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There are a lot of rumors that David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants may not get its interim agreement because of a change of heart by the WGA leadership. But here’s a new statement from Rob Burnett, president/CEO of Worldwide Pants and long-time executive producer of The Late Show With David Letterman, regarding the status of its request for an interim agreement with the WGA:
“We are willing to agree to the writers demands that are within our control, so we have no reason to believe that an interim agreement can’t be achieved with the WGA. As a result, our only focus is on returning January 2nd with writers.”
Right now there’s still no firm date for Letterman, a WGA member, to return to work. Both Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien announced Monday they would go back January 2nd. ABC said today that Jimmy Kimmel returns then, too. ”Though it makes me sick to do so without my writers, there are more than 100 people whose financial well-being depends on our show,” Kimmel’s statement said. “It is time to go back to work. I support my colleagues and friends in the WGA completely and hope this ends both fairly and soon.”
Update: I’m told co-head writer Eric Stangel and his wife Elizabeth Weitzman just had Late Show‘s first “strike baby”: Eva Weitzman-Stangel, 7 lbs 12 ozs, born at 3:50 PM today, 19 inches long.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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MJL, your entire post was slewed with misinformation.
1. “This is not a waiver like the Golden Globes and Oscars wanted” – Yes, it is, except it is not for one night’s show. Worldwide Pants does not appear to be pursuing a contract with the WGA. They appear to be pursuing a strike waiver with an agreement that the new contract would be applied retroactively to the date of the waiver. INTERIM AGREEMENT = STRIKE WAIVER. That does not help end the strike. A contract would.
2. “The Writers Guild made a clear statement over the weekend that they were willing to begin negotiating with individual companies” – Yes, FOR CONTRACTS, not strike waivers. If Worldwide Pants was to sign a long-term (i.e., 3-year) contract, that would be good. Strike waiver? Bad.
3. “By the way, this situation has total precedent” – You’re not kidding. Similar mistakes in the 1988 strike resulted in a HORRIBLE deal in the end.
4. “I can also guarantee…” – Unless you’re Letterman, Burnett, Stangel, et al, you can guarantee as much as I can (i.e., nothing).
What I wish I could guarantee is that Worldwide Pants agrees to a formal contract, instead of pursuing a waiver. Only Burnett and Letterman can guarantee that.
Realist,
Allow me to set you straight. Johnny Carson returned to the air after 2 months in ’88 but the difference between Mr Carson and scabs Leno and O’Brien is that Mr. Carson was never a member of the WGA. He didn’t desert his own union as Leno and O’Brien are doing. If you compared Johnny Carson to anybody you’d have to compare him to Carson Daly. And Letterman didn’t return to the air until the ’88 strike was over 4 months old, and it was apparent the thing would probably be settled any day.
At this point the WGA will do much more damage to itself with regular people if it suddenly reneges on the waiver/agreement/whatever with Letterman. Their best hope in focing the AMPTP to deal with them is to make these side deals with production companies. And they need someone who sympathisizes with them being able to go on the air every night and talk about it. Since Leno, Kimmel, and O’Brien are returning anyway, with or without their blessing, just having Letterman return without their blessing anyway just takes away their soapbox.
Maybe the WGA hardliners need to take their head out of their collective keisters before they destroy a perfect opportunity here.
I think Letterman should be allowed to go back with the full staff… and with Dave’s good graces he can get up every night and lambast the idiots who run his network and tell all of North America (and northern Europe where he is hugely popular) that the terms the WGA is asking for are VERY easy to meet for any employer. It will only make the networks (Moonves, Chernin, et al.) look more petty and greedy and could be the start of a populist groundswell of public pressure, as Dave would be seen taking care of his own and the audience, whereas the moguls aren’t taking care of anyone at all, including themselves.
Additionally, every big company that negotiates directly with the WGA weakens Nick Counter and his side of the table hugely, rendering them irrelevant. If enough big companies adhere, the less they need the AMPTP, and the more everyone will see that Counter doesn’t serve anyone but the Big Eight… not the industry, not the rank-and-file, and not the “average” everyday producers who are taking the brunt of this strike.
Bypassing Counter and his tactics would neuter him, absolutely.
And everyone would see it.
Re: Dave
If it’s a waiver, then no go. If it’s a substantial contract that reflects the goals of the WGA and undermines the ridiculous hard line taken by the AMPTP, then game on.
Letterman should not get a waiver from the WGA. Nor an Interim Agreement, nor a full agreement. And, as of today, the Guild is not going to give him any of those. There are many reasons why not and I’ll list just a few.
1) His show would add revenue to CBS which is a struck company. CBS should not have the benefit of WGA writers unless they sit down and with the Guild and come to an agreement that covers the entire struck company.
2) If WGAw came to an agreement with Letterman, actors could go on his show and flack their product for the studios without crossing a picket line. Also adding revenue to struck companies.
