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I'm receiving a lot of reports of TV showrunners and hyphenates choosing not to work on their shows during the WGA strike. I'll update this post with names as I receive them. But here is an email sent around this morning by Shawn Ryan, the showrunner of The Shield, The Unit, and The Oaks and also a member of the WGA Negotiating Committee, explaining to fellow showrunners and TV writers what decision he's reached and why:
"As you all know by now, we are on Strike. It's sad that we have arrived here and I don't know each and every one of your opinions, but I wanted to share my personal plans for what I intend to do until we have a fair contract.
I am currently quoted in today's Hollywood Reporter as saying that I will do some producing work, but won't do any editing as I consider that to be writing. While I said something similar to that earlier last week (I've learned you can't trust a word of what these trades report), that was before I went to the Showrunners Meeting yesterday and became very crystalized in what I need to do. Like many of you I have spent the last week contemplating what to do in case of a strike. What are my responsibilities to my writers, my cast, my crew, my network and my contract? How do I balance these various concerns?
At the Showrunners Meeting it became very clear to me that the only thing I can do as a showrunner is to do nothing. I obviously will not write on my shows. But I also will not edit, I will not cast, I will not look at location photos, I will not get on the phone with the network and studio, I will not prep directors, I will not review mixes. These are all acts that are about the writing of the show or protecting the writing of the show, and as such, I will not participate in them. I will also not ask any of my writer/producers to do any of these things for me, so that they get done, but I can save face.
I will not go into the office and I will not do any work at home. I will be on the picket line or I will be working with the Negotiating Committee. I will not have an avid sent to my house, or to a new office so that I can do work on my show and act as if it is all right because I'm not crossing any picket lines.
I truly believe that the best and fastest way to a good contract is to hit these companies early, to hit them hard and to deprive them of ALL the work we do on their behalf.
How do we ask our staff writers to go out on strike as we continue collecting producer checks? How do we ask the Teamsters to respect our picket lines if we won't ourselves or if we're sneaking around to do the work off-site?
Just so you all know what I am prepared to give up....
Tomorrow, we begin to film the Series Finale of The Shield. I think it's the best script our writing staff has ever written. This is the show that made me. This is the show that is my baby. If the strike goes on longer than two weeks, I won't be able to step on set for the final episode of the show. I won't have a writer on set, as I have had on every episode since the fourth episode. I won't be able to edit this final culminating episode. I won't go to the wrap party that Fox TV and FX are paying for. You can't tell me that any episode of television is more important than this one is to me, and I am ready to forego all those things in order to strengthen my union.
Tomorrow, we begin filming a new pilot, The Oaks, that I am Executive Producing. It's an amazing script that David Schulner wrote and I signed up to help him make this show. Until we have a fair deal I cannot do that now and it kills me.
We are currently filming Season 3 of The Unit, a show that does fairly well, but against House and Dancing With The Stars, usually finishes in 3rd place. We have no guarantee that we will back for a 4th season. I just gave a director friend of mine his first TV directing gig. I'd like to see him succeed. He'll have to finish the show on his own now without a writer on set, or my help in the editing room.
Some people have made the argument that if they don't do this producing work or this editing, that someone else will do it, and this act won't hurt the companies. I respectfully disagree. If we ALL stop ALL work tomorrow, the impact of this strike will be felt much more quickly, much more acutely and it most likely will end sooner, putting our writers, our cast and our crews back to work sooner!
I spent nearly 12 hours today in the Negotiation Room with the companies. I watched our side desperately try to make a deal. We gave up our request to increase revenue on DVD's, something that was very painful to give up, but something we felt we had to in order to get a deal made in new media, which is our future.
I watched as the company's representatives treated us horrendously, disrespectfully, and then walked out on us at 9:30 and then lied to the trades, claiming we had broken off negotiations.
I can't in good conscience fight these bastards with one hand, while operating an avid with the other. I am on strike and I am not working for them. PERIOD.
You will use your own instincts and consciences to decide your own actions. But if you would like to follow in my footsteps (and those of many, many others who made this pledge at the showrunner's meating on Saturday), I encourage you to sign the trade ad that the WGA will be putting out on Tuesday by the dozens and dozens of showrunners who will simply not work at all beginning in the morning."
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How awesome is this guy and the others doing the same? I was really disappointed to hear that the dvd residuals element was given up, but it certainly shows how the guild is doing everything it can to make a deal. There is no way for the studios to defend themselves as they try to horde revenues from new media. They wanted a strike. It’s plain to see. The studios have a master plan here. Their strategy: Squeeze and wait, then squeeze and wait some more.
Shawn, there are showrunners with far, far less to lose still shooting their shows this morning. I applaud your courage in showing those hypocrites and pussies how to take a stand. It’s sickening knowing they are crossing the picket line to cash more producer checks when so many of us, as well as actors and teamsters are standing there with signs in our hands. Let’s picket THESE GUYS. WGA, list the active set locations and let us look these showrunners in the eye. They are cowards and company men.
