Writer's Strike Thread

[Chris B]

I have no inside knowledge about McTavish, just using common sense. Look at her history at various soaps and she STILL gets hired. IIRC, her only CBS soap has been GL, so I wouldn't be surprised if she popped up at ATWT or Y&R. Of course she could always return to AMC. After all Frons did say she was tired and needed a break. Maybe she's well rested.

I just have no faith that a good choice will be made, if Y&R gets a new headwriter. Look at AMC's new headwriter, the lack of new HWs for ATWT or GL. CBS is run by crackheads.

She did quit, but it's about the same thing. Joan Van Ark also quit Knots Landing (*her* Dallas spin-off), but the reason is that LML drove her nuts.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I hear Kathy Foster quit because she wasn't given a promotion to be Executive Producer. I can understand it, I mean she spent so many years on Y&R, working as both a director and producer, yet they let Latham and Griffith, two newbies become EP?

Let's just hope Y&R can get Alden back, I'm sure Bradley would let her go back to Y&R, since a lot of B&B's lead-in comes from Y&R and its stability in the ratings. As for EP, let's hope they can persuade David Shaughnessy to come back, he's the only former Y&R that isn't retired, dead, or working for another show. If not, they better hope they can find someone with talent. There was a rumor going on earlier in the year that Wendy Riche would join Y&R. Riche coupled with Alden's writing would make a perfect team! I DO NOT want Y&R's EP and HW to be the same person, that hurts the show, and it didn't work for Smith and it sure as hell isn't working for Latham.

[Khan]

These questions - and many others - will be answered in the next episode of... "Soap".

[DaytimeFan]

You got that right! A sole HW/EP just doesn't work. Period. Shaughnessy and Alden were a golden team. I'd have them back in a heartbeat. Wendy Riche would also be a likely success. But again, it's all about Alden.

And in regards to Joan Van Ark quitting KL because of LML...yep...funny that when LML came aboard Y&R Joan Van Ark quit once again. Hmm.......

And in regards to Kathy Foster...I can't blame her for quitting because she wasn't made EP or co-EP or Supervising Producer. She'd put a lot of years into Y&R and was a big part of the shows continued success. She's already done nice things at DAYS.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Hell, I wouldn't mind Trent Jones given the Head Writer position, if Latham is fired. Jones has a good history with Y&R and he served as Alden and Smith's co-head writer at one point. He also wrote for GL, during a highpoint in the show's history.

[Chris B]

But why do you guys think they would replace LML with someone from the Bill Bell universe? Seems more likely to me that they would continue in that vein. Although it would help Y&R, I'd hate to see all the Y&R writers leave B&B. That show is on fire right now and it's obvious that this isn't solely due to Brad Bell.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

But why do you guys think they would replace LML with someone from the Bill Bell universe? Seems more likely to me that they would continue in that vein. Although it would help Y&R, I'd hate to see all the Y&R writers leave B&B. That show is on fire right now and it's obvious that this isn't solely due to Brad Bell.

It would just be Kay Alden that leaves B&B. Kay is known for choosing competent new writers to join her writing staff. She could easily establish a new writing staff, and maybe take one of two of the Y&R exiles that are currently on B&B. There's also a few ex-Y&R writers that haven't joined B&B or any other soap.

[DaytimeFan]

Also, there are still a few of her old writers at Y&R. Natalie Minardi, Eric Friewald & Linda Schreiber and Saundra Weintraub are still there. Janice Ferri Esser would likely come with Kay as the two are quite good friends (and who is to say that Kay and Janice couldn't stay at B&B in consulting roles, John F Smith did that for years!). Kay would only need maybe 3 more writers and her team would be complete. Kay always ran a tight ship with a smaller than usual writing team and it worked beautifully. The bloated 18 member LML team is scary. But then, the majority of them are prime time writers so they're spoiled and not used to the rigors of daytime.

And yes, Trent Jones is a great alternative. His writing has always impressed me. The only problem I have with him is that he tends to jump from gig to gig.

