Fans4writers.com, a website where fans show support for striking Hollywood writers, has made plans to use the occasion of the Tournament Of Roses Parade on New Year's Day to have five planes "skytype" in support of the writers. In addition, a street team of fans will hand out flyers at the parade. To fund the effort, a silent auction and fundraising event is being held featuring some items donated by WGA members including scripts from the TV series Battlestar Galactica.

The plan is to have five separate "sky signs" bearing pro-WGA messages 10,000 feet above the Rose Parade beginning at 9 AM Pacific Time -- each five miles long, and every letter the size of the Empire State Building. In essence, it's skywriting but done like LED signs which can be seen for 15 miles in any direction or nearly 400 square miles. The content of these ads will be kept secret until they are revealed at the event.

Given that the parade will be broadcast on ABC, NBC, Univision, HGTV, Travel Channel, Discovery HD as well as KWHY and KTLA in the Los Angeles area, as well as more than 150 international territories, millions of people could see the messages. But it's a big "if" whether the commentators and cameras for all these Big Media outlets, some of whom belong to the AMPTP which recently walked away from contract talks with the WGA, look up in the sky or even make reference to the messages. Still, it's going to ... Read More »

Needless to say, the following is a parody of the "Why We Write" campaign. This spoof was created by WGA members Lissa Kapstrom & Will Schifrin:
"Why We Don’t Write": The AMPTP
(because,“Hey, we got stuff to say too”)
"I had a typical childhood, growing up in a modest, six thousand square foot house in Connecticut. My father was a hard working investment banker who liked to unwind by sleeping with my nannies, and my mother had a special talent for hiding her Librium addiction. Every night, after our icy silent dinners, I would retire to the great room to watch TV – classic shows like MASH, Cheers, Taxi and St. Elsewhere. I laughed, cried and was moved by the incredible story telling, and I knew that when I grew up I had to be a part of the magic that is the entertainment industry. Not as a writer – because who wants to be some pasty nerd who gets no respect, toils endlessly without fair compensation and doesn’t get laid?  Hell no. I would become a member of the AMPTP. I make my own hours, drive a Ferrari and am dating a Czech supermodel. So, to paraphrase that writer guy Jimmy Brooks, ‘If you want your life to exceed your dreams, don’t write.’” -- Richard W.

“Writing requires sitting at a ... Read More »

Installment #5

Today’s piece is written by Greg Berlanti, Executive Producer of Dirty Sexy Money and Brothers and Sisters.

I’ve never considered myself much of a writer. I’m not particularly great at it. On my best day I don’t have half the talent of many people I’ve been lucky enough to hire and to work with. And this is not false humility. Ask any writer who works with me, they’ll tell you how much I rely on their abilities, how often I struggle to craft the simplest of scenes. I know a lot of other writers feel like they suck too, but that doesn’t make it easier (I know this because a large part of my day is convincing other writers they don’t suck. Once finished, I go back into my office and convince myself I do suck all over again). The problem is, regardless of my limited writing talent, I love telling stories. Creating a character, a world, a whole universe out of nothing. That part I can’t get enough of.  I think about myself and storytelling the way Bill Clinton described himself and the Presidency, and I’m paraphrasing here, “There are guys who have done it better, but there’s no one who’s enjoyed it more.”

As a kid, the first storyteller I wanted to be was Jim Henson. I designed and built puppets and ... Read More »

Installment #4

Today’s piece is written by Carol Mendelsohn, member of the WGA Negotiating Committee as well as showrunner and executive producer of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and co-creator and executive producer of CSI: Miami and CSI: New York.

Once, a long time ago in Upstate New York, far above Cayuga’s waters, on a cold winter’s night in a rundown cockroach infested dump that passed for a house in Collegetown, one of my roommates drew a picture of me. She did this because it was Saturday night and she wanted me to go out and I wanted to stay in and watch TV.  (Footnote: back in the seventies, Saturday night was the best night of television. ALL IN THE FAMILY. MASH. MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW. CAROL BURNETT SHOW. LOVE BOAT. Imagine that).

