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It incorporates new information received by me from the WGA to clarify details from the AMPTP. I believe this is now an accurate account of what happened Friday.
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I have a question about where this all stands now. Will talks resume whenever the AMPTP wants to resume talks? or are there measures the WGA are intending on taking (without giving in to the AMPTP’s demands) to get them back to the table? I guess my question is – does ANYONE know when both sides will likely go back to the bargaining table?
There seems to be a very real risk of the industry breaking the union. If that happens, all bets are off. At the end of the day there are a lot of talented writers in the world, but a very narrow river the money flows through. Eventually the top-tier writers will start to miss their million dollar paychecks and the lower tier writers will face being replaced by non-union writers from around the world.
This is a very dangerous game indeed.
There are rumors going around that networks are going to remake some old shows, using the same scripts. For example, they’d go back to the vault for an old show like “Miami Vice” and just reshoot those 1980s scripts with new actors. Looking forward to seeing “Death of a Salesman” starring Chad Michael Murray and “A Streetcar Named Desire” starring Jessica Alba any day now. Anyone else heard this?
Last night my husband, an accomplished channel surfer, handed me the remote, with the anguished comment that there is nothing to watch that he hasn’t seen – and that “the writers strike has finally affected me”. Hang in there. We viewers get it and we want you back – but only once you get your fair share.
“There are rumors going around that networks are going to remake some old shows, using the same scripts.” — Comment by nice – December 8, 2007 @ 8:10 pm
Honestly, ‘Nice,’ did you post that in an attempt to frighten the WGA membership, to suggest that we can be replaced by our own work? Would you have us believe that the companies might actually spend umpteen million dollars to produce what are essentially reruns? Who would watch them? (I don’t care what you say about writers, but when you start insulting the taste of the American audience, them’s fightin’ words!) Besides, would the advertisers buy commercial time on such shows? Pul-eeze, if you’re going to spread nasty rumors, make them credible.
I am a camera assistant, out of work from Nov 1, without savings, a career, the ability to support my family or, at this point, much hope for the near future. I’ve read every one of Nikki’s posts since a week before the strike. I’ve read United Hollywood. And I’ve read the AMPTP press releases.
At this point, despite the obviously childish behavior of J. Nicholas Couter III, I feel the WGA: (1) overestimated its bargaining power, (2) underestimated the will of the producers, (3) undervalued the upcoming DGA/SAG negotiations and their effect on the producers, and (4) chose leaders with poor judgment and even poorer negotiation skills. For this, half a season and a pilot season appear to be lost, many will suffer greatly, and few working writers will ever reap greater benefits than income they lost. As in 1988, it looks like a lose-lose situation in the making.
Believe it or not, I’m on the WGA’s side, but cannot help be reminded of the Eastern Airline mechanics who struck for a couple dollars an hour, then watched their jobs disappear forever as the airline filed for bankruptcy.
Why aren’t these posts about Dewey Cox? I love that trailer and I really want to see that movie, but I’m torn about supporting any film in the theater at the moment. Seriously, I feel superbad about it.
Oops. I was superwrong. Though I’m still struggling over this Cox issue.
I hear the networks are already flying dozens of Bollywood writers to Los Angeles. The next crop of pilots will be shot in both English and Hindi for the US and Indian markets. And they will be musicals.
I also hear Jessica Alba has already been signed to play Mary Tyler Moore in the reshot version of the “Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Ed Asner is reprising his original role.
I hear “Mork and Mindy” scripts are to be taken from the vaults, too. Not sure who is going to be cast, though. And “MacGyver.” So I hear.
Anyone else hear this?
Dear John,
Here are a few tips on being a shill, and feel free to pass this onto the others the AMPTP hired.
Don’t just jump out with a bald, “the world is gonna end” kind of statement. Couch it a little, make it a little more casual.
When you first show up here, you need to try and blend in a little. Maybe mention something cool about the big rally the other day and then sneak in your propaganda simple and quick, right at the end.
You’re too neat. Forget a few capitol letters, put some commas in the wrong place, screw up a few words and don’t break for paragraphs.
All of you need to pick better “comment” names. John, Fred, Sally, names like these are not convincing in the least. You need like a one or two-word turn of phrase like, Strike-guy or tiredofbullshit.
I wish you guys luck and you can take my How-To-Shill course at the Learning Annex where I’ll be teaching to supplement my income until the strike is done.
I can’t wait for the “Becker” remakes!
I hope they remake Viva Laughlin.
That’s it. John convinced me. I’m never writing again. The AMPTP wins. Cause they’re going to re-shoot Miami Vice with that kid from “Chuck” or something. I’ve already told my family I’m going to be replaced by some guy from Uzbekistan because I’ve been playing Chuck’s dangerous game of “Making Crap Up Off the Top of My Head Because Seriously, I’m Not That Good a Troll and I Want to Apologize to Everyone Also the Writers Suck.”
