that if you were one of those who was generating original, scripted content for the internet and new media, that you should be entitled to a justifiable piece of the profits? Wouldn't you think it unfair that the producers and distributors stood to make a killing from the new revenues even though, w/o you, the content wouldn't exist in the first place?

>> As long as my show is still on the air and providing the same enjoyment and familiar faces then I'm satisified.

Which...pretty well sums up how you feel about the subject, I guess. Except, 1) that's pretty selfish, if you ask me; and 2) to suggest that the writers are merely "overzealous nutjobs" who should just shut up and do their jobs, is like me branding you as ignorant.

>> Yes the writers have a part in that but ultimately anyone can write a show

Okay, so, why aren't you?

[Khan]

>> Isn't there some clause that gives the studios the right not to hire writers they don't want back? I think it's like after 8 weeks, the studios can enforce this rule.

If there is, Toups, then I stand corrected.

[Sylph]

Khan, totally off-topic: why don't you use the quote tags:

and

?

[dawn9476]

LA Times article that includes a quote from a writer on Y&R who is on strike.

The WGA strike hits late-night programs first. It will take longer to affect series and films.

By John Horn, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

November 6, 2007

In an often spirited display of protest playing out on both sides of the country, more than 1,000 screenwriters -- representing "Lost," "The Young and the Restless," "Chinatown" and everything in between -- hoisted picket signs and chanted labor songs as a long-feared show business strike became a potentially crippling reality Monday.

In their first full day away from their computer keyboards, the Writers Guild of America members scored several important victories. And those who are not on the picket lines -- primarily television's so-called show runners -- found themselves figuratively on the line, wrestling over whether to return to work.

The makers of "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and "Late Show With David Letterman" said they were suspending production of new episodes. Steve Carell, the star of NBC's hit "The Office," refused to cross WGA picket lines, and Ellen DeGeneres, the host of the syndicated talk show "Ellen," decided against taping her show in a gesture of solidarity.

CBS said production on its comedy "The New Adventures of Old Christine" was halted, and ABC said it was delaying the premiere of the series "Cashmere Mafia." At the risk of losing their jobs, some members of Teamsters Local 399 decided not to cross the picket lines, and that action might have shut down a small number of shows, union officers said.

More ominous, perhaps, was the sudden suspension of special deals that studios extend to star writers. Fox and CBS began notifying some of their top talent that they would stop paying for staff and development, a tactic other studios were considering.

Less than 12 hours after negotiations between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers collapsed in a West Hollywood hotel meeting room Sunday night, WGA members launched boisterous demonstrations against the major movie and TV studios in Los Angeles and New York, with several top performers visiting the front lines to lend support.

The suddenly out-of-work Leno handed out doughnuts to writers picketing NBC's Burbank studio. "I don't know what we're going to do. I don't know how long it is going to last," Leno said as he distributed boxes of Krispy Kremes. "I've been working with these people for 20 years. Without them I'm not funny. I'm a dead man."

The daylong rallies, scheduled to run until further notice, appeared designed to galvanize the union's resolve -- the last WGA strike in 1988 lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry an estimated $500 million -- and rally support for the WGA's bargaining position.

"You want people to be aware of what's at stake," Carlton Cuse, a writer and executive producer on ABC's "Lost" and a member of the WGA's negotiating committee, said as he took up a picket sign in front of the gates of his employer, Walt Disney Co. "We are the primary creative artists in this medium."

Regular viewers of late-night television will immediately notice the disappearance of their favorite shows, but television dramas and comedies, whose scripts are written well in advance, will continue to appear as programmed for weeks if not months to come. Movies, which often take two years to produce, will arrive in the multiplex as scheduled for at least the next year.

Several issues divide the 10,000-member WGA and the producers, but the most contentious point is supplemental payments, or residuals, for TV series and movies shown on computers and new-media devices such as cellphones and video iPods. No contract talks are scheduled between the sides.