[RavenWhitney]

There has been NO retraction by Variety about the soap writers who are going financial core. I think it must be true about Griffith and Days writers. Why would variety print a false article then not retract it if all 18 writers at Y&R signed a solidarity statement saying the article was untrue....where's the proof....

??

[DaytimeFan]

Well the simple truth is that Josh Griffith is not one of the 18(!) members of the writing staff. He was a member of the WGA for his previous work on shows like SB or OLTL. At Y&R Griffith has only, officially, been the co-EP. In regards to DAYS I don't really know. Variety is not going to easily issue a retraction if it isn't given evidence that it is wrong.

[bellcurve]

Don't give me that! It costs next to nothing to repurpose a TV show on the internet. NOTHING. The most the companies are paying for is bandwith and even that isn't nearly enough to justify saying..."Hey, we need to do more research."

Jigga whaaa?

If a production company is making bank off *MY* stuff, you better damn well believe I want my cut too. You don't write something and just let it free for production companies to continually exploit. That's not fair.

So, if a book is sold to one person, should every other copy be handed out for free? Should the writer of the book get paid for selling one book and the printer get the rest of the money?

If they wanted as much as they can, they'd be asking for far more than 8 cents.

You don't play nice in a strike and get your point across. That's not why they call it a strike.

Well the WGA wouldn't have even had to take the course of action if the production companies would have given the writers what they wanted in the first place.

The best way to be taken advantage of is working without a new contract. That's just stupid! If that's the case, the networks would be negotating terms forever.

[exwriter]

Y&R has already hired/is in the process of hiring scabs. Several weeks ago it was revealed that scripts would be delivered to the office from an offsite location with no identifying marks/names on them. They've been setting this up for a while. ABC has set up a dummy corporation to pay its soap scabs. Rumor is that CBS has done the same.

[GoldenDogs]

Most everyone working on some film or television project belongs to some bargaining unit... from writers and actors, to directors and camera operators. Any position worth decent money is a bargaining unit position... even extras earn money based on some union scale.

Perhaps you need to have either belonged to a union at some point, or have some insight into how and why these industry unions operate for the best understanding of this situation. My personal feeling, as a person having belonged to a broadcast industry union (and not always enjoying it!), is that the stand the writer's are taking on this revenue issue isn't just for themselves, but also for all those other people you mentioned they are working "side by side with day in and day out."

There is a ton of money being made via non-broadcast distribution of programming. The hottest-selling DVD's these days are repackaged tv programming... before the fall season even hit, LAST SEASON'S episodes were already on store shelves. Look at the proliferation of old, vintage shows out there being scooped up. As a creative sort, myself, I would ALSO demand a share of those profits if I had significantly contributed to the production. If I've written some episodes of "House" or "Grey's Anatomy" and people are buying those seasonal compilations featuring my work, I absolutely want compensation for it! Everyone working, from producer and director on down should benefit.

Let's be honest here... not sharing the profits with the creative muscles that do the hardest work producing this material... is a demeaning slap in the face to those folks, and unfairly and inappropriately devalues their contribution to the effort. The producers didn't do it all themselves, so why should they glean all the profits from non-broadcast distribution?

Brian

[exwriter]

Good question. This is not the first story full of lies Variety has published about the writers. Look through it. Almost every ad is paid for by producers/production companies. When asked, they have in the past claimed their stories are "editorials," although there is no indication of that in the actual story. Josh Griffifth has gone FiCore. There are five other writers in the entire industry who have followed. MANY more may be scabbing, however. FiCore is basically outing yourself. It's self-outed scabbing. But there are plenty of others who will be writing under the table with the hope of not being caught and committing career suicide.

[Chris B]

exwriter,

Are you an ex-writer because of the strike, or have you not been writing for a while?

Are they soap writers? If so, I hope one is Dena Higley so she'll be banned from soaps for good. Now we need to get McTavish, Malone, Guza, B&E and Passanante to go FiCore.