That so many are willing to risk so much should show everyone just what’s at stake.
Big business will not give the worker that which they cannot take. That’s why this strike is so important.
I think he is breaking his contract and dishonoring the other people that work with him. I understand striking on the writing parts but to not fufill the rest of his contract is wrong
He’s a cool dude.
I wish the media would start quoting him and stop quoting that blowhard Mazin, who’s doing the cause more harm than good with his infighting and whining about how rich he is.
Mr. Ryan didn’t mention whether he’ll lose his house. My crew friends on his various shows have not been talked to by him about how long they’re working–or not.
I am an actor on The Unit and I stand behind Shawn Ryan and The WGA.
SCOTT FOLEY
Julius Fort– that argument is getting so tired. There’s no job security in production. Ever. Your show gets canceled, moves to Vancouver, whatever. It’s really disingenuous to act as though people working in production, no matter their job title, have corporate-America-style job security, whether their showrunner is on strike or not.
Julius, your crew friends wouldn’t have jobs at all if it wasn’t for Mr. Ryan and his commitment to produce his shows in L.A.
No he isn’t. This is called resisting temptation because it is too easy to edit something and make it into the final cut than to simply sit on the sidelines. All the showrunners that are working today should be considered scabs and they should be stripped of WGA membership ASAP.
Wow, big talk tough guy, fight the “bastards” that have made you a rich man who’ll never need to work another day in his life…while working Hollywood will be hurt and hurt hard. I’ll remember your pain as I’m evicted from my apartment. How people fall for this “let’s fight the bastards” mentality, as if these were coal miners in Appalachia fighting for a living wage, is beyond me. Both sides are wealthy, powerful, selfish & greedy and simply (and ruthlessly) protecting their own interests and f*** any collateral damage…nothing more, nothing less.
Actually crew members do have everything to lose, as they won’t get residuals while they are out like us. True there is no job security per se, but there is always another job, another show, whatever.
Now there will be nothing.
Please, don’t start talking like this won’t affect the people who work so hard on “your” shows for an hourly wage.
As for corporate style job security, my Father’s company laid him off when he was 55. There is no job security, anywhere, just new jobs.
Wait there aren’t ANY jobs now are there? Unless you are thinking very very hard while you are walking the line.
Mr. Ryan wouldn’t be able to produce his shows without a studio giving him millions and millions of dollers.
While hes not making his wrap party, i’m not gonna be making my rent.
Who gave anyone the right to ditch the DVD residual demand so early? You don’t give into a bully.
This is why I was worried when I heard John Welles had entered the scene.
It truly hurts my heart to see how this impacts everyone. Yes, I’m worried about paying my bills and keeping my clients working. And I can’t stand the idea that production may shut down even sooner if showrunners really do not cross picket lines and render their so-called producing services. But Shawn Ryan has expressed the pain of watching something he created come to an end without him in such a way that, among other things, reminds me of why certain individuals become writers in the first place —
I want to stand firm, and I want to be supportive. So I ask the WGA to please go back to the table, kicking and screaming if necessary, and find a way to make this end quickly.
And, lest I forget, thank you to all the writers and artists who bring the rest of us a way to be a part of this business which means so much to us.
Awesome letter. Awesome leadership.
John Bowman made his position clear at last Thursday’s meeting.
Shawn Ryan does so today.
Now we must demand other showrunners to do the same — particularly those in the WGA leadership.
To “support” the union and the strike when the WGA membership is watching while privately kowtowing to the studio by producing and editing off-site or at home is hypocrisy. Showrunners who do this will divide the WGA and undermine our efforts to extend the residual system to the internet and other new media.
Showrunners are generals in this battle, particularly those in guild leadership. If they are not willing to follow the example set by Bowman and Ryan and, soon, many others, they should state this openly and cross their own union’s picket lines to provide those services they believe they owe.
I don’t think it’s enough to follow your conscience. It’s time to state publicly where your conscience leads you and become an example to the Teamsters, SAG members and less privileged WGA members whom you are asking to stand with you in this fight.
Shawn rules: This is the only way to be effective.
Kudos, man. Hopefully, ALL others will follow. My showrunner is doing the same… and picketing with the rest of us today.
Way to go, Shawn.
They’d have children working in coalmines if they thought they could get away with it.
By the way, I stand behind the crews that make my movies. Comments that somehow describe “doing the right thing” and “caring about the people a strike puts at risk” as mutually exclusive are respectfully, mistaken. This anger is misplaced.
Ask the studios to be transparent with their accounting. They’ve been cooking the books for generations. Know anyone who has EVER received net profits?? I don’t.
We appreciate our crewmembers support. All the people this affects across country are the backbone of our power. We as WGA members understand this completely. We have to live with this pressure and responsibility in addition to not working.