3) Any kind of agreement with a company should have the potential of benefiting a good number of writers and not benefit another part of the struck company (this part is tough because of limited distribution and vertical intergration.) But an agreement that benefits just thirty writers (on Letterman and Ferguson,) yet brings revenue back to CBS doesn’t benefit the Guild, nor even a good part of its membership. If the Guild came to an agreement with CBS, itself, many writers would be employed, and those that weren’t could pitch for work. We’re used to competiting for jobs and, at least, under that scenario, we all could.
On the other front, some writers consider Jay et al. scabs and some don’t and some feel both ways. But the key thing is that these are individuals (the late night hosts) making these decisions and not the Guild. The Guild itself is still united and has as much resolve as I’ve ever seen in any organization. Even with dissent over this issue.
Dave, Jay and Conan are honoring their AFTRA contracts as performers. They are not going back as writers. They are not scabs. Sheesh.
“The guild said it has no plans to single out Jay Leno or Conan O’Brien…”
“‘Jay and Conan have been supportive of us from the beginning, and we understand the pressure they’re under,’ said guild spokesman Jeff Hermanson.”
“I think the temperature may have changed a little,” said Jeff Ross, the executive producer of Mr. O’Brien’s show. Mr. Ross said that “early on” during the strike, potential guests had indicated real reluctance to cross picket lines to appear. Lately, he said, that has been less of a factor when the shows have contacted publicists for stars.
–from NY Times
==========
So Leno and Conan go back to work, essentially say they will disregard any strike rules and state that guests won’t care about crossing a picket line.
And the WGA’s response? They give them a pass.
Bravo, WGA, bravo. Glad you are saving your wrath for Carson Daly.
And to top it off, they hang out to dry the one late-night host that was at least trying to get a waiver. Of all the late-night hosts, who would be the most vocal and supportive of the WGA? The same guy who called the AMPTP “cowards, cutthroats and weasels” before the strike even began.
The WGA has basically taken the strike out of the late-night realm – the one place the general public would be reminded of their cause on a nightly basis.
What kind of game plan is this exactly?
I’m a little confused. The WGA is a UNION, right? We’re all in this TOGETHER, aren’t we? I appreciate the support David Letterman has given to the WGA up to this point, but it seems a little odd to me, the idea that thousands of writers would still be striking while David Letterman’s staff goes back to work. Is everyone going to go back to work little by little via a waiver here, an individual contract there, until there are only 3 or 4 writers officially on strike? That would kind of suck for the 3 or 4 writers left on the sidewalk. Shouldn’t ALL writers be on strike until ALL writers go back to work? What am I missing?
“David Young pretty much said last night that there’s no point in making a deal with Worldwide Pants as it gives us no leverage towards other networks and just brings in money for CBS.”
Hey, no big loss. We put out the call, we’ve got mini moguls lined up around the block to break ranks. I mean, it’s not as if Letterman is the only person in the industry willing to work with us on our terms so far, and we’re telling him to screw off. Oh, wait, it is like that? Well, thanks Dave, but come back when you have a larger production company. We don’t want to bring hosts back to late night. Well, not union ones, anyway. You try to work with us, we’ll try to stop you. You want to scab? We’re in your corner. Jesus, if we did reach an agreement with letterman, we’d probably be picketing and asking SAG to boycott HIS show.
Yeah, we don’t want to make money for CBS, we want to make money for NBC. If we brought back Letterman with Guild approval and writers, NBC would have a tough time competing. Oh, it might be a show of strength for us, but so what? The scab shows of NBC would suffer, and we like to think of them as “our” scab shows. So better to clear the field entirely and allow NBC to have an open shot at the entire late night audience and their pick of all the guests. Up and at ‘em SAG, promote to your little hearts’ content, there’ll be no pickets. That’ll show ‘em! Choke on our sternly worded letter where we heaped praise on Scab Jay and Scab Conan but expressed disdain for NBC.
You know, I would totally understand and approve denying this if Conan and Jay weren’t scabbing (fat chance). BUT THEY ARE. So we have a chance to wipe their scab shows off the map with a union show. WITH WRITERS. Which would tend to illustrate the importance of, say, writers? Yes, CBS would make money but NBC is going to make that money anyway. Since that’s a given, hell yeah I’d rather take that money away and give it to CBS. The minute Jay and Conan decided to scab, we had no good option. It might not accomplish much, but it wouldn’t hurt and would be a symbolic victory. And now we look like complete ineffectual buffoons, sitting on the sidelines giving our blessing to scabs, cutting union friendly producers off at the knees and refusing to get in the game. And if Letterman decides to scab, what then? Do we have a memo on whether Letterman would be one of the Bad Scabs like Ellen and Carson, or one of the Good Scabs like Conan and Jay?
