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Statement from Rob Burnett, president/CEO of Worldwide Pants and executive producer of The Late Show With David Letterman: ”We are meeting with the Writer’s Guild on Friday to discuss an interim agreement for Worldwide Pants. With the WGA now embracing a strategy of offering interim agreements to individual companies, it is inconceivable to us that there is any producing entity more deserving than Worldwide Pants, which has been and continues to be a staunch supporter of the Writer’s Guild and its positions.”
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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What’s to stop writers from other shows going right to their studio or network bosses on their own? Why wait for the Guild to initiate these interim deals? You die hards can complain all you want and continue to picket. Just know that you are suckers if you do this. You other cowards can stay home and update your blogs.
The smart groups will realize they are being played for fools and make their own deals right now. The Letterman writers were smart they started a blog that was informative and entertaining and they got more publicity than any other team of writers. The rest of you should all be going back to work on January 2nd. If you’re not able to do so don’t blame Letterman or Verrone. Blame yourselves and start becoming masters of your own destiny.
Sandy and some of our other members believe that no writers should be allowed to go back to work while others are still picketing. While understandable (we’re all in this together) this is a shortsighted view. If the Guild can make a deal, with let’s say ABC, and those writers go back to work and ABC then has new episodes– this puts tremendous financial pressure on the other networks. And that kind of pressure will cause the entire strike to end much faster and ALL writers to go back to work much faster. It’s a common and hugely effective way to end strikes, and to not use it will prolong the strike for months and months.
We are all in this together, without a doubt. But we’re in it together to get a fair deal and get back to work as fast as possible — not to stay on strike. Clearly your hearts are in the right place, but let’s keep focused on the end goal!
Stop being childish! Stop being immature! I mean it -right now. All you purported “writers” who claim you won’t picket if Letterman cuts a deal just shut the fuck up. Do you realize how silly you sound? “I won’t picket because then we won’t have solidiarity.” It’s because of exactly that mentality that the WGA has gotten fucked in almost every negotiation for the last 30 years. Putting Letterman back to work, with writers, would create a huge disadvantage for NBC and ABC. The way you bring the companies around is very simple: YOU DIVIDE THEM AND YOU COST THEM MONEY. LOTS OF IT. If ABC and NBC are bleeding more than CBS they’re going to be much more likely to strike a deal.
Strikes are not meant to be fun. They’re not meant to be fair. It’s not fair that Dave’s writers get paid and you don’t. That’s too bad. This is what happens in a strike. It’s not all Tenacious D and meeting movie stars on picket lines. You gotta sacrifice.
Stop your whining, writers. Although I suspect many of you are just shills from Leno and Kimmel. I find it hard to believe people without a direct dog in this fight could sound so out of touch.
Giving back to the strike fund sounds nice… but what about the writers, the many writers, who aren’t insured, etc?
All of us don’t benefit from the strike fund the same way. If you’re saying health benefits would be extended to all the membership from the strike fund, I’d accept that answer… but I’m sure you can see why it’s a hollow compensation as that’s surely not going to happen.
“I came down on the side of no waiver, agreement, or whatever they want to call it, for WWP.”
It’s not what we’re calling it, it’s what it IS, Another Thought. Last night, you said that Letterman isn’t going to get a waiver, an interim agreement OR a full agreement. So what we are all are entitled to know, is that the official position of the Guild? Is a FULL AGREEMENT on the table, has WWP agreed to it, and will the WGA not accept even that? Because while it’s very difficult for a lot of us to understand why we’re publicly condoning the scabs of NBC and not trying to undercut them and gain leverage with a competing WGA show, it would be almost impossible to understand how in the hell we can contradict our publicly announced position and reject a FULL AGREEMENT.
Letterman goes back with some kind of agreement and the shows look the same old Dave, movie stars appear, Top Tens get rattled off. Ratings: static.
Leno goes back without writers, does a monologue, a few man in the street segments, movie stars appear, Jay talks to people in the audience from Columbus, Ohio. (The movie stars appear — cross any picket lines — because it’s all gotten muddied by Letterman. Stars go on Ellen and Dave and The View and ET, what’s the difference?) Ratings: probably better than Dave’s because “writerless” Leno has been freshened up out of desperation. (Jay is still a scab.)
Sorry, Jerry Arbuse, but it won’t be us whiners who fuck things up.
And as for this “tithing” to the Strike Fund for Letterman writers, why shouldn’t they pledge to donate their entire salaries for the duration? Let’s make it really “strategic.”
