Paramount & Dreamworks Animation Open Cannes: Sacha … 
Cannes: Hot Film Titles For U.S. Buyers 
Bill Block’s QED Gets Cash Infusion From Media … 
Aaron Sorkin To Script ‘Steve Jobs,’ Based On … 
Warner Bros Tops $1B At Global Box Office 
Waterstone Enlists Chris Pine And Pals For Indie Comedy … 
Jimmy Kimmel Skewers ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox & The … 
Steve Jobs Biopic Starring Ashton Kutcher To Cannes: … 
Alexander Payne Wants Bruce Dern And Will Forte To … 
Amy Adams In Talks To Venture Into ‘Dark 
ABC’s ‘Mistresses’ Summer-Bound, … 
Alec Baldwin And James Toback Team On Cannes Docu … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: No Howard Stern Surge For ‘America’s … 
CBS Films Acquires ‘Ends Of The Earth’ At 
Student Academy Award Winners Announced 
Can Cannes Make A Major Mark On The Oscar Race Two Years In … 
Single-Camera Comedy Mayhem: ABC, NBC & Fox To Clash … 
2012-13 ABC Schedule: Comedy Block On Friday, … 
2012-13 New Series Leads: Strong Year For Black Actors, … 
Rebekah Brooks First Person To Be Charged In News Corp … 
David Yates Confirms His Exit From ‘Your Voice In My … 
I’ve just been given the exclusive news that Ellen DeGeneres will not be bringing her syndicated talk show to NYC next week as planned. (The New York Post story today is wrong.) Ellen is taping her TBS special tomorrow night in Las Vegas and was supposed to catch a plane immediately afterwards for NYC.
The Ellen Degeneres Show was planning to tape in NYC next Monday and Tuesday, November 19th and 20th. Ellen is both a member of the WGA and AFTRA. Which is why the Writers Guild Of America East issued the statement it did last Friday headlined “Ellen Is Not Welcome In NY.” The guild had pledged to “certainly let Ellen know our dissatisfaction in person if she decides to proceed with the shows she has scheduled [and] make our voices heard the preceding week if she tries to pre-tape comedy segments on location.” Since then Ellen has been under fire by writers and others. The “s” word, for scab, has even been used during this controversy.
There has been a running dispute between the WGA East and AFTRA with Ellen smack in the middle because she went back on the air after honoring only one day of the writers strike. On her first day back, Ellen said she supports her writers but returned to work because of a) her crew and b) her company, which ordered her to, and c)a no-strike clause in her AFTRA contract.
But AFTRA was quick to defend Ellen, saying she had done nothing to violate the WGA agreement and noting that DeGeneres, like other first-run syndications that deliver original programming (Dr. Phil, Regis and Kelly, and Oprah), has a contractual obligation as host and producer. Also a portion of the Writers Guild’s “Minimum Basic Agreement” (MBA) supposedly excuses Ellen’s situation.
But the writers guild scolded Ellen for not making an “act of individual conscience”.
I should note here that AFTRA is often accused of having undercut Guild contracts for years and poaching jobs that are traditional union jurisdiction. But AFTRA pulled out a letter to Ellen dated November 8th (and written before today’s WGAE statement) expressing “appreciation” to Ellen “for your individual act of solidarity shown to the striking writers in their efforts to negotiate a fair contract with the industry producers.”
- WGAE Replies To AFTRA About Ellen Mess
- AFTRA Defends Ellen; Rep Says She “Has Done Nothing” To Violate WGA
- WGAE States Ellen “Not Welcome In NY”
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
Loading ...
Money and crew isn’t the only thing to fight for when it comes to being unified. The AMPTP is so powerful that if we all don;t move in step on this strike we will all one day be working for peanuts again.
United we stand… divided we fall…
I can;t tell you how many times I have been taken advantage of having producers think that writer should work for free or at least rewrite for free. That is because they don’t value your writing when they can talk you into working for free. We must value ourselves and get what we need to support ourselves and families in the future with gas over $3.oo a gallon.
I don’t even have medical insurance so if I am willing to stay the course and not write then we all should.
Chris
“It amazes me how little the writers know about the television business model. THE MONEY FROM ADVERTISER SUPPORTED CONTENT ON THE INTERNET DOES NOT GO TO THE STUDIO IT GOES TO THE NETWORK. THE STUDIO IS NOT MAKING MONEY OFF OF ADVERTISER SUPPORTED CONTENT” – Well, it amazes me how naive this comment is. Just who do you think owns the networks??!! ABC? Owned by Disney. NBC? Owned by Universal. CBS?? Owned by Paramount. Fox? Um, owned by 20th Century Fox.
