Impact Of WGA Strike On TV Production

COMMENTS (31)

• Setting up picket lines at the studios is good for visibility, but if you really want to make a point, picket where a work stoppage will really hurt. Who owns NBC Universal? GE. What do they make? Everything, like jet engines. Set up a picket line at one of their plants and see how fast this strike is over when they aren’t making jet engines. As long as the teamsters support the WGA, they won’t cross a line anywhere in the country. NBC Universal is just a right off to these folks. Take away a real product that makes them billions, and they’ll find a way to get the writers back to work.

  Comment by Suddenly Unemployed — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 10:47pm PST  Reply to this post

• Writers struck our show today at a downtown location. They didn’t win any friends on the crew, believe me. First, nobody showed up until 9 ish (we began at 6), and then they were gone by lunch. Nobody respects that. If you’re going to rub our noses in it, at least stick out one entire production day. Just one, end to end. Perhaps you’ll have more respect for our side of the story, sideshow though it may be. One of these goofballs even brought a video camera. I don’t know if it was the red t-shirts in the hot sun or what, but they didn’t last too long. Shouting out rhymes against Les Moonves really does nothing but irk the rank and file, in-the-trenches, sweating-in-the-sun crew person. Guess what? Moonves ISN’T on set! He can’t HEAR you. Everyone was happy to see them go. We rolled back to our trucks about 9 pm and of course, no writers were to be found. It seems like bankers hours to the regular folks on the crew. The feeling was that the writer(s)’ got paid for that episode we were shooting, so why shouldn’t we?

  Comment by CrewGuy — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 11:20pm PST  Reply to this post

• Circles, people, you’re all talking in circles. They are not coming back to the table until the WGA is crippled beyond belief. Why won’t people just acknowledge this? The WGA is going to lose, because the decisions are not in the moguls hands exclusively, but in the hands of the shareholders.

  So if their accountants and financial advisor’s say that a strike helps their bottom line, they are going to wait this bad boy out.

  The carnage that will be felt will suck pretty badly. However, if you chose this profession, this shouldn’t be a surprise to you.

  It’s the most cutthroat business in America (other than politics) and this is what happens to most people. Sometimes life sucks.

  Comment by brick — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 11:30pm PST  Reply to this post

• Suddenly Unemployed, finally someone who sees where all this greed starts. I hope the WGA gets wind of this and does exactly what you are saying. You are right, the strike will be over the next day!

  Comment by VCC — Thursday November 15, 2007 @ 12:18am PST  Reply to this post

• 1. Yes, good.

  2. The faster shows shut down, the shorter this strike will be.

  3. The only way to hurt the studios is to have shows shut down.

  4. Crew members do get residuals. 55% of IATSE’s health and pension contributions come from residual payments made by the studios when programs get reused. Internet use is REPLACING television reruns. So, you will lose MORE THAN HALF of your health and pension. Also, you have a clause in your contracts that says if we get residuals for new media, so do you. Learn the facts.

  5. No one, EXCEPT THE STUDIOS, wants you to be out of work. Writers have been out of work since this thing started.

  6. If you were being fucked up the ass like we are (which you are or will be), you would strike too.

  7. If you did strike, you would want as many shows as possible to shut down as fast as possible. Otherwise you’d be striking for nothing.

  8. So, yes it’s GOOD that show’s are shutting down. You want me to want them to flourish and make money while the writers are on strike?

  9. Did I mention it’s good?

  10. I can’t stop at nine. So this is ten.

  Comment by Klaatu — Thursday November 15, 2007 @ 12:51pm PST  Reply to this post

• How many writer/producers are still
  receiving their producer checks? How
  many writers are getting residual checks
  in the mail still? So what are they
  really putting on the line by striking?
  After 35 years in the business as an AC
  I have found in general that writers are
  elitess SP’s who are above the line,
  rude, overpaid, we think crew members
  are trailer trash, assholes. They are
  in the same class as the producers and
  studio executives and deserve each other.
  They (writers and producers) couldn’t
  even try to continue talks through the
  holidays and hold off a strike till after
  the 1st of the year so that families
  could get through the season with some
  sort of normalcy because they are Godless
  elitess arrogant snobs. And you might
  as well add in SAG as well although
  there are exceptions in all above the
  line and I respect that of those few.

  Happy Holidays and may you reap what you sow.

  Comment by Above the line greed — Friday November 16, 2007 @ 8:28am PST  Reply to this post