Make a deal with Dave. Put pressure on NBC. Make starts choose which show to go one, the one that made peace with our guild, or the one that will be using scab writers.
Make the deal.
Don’t tell the world you want to make interim deals, and then reneg. Show the world you are serious. Make the deal.
Make it. And if twelve or fifteen of our fellow writers go back to work, under a fair contract, be happy for them. And keep walking the line til other cracks emerge.
WGA East, on the line
I don’t think everyone is realizing how impotent we look right now. With Conan, Leno, Kimmel etc. all coming back unsanctioned the WGA is looking powerless. We aren’t even chastising them! What happens if ratings for those shows DON’T go down without writers? We need to have a “sanctioned alternative” to offer viewers and guests to go to. It is less about a forum for Dave to insult the AMPTP and more about dividing them.
Dave hasn’t beaten NBC in years… you think they want that to change now that they are about to pass the baton to Conan? Probably their worst fear…
“The Late Show writers support going back to work without a contract to end the strike. They’re scabs, pure and simple”
Who the hell do you think you are? If the Late Show is granted an agreement IT WILL BE GRANTED BY THE WGA. The Late Show writers don’t fucking control the WGA. They are not the ones who decide whether or not they go back to work. What would you have them do, leave the Guild rather than be forced to abide by the terms agreed to when when ordered to do so? They’re not fucking responsible for teh decisions made or the way this is being run. Blame the goddamn WGA, blame Letterman because he evilly wanted to negotiate with us instead of being the kind of personable scab whose desperate plight won the heart of “our” spokesperson. But to blame the goddamn writers is unconscionable.
It’s not the Late Show writers who are dividing us, it’s the whiny resentment of idiots who haven’t worked in 20 years and want to see us all suffer as much as they do. If we’re out until the next millenium, so much the better. (And no, I don’t write for the Late Show, I’m just not an ignorant POS too choked up with my own short sightendness and resentment to care that I can’t see straight).
I’m going on the assumption that if you sound like an AMPTP shill then the opposite of whatever you’re squawking about is the way the WGA ought to go.
If the WGA can sign a CONTRACT with Dave that addresses the same demands it is making of the AMPTP, then what possible reason is there to object?
As a striking writer, I’m going to piss and moan and stomp my feet about fellow writers going back to work even if what they are doing BENEFITS the WGA and puts pressure on the other companies to also cut a deal?
No writer I know is that much of a pussy.
The PR benefit alone would be worth it:
“Dave made the deal. Why can’t the rest of them?”
That’s why the AMPTP doesn’t want this to happen — the PR fallout is too heavy.
Hey “Jerry Arbuse” – You’re so wrong, it’s laughable. Letterman going back will not pressure NBC or ABC. It will only mean profits for CBS, a network that refuses to make a deal with us. Any positive affects of Letterman going back with writers would only be seen after many, many months if not at least a year. Why? Because Letterman does not appeal to majority of the country. As funny as we all know Letterman was… I mean, is… he’s not as marketable as Leno and (Johnny)Carson. Letterman’s attempt at a deal or waiver was turned down, because giving him a deal would not be in the best interest of the WGA. Reading your blog entry, it’s obvious you’re the one out of touch.
Wow, there sure is a wealth of misinformation in this thread.
First of all, for Burnett to declare, “It is inconceivable that there is any producing entity more deserving than Worldwide Pants,” smacks of supreme arrogance. Speaking for myself and my scribe friends who aren’t among the 30 or so who work for Dave or Craig, I’m offended.
Secondly, as has been noted by a minority here, WWP is not looking for a contract; they’re not prepared to give us what we want. They want a waiver which will ultimately bend to whatever the eventual outcome of the negotiations are. In short, they want a free pass. FYI, I am also sick of the meaningless phrase, “interim agreement.”
Bottom line, it’s already been decided (correctly) by the Guild reps to deny WWP’s request. It would provide no tangible leverage or reason, and is strategically inert.
Burnett knows this. His public statements are pure PR, attempting to make Dave look like he tried his best, before returning like the rest without his writers. In the meantime, his actions run the risk of placing the Guild in a negative light, which is completely undeserved. IMHO.
So the WGA approached Dave’s company with the idea of granting him a waiver, only to back off when a few people complained.
Didn’t you guys just state a few days ago you wanted to strike deals with individual companies?
