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SUNDAY UPDATE: The WGA just announced tonight that WGA members and union supporters will bring their children to walk the picket lines Monday at various locations through the Los Angeles area in support of writers on strike against studios and networks.
Previous: I'm told the WGA is planning a Bring-A-Star-To-Picket-With-You event this Tuesday that's supposed to be centered at Universal Studios at noon. There's also supposed to be a Bring-Your-Kids event underway Monday on all the picket lines since it's a school holiday, Veterans Day. C'mon, producers, let's see you schedule media events and photo opps as well. Wait, here's an even better idea: both sides get back to the negotiating table. That's a picture we'd all like to see.
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Well, there’s no school Monday so I suppose that’s the rationale behind the kids “event,” although I just got my marching orders from my strike captain and he said nothing about it.
And I’d be happy to bring a star with me on Tuesday, so if you could pass along Jessica Biel’s phone number I’d really appreciate it.
Awesome. I’m bringing George W. Bush. Is that a good idea?
Brilliant. Hard to counter that with a ‘Hide A Star In Your Corporate Office’ event.
How about: Bring-a-SOLUTION-with-you…
Not sure that “stars” would have a good impact, other than for higher traffic for the photos online afterward.
We’re bringing the kids. They’ve been told that stealing content from the Internet is morally wrong and criminally illegal…. unless you’re the studios stealing from the writers who wrote it. Then it’s promotional. I can see it now — my teenager getting everything off Limewire and telling me she is doing it to help promote the music.
I have a question, I read a big name writer quoted as saying “How am I supposed to look at myself in the mirror or look at my child years from now and know that I did not have the courage of my convictions to stand up and put myself more at risk than anyone else?” I ask how can you look at yourself in the mirror or look at your child and say I didn’t care about other people who may lose their home and be in financial ruin? Are those your convictions? Is that morally the right thing to do? A lot of these people who will be hurt you work with every day. This writer is probably in the top tier of the 3000 money making working writers in the union, what risk is more risk than anyone else? Don’t get me wrong, the big media companies carry the same burden, but I don’t believe in striking. I’m starting not to believe in unions. How can a union of 12,000, 3,000 of which are working writers be allowed let all vote when a vast majority of them are not working as writers and have really nothing to lose by voting for a strike? The actors also have nothing to lose by supporting the striking writers, their deals, made by their agents, are play or pay.I think the people on both sides should be ashamed of themselves. How do any of you look at yourself in the mirror much less at your children?
Half the writers in the Guild are working.
Actors stand to lose plenty… some have lost their dealsl already.
You are not the only one suffering.
You can whine and joke and rage about him all day long, but the truth is that the Govenor was absolutely right in his comments. Its not the warring factions who are being most hurt, its all of the other workers who now aren’t on strike but have lost their jobs because of this work stoppage. Shame on you WGA, and shame on you Studios for caring only about your own interests.
The last time I checked, this was America. the writers have a right to unionize and a right to strike. after all, we all know that one person can’t stand up against a conglomerate all by themselves. yes it’s a shame that so many people are being affected by this, but I’d rather be out of work for a few months than live in a world where people have no choice but to be slaves to a faceless corporation.
I never suggested that the WGA didn’t have the right to strike, but having the right to do something doesn’t make it the right thing to do.
And lose the drama, no one is forced to be a slave to a corporation, go work for whomever you want to. But know that your actions have taken that choice away from innocent people because their jobs are suddenly pulled out from under them.
Why can’t people, including Gov. Arnold, understand that it’s a small fraction of writers who get the big bucks?! The bigger, higher-paid writers are more vocal and visible because they carry with them some celebrity that comes from their hit shows(or movie). Everyone sees creators of shows or high-level producers in the news and they think that’s who all of us are. Reporters are not going to run up to entry-level writer to hear his/her sob story of how the strike denied them a meeting for a staff job on “Carson Daley.” They don’t want to talk to the mid-level guy about his new “30Rock” spec. There are 12,000 members. 4,000 to 5,000 have been actively picketing on both coasts. So what’s being implied is that there were thousands of multi-million dollar writers raking in the dough just before the strike hit? Look at how many scripted network shows are on TV; are they hiring hundreds of writers per staff at top dollar? Probably not. Stop saying we’re rich and we want to get richer! Many of us are going to be in as much or deeper trouble than a lot of teamsters.