The producers have clearly forced this strike. Refusing to negotiate is well, not negotiating. That is a defacto strike; it’s a lock out.
It is as simple as this: The Internet is the new delivery system of our work. It’s no different than VHS was twenty years ago and broadcast television 30 years before that.
The intellectual property has not changed nor unfortunately the appetite to exploit it.
Best,
Todd Robinson
in support of Julius – sure, production jobs are fickle. but if your show gets canceled, you move on to ANOTHER one. what if there is not another show to move onto? the argument is not tired.
while i am in full support of writers getting what they deserve in DVD and New Media – the studios are a bunch of A-holes for trying to cut them out of that. but the studios should start cutting above the line costs in the first place to save money. above the line costs can be around a third of a TV show’s 3 million dollar budget. do we REALLY need 10-12 writers writing 22 episodes? if you’re a writer/producer(as almost all are), you write what?? two episodes a year? and for the rest of the episodes you ‘break stories’ and ‘cut for time?’ is that really worth your enormous producer fee? what do you produce?
here’s what should happen. the studios should say sure, you can have your four cents on DVD and new media. but, showrunners… pick your five best writers. cause now it’s you and them. sure, those five writers will still get their producer fees. AND they will be writing more like FOUR episodes year… getting paid MORE for writing MORE scripts, AND making MORE on residuals. plus, they will actually put some hours in and WORK. picketing four days a week for four hours a day?? how will they be able to handle that? WGA, are they getting OT for that?
of course, this puts writers out of work. but to have 10-12 writers on a show that MAYBE makes 22 episodes a year is ridiculous. i also can’t help to think that only having 5 or 6 writers on a series will make the storylines more cohesive and engaging– as opposed to throwing away story arcs and characters like parking tickets.
Shawn Ryan is my hero!
rock on. I’m in awe of his clarity.
I just spent the morning on the line… Im taking a break and going back out there. He’s exactly the kind of man who will help resolve this quickly! Any showrunner who does his post is hurting people rather than helping.
Just a question – SAG and DGA contracts aren’t up for renegotiation yet but the WGA strike is going to impact everyone and i don’t know many actors or directors who oppose the writers strike, so why don’t actors and directors as well as writers and teamsters strike together?
It may help alleviate some of the arrogance of the companies and bring the strike to an end sooner. It may also help foster creative integrity as the companies will see who’s in control when they loose all their talent.
sorry if this is overly simplistic or ignorant or both. i just don’t understand.
I hope the studios will sue his a** for not doing the job(s) he is contracted for. It’s alright for the WRITERS to strike but what they really try to do is to sabotage all parts of the show creating process. Maybe because the WRITING alone isn’t as important as they try to make us believe.
Off topic for the article but on topic for the comments:
The reason giving up the DVD residual increase was a good idea for the WGA is that it forced the AMPTP to hold fast on Internet distribution, whereas previously the AMPTP had pretended it earned needed revenue from DVD’s and didn’t make anything from Internet distribution. The reality is that DVD’s will be replaced by streaming media faster than has been predicted, and that ad revenue from streaming media will increase by leaps and bounds.
Wow!! The Shield (22 Episodes), The Unit ( 22 Episode) at a Minimum of $30K per episode for producing, that’s $1.32mil. Add maybe 10 script fees at $30K + 5 directing fees at $30K, that’s another $450K. I’m sure he would give it all up in order to regain creative control of his final episode. Sure he would.
First off, I support the writers and the strike and believe that Mr. Ryan has the right to voice his opinion. While it is his right to take the stance he has chosen, the WGA does not govern the entire business and if a writer wants to also be a producer, than they should have the option to continue their producing duties without fear of retribution or intimidation from the WGA. This strike is currently just a writers strike; yes it is implications for most of us that work in the business and for the other unions that will soon be in the same position, but for now it is just the writers that have walked out. The WGA has a very difficult battle ahead of them and to attempt to shut down all aspects of production for the sake of one union and make it not an individual choice of the writer/producer but a flagrant demand is wreckless and selfish and will hit the rest of the business hard, not the intended studios. These are not the studios of 1988. These are multi-billion dollar corporations and conglomerates. They will not be “hit hard and fast” as Mr. Ryan hopes. They have content stockpiled and they do not care about the quality of the programming they fill the timeslots with in the interim. These studios are no longer creative forces, they are just forces and they currently hold the power. While I have heard that many writer/producers are choosing to walk the picket line and not cross it, there are others that see fit to walk the picket line and continue to do the other duties that they signed on for. Producers, editors, grips, production staff and all of the people writers rely on to make their words come to life are not currently on strike. While they may support the strike and the writers, they should not be forced to put their tools down arbitrarily while there is still work to be done.