Comedy Writer wrote:
Are you saying that Dave and Jay don’t have competition in their timeslots? They haven’t crossed the line. And their shows are in reruns… during sweeps.
From what I read on this site, Jay & Dave’s shows are controlled by their networks while Ellen’s show is syndicated and the individual stations control when her show airs.
Someone asked how Ellen’s situation was different, I attempted an answer. I also asked to be corrected if I was wrong. Anybody?
Please continue to explain to me why Ellen isn’t lame for crossing a picket line after one day.
I can’t continue to do that, since I never said I supported her crossing. In fact, I said as a WGA member, it would be nice to see her out on the picket line.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6494952.html
If scripts stop, syndication could prosper
By Paige Albiniak — Broadcasting & Cable, 10/29/2007
[snip]
Most syndicated shows don’t employ guild writers, and if they do, they have already made significant contingency plans.
Warner Bros.’ The Ellen DeGeneres Show, for example, has several guild writers on staff, all of whom will strike. DeGeneres herself is a member, but she’s also a member of the Screen Actors Guild, and she’s hired as a performer, not a writer, on the show. So she’ll keep producing shows, possibly with more improvisation, more celebrity interviews and fewer written segments.
“We’re definitely going to do the show and Ellen feels confident in her ability to do it,” says one Warner Bros. executive.
CBS Television Distribution has three shows that employ guild writers: Dr. Phil, Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, although those shows will continue. ET and The Insider writers labor under separate WGA news contracts. (So do writers on NBC Universal’s Access Hollywood, which will continue.) Dr. Phil may be required to read less off the teleprompter, but that show also will go on.
[snip]
Other popular first-run shows—such as CBS’ The Oprah Winfrey Show or Disney-ABC’s Live With Regis and Kelly—don’t use guild writers, say show spokespersons. [snip]
What cracks me up about all of you strikers is how much you are shooting yourselves in the foot.
Those of us in the Internet content development game are positively salivating at the possibility of a lengthy strike. You are only accelerating the demise of TV in favor of the Net. You shouldn’t fear the studios, you need to fear APPLE, GOOGLE and MSFT. We are taking over the entertainment game, and y’all can’t keep up. That’s the real issue here. People are turning to the Internet for content, and even the old dinosaur studios can’t figure out how to harnass it’s power or stop our momentum. So Hollywood is wounded, and all you strikers are doing is driving a stake through the heart.
BTW, you aren’t the only writers on the planet. And Silicon Valley is a decidedly non-union kind of place. We’re pretty well-staffed, so please keep your resume out of my gmail. I’m not interested in someone who can’t negotiate for the greater good of my industry without picket signs.
You people are unbelievable. If Ellen goes on strike her show will be canceled. It is really as simple as that. If you still want her to go on strike after knowing that then your are insane and selfish.
Rich, arrogant writers???? Are you on crack??? Yes, there are a few, but the rank and file members of WGA are slaves just like all the below the line people. The residual checks are rarely enough to keep you and your family from going underwater.
Ellen makes PLENTY OF MONEY and has been spoiled and coddled by Telepictures and the networks – her numbers are not as high as Oprah’s, but she’s been positioned as the feel-good nice talk show host (which she is – on camera, anyway). She’s also won Emmys 3 years running.
I think she’s listening to the wrong people. I don’t know who they are, but she’s getting bad advice and her squeaky clean dancing queen image is starting to tarnish.
I won’t watch her show again. I hope she gets canceled.
If Ellen keeps broadcasting, and the strike lasts weeks (or even months), she may develop the largest viewer audience she ever imagined and one that will stay with her when the strike is over. For Ellen, it’s a calculated move that good prove to be great for her ratings going forward.
SCAB!
I am not a union member,but I WILL NOT cross a picket line.
Kick her out of your union.
I applaud Ellen for living up to her “no strike” agreement. Too many times these days, people ignore their obligations when whenever it’s convenient. Last I knew this was still a free (?) country. Dave, Jay, Conan; any of those guys could make the same decision Ellen did. They chose to honor the strike. Their choice. Ellen chose to work. Her choice. Any of the writers, or member of any union for that matter, has decisions to make. Some area of the country have pretty draconian laws “requiring” union membership in order to work in certain occupations. That’s oppressive and anti-choice to me. I can’t say I agree or disagree with the reasons for the strike, but I agree with anyone’s courage to have an independent thought.
I applaud Ellen for taking her crew into consideration by returning to work. The writers should have just kept an ongoing negotiation going and not threatened the livelihoods of these hardworking behind-the-scenes people who never get any credit and have to put up with the BS of writers (who hold up shows with their incessent changes and right-up-to-the-deadline, egocentric attitutes). Hollywood writers are a pain in the rear end.