Jay & Conan announce they are coming back and also say that their guests could care less about crossing a picket line. And you guys respond to this by patting them on the back and stating you won’t picket them?
It seems to me you’re screwing the one host who is trying to work with you and supporting the two that could give two shits about your fight.
I get that Jay & Conan’s shows are owned by a network and they don’t own their shows like Dave does. So why don’t you give the waiver to the guy who owns his own show to put pressure on the other two networks?
The solution seems simple to me — give the waiver to the individual company (in this case, Dave) to put big-time pressure on the NBC and ABC. And then picket the HELL out of ABC and NBC to prevent guests from crossing a picket line!
Some people here bitch that giving Dave a waiver is akin to giving $ to CBS. Seems to me that if no one gets a waiver and you don’t picket any of the late-night shows, none of the guests are gonna give one shit about crossing a picket line and all 3 networks will make their $ in the end.
So the choice is simple: grant Dave a waiver and hurt 2 other networks, or grant no one a waiver and hurt none of the networks.
writer, that’s nonsense. Nobody’s saying the late night audience overall has an incredible amount of taste, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is the #1 show for god’s sake, but they’re not so lacking in discernment that they’d rather watch interviews with Martin Scorcese’s former hairdresser than Martin Scorcese, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Whoever gets the talent owns the time slot, period. We think we can get enough support from SAG to cancel the Oscars, but we can’t get SAG members to refuse to promote their product on scab shows when we’re willing to offer an acceptable alternative?
“WWP is not looking for a contract”
That’s not clear either. There have been comments here to the effect of ‘I’ve spoken to Young and Verrone and we’re not willing to do any type of deal with WWP, ever, period, even if they agree to a contract.’ It would be nice if we could get some confirmation on whether or not that’s true.
“Speaking for myself and my scribe friends who aren’t among the 30 or so who work for Dave or Craig, I’m offended.”
*rolls eyes* Why? If you feel the producing entity you work for is more deserving than WWP, fantastic, encourage your boss to do a deal (or at least to offer up a deal for the negotiating committee to refuse). He didn’t say they’re deserving because they have the best writers or the only good writers, but because they seem to be one of the very few if not the only outfit at all interested in negotiating.
Hey Writer,
who are you shilling for – NBC? I think it’s pretty much accepted that Letterman, with Rob Burnett’s guidance, has astutely positioned himself throughout the strike as the good guy. Dave’s won a lot of fans and a lot of hearts while the NBC scabs, jay and conan, have had their reputations severely impugned. Who is more “marketable” remains to be seen, but I think this strike will have a big effect on leno’s and conan’s legacy and ratings. I’ve actually become a fan of Jimmy Kimmel’s, a guy who nearly went broke paying his staff.
Dave was the first to announce he was paying his staff through the new year…and that was FIVE weeks ago. It set a precedent for everyone else in late night.
Leno had to be publicly shamed into paying his staff by the Hollywood Reporter, TMZ, and DeadlineHollywood. Dave called the AMPTP “cutthroats and cowards” BEFORE this strike even began. He has been loyal all along and granting him a waiver will only hurt the other networks and hopefully be a nightly example of a quality, written show vs. a lame, non-written show.
Divide and conquer. Grant WWP the waiver. Dave is on our side.
“As a striking writer, I’m going to piss and moan and stomp my feet about fellow writers going back to work even if what they are doing BENEFITS the WGA and puts pressure on the other companies to also cut a deal?”
You’ve got to get the drill down. First you piss and moan about how you will NEVER EVER picket again unless every single writer in the Guild is out. If one person is making money while you’re not, you’re through! Forever! It’s hard enough to get through the day without thinking about the horrible possibility that our strategy might be working. Moreover, you’re going to go fi-core and so is everyone you know and we’ll all be SORRY when you start taking jobs, because that’s just how offended you are that we don’t have SOLIDARITY. Give me my solidarity or I’ll be scabbing in 10 seconds. And moreover, it’s all Letterman’s writers’ fault, they’re bastards and should be ashamed of themselves, they’re greedy and disgusting and buying lots of Xmas presents and I’m going to slap them next time I see them. They’re ABANDONING us, they hate us, and it’s just not right.
Of course, I laugh, but this pissing and moaning is apparently persuasive to the people who matter. Too bad stomping our feet and threatening to leave the Guild seems to be the only way to be heard, I don’t know anyone who’d sink that low.
There’s an important aspect to this I’ve not yet heard discussed.