Technically Mr. Ryan is correct that for scripted productions, writing is tied every aspect of production, from the stage or location shoot to the final audio layback and delivery of the show. But technically speaking, the writers (not producers) job is done when shooting is wrapped. Then the show/film falls into the hands of the other people that make up this business, including those that signed contracts to write and produce. Yes, our showrunners may “protect” the script while in the edit bay, but what they are doing is editing, not writing. When they are on a mix stage they are creating sound and enhancing their scripts, but still not writing. I understand that inevitably everything goes back to the script in some way, but to use this as an excuse to force all writer/producers to stop ALL duties is a tactic that is not fair to the business as a whole.
Even if the DGA and SAG decided to throw down and preemptively strike, which would obviously be a huge statement, that doesn’t necessitate the whole business locking its collective door immediately. The business is bigger than one union.
I hope in the end they get back to the table and the studios are forced to capitulate to at least some of the guild’s demands. In the meantime I hope that the non-writing members of the business are able to work as long as possible since this is not their strike and many of them are not in unions and will only suffer from the ramifications of this disaster.
The real test for Mr. Ryan will come when the AMPTP member companies (Fox/Sony in this case) decide that Mr. Ryan is in breach of his contract and pursues him for damages. That day, however, will most likely never arrive. Mr. Ryan’s actions are a smart and calculated risk.
This is a terrible situation, and Mr. Ryan is correct that it is in everyone’s best interest for this strike to hurt the AMPTP member companies hard and fast. So here are a few suggestions for Mr. Ryan:
1. Convince your cast members to act poorly (not in their trailers, in between “action” and “cut”).
2. Although the WGA doesn’t condone it, use whatever influence you have with your execs to keep the pressure on to make concessions. If you don’t have their home phone numbers, ask Nikki.
3. Tell Ari and the rest of Endeavor to encourage outher showrunners to not cross the picket line. As them to support the writers by cancelling lunches and dinners with execs until the strike is over. Or at the very least, make the execs pay.
4. This strike will never be settled in a public forum…no matter what happens, the public will never feel compelled to join in or sympathize with the writers in their quest. Use your clout in the negotiating room…not in the media room.
Julius,
If contracts are so indestructible, how come they evaporate into thin air when a show gets cancelled as quickly as two episodes in (a la VIVA LAUGHLIN)?
No doubt Hugh Jackman and Melanie Griffith were less than thrilled at suddenly not getting a paycheck but they know that’s the way the biz goes.
In scripted TV, the axe can drop any second.
I hope someone can explain the importance of “New Media” in this negotiation. Obviously, digital delivery will be a major method of distribution in the future; however, we’re still in a period of throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Aside from iTunes, what delivery method has met with any consistant success? Even iTunes has yet to turn into a legitimate revenue stream for studios.
Is there really a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow or is there just a feeling of “we won’t let them screw us on this like they did with VHS”?
First, good for Shawn and all the other showrunners like him. His decision may be inconvenient for many others (and that’s certainly an understatement), but his allegiance and responsibility are first to his Guild brothers and sisters walking the picket lines. I’m sure it is very, very hard for him to know that his decision is one that will cost so much to so many people who have so much less than him. But anyone who thinks this strike was caused by anyone other than the studios has his or her head in the sand. If you want to blame anyone, blame them — not the few writers with actual power (almost all of whom are hyphenates) who are willing to use it to benefit the rest of the writers who do not. Hopefully it will be the courage and sacrifice of people like them who will undue the damage that John Wells caused because he was unwilling to risk his own personal fame and fortune for the benefit of the others.
Second, the DVD residual issue was a relatively easy give. It doesn’t take any $$$ out of writers’ pockets, it just doesn’t put any more in them. And DVDs will soon go the way of the VHS (remember those?). Electronic rental, electronic sell-through, and internet broadcasting are nearly the current, and hardly the future. Just look at the recently-debuted hulu.com and the several years-old movies.com to see that the commercialization of new media distribution has already begun.
Finally, SAG and DGA can’t officially strike because to do so would constitute a breach of their CBA and the individual members’ agreements with the studios. But they can (and already are) expressing their support, as well they should.
Sir Carl (and who the hell ever knighted you).
Writing is absolutely everything.
I don’t care what trade in this industry you are in, without folks like us, you’d just be a swell bunch of guys, standing around waiting for Godot.
Or doing “Deal or No Deal” (which, by the way was thought up by someone, so that’s writing too, n’est ce pas?)
First there was the word. Try dressing a set without a description or pulling focus on a group of actors with nothing to say.
We are the womb and the sperm and the egg.
Remember that next time you collect your paycheck in this industry. Guys like us wrote it.
I’m up here in Canada getting cancer treatment and looking after dying parents (dad went last month, mom soon) but don’ think I haven’t had to be locked in a room to keep me from being down there with my fellow writers.
And hey, since you’re going to be standing around, could you raise a plackard for me?
Sir Carl – without writers there’s no script, nothing for the actors to say, nothing for the directors to shoot, the editors to edit. The writing alone, as you say, may not be the single most important part of any production but without it, there is no production.