The most revealing and interesting element of all in this is that like Rosie O’Donnell, the “real” Ellen has emerged. First her ludicrous hysteria over the dog (when in fact she broke the contract by giving it away) and now this. Her bubble of niceness has been pierced.
I don’t like Ellen but I do support her on this.
I’m not particularly a fan of Ellen’s, but she has learned a great lesson throughout this particular part of her career: Once you join a union, you lose all rights to self-determination.
I support the WGA 100%, however I also support Grips, Gaffers, etc who are now jobless and when the strike is resolved will make the same amount as before the strike. And the writers already make more then the below the line crew to begin with! So Ellen at least is providing some crew members work.
Here’s the problem. The writers are not just asking ONE TV host for an “act of individual conscience”. They are asking for the entire casts and crews of tv shows to provide one as well. Yes, the writers deserve what they are asking for but asking that entire crews be out of work going into the holiday season isn’t unconscionable? How much sacrifice should people making $15 an hour have to give for conscience? One could say that Ellen’s act of individual conscience is to take the mudslinging from the WGA and not require her crew to make a sacrifice. Hey, the union crew is still showing up. Maybe they be should be blacklisted as well. It’s not the time to try to bore windows into souls and make enemies where there are none. Keep your eye on the real enemy.
Gosh, NY city won’t get a chance to see her do that wacky, tennis shoe wearing , jacket flapping and face scrunching goofy dance on stage.
Why isn’t anybody noticing the obvious: OBVIOUSLY all these so-called hosts, comics, talk-show personalities CAN’T TALK WITHOUT A WRITER TO TELL THEM WHAT TO SAY! This is hilarious. They should be called readers since that apparently is all they are. Oh…just thought of something….this would explain why Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannitty don’t have to shut down when the writers go on strike~~they don’t HAVE writers! Hmmmm….that must mean…..they think! they speak! (for themselves!)….now THERE’S A THOUGHT!! Ann
Ah, even THESE folks support the strike.
http://www.theweeklydonut.org/index.php/2007/11/13/but-only-because-were-going-to-miss-24/
Ellen is a SCAB, it’s really quite simply. You can talk until you’re blue in the face, a SCAB is a SCAB is a SCAB.
Actually I would say that Ellen did make an act of individual conscience…. she decided to take the risk of keeping the show on the air so as to keep the rest of her crew WORKING. She is substantially doing the show without the long monologue which means she is not making use of writers. You can also look at it this way. She is keeping the show ticking over so that the writers will still have a job to come back to.
It’s great to see that Ellen is keeping her crew WORKING and recieving a pay check, especially considering that the majority of the crew make far less money than the writers.
All of this said I do agree that the writers should be paid residuals for re-runs whatever the format. What I don’t agree with is the writers going on strike and putting over 100,000 crew members out of work basicly for a bonus ontop of their already very reasonable pay.
Effectively the WGA is bullying the small guys in Hollywood.
The WGA’s main function is to make contracts and that is what they did. A close look at the WGA contract shows that Elen is acting within her contracts.
Strange that the WGA has n ot offered to pay her legal fees if she were sued by the producers she is obligated to by contract.
It seems to me that this whole strike is a pissing and dick waving contest between the Hollywood moguls and the WGA bosses and that these “big boys” are taking shots at Ellen.
There were other ways to figt this fight.
In the words of a famous LA resident, “Can’t we all get along?” People, people, people…we have bigger issues in this world. Take care of all these issues at once. Stop the strikes and make sure that you cover all types of media–including future technology–with your new agreement, instead of having to go on strike every few years to cover something else.
The way I understand the 2004 WGA MBA, Ellen is actually caught between 2 contradictory guild rules. The first states that no guild member can perform struck work. The second states that material that someone writes for themselves to perform is not covered by guild rules. So basically, she is not allowed to take over the writing that her striking WGA writers used to do for her except that she is allowed to write for herself (which is all her striking WGA writers did for her). I imagine that right about now, Ellen wishes the MBA did not contain that contradiction so she didn’t have to make the decision she was forced to make.
Why not clear up that loophole in the 2007 contract so Dave, Jay, Kimmel, Ferguson, Stewart, Colbert, Ellen and the women on the View will have no choice but to put their pencils down?
What I don’t get are WGA members who aren’t picketing.
I thought they HAD to picket (and face fines if they don’t).
Yet WGA members like Ellen DeGeneres is doing her talk show and writers like Craig Mazin and JJ Abrams are directing movies?
Why aren’t these people being forced to picket like the rest of the WGA membership?
Or have some of these people bought their way out of their obligations?