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So the offices of Big Media moguls have been inundated with calls from TV fans who’ve been posting and emailing and otherwise sharing the CEOs’ phone numbers. The fans argue the writers’ side of the strike and want the walkout settled quickly so it doesn’t interrupt future episodes of CSI or Grey’s Anatomy or, god forbid, Lost. And it’s kinda working. I hear it’s driving the bigwigs and their staffs crazy.
The Secret To Getting Moguls To Settle?
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I was told by one of the CBS assistants that answer those phones that they have had to add new phone lines to handle the calls. Criminal Minds fans won’t give up until this strike is over!
http://criminalmindsfanatic.blogspot.com/
nice.
The fans and devoted watchers of various shows have been incredibly supportive. Here in NYC, for instance, representatives of fans4writers dot com have been out to the lines, helped pass out literature, etc.
I do want to point out that, while WGA members have been approached about coordinating out efforts, we ask that they do all their grass-roots organizing on their own.
In other words, this movement is authentic. Viewer driven. And all the more heartening for it.
The WGA isn’t in the astroturf business.
Boo-Ya! All power to the people! It’s ironic that those who live by the phone…
I HIGHLY doubt that. More wishful thinking on your part. The networks and big media companies are REGULARLY inundated with calls (bitter and complimentary – but mostly bitter). There is NO indication that this is happening at ALL. And even if they WERE getting calls, they can have those calls easily diverted to other lines. You’re really grasping at straws here. Don’t you think these people PREPARED for this strike as much as you all did? Ridiculous.
let’s get those phone numbers…
All the more reason to keep calling every network, every day. Costs a little, means a lot.
I called CBS’ Moonves office to voice my support for the writers and to urge an end to the strike.
Go to http://www.bringtvback.blogspot.com for the phone numbers of the studio CEOs
And which Big Media company do you shill for ChuckT?
Wow, Chuck, denial and anger at the same time. Hey, guess what the next step is? Bargaining! Go WGA!
Wow, if ChuckT talks like he writes he MUST make a GREAT mid-level management workaholic. i NEED you to get my coffee NOW and PLEASE validate my parking IMMEDIATELY and do NOT put any calls through.
We have been circulating this letter around the internet.
Ron Moore (Battlestar galactica) and I (Terry Moore), are working on contacting all the other showrunners to try to get them to post on their fan boards and try to get all the fans for the various shows over to fans4writers.com.
From there the fans are going to try to mobilize into some big events supporting the writers.
If you are a showrunner, or writer who has any means to contact your fan base, PLEASE, send them over. They really can help to put the pressure on !!!!
Terry Moore
————–
Hello everyone.
Mrs. Ron here, aka Terry Dresbach Moore, wife of Ronald D. Moore, of Battlestar Galactica, Trek, Roswell and Carnivale.
We keep getting asked by fans what they can do to support their favorite writers, who are on strike.
If you are one of those, here is what you can do. Go to http://www.fans4writers.com.
It is an amazing site developed by fans, for fans.
They have put everything together for fans who want to get involved. There are campaigns to participate in, signs and postcards to download, forums to talk to other fans of your favorite show, and the fans of other shows, all discussing what they can do to help.
Someone in an official capacity the other day asked me what fans can do? I answered that I have been completely amazed at who fans REALLY are. That they are this incredible force, the voice of the audience, and it is a voice that is untapped in all of this mess.
You guys are the viewers, you are the ones these shows are for. Maybe it is time to get united and truly become to the powers that be, what you already are, the third piece in the puzzle.
Imagine fan rallies across the country where thousands of fans are speaking up and letting their voices be heard, imagine bags of mail, mountains of pencils. This is an amazing opportunity to come out from the shadows of message boards and into the forefront.
These are the shows you love enough to post on message boards about, to show up to conventions for, these are the writers who write those shows!! Join in and let’s get those shows back on the air.
Ron is posting there, and we expect other show runners to join us, and engage in a dialogue with their fans.
Hope to see you there!
Terry Moore
(Mrs Ron)
http://www.fans4writers.com/forum/index.php?topic=396.0 <- Terry Moore’s Note
http://www.fans4writers.com/forum/index.php?topic=355.0 <- Ronald D Moore checking in on the Ron Moore’s Fans subforum at http://www.fans4writers.com
The big dirty secrets in Hollywood: it’s easy to get scripts read, we do read your fan letters, and we do hear about your phone calls. So they, to that extent, do work.
I called Disney/ABC yesterday after receiving a promotional email telling me I could watch 13 never before told stories about LOST online. I also sent emails letting them know I would not be watching because I supported the writers and would not watch something that they are making money off of and not the writers.