Shawn, I want to thank you for the conscientious, righteous decision you’ve made. If more showrunners took your position, we would actually have a shot at resolving this quickly. Being on the picket line today was at once energizing and enervating. This is not where any of us want to be and yet here we are hoping for the best and praying for a speedy resolution.
I am sorry He has an obligation to do the job he is under contract for and not doing it is wrong no matter what job you hold. People should be acontable to do what they agreed to do. I also think that both sides are forgetting the people that really matter the viewers because without us. Just stop whinning and both sides get back into negotiations because no progress can be made without negotiations.
This baring of heart and soul brought tears to my eyes. It’s easy to see why Shawn is such well-respected writer. Even if I have to take a day job to survive a long strike, I will do so, knowing that these hard steps must be taken to ensure our future survival.
Hey Chris Darling
Hop off the horse and get down here with the real collaborative world.
Every aspect of the process is important, shall I go through it for you, you egotistical fuck.
Without the casting dept there would be no actors for you to blame for messing up your lines
Without the Director there would be no one to blame for misreading your tone
Without the Camera Dept it would be Radio
Without the Electrical Dept it would be too dark to see anything, and no power for your laptops on set or the espresso machine
Without the Grip Dept there would be no one to push the dollies and set the cameras, as well as set the courtesy flags to keep your bald head from burning.
Without the Art Dept there would be no one to design the set from scratch, even when you brilliantly describe it “it was a run down tenement on the bad side of the tracks”
Without the Craft Service Dept there would be no one for you to blame about the free snack choices
wow a lot of idiots here. Shawn Ryan is RIGHT. First of all, just cause he has money now means he should be in the pocket of the studios and let them screw over lots of people who aren’t as well off as him? WHAT? where’s that logic. plus, the whole point is that agreements are cut off… it’s obviously MUCH harder NOT to do your work than to do it, esp for someone like Shawn Ryan. the series finale of your own show (and the one that made you) is more important than a check, and really people in his position are not fighting so much for more money for themselves but more respect and power for everyone in their profession. writers really get screwed over a lot in Hollywood, it’s really sad.
Dear JW – Thank you for your comments. I agree wholeheartedly.
As a young freelance crew member in Hollywood, I fully support the writers who are on strike. However, I feel that producers should reserve the right to fulfill their producing duties without bullying from the WGA or any members of.
I sincerely hope that the WGA returns to negotiations as soon as possible, and that many producers chose to fulfill the duties they are allowed to fulfill while also supporting their union brothers and sisters.
oh and to SAD TIMES ARE HERE, I would say I know where you’re coming from, except that he never said any of that. he simply stated that WITHOUT writing, you can’t have any of the rest of it. you need EVERY single department, and he’s defending writing because it seems a lot of people seems its not as important as the other stuff. it’s all EQUALLY important, this would be just as bad if actors, directors, production designers, whatever, went on strike.
In reading the comments here I was in agreement with one comment that if you wanted the support of the teamsters you would start your picked lines at 6AM when the crew shows up for work. I thought that would stop production right away. But in another note says the WGA made a side deal with the teamsters not to picket until 9am when it would not affect the teamsters!
Are the teamsters a bunch of pussies? They say they support the strike and then say please don’t strike until we are already at work so that we don’t have to cross the picket line?
I’m an IA member and I support you guys- I’m sorry that our union President doesn’t!
FishyHotWheels-
Some years back the writers agreed not to take but a tiny pittance on a new media called video tape. Producers worried that they didn’t know if they’d make money on it and suggested that once they did it could be renegotiated. Of course it never was.
There is a general sense that this is the same sort of situation with streaming or other new media. The writers are just trying to assure that if producers get paid, the writers get paid a percentage, even if no one yet knows how that will work or how much it will come to.
Shawn Ryan:
Ray Richmond with The Hollywood Reporter here. I’m sorry you felt compelled to take a shot at my publication for having quoted you accurately (as you essentially said yourself in your otherwise strong and impressive declaration). What I wrote in my piece today is only what you told me — on Friday. It was obviously out of my control that your resolve was further steeled by your colleagues at the Sunday meeting of showrunners. But I’d have had to be a mindreader to know this, and please understand I was only trying to make you look like the moral and principled professional that you are.
If you have a change of heart that further strengthens your position against doing any strike-time work, I obviiously respect that. But why attack the messenger for accurately reflecting your feelings two days before?
You’re a stand-up guy and a man of integrity, Shawn, and you’ve always been quotable and gracious with me. I wish you and all WGA members the strength to persevere through what’s shaping up as a fight to the death.
RR
Hey, Sad Times,
I’d love to be down there and maybe you didn’t read all of my post (try again brother) and you’ll see that I have a small health problem keeping me away for a while. Given a choice between picketing and dying, I had no other choice but to come back to my home country for a while and get my life saved (because my WGA health care ran out, guess I’m not that successful, huh?)