You guys need to stop and think before you start writing nasty things about Conan and Jay! They are not scabs! Never have been, Never will be!
Life isn’t fair kids! You guys should have learned that years ago! Each person should be of equal worth to every other person, but that’s not the way it goes!
All of Late Night has been shut down for two months now! It’s been long enough. It’s time for all the Late Night shows to come back, even though the strike isn’t over yet.
Conan and Jay made the right decision to come back. It was their only choice. They should not suffer any back lash. They fully support their writers and want them to get a fair contract.
Get Real People this strike is so bitter it’s going to drag on and on and on for at least a year! Are we Conan fans to be deprived of our Fearless Leader for at least a year? I think not! I am over joyed that Conan is coming back! I wish the strike was over. I wish the Big 8 fat cats that run the entertainment business would stop being stingy pricks and give the writers a fair and just deal!
I am pro union, pro writer, pro WGA, pro little guy vrs. big corporate corruption but let’s be fair here! Will allowing Late Night shows to return make that big of a difference? No it won’t! And I work hard everyday and Conan’s show is one of the highlights of my day!
I want Conan back! I deserve Conan back! All of us Conan and Dave and other late night show fans work hard everyday and deserve to get our laughter back! Two months is long enough! The Late night shows have made their point, they have showed their solidarity with the WGA now it is time to Move On and give us fans
back the Late Night shows we Love!
Cindy Loves Conan
Who does Rob Burnett think Dave is? He’s not Moses, he’s not going to deliver the WGA to the promised land.
Dave’s business isn’t new media focused (I don’t believe). A contract with him will easily be laughed down by the AMPTP as ridiculous and beside the point. Why wouldn’t he sign; how many people stream or download his show? Not exactly proving the studios could be making a deal, is it, if his business model is nothing like theirs?
Now Kimmel’s coming back Jan 2, too? Well, if he’s near bankruptcy from supporting his staff, so be it. But Leno is the last person in Hollywood who deserves a break from the WGA. It’s pretty well known that Leno buys LOTS of material from freelancers, i.e. “scabs” even when he has his staff writers. Leno should’ve been expelled from the WGA years ago.
I hope Letterman gets the deal from the WGA, although what appared to be a certainty now appears in doubt because after all we don’t want the scabs to have to compete against Letterman with writers in tow.
With writers, Letterman dunked canned ham to see if it’d float. But there’s no way he can keep up that level of entertainment without writers.
A free suggestion, Dave. See if Nick Counter floats.
drunkandcrying:
Can I have a swig?
We are starting creating down a class system. If you support us we’ll give you something in return — like a waiver. This is a strike damn it! There should be no waivers. Leno and Conan are scabs. As is any other WGA member who returns to work, crossing our picket lines.
“Slewed” means drunk. I don’t quite get how something could be drunk with misinformation. But, hey, I’m only a writer — and, come to think of it, drunk.
Waivers are a smack in the face of solidarity. No waivers. Period.
“If WGAw came to an agreement with Letterman, actors could go on his show and flack their product for the studios without crossing a picket line. Also adding revenue to struck companies.”
Hey, yeah! This way, stars will have no place to go to promote their movies. Um, except for The Tonight Show and Late Night. But I bet actors won’t go on there because they’ll have to cross our picket line–whoops, no they won’t, because we don’t want to do anything to target Jay and Conan. They support us, they love us! So don’t think of it as adding revenue to struck companies, think of it as our love letter to Conan and Jay.
“But an agreement that benefits just thirty writers (on Letterman and Ferguson,) yet brings revenue back to CBS doesn’t benefit the Guild, nor even a good part of its membership”
Yeah, while by contrast publicly endorsing scabbing by just two writers (who we so accurately and helpfully pointed out didn’t wanna do it but got “forced,” they’re the true victims here) not only brings revenue to a struck company, it miraculously benefits all of us. Cause they’re so supportive! Look, it’s fine for the Guild to deny this, but if we’re going to say things like this as if they make logical sense, we need to drop the hammer on Conan and Jay and do it now. And firing the idiot who deemed them Acceptable Scabs would also be a great idea. How did the “division” over whether they’re scabs come up, before or after we sent letters to Ellen? We don’t want to see revenue go to struck companies, so how’s about we start monitoring Jay and Conan’s every on-air move, apply the maximum penalty for every violation, stop announcing that they’re good guys and we’re with them and instead loudly, publicly plead with SAG members to boycott their shows, set up daily pickets in Burbank and at 30 Rock, in short do everything we can to have an impact here? Maybe take as firm a line with them as we have with Letterman? Because honestly, patting ourselves on the back about how we’re allegedly stopping revenue flowing to struck companies under the explination you laid out when we’ve already announced we won’t lift a finger to stop revenue from flowing to struck companies seems a