I think it would be wise for all to keep in mind what they’re about to put the public through. We tune in to these late night shows for entertainment and to TAKE A BREAK from the stressful aspects of our lives.
If you choose to have a lovefest with Dave yet declare all out war on the others via picketing, guest wars, using it as a soapbox, or bad mouthing the hosts, it will inject a lot of tension into the equation and there’s likely to be a backlash.
Someone like myself who prefers Kimmel and Leno over Dave will be more likely to identify with their preferred host and take those attacks personally. Contrary to the idea I’ve often heard expressed I DON’T think viewers will abandon their favorite (I know I won’t) to follow the guests over to Letterman.
So before you set out on a course of action make sure you’re prepared to deal with the consequences.
I have a friggin cold because I spent last week in freezing weather walking in circles. Stupid me, I thought there was brotherhood to protect here. Now I find out that Dave and Jay get jokes on the QT and pay people a pittance for it? Off the books, I would guess, with no bennies. They both have huge writing staffs. What do those people do? Do you really think those two will hold it against someone who sends them scabby jokes? No, they’ll reward them next time there’s an opening on their staff. I can’t believe they get away with this scam. I can’t believe the WGA lets it happen. These late night hosts need to get kicked out of the union. Or am I missing something? Maybe it’s the Nyquil talking…
Hey Michael Nash,
Who’s shilling for whom? I’m only stating facts. You’re stating what you hope is the truth. Letterman has not been seen during the strike. He has not said anything. Yes, he paid his staff, which was cool. So did Leno, Conan and Kimmel. And just because Kimmel makes less than the other guys does not diminish the others’ generosity. Other than paying his staff, Letterman has done NOTHING.
Dear JGalt,
Worldwide Pants went to the WGA. Do your research, please.
Seems like this a moot point anyway according to today’s New York Times:
“Certain guests said they wouldn’t come, certain guests said they would,” Jeff Ross, an executive producer of “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” said in a conference call with reporters on Monday. “The temperature may be changing a little bit as we go forward.”
Debbie Vickers, an executive producer of “Tonight,” said in the same conference call that she too believed actors could be “warming to the idea” of crossing a picket line as “strike fatigue” sets in.
“January feels better than December did,” Ms. Vickers said. “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but we will be able to do shows.”
Coupled with Vickers saying that leno might do a monologue since “Johnny did”. The average viewer isn’t even going to notice anything different.
Kudos all around
This is not unlike the Quarterlife situation. Since CBS owns many of its own shows, those staffs will be deprived of the pressure the strike is putting on CBS via late night to reach our terms. The question is purely one of strategy to help the entire union. Our goals are one- a better deal for all our membership- and if the WGA leadership opts to try this, it will be a longview strategy for our collective good. And if so, we should maintain solidarity while their trolls, greedy PR firm and newspapers who shill for them try to claim otherwise.
Leno and Conan is coming back on without writers. If WWP signs a real contract favorable to the WGA and Leno and Conan are hit with pickets, you could have Letterman and Ferguson getting Hillary, Obama, Edwards, movie stars while the other shows limp.
So, having a show go back on the air with a WGA contract with writers, create an unfair playing field and pit network against network is not nearly as preferable as waiting for the AMPTP to come back to the table when they feel like it. As long as we have this straight.
Just ask yourself. Are we closer to the end of the strike if Letterman goes back with the deal we all seek, or further away?
I see that the WGA’s divide and conquer strategy is working. It’s evident from the comments here that the WGA membership is well and truly divided.
Your Guild leadership seems to believe that leadership consists of announcing a strategy in haste and then relying on one faction of the membership to accuse any members who disagree of bad followership.
You need to send a clear instruction to Patric Verrone, David Young and John Bowman that they need to follow these steps in future:
1) AGREE on a clear, unambiguous strategy;
2) COMMIT to that strategy;
3) COMMUNICATE that strategy to the WGA membership and get the membership to commit to support that strategy;
and only THEN
4) ANNOUNCE that strategy to the world as the Guild’s official policy.
But don’t worry — I am sure that your leadership will eventually get the hang of this labor union thing.
Don’t send a letter to your entire membership saying you are now willing to divide and conquer and grant interim agreements, and then when somebody wants to take you up on it, on your terms, say, “Oh, no. We didn’t mean you. We meant Disney.” That is not only pure fantasy, it makes you look like you don’t know what you’re doing.
This strategy has to start somewhere. Why not an influential voice that’s going to be on the air every night?