However, I wasn’t really pissing on other crafts as much as certain individuals who take every opportunity to belittle writers. Maybe that’s not you, maybe it is.
And since you took the time from joining my brother writers on the picket line, probably in the Starbucks aholes like you spend most of your time in, just think about this… film making is a collaborative effort. And we writers have contributed for twenty uninterrupted years, so there’s a goodly pile of anger built up there.
And there’s a few scripts on the table, ready to shoot, so go ahead and film then.
Then let’s see what you do. If the pile of scripts is used up, you’ll have nothing. Absolutely nothing. And you and every other union member, our brother unions, will have nothing at all to do. Zip. Nada. Try collaborating on that.
Put the fucking Capra touch on that.
Damn, that last note needs major re-write. Spelling and syntax errors. And of course, I let a little Ahole bait me.
Sorry.
Pencil is down so no re-write is possible.
This is such garbage. For starters, this “showrunner” doesn’t even explain why he’s on strike, contrary to the article’s title. It sounds more like he’s just fighting the big, bad corporation and “sticking it to the man” like the WGA would tell him to.
Jesus christ, like these people are being exploited in writing sweatshops 18+ hours a day. Unfortunately, you can hold your labor as a bargaining chip — I only wish the union could be broken so that no one would have to deal with this garbage in the television and film industry again.
This is absolute lunacy! Yes, Shawn Ryan is a hero – a very idealistic and riteous man. It easy to be idealistic and riteous when you are under an $8.5 million overall at Twentieth Century Fox Television. No, you read that right $8.5 million dollars guaranteed to him for 3 years and undoubtedly this is only a small portion of his income. While people are losing their $850/week jobs, Shawn Ryan can sleep soundly knowing he has done his part to slay the evil beast that made him a multi-millionare.
I just finished rolling around on teh ground after reading someone above that argued that writers are not that important to a TV show. Where do you think Seinfeld would be? Or how about, probably the best example, Lost? The 1st season was awesome. But then the writing sucked so bad during the 2nd season that it lost most of its audience. Acting, editing, producing, etc are all important to a show. But without good writing it is nothing.
Just a quick note from a consumer point of view:
While I respect the writers and actors, they make a decent living off of the shows. However, they have every right to protect their livelihood.
I’m not a proponent of any unions – they seem to have outlived their usefulness in most situations. However, I will say that, especially with large media conglomerates such as Movie/TV studios and Major sports franchises, the owners hold all the power and tend to step on everyone that makes the product something that consumers want to purchase.
That said, in the long run, most viewers don’t really care about what is going on – we just want our shows back. While you are hurting the studios, remember that you (and the studios) are just alienating the viewers.
I truly hope that the writers get the concessions from the studios that they deserve, and that the studios suffer a bit until they give in. But I also hope that this kind of activity doesn’t prevent the consumer from getting what they deserve.
Unions have outlived their usefulness? Hmmm, I was working as a college professor (adjunct mind you) with NO job security, no access to health care, no course for redress, and no negotiating power for wages. It was all up to the whims of administrators, which come and go often. Now, thanks to a Union, we have job security, health care, better wages and other benefits. Who benefits? we do, our families, and the students as well.
As for the WGA, there are many non-multimillionaire writers who certainly could use a slice of the profits. These guys aren’t asking to to take money from anyone, they just want a percentage of profit with something they create.
Wow – did you not read my post? Pay attention to the words
I stated that they’ve outlived their usefulness in _most_ situations, not all. For the most part, the jobs that should be unionized are not, the jobs that are shouldn’t be. The people that need the absolute most help are those that have substandard wages due to the shoddy minimum wage in this country, and work for the corporations that take advantage of this. Job security? Please explain to me what that is. The only people with job security are those with contracts that have a golden parachute attached, and government workers.
Like I said re: the writers – they deserve to get their fair share, but I’m sure most make a decent living. When did multimillionaire become the standard bearer for a decent living? 70K+ per year is a pretty decent living for most folks, especially compared to those that due to their circumstances are forced to work 40 hours a week with no security, no healthcare and all for minimum wage. I don’t know anyone that can survive on less than $15k per year…
I belong to SAG,AFTRA and United Healthcare Workers -SEIU and will stand with my fellow WGA members and picket the producers. They’re afraid to lose even a little of the new media money because they feel they will lose more and more of it as the years go by. These producers are already rich some are wealthy because of the hard work that the writers do. They need to know that its the writers imagination that has kept America happy and them rich all these years. The best way to do that is to not do any work for them and get out on the picket line. Protest at their offices too. My fellow UHW members will join me on the picket line to help them get their contract.
Hi all,
There seems to be a generally accepted idea that most writers are millionaires, or at the very least make a “decent wage’.
I started out in the movie business five years ago. My first movie got me ten grand. My second movie, two years later, got me thirty.
That’s ten grand one year, thirty grand another, and I was working on a farm all the way through.
