Phony Craigslist Ad Uncovers Real Scabs

COMMENTS (36)

• Isn’t there a possibility that people who do not belong to the union will be unaware that the union expects non-union members to abide by the strike? I think it’s more than a possibility; it’s a probability.

  Comment by Andrew Hall — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 2:07pm PST  Reply to this post

• But would scabs be able to recreate the writing genius of such shows as Cavemen, Carpoolers, Viva Laughlin, Moonlight, Big Shots, etc..?

  Comment by just a question — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 2:11pm PST  Reply to this post

• Joshua writes: “All these people willing to write for there chance to “break in” don’t realize that even if they weren’t caught or weren’t blacklisted they would be working for the bare minimum that the studios want to pay, considering the 32 pages of rollbacks can’t be much. They would have no job security, no retirement, no money when there wasn’t work, but hey at least they could say they’re writers…”

  “Caught”? – By whom?
  “Blacklisted”? – By whom?
  Working for the bare minimum? – What’s wrong with a writer selling his work for whatever he agrees to sell it for even “bare minimum”?
  “No job security” – Thats the norm in film & TV
  “No retirement” – Ever occur to you to save up out of your paychecks for your own retirement?
  But the kicker is – NO MONEY WHEN THERE WASN’T WORK? – Excuuuuuuse me? You run a craigslist ad that says “Pay – No work involved” and tell me where I sign up!

  Comment by NYCIndie — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 2:25pm PST  Reply to this post

• Honestly, both sides disgust me. The studios are underhanded for trying every angle and loophole to screw the writers out of money. The WGA are asshats for trying to turn an entire industry into a union shop and blacklisting free agents. If you truly had quality members, studios would have no choice but to agree to your terms on the basis of merit. Instead, you try and create a monopoly on talent. I hope both sides bleed each other dry and the public goes back to books.

  Comment by Paul — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 3:37pm PST  Reply to this post

• As a SAG member, let me say this.

  Last year I was diagnosed with cancer. All is well, but let me tell you without the union insurance I would have been in a real bad place.

  SO to all you scabbers out there, I am sure big media will be right there beside you when you are in your darkest hour!!

  FIGHT THE FIGHT WGA….I AM BEHIND YOU!!!

  Comment by john — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 4:59pm PST  Reply to this post

• I find it tremendously disconcerting that the Scabs posting here (and elsewhere, for that matter) seem to think that writers on TV series do little-to-no work for what they feel is obviously undeserved and huge paydays.

  Frankly, I say give these people a shot and make them realize how writing-for-hire at times is insanely difficult, frustrating, futile and as stressful as any other job anywhere. And for 60-70 hours a week of work (not to mention weekends when a series is in full swing on production), you don’t get paid overtime. You have a pre-negotiated rate and don’t get paid a penny more from that.

  Feel free to scab, get paid less than WGA minimum for 60-70 hours a week of work (probably about $500 a week, or less). Oh, and you’ll never get residuals if anything you write gets re-run. And you won’t get health insurance. Or retirement contributions. And when the strike is over, you’ll never get another job ever again for a signatory company. (Which is pretty much all of them.)

  Go for it!

  Comment by IJustMadeThatUp — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 5:29pm PST  Reply to this post

• Sadly, because people can speak, and string together sentences, they think themselves writers.

  Comment by DAVID — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 5:41pm PST  Reply to this post

• I have an imagination that stretches extremely wide

  Sounds like mental Goatse to me.

  Comment by David Alexander McDonald — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 6:05pm PST  Reply to this post

• NYCIndie —

  You seem to be confused by the concept “no money when there [isn't] work”. Please look up the term “residuals” sometime.

  You ask: “What’s wrong with a writer selling his work for whatever he agrees to sell it for even ‘bare minimum’?”

  Everything, that’s what. Why? because that lone writer isn’t the only one affected by his willingness to work for peanuts. When wages are driven down, everyone suffers.

  Comment by Anonymous — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 7:20pm PST  Reply to this post

• The whole scab debate seems a bit misplaced in the context of this labor stoppage. It’s not as if the WGA serves as a bar to getting hired in Hollywood — it’s the talent, not the card, that matters. The WGA strike is closer to the MLB strike than the UAW strike; scabs simply cannot replace those not working.

  I know, I know… there are plenty of talented writers not in the guild, and tons of amazing stuff written by writers who don’t recycle their unsolicited “Written By” magazines every month. But for the most part those writers have chosen to work in a different medium. For people with talent, and tenacity, who want to write in Hollywood, WGA membership (or a lack thereof) is not a bar to employment. (ie., most join after they sell that spec or land their first staff assignment).

  Comment by ExLaMike — Wednesday November 14, 2007 @ 8:24pm PST  Reply to this post

• Any chance of setting up a “To Catch a Predator” type of show with this? Sure would be funny…

  -No, no I wasn’t coming in to scab, I thought it was for a fan version of Star Trek for the community channel.

  Comment by Caprandom — Thursday November 15, 2007 @ 5:05am PST  Reply to this post