Unfortunately, ChuckT is right. The networks get calls regularly from select numbers of fantatical TV watchers who make up less than 1% of the US population.
The rest of America doesn’t care about this strike. They don’t know who Nick Counter is, don’t know what AMPTP stands for, and aren’t committing hari-kari because “Criminal Minds” is a repeat. They have mortgages to pay, jobs to go to, and kids to raise. They have relatives coming for the holidays and turkeys to roast.
Are the moguls greedy? Absolutely. But you can’t avoid the reality that, like CD sales, network TV ratings had been declining for years because viewers are bored. If they loved “30 Rock”, they’d watch it. But they don’t watch it because they don’t care. That’s why the networks will likely drag this out so they can force majeure every middling show off the air and start over.
As for a few movies being shut down, so what? Most films lose money, especially the indie movies we’re all supposed to care about. When’s the last time anyone cared about Oliver Stone’s latest release?
I am glad to see that Les Moonves is enjoying hearing from us. I hope that he has extra staff over the next few days.
I try to imagine who Chuck is… some never-once-employed writer person, sad and alone hoping for the demise of the union… some Republican lawyer type, angry that the artist/worker might actually ask for his/her due… or, could it be, Gavin Pallone, stopping by with pen-name, furious that his dire warnings are still being mocked and chuckled at.
ChuckT, please get back to work and fetch me a happy meal.
And we shouldn’t forget the leverage of this goshdarned new fangled tool, the Internet (I wonder if it will last?), in many ways the one tool most open to more people than any other venue of communication, pro, con and just a bit-over-the-line at times…
The blogs here at this site.
pb
to tom
an Oliver Stone/Bruce Willis pic is far from an inconsequential project
Angels and Demons, sequel to Da Vinci code which took in upwards of 3/4 billion dollars globally, and will be directed by Ron Howard, written by Akiva Goldsman, is a mega-project.
Studios are indeed being INUNDATED with an unprecedented number of fan calls/letters in support of WGA, and it’s causing havoc.
Furthermore, each fan call is exponentially multiplied as representative of many more people who haven’t called but share the same outrage, like when you call your senator/congressperson, they exponentially multiply your call as representative of many more constituents.
studios miscalculated several factors now messing up their game plan: losing the pr war, viewer outrage, advertiser outrage and skittishness, determination and unity of wga, etc
now go collect your check from whatever studio hired you (and chuck t — unless you’re the same person)to submit your silly comment. hope you got paid upfront and not on a per click basis, cause they’re not great about those back end payments
The funny thing about a guy like Chuck is, he understates the interest of an audience when writers are on strike, but you can bet he’d kill his mother to get better ratings (because you know this is some frustrated studio suit).
HOLIDAY RE-WRITE on http://www.bringtvback.blogspot.com PHONE SCRIPT
Dear (CEO):
First of all, I wish you and your staff a Happy Thanksgiving. As a loyal viewer of many of your TV shows, I truly ask that you consider a fair and equitable resolution with theWriter’s Guild. Please discontinue your hardline stance on new residual formulas for new media, especially streaming media. You are alienating those who enjoy your product, and you are forcing the continuation of the strike.
I consume my entertainment via new media — I watch streaming video and download shows. As a viewer, I want to know that the writers who craft my favorite TV shows and movies are getting a fair residual, no matter what screen or format I use.
Please respect your audience and respect your writers by working as a team at the bargaining table and negotiate new media residuals fairly. I look forward to returning happily to your network to resume consumption of my favorite shows. If you cannot reach a deal on the Monday after Thanksgiving, please do consider being my special Santa Claus and resolving this issue by the Christmas Holiday.
Sincerely,
YOU
tom:
America will care when every single top 20 scripted show suddenly has no new episodes. How many people watch Grey’s or CSI? 18 million, 20 million? There’s a reason why they watch them. They like the shows. And they won’t watch reruns in the same numbers as first run.
Guess who cares about that? Ad buyers. And guess who cares about ad buyers? Networks. And guess who cares about the profitability of networks and their ad revenues? Wall Street.
And here’s the other little secret about this strike: pilot season.
If this strike goes on another 3-4 months, it will blow apart the pilot season. And what does that mean? No new fall programming. So guess what, tom? After the networks get rid of the middling programs they don’t like, they will have nothing to replace them.
fans should boycott reruns and websites to pressure studios to settle.
1) fans should boycott reruns and show that reruns don’t work. when ratings drop on reruns, advertisers and studios/networks will get more nervous on weathering the strike. they will have to settle sooner.
2) boycott websites of shows. those sites get ad dollars! they measure how many visitors and brag about that to their advertisers.