The writers you know about, the high profile writers, are the rich and successful ones. This is obvious, right? But please don’t assume that EVERY writer is in the same situation.
The writers are going on strike for the benefit of ALL WRITERS, successful and not-so-successful, rich and not-so-rich. Nobody wanted to do it, because writers love to write, but this had to be done to secure a fair and equal future.
My two cents…
Gosh, I sure wish I had a career where I got residuals for my work.
This strike is just. As a writer, I applaud Shawn Ryan’s dedication to not only himself, but the 12,000 other writers in the WGA.
The writer’s strike is important to our industry and Alan Rosenberg better make up his mind about our contract ending June 2008. He did not receive a mandate from our Guild. Actors are walking the picket lines with writers. We expect if we go out next year that the writers will remember us and join us on the picket lines as well. My only other comment is SAG background performers. Union background NOT non-union. Union background has been always slighted when it comes to increase wages and treatment on production sets. Its high time for our President of SAG to look into Union Background working on sets and treat them as loyal abiding members as well. In solidarity, Richard Lapp, SAG union member paid up each year since 1965.
I’ve just an average joe consumer and TV/movie enthusiast. I’m am a fan of shows. I am a fan of writers. I am a fan of showrunners. I am a fan of directors. I follow the work of these people from one show to the next the same way I follow my favorite bands and novelists. I applaud the stance of Shawn and other showrunners, and I’m sad to see some here have so little respect for his decision. Good luck to the WGA. Keep it up until they get it right. No more steps backwards (you deserved an extra 4 cents from me for every DVD I’ve bought and enjoyed).
Cut the Crap Shawn!
Since your network show The Unit took off you have treated The Shield like a step child. This final season you have hardly shown your face at the office or on the set. You have been so ‘busy’ with your other projects that you’ve had the The Shield writers work at your home (25 miles from the office).
When you rich folks come to an agreement the studios will claim they can no longer afford to shoot in LA. That won’t much matter to you because Above the Line can work in any state or any country, not so us staff and crew. Screwd at both ends again!
Cry me a river!
I think it’s disgusting that big name writers are getting crapped on and I’m appalled to discover today that there are actually people out there who are NOT supporting the writers in their fight.
What is up with that? People, do some research before you mouth off.
Writers like Shawn Ryan, Joss Whedon, James Gunn etc are putting themselves in the firing line because they are successful and they remember the times that they weren’t. That takes balls. They could, I’m sure, just sit home and come up with future projects secretly. Of course they have things they want to be writing and working on instead of walking in a circle like goldfish. The WGA are lucky to have famous people willing to speak up for all the writers, the writer-wanna-be’s, the writer assistants. For all those living in fear of not making their next car repayment, rent, mortgage payment. Sure the big writers have made a lot of money off their work, but wouldn’t we all be happy to get wealthy doing what we love. I have to wonder, are the nay-sayers just throwing sour-grapes? You can’t honestly tell me that as working individuals you’re not happy when you see a little bonus at Christmas time or extra kudos for a job well-done. We all cross our fingers during contract negotiations hoping for that extra 2+%. Usually, the pay rise we do get, if we get it, barely covers the current inflation rate. These writers aren’t fighting for bonuses or recognition. They are fighting for a FAIR deal. That’s all. Wouldn’t you grow bitter over 20 years watching fat suit fucks get rich and take credit for YOUR hard work and painstaking creation?
To the writers I say, Go hard, you good things. Walk that picket line as passionately as you do your job. I wish you all ongoing creative success!
To the studios and networks I say, all new media entertainment is being switched off in our part of the world until the strike is over. We may not be able to join the WGA on the picket line from NZ but we are certainly standing with them in spirit.
A lot of people seem to be under the impression that all the striking writers, showrunners, etc are rich or greedy. The sad fact is that most of them are simply middle-class. They rely on residuals (the ones they are fighting to increase) to get them through the times between films, when they’re TV show is canceled, or they have to leave work due to serious illness or pregnancy.
This strike affects me in future-interests, as I am a (currently non-union) writer. I appreciate that there are people willing to stand up for what they deserve.
It’s not solely about needs. It’s about fairness and getting what is deserved.
The 3 or 4 cents per DVD is based on an agreement that is 22 years old. I mean, it’s not like the cost of fuel, food, clothes, or anything else has increased in 22 years!
That agreement undercut the writers back THEN. They agreed to less than they wanted because the HomeVid business was struggling. At this time it’s flourishing.
They made a concession 22 years ago like they are willing to make now! And are still being called greedy.
Instead of calling the writers greedy, take a look at the producers who aren’t willing to make concessions of an extra buck-thirty on an online (download) sale.
One further thought. Both directors and actors start negotiations soon. Traditionally whatever contract is accepted first is accepted by the other 2. So the writers are also, by proxy, working for a better deal for the DGA and SAG, who contractually cannot strike.
I will miss my TV shows that are to be affected. But as a writer I will stand behind the WGA in this effort.