That felt better.
As an outside observer, I must say that “What you earnin’, Peter Chernin?” as a t-shirt slogan pretty much sums up the writers’ misguided egotism. Consider that one of NewsCorp’s biggest deals of the last few years was purchasing MySpace, something whose success has NOTHING to do with screenwriters, for $600 million, leasing its Search rights alone for $900 million to Google, and seeing it add $15 billion in market cap to NewsCorp – more than all annual box office combined – and they might want to accept that Chernin is earning his pay off of smarter business than them.
What’s truly amazing the new trained monkey who the AMPTP has employed… Bryan Lourde. What’s he still doing around these talks. He doesn’t represent the bulk of the membership and his honey pot is the studios… not the writer/producer/directors that he handles… Ask him about his corporate representations… Conflict there. I think so.
How about remaking “Family” or “Eight is Enough”
Re: turning old scripts of old series into new series
They were going to do that during the last strike. Dust off old scripts of the original Mission Impossible series. They did end up making the new series but I think they shot it in Australia and just used Australian writers to tweak the scripts or else something happened and they got WGA writers to work on it despite the strike. Not sure what exactly happened with that but it’s been mentioned on various boards of late.
Google it if you wish.
If they go that route during this strike, they won’t remake recent series. They’d like remake something from the seventies or eighties which the key demographic likely wouldn’t have seen because they were too young (or weren’t born) or else people will remember the old series and check out the remake for the retro value. And I doubt it would be a comedy. Comedies tend not to age well (except The Golden Girls). They’d go for something that’s more action oriented which would be helped by a remake because the stunts and action could be shot better and more realistically.
If too many of these midseason shows like Cashmere Mafia crash and burn, the networks would probably start raiding their vaults. I don’t think they’d do it until things are pretty dire though.
I’m extremely disappointed in the latest AMPTP press release. Having worked on the first draft and getting notes, they stole the press release from me (without me getting a shot to make revisions) and gave it to another studio exec who instantly changed all the names and and took full credit. My draft was much more of a light romantic comedy and the new writer turned it into some deranged, serial killer kind of a thing. Worse than that, they took my name off the press release, which means I can pretty much kiss the residuals goodbye.
The only way to win this is to let go of any hope that we will. Hope will drain us and weaken us.
To my fellow writers and all others this strike is affecting, let go of the hope. Prepare yourselves emotionally and financially for this strike to continue for at least a year. Take other jobs, take out equity in your homes, rent out a room in your apartment, sell your car, live in your car, babysit, mow lawns, eat ramen, sell crap on ebay or craigslist… prepare yourselves. If we are not ready to suffer in the short term, we will absolutely suffer forever after.
If we cave now, they will absolutely go after our base fees, pension and health fund next time around. There is a great article on the Forbes website on how if we don’t win this one – our union is broken. And if they break us, they’re going to break every union out there – including you IATSE and DGA. You are not immune from the brutal, unmerciful, pillaging corporate machine. Maybe you are this time around – because they’re trying to use you to get to us – but I assure you in the future you won’t be immune.
Back to hope… If we get angry at Nick Counter, then we are helping him succeed in his job. That is his goal. He wants us to be worn out emotionally so we will cave. He gives us hope, then yanks it away. If we want to win this, we need to spend our energy – not on this boomerang of faith then despair – but on preparing ourselves for a long, long, long strike. The only way to hurt this machine is to stop feeding it for as long as possible. This is the only way. Let go of the hope, my friends, hope will sink us.
And for anybody who’s complaining about not being prepared for this strike in whatever line of work you do – this strike’s been talked about for six month’s before it started – so you better get ready for the long haul now. And remember this – THIS STRIKE IS ABOUT EVERYBODY’S UNION, EVERYBODY’S SALARY, EVERYBODY’S QUALITY OF LIFE, AND IF YOU DON’T THINK THESE CORPORATIONS ARE GOING TO TRY AND CUT YOUR PAY NEXT NO MATTER WHAT YOUR JOB IN THIS BUSINESS – YOU ARE COLOSSALLY NAIVE.
My requests… to get it right the second time:
Earth 2
Seaquest
M.A.N.I.M.A.L
Hello, Larry
Emeril (dude just lost his job on the FN)
Actually, I wouldn’t mind if Apatow re-tooled “Freaks & Geeks”. And I always thought that “Buffalo Bill” coulda been great. Coulda.
I think it’s time to change the WGA negotiators. Not because they’re doing a bad job. I think they’re doing a GREAT job. But the producers have succeeded in making them angry and insulted. All the talk about who slammed doors or how loud someone yelled is immaterial. It takes us away from the facts. We have to look at the proposal they gave us COLDLY. As though it’s the first thing we ever received from them. And then counter based on that.