Anyway, upon seeing the drawing, my other roommates heartily nodded their approval, for Ilene Greenberg had captured the true essence of me with her number two pencil and a sheet of plain white paper. (INSERT CSI SHOT HERE).

Okay, I’ll give you a clue, which is what I mostly do when I’m not walking the picket line for a fair deal in new media. My head was square. And protruding from the top of my pancake flat skull were two rabbit ears. Not the plushy, furry kind. Ilene had drawn a human ... Read More »

I'd like to hear your theories/predictions/suggestions in the Comments section of this post about what positive (repeat, positive) steps can be taken starting January 1st to end this strike in a way that's perceived as fair to both sides since it's abundantly clear that neither the WGA nor the AMPTP is going to surrender anytime soon. (I won't be able to monitor comments until tonight so your musings won't post right away. Please don't email your comments, only post them here.)

Installment #3

Today’s piece is written by Howard Gordon, Executive Producer of 24.

I remember being in a writers’ room a few years ago, and someone - a brilliant and famous writer whose name I’ll keep to myself for now - rhapsodized about the exquisite ecstasy of the writing process. “Don’t you love it when you get lost inside the story, and the characters start speaking for themselves, and you look up and realize eight hours have passed?” I nodded dumbly, and smiled. Because I had no idea what the fuck he was talking about.

I’ve never had that experience. Never. Me, I’m a grinder. And a second-guesser. Since I can remember, I have suffered from some undiagnosed combination of OCD and ADD which causes me to spend hours on a preposition. Which is a long-winded way to describe this simple truth: I hate writing. I really do. Even writing this short essay is excruciating. Every word weighs on me like a millstone. Every. Single. Word.

What makes the process even more excruciating is that I am my own worst critic. No one has more contempt for my work than me. So studio and network notes are usually a cakewalk. Whatever they dish out, chances are I’ve already dished out for myself and come back for seconds.

So why do I write? Because as much ... Read More »

Tonight on Christmas eve, the following letter signed by 127 striking writers with pilots pending was emailed to the Hollywood CEOs and almost 200 studio and network TV development execs. "These execs are our partners in these projects," say the two people who initiated this letter and wish to remain anonymous (although I have confirmed their identities), "so we wanted to reach out in an effort to get the AMPTP back to the table while there is still a chance of getting pilot season back on track. We did our best to contact all the writers with pilots, but some were out of town or out of reach, so this does not represent ALL the writers with pilots -- only those we were able to reach who agreed to be included. This was done with the blessing and support of the WGA, but not through the WGA."

Dear (studio/network exec),

‘Tis the season. Pilot season. We, the pilot writers, feel the loss of our ongoing creative partnership, and in the spirit of the holidays, we wanted to offer our help in getting the ’08-’09 crop of television shows back on track. We’re willing to write silent night after silent night to make up for lost time if your company will only finalize a fair deal with the WGA. To do that, talks must resume. Our guild is ready and eager. We feel that what our guild is asking is more than reasonable, and we believe that you, as our

... Read More »

Installment #2

Today’s piece is written by Steven Levitan, creator of Just Shoot Me and co-creator of Back To You.

I swear to God this is true.  A couple of years ago I had lunch with a network president who asked me the following question:

“If I offered you a billion dollars, but you could never write again, would you take it?”

I tried to keep a straight face and act snooty because I knew he assumed my answer would be “no” and was paying me a compliment, but, let’s face it, he had me at “billi...” Hell, he didn’t even make it hard. I mean, if he had added, “But you have to cut off your fingers,” well, then now we’re talking a much tougher decision. I play golf. I play guitar. I have an iPhone. What the hell am I going to do all day now that I have a billion dollars and no fingers?

The truth is the strike has given me the chance to experience life without a creative outlet like writing. Here’s something amusing I’ve started doing the past six weeks: I have two teenaged daughters who have just gotten to that age when they’re ashamed of me. So, whenever I drop them off outside a party and there ... Read More »