Without writers NONE OF YOU HAVE A JOB, so quit your bitching. Writers ARE hollywood.
You guys are blindly following the WGA as if God him or herself has called this action.
You help create a product that makes your employer money. I am certain you are FAIRLY COMPENSATED on every level.
Giving up a 70% raise in DVD risiduals oh how white of you. You guys make 7500 per week, you recieve a fee for your scripts, get paid again when it airs on traditional media, get paid again during syndication, get paid again and again and again and again..Now you want some magical formula , scale for untrackable internet clickthrough? The Studio, the employees of the studio, all the other crafts made you and continue to make YOU huge amounts of cash..You continue to be paid as a “Creator” as a “Writer” while the crews you displaced will lose EVERYTHING for your cause. We made you this money without the other 99% of the puzzle you would never have gotten to where you are, now you kill
it over flippin pennies. How the fu** can you settle this when all you guys do is half assed pickets? Nice hours. Show up when we are working 4am-12pm, we work so you can get your HUGE checks long after we are all dead and gone, you still get paid.
This strike is unjust and not one writer that is EMPLOYED by a major studio can make the argument that are unfairly compensated for the work they do. My Designer, my DP, my stylist all make about 40% less than my LOWEST PAID STAFF WRITER.
the Salary of my 10 Writers is EQUAL TO THE SALARY OF MY ENTIRE IATSE crew.
This is fact not fiction.
Walking out was cowardess, continuing to negotiate takes courage and wisdom. Get back to the table and present your terms, pretending your asking for 2 cents when it really represents a near doubling of payments is simply DISHONEST.
There are some people who stand up for what they believe in, even if they are the only ones standing up.
I support Mr. Ryan 200%.
You can’t see my picket sign across the country in FL, but this Jane Q public is hoisting one that reads:
YOU AIN’T ALONE SHAWN!
(Did you hear my horn blasting over there?)
If the showrunners REALLY want “everyone to stop work right now,” let’s see them pay the salaries of their employees to keep them off the show.
It’s easy to stand on principle and walk out when you literally have millions in the bank. The thousands of people who are in post production who have the unenviable task of finishing the shows already in the pipeline would love to stand with the writers and walk away from their avids and their computers, but not at the expense of feeding their families.
The studios can finish the shows without the showrunners, but not without the production staff. If these people walk out, the studios WILL be screwed.
If these people get paid, most of them probably WOULD walk out.
The showrunners can afford to pay them.
If they really want to see it happen…
Dear Sir or Madam,
My name is Marco Gozzo and I am a student of University of IULM, situated in Milan (Italy – http://www.iulm.it)
I have been studying “Television, Cinema and Multimedia Production” and now I am almost at the end of my University career, in fact I have started working on the final thesis a few months ago with Mr. Enzo Papetti, who is a Professor of mine.
My thesis talks about the TV series called “The Shield” and that is why I emailed you.
I would like to ask you if it were possible to have from you, all the information concerning the TV series; especially technical information (e.g.: number of people working in the troop, kind of video-cameras used, locations and more) and also all costs you needed to carry the TV series out.
The more information you will write back to me, the easier will be for me writing a good thesis.
If you could not write me all things I asked you for, could you at least tell me if there is someone who could answer me?
If there is someone, could you email me his/her e-mail address?
So perhaps I will be able to email that person.
I will be very glad if I hear from you soon ‘cause unfortunately there are not books about that TV series here in Italy and I don’t really know where to find more information that could be fundamental for the success of my thesis.
Thanks in advance
Yours faithfully
Marco Gozzo
Shawn,
I have no association with any of the writers and am only posting as a loyal fan of The Shield. I can’t say how upset I am that you will not be involved with these critical final steps of The Shield. I understand that you are acting on principal and I can only imagine how hard this must be for you. I remember finding out about a year ago that you had always known what the ending of The Shield would be and what music would be played. I have since then been trying to guess. To find out now that I won’t be getting your exact ending but someone elses really disappoints me. I respect your decision and I wish you nothing but the best, but I am sorry to have lost you at such a critical time for such an amazing show.
Thanks for all you have done already,
Ryan McDermott
The strike is complicated. The bottom line is, that there needs to be a bottom line. Shawn Ryan made the call to stop doing work for the people who are, in effect, trying to screw him, as well as his fellow writers, out of a living. It’s admirable that he’s doing so.
Studios need to give into these demands, and realize that pacifying stupid people with reality TV is not a blanket strategy, and definitely isn’t working on those of us with a frontal lobe. I want ‘The Shield’, goddammit, and I want it the way it should be. I’m a fan, and ultimately I represent the masses that pay for you corporate assholes to play golf and drink 30 dollar martinis while your secretary, who you’re fucking on the side, sends meager paychecks out to guys like Shawn. Do us a favor: either give the writers their due, or slowly die and collapse just like the music industry is doing.