Oh RealityCheck, you are so full of it. First it’s, “screw you! The studios have no obligation to you, it’s all on you, you make your own decisions, nobody else cares about anyone else and nobody should, nobody forced anyone else to take any job, individualism period,” then it’s, “you have an obligation to everyone in the world, if there’s a possibility your actions could possible affect anyone else, then you should always keep in mind that you’re depriving other people of choices, you should never act without thinking of everyone else in the entire world first.” Why don’t you pick a logically consistent argument and stick to it?
The producers could end this strike at any point by showing a modicum of fairness. Nobody wants anyone to be out of work. Most of the crew members are supportive of the strike, because they understand the principles involved. If the crew goes on strike, then I understand that’s what they have to do, I’m not going to demand that the crew continue to work without a contract because I have a mortgage. They’re not obligated to continue to work under conditions detrimental to them and sacrifixe their long term interests because it’s in *my* interest, they’re entitled to band together and use their dues to look out for each other and not get screwed over by the studios.
i agree with you that having the right to strike doesn’t make it the right thing to do, but it IS the right thing to do. the studios are more than welcome to end the strike at any time by giving the writers a fair deal. this is NOT a two-sided argument.
and “lose the drama?”
Shame on you, reality check! shame on you!
I think “bring fans to picket” should be next. Weldon alone would stop traffic from Boyle Heights to Catalina. Wells and Shore could stop all traffic around Cedar Sinai and UCLA (except emergency vehicles, of course.)
As far as the “other folks” hurt during a strike. No kidding. It stinks. But someone needs to come up with the alternative. Fact of the matter is, you want to end this strike quickly, everybody on every lot gets sick tomorrow. Massive “this stinks” flu bug careens through Hollywood. No one anywhere shows up for work. No one will feel better until both sides are talking. THAT will shorten this thing. A couple of show runners keeping their shows going won’t.
Fact is, the outcome of this negotiation will set the financial tone for a good long time. For writers, director, actors and crews. And, frankly, producers and execs – and animators, post people, etc. etc. They negotiate with these same clowns. They pound the writers you don’t think they’ll pound anyone else they can?
For a comment by Anon -
You are very wrong. Most of the IATSE crews are not in support of you in the WGA. This strike has alredy put many innocent people out of work and after this next week many many more. We are appauled that there are no negotiations going on at our expense. Therefore it makes it hard fo any of us to support anyone! We just need to work so we can continue with our lives.Most of us live paycheck to paycheck. Unemployment wont cover anything. We are so screwed!!!!!Remember you may write it but we make it happen!!!
Let’s stop this talk of a “sick out”. It’s not going to happen. Bringing a celeb to the strike is dumb. Celebs have been coming out to the picket lines already. What SAG members need to do is to not go make their movies, and refuse to shoot their episodes that remain – but that’s unrealistic because they would be in breach of their contracts.
I am a lower-level writer who kept deferring my USC student loans while trying to get my writing career going. After a year and a half of getting paid to write – fulfilling a life long dream – I find myself going online to defer my loan payments yet again, and trying to figure out how to make my rent payment. Writers like me – we may make more than a P.A., but that doesn’t mean we’re rich. The show I work on will not be coming back whenever this strike ends, and while the fate of the show probably wouldn’t be different if the strike didn’t happen (ratings sucked), I would have gotten paid a little more, and I would have been able to deal with my livelihood being pulled from under me on account of poor ratings, but now I feel double-whammied, as my livelihood has been pulled from under me by poor ratings AND poor leadership from both the WGA (not afraid to call out our leadership) and the AMPTP.
Reality & all writers and individuals affected by this strike,
I left Hollywood years ago, but still have income stream dependent on high-level industry producers/writers/directors. Already, I’m feeling the pinch — I’d estimate about $4,000 out of pocket. I have not one, but two mortgages, and family. I also worked in the biz in the ‘88 strike, which nearly put me out of biz. But I cut back expenses wherever I could, reinvented myself and came out of it for the better. I saw plenty less fortunate go bankrupt, lose homes, etc.
I have two things to say:
1) Reality, stop whining. You don’t seem to understand that the producers are holding the show up, not the writers. The writers are standing for the greater good of everyone who works in the industry for the long run. And even, to a greater extent, the power of the people in the face of giant corporations. So shut up and suck it up. Go get a temp job in this interim period if you must.
2) Writers, the ‘88 strike was brutal. Make it stick this time.
Dibs on Todd Bridges.
So do the actors have to show up with you voluntarily or you can just bring a bound and gagged Denzel Washington with you onto the sidewalk in an old sack?