"If you look at iTunes, 'Hannah Montana' and several other Disney shows are among the most avidly downloaded shows -- they are hugely successful on the Internet," Steven Peterman, an Emmy-winning "Murphy Brown" writer and "Hannah Montana" executive producer said as he picketed Disney. "And we make no money from that -- zero."

Nick Counter, the president of the producers alliance, said he was disappointed that the WGA had gone on strike. "A strike is obviously painful for all involved. It costs the companies money and it costs the writers money."

If screenwriters feel they receive scant appreciation from the networks and studios, the people uttering their lines in front of the cameras were openly supportive. In apparent violation of Screen Actors Guild rules saying actors are obligated to show up to work during a writers strike, Carell refused to cross picket lines to work on "The Office," according to an NBC source.

In front of Paramount Pictures, "Dirty Sexy Money" actor William Baldwin served coffee and joined the picket lines. In New York, "Saturday Night Live" comedian Amy Poehler joined a large contingent of writers and actors from the show on the picket line in front of the Rockefeller Center offices of NBC, a subsidiary of General Electric Co.

"All the writers are asking for is to be fairly compensated for all this new media," she said, noting that the strike may force the cancellation of this coming week's show with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Poehler, like many "SNL" cast members, contributes material for the program but is not listed as a writer. She said actors felt torn about the labor impasse. "I think a lot of actors are being made to make some really hard choices," she said.

Also caught in the middle of the walkout are the TV show runners, who serve as both writers and executive producers. As WGA members, they are obligated to stop writing; as producers, they have to ensure that the show somehow goes on.

Warren Leight, the show runner of USA Network's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," was wrestling with that very issue on the picket line. Just before the strike began Sunday at midnight, Leight faxed in a "Criminal Intent" rewrite. Although Leight said he would not write another word until the strike was over, he may be called upon for his input on editing and other responsibilities he has as a show runner. "I'm trying to figure it out," he said.

What's not as complicated, Leight said, is the need to strike. "They made us an offer we had to refuse," he said of the studios. "My sense is they wanted it to come to this."

In one sign of the tough tactics likely to be employed, some of the major television studios began telling star writers Monday that their compensation for staffing and development was being suspended.

ews Corp.'s Fox and CBS Corp.'s television studio were sending such letters concerning what are known as overall writing deals and pod production deals, people familiar with the moves said.

Though it's logical to stop paying special salaries to writers who are on strike, agents and executives said they were surprised the suspensions came so quickly.

More serious, they said, was the suspension of pod production deals, which give development money to writers and producers. Cutting that money will quickly force layoffs of nonwriters, including producers, assistants and secretaries.

Despite the gravity of the dispute, the mood on the picket line was often convivial. In New York, three members of Local 802 of the Musicians Union, outfitted with trumpet, trombone and French horn, serenaded the strikers. In Los Angeles, striking screenwriters chanted, "Network bosses, rich and rude, we don't like your attitude!"

The atmosphere "has been incredibly supportive," David Abramowitz, a strike captain and "MacGyver" screenwriter, said outside CBS' Radford studios in Studio City. "I've been in the guild for about 26 years, and I've never seen it so united."

Exhausted after walking the picket line on crutches, "Simpsons" screenwriter Mike Scully said he was taken aback by the outpouring of public support, most of it voiced in shouts and honking horns from passing cars. "I'm surprised by just how behind us people seem to be so far," he said. "I wouldn't blame people for not caring or understanding what the issues are."

The picket lines were filled with A-listers and anybodies.

"It really doesn't matter what business you are in if the living you make is threatened," Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning author of "Chinatown" said outside Sony.

"A strike is like war in a way: Nobody wins but they are also sometimes unavoidable. I guess this is unavoidable."

