Sara A. Bibel's Blog

[Sylph]

But if the actor were to disagree with him, he would veto the story. He was in charge and he should take the majority of the blame.

Well, if any of those scenarios involved re-writing by non-WGA people, it would be still wrong.

So in your world, there is no pure good and no pure evil? Everything is sort of grey?

[brimike]

What shell? I pretty much monopolized the board yesterday! LOL!

[MarkH]

In my world, much can be justified and explained. Context matters. Indeed, context is everything.

[rhythmchyc]

Uh, my philosophy in a nutshell.

Unless someone's crazy.

[Sylph]

What possible context could it be that allowed Edward Scott to freely re-write head writer's material and encourage on of the female leads to write her own lines? The situation has escalated to such a high point that the Writers Guild of America had to intervene.

I'm having a really, really tough time getting your point of view. I just see no excuse for this type of behaviour.

[MarkH]

I explained it above...if he kept hitting brick walls...if no one would take his calls...if Sony quietly gave the green light...all of these things are IMO mitigating factors.

But it is okay for us to disagree on this :-). It is in the balance of our many opinions that the universe's balance is found. (Watching too much Y&R Ashram).

[Contessa Donatella]

I thought Sheffer chose Passanante over CCulliton.

[brimike]

I thought Sheffer chose Passanante over CCulliton.

That may be true and I'm just not aware of it. HS and CC were together for a year at ATWT before JP was fired from AMC (and then joined the team at ATWT) At about the same time, P&G asked CC to go to GL. (Holy abbreviations, Batman!)

Whether or not HS had anything to do with that, I don't know. You might be right.

[Contessa Donatella]

From what I've read, it seemed apparent that he did do so, that he rewrote Dena's scripts. That is not the purview of the EP.

Of course, it's wrong. It's not his job to replace their thinking on the show with his own. Neither Corday nor Dena worked for him. The hierarchy doesn't work that way.

If you mean something that was an emergency, where 'fixing it' completely fit with the vision he was supposed to be Producing, then, perhaps so. But, I don't think that's what happened here.

But, in the universe of how things work, it was wrong. And, it's not absolutism, as far as we know. And, it is unethical and illegal!

[MarkH]

From what I've read, it seemed apparent that he did do so, that he rewrote Dena's scripts. That is not the purview of the EP.

I just have a hard time believing that someone at that level would just, sort of arbitrarily and capriciously, (a) take on the writing task, and ( flout the guild rules that he had lived by for decades.

Even if he had total disdain for the writer, and even if he thought her ideas were damaging the show, I STILL don't see him going renegade just because he woke up feeling like it.

SOMETHING caused this. At a minimum, it was a breakdown of communication. But, I sincerely feel he felt empowered or encouraged. In that case, I wonder what the culpability of his Sony bosses is...and how much Corday's unavailability was part of the equation?

There is a much richer story here, and I DO believe some of it might be mitigating. In the absence of that information, I don't think we can judge.

Heck, we don't even have an official reason for the firing, other than to 'visually and creatively' improve the show.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Whatever the case, Sony, Corday, and whoever else couldn't wait to get rid of Scott when the news broke of what he was doing. If it was nothing serious, he'd still be employed.

And he's allegedly been doing those rewrites for months, you'd think he'd somehow along the way get the hint that what he was doing with illegal, unethical, and unprofessional. I simply can't believe a breakdown in communication lasted for six months or so. Scott knew exactly what he was doing and it came back to bite him in the ass.

The smart move would've been waiting until Higley's contract cycle was up and try to convince Corday that she should be let go due to the falling ratings, fan dissatisfaction, and unhappy actors, but he didn't do that, so.

[Contessa Donatella]

We rarely, if ever, have an official reason for any firing that is the actual reason. That's SOP. And, it's not even SOP just for the soap biz or entertainment industry. It's common & for reasons.

But, Mark, believing that one's own vision is better is not uncommon in this business & people do struggle in that way for power.

Sure, it is entirely likely that someone, meaning Corday, should have done something about this situation before it reached this point. But, we really don't know how long it had been going on, or if any parties knew or for how long, etc.

I know that Corday makes himself very available to the soap press. I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't also make himself available to his own people, generally.

[Contessa Donatella]

Sure, and the information I was aware of at the time could have been wrong. But, that info was that P&G (MADD) was interested in hiring JP & that she offered HS a choice between keeping CC or going with JP. (He made the wrong decision, if you ask me, but then they didn't ... ask me! )

It is consistent with MADD offering HS the choice of shows to HW. It is bizarre, though, because it is not consistent with MADD or P&G in general. However, HS was her golden boy.

(I tried to keep up with you abbreviationally.)

[MarkH]

We rarely, if ever, have an official reason for any firing that is the actual reason. That's SOP. And, it's not even SOP just for the soap biz or entertainment industry. It's common & for reasons.

But, Mark, believing that one's own vision is better is not uncommon in this business & people do struggle in that way for power.

Sure, it is entirely likely that someone, meaning Corday, should have done something about this situation before it reached this point. But, we really don't know how long it had been going on, or if any parties knew or for how long, etc.

I know that Corday makes himself very available to the soap press. I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't also make himself available to his own people, generally.

Tossing scripts and rewriting them? Just because of a power struggle or a belief in the superiority of one's vision?

I just don't see it. Maybe this is a blind spot for me, but I just don't see it.

I mean, I could see someone saying "this b*tch is ruining the show...I have to save it...my idea is better". BUT EVEN THEN, I can't imagine a seasoned pro like Scott being THIS mutinous. What would he have to gain...he was just a gun for hire?

I'm going to stop thinking about it. I have no idea how extensive his rewrites were. This isn't adding up in my head.

[JackPeyton]

re the ES thing...

was it wrong? Sure

was it immoral and does it make him an awful person? No.