Madonna said it best (and this is either a direct quote or a very close paraphrase) when she was trying to stop illegal downloads of her music – “I wrote this shit. I should get paid.” And as Joe Hill said, “Don’t mourn. Organize.”
I’ve worked my ass off in this business for 17 years, dressing over 2,500 sets for television shows & films. Where’s my residual check?
Writer’s… “Without us, you wouldn’t have anything to film.” Sound familiar? I’ve heard that over and over. My 2¢ says that without your crew, you wouldn’t have a show filmed. If it was just you and your written words, there’d be a lot more books in the library.
I’ve been surprised even by my family, who doesn’t seem to understand why the WGA is striking. They feel that the internet is so vast, both the networks and the writers will lose, because everyone will simply turn to producing internet-based entertainment and leave the WGA and all other entertainments unions in the dust. I certainly don’t see that happening any time soon.
I moved to L.A. the year of the ‘88 strike and saw the damage, especially the collateral damage inherent in all those weeks of strife. This strike is even more relevant, because all those pennies people are griping about DO add up over time, especially when they’re coming from a variety of sources.
I’m not eligible (yet) for WGA membership, but if I could, I’d be on the lines with a sign in my hand. Why? Because the current membership is striking for benefits I’d like to have, once I’m union eligible.
I’ve worked both behind the cameras and in front of them, and no one’s sorrier than I am to see the swift ripple-effect of the strike. However, I have to agree with those who say, “Get a temp job in the interim,” because there are those of us who have to compensate financially by taking non-entertainment industry jobs. Yes, I know it’s hard; jobs are scarce. I’m aware of that because I’m looking for work after years of writing online content, having seen my contracts expire in this recession.
However, as difficult as it is now, all writers — WGA and those who are working toward an opportunity for membership — need to stand their ground in the face of an industry in which networks diminish potential profit. While there is certainly a negative ripple-effect now, without this strike, nothing positive can eventuate for all writers who have worked hard and deserve more.
GIVE THEM WHAT THEY DESERVE!!
Yes. I will support the strike.
No. I will not use my children as props.
It’s a moot point by now, but-
But I just hve to wonder if the person who had the idea that we should bring our kids, coordinated with the folks who decided that picketing should start at 6am.
For us to get our kids out of bed at 4:30 in the morning to walk the picket line before school starts at 8 (yes, our kids are in school), is just a little bit of a push. I mean, who is going to get their kids up at five o’clock in the morning to make their 6am shift?
My guess is that none of them have kids.
Who is coordinating all of these actions? It feels like no one is, and people are just running off and making up random actions.
I won’t even get into how bizzare it sems that there are no picketlines between 2 and 6 pm, when most of the world is driving by??
“Gee Ethel, I guess that writers strike must be over !”
I think those who take their ire out on the writers are misguided. We are the few Americans workers out there who operate in a purely “free enterprise” system. We aren’t great in numbers but we provide the number one American export. Unlike IATSI members, we don’t show up for work– we create the work. And, if we don’t create material other people respond to with investment dollars– we don’t get rehired. With us, the laws of authorship apply. When someone invents the squeegee, they make money along with the manucfacturer and the distributer because their invention attracts customers. If Matt Groening creates “The Simpsons” and he and his writers generate multi-millions in profits and products– should they be excluded from a minor percentage share of the business they generated? Like the squeegee inventor shouldn’t his children and even his children’s children enjoy a percentage of profits generated by his invention? Isn’t that the American way? Writers are creative gamblers. If we win we can win big. If we lose, we don’t work. We don’t have a chance of earning residuals unless our product has been produced and people are watching. We don’t profit if the studios don’t profit. This strike is about ownership, fair compensation and not being robbed! This strike is about the once important American value of competition, Free Enterprise and profitting because of vision, audacity and inventiveness.
Large corporationshave the power and the fat pockets to destroy American innovation and can-do spirit. We writers proudly are standing up for those values. Please stand with us!
What about the production assistants who work in entertainment who aren’t even allowed to form a union? No one cares about them. They make about $400 a week, many without health benefits. Why don’t the unions help out production assistants and help them make a little better money and for them to have health benefits. I was a production assistant for 5 years and I struggled to survive. Yes the corporations need to spread the wealth, but actors, writers, and directors are not the only ones who deserve more money. I support the writer’s strike, but I just wish the writer’s supported everyone else in this business.
Dibs on Todd Bridges.
I swear to God I saw him out there today!