Picketing alongside Towne was a fellow Oscar winner, writer and director Paul Haggis. The "Crash" filmmaker called the current dispute with producers "another example of corporate greed." He accused them of trying to "shut down the entire town," and said he was prepared to walk the picket line for as long as it took.

Walking in front of the Paramount gate was first-time screenwriter Matt Lazarus, who officially joined the WGA in July. The 23-year-old high school dropout from Vermont made his first writing sale in May with a remake of 1945's Boris Karloff movie "Isle of the Dead."

"I'm the youngest guy on this line. It's easier for me to be out here because I've got to live with this contract much longer than anyone else here," Lazarus said. Still, he said, his first script sale didn't bring him a huge payday and he may have to take a night job in a couple of months to support himself. "I'll survive; I'm young," he said. "I don't have a wife, kids or a mortgage."

Many other writers do, and that could prove disastrous.

Although top screenwriters like Haggis can make as much as $250,000 a week, many WGA members collect middle-class wages and can go months between jobs; the threat of an extended work stoppage could have grave consequences for the industry's lesser lights.

Bernard Lechowick, a writer for "The Young and the Restless" who struck for 22 weeks in 1988, said he expected the financial loss to be difficult.

"It's a huge stress when you lose your income, which I did starting today," said the longtime television writer and executive producer. "But what would be worse is to take a lousy contract. When you sign up for a job in Hollywood, you're guaranteeing yourself irregular employment. And if there's one thing this industry teaches you, it's to budget."

Adam Armus, 43, a writer and producer on "Heroes," said at Sunset Gower Studios that he had a long talk with his 4- and 7-year-old daughters, telling them that Christmas was going to be different this year.

"Normally at this time of year, we would be going shopping, but I've had to explain that Daddy is fighting for them right now," he said.

"We're going to have to make some sacrifices this year so that we can have a better Christmas next year. And they totally understand."

[email protected]

Times staff writers Kate Aurthur, Greg Braxton, Andrea Chang, Maria Elena Fernandez, Matea Gold, Chris Lee, Meg James, Joseph Menn, Martin Miller and Robert W. Welkos contributed to this report.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/...-business-enter

Bernard is Lynn Latham's husband.

[Khan]

>> Khan, totally off-topic: why don't you use the quote tags:

Because, I'm non-conformist that way.

[GoldenDogs]

Well, Neo... it doesn't work that way. Now, I'm not a big fan of unions, though I belonged to one for a long time. All of the broadcast technicians here working for the network-affiliated tv stations in my area or organized and belong to IBEW. Interestingly, the same local that represents Hollywood technicians, such as the folks who work on TPIR and B&B, for example. I always wished I had asked our rep to give me a tour of those studios... oh well, missed opportunities. I'm sure they would still show me around if I stopped by (always paid my dues!)

Anyway, although I don't always agree with the stands my union took, whether in politics or negotiations, etc., I have always recogned that I got paid what I got paid BECAUSE of them. Oh, they offered a certain amount of protection -- we couldn't just be fired for no reason, etc. They made it hard to get rid of people who deserved to be booted, of course, which I hated. I had dual interests as I was a supervisor, as well as a union member. Sucky position to be honest. As a group, we HAD to stand together on big issues. If not, we'd be paid half the amount of money... same pathetic wage that the non-union station in town gets paid. And I also believe you get what you pay for... sucky pay, sucky work.

I also have no love for management, either. But, Neo, if you haven't belonged to a union, then you don't really understand the dynamics of this whole deal. It's complicated. There is no good guy or bad guy here, either. I don't automatically side with the WGA... and I don't automatically side with the networks and production companies. It's complicated. And I'm on my lunch and need to get back to work.

There is more I want to say on this... but I can't just now.

Brian

[Y&RWorldTurner]

^Comments like that by relatively known writers like Lechowick, make me have less sympathy for the cause. I doubt Lechowick and Lethal will be applying for food stamps and welfare anytime soon.

Had it come from a struggling young writer, it would've made a bigger impact imo.