We KNOW they wanted to end talks. We KNOW they’re liars. We KNOW they’re unfair. Who gives a fuck? They are cold and heartless. Writers, by nature, are thoughtful, and embrace emotions. Which is why we don’t belong in this fight! It’s why we have agents! Fight fire with fire and fight ice with ice. We need to get some cold shark in there to fight for us.
The producers throw out intentional distractions like “We wanted to meet but you didn’t!” We respond with “Yes , we did! We told you !! You’re lying!! We saw you drive away!! We can prove it!!” That’s their game. To make us defensive and insulted. To talk about how we can’t trust them. OF COURSE WE CAN’T TRUST THEM. When they drove away it was a calculated choice. They did it so we would think they were evil.
Then, one day down the line, they’ll put out something that sounds logical and decent and they’ll present it in a nice way. We’ll be so shocked and happy that they’re being nice that we’ll take it. And compliment them for their behavior. Because we’re so glad that we’re finally being treated well.
Abused spouses fall for that trick all the time.
We need a guy who will walk in and not allow discussions about what came before. Not respond to ANYTHING but the contract.
A cold, calculating gun for hire. An emotionless businessman. The kind of person we would hate if he sat next to us at a dinner party. Because it’s not a fucking dinner party.
If you think all the AMPTP wants is a fair resolution, you’re more lost and naive than Dorothy in Oz. In the face of new media, the producers are fighting for their livelihoods and survival just as much as all of you (or are you so self-absorbed that you hadn’t even stopped to realize that). This is a fight to the death, not a poker game. The viciousness of the way they are fighting is in direct proportion to their desperation (much as your own) to maintain their livelihood and need to stake a solid claim on the new media pot of gold. They CANNOT and WILL NOT let you walk away from the eventual settlement of these negotiations with your spirit and organization in tact. If they did, it would be their biggest business mistake in decades.
In other words: it’s in the producer’s best interest to break the WGA’s back and watch the guild die a slow death. Why now? Because the opportunity has presented itself (thanks to your leaders who called the strike too soon, with too little leverage and unrealistically high expectations of the AMPTP while at the same time underestimating their resolve and disdain for the WGA) and, most importantly, because they cannot let the WGA go into new media with power and authority that will compete with or get in the way of theirs. The rules of old media that held them back or presented brick walls MUST be broken or, at the very least, tested to its limits lest they drag that dead weight and those brick walls into new media (that’s Business Common Sense 101).
Contrary to what many of you think (and what the AMPTP tells you in their PR campaigns), this is nowhere NEAR a partnership (nor do they want it to be, nor will it ever be). The producers/studios do not respect your “talents” on the whole NEARLY as much as YOU do (some of you should really get over yourselves in that department – you’re not exactly writing the great American novel) – therefore, you will NEVER get what you feel you deserve from them. Duh. Furthermore, unlike most of you, they ENJOY this all of this… they live for it… it is how they make millions at the top of the corporate chain… they look forward to the battle and the blood it will draw. The WGA walked into the lion’s den — it’s not going to walk out without getting mauled.
Call me a shill (or worse). Doesn’t make a dent in my life one way or another and, besides, it only underscores your frustration and powerlessness. But one thing is an irrefutable fact: everything I have posted on these boards so far has come to pass exactly as I said it would. Contrary to what many here think, that isn’t because I’m on the “inside”, it’s because it’s so damn obvious to those of us on the OUTSIDE. Again, wake up!
Dear Not A Shill,
I feel for anyone who is truly hurt by the strike. Thank goodness that most other entertainment workers understood that at some point you can’t keep letting yourself be forecfed shit without pushing back.
That said, you are old enough to remember the Eastern Airlines strike but you’re a camera assistant with a family and no savings, despite knowing that you work in an awfully fickle business? I’d feel bad for your story wasn’t so obviously false. What’s coming next from the AMPTP, a grip who was once an air traffic controller who’s going to warn us that the PATCO employees dared strike and lost all their jobs?
Sorry folks, the story doesn’t wash. The AMPTP’s paid-flak brigade is working weekends. Like I said, these Clinton people don’t know the industry and are posting items that are untrue on their face. They should bring back Barbara Brogliatti. At least she could make a fake post look somewhat plausible.
Busters are us wrote:
I hear “Mork and Mindy” scripts are to be taken from the vaults, too. Not sure who is going to be cast, though. And “MacGyver.” So I hear.
Anyone else hear this?”
Yes, I heard that MacGyver is going to be played by that Oliver kid from Hannah Montana.
wga overplayed its hand — badly. does anyone seriously doubt this?
how can this end any way but badly — i.e., with a near-complete cave by the writers? does anyone seriously believe that the conglomerates hadn’t already factored a worst-case-scenario into their plans BEFORE the strike started? too bad the writers didn’t do the same.
victory goes to the best prepared…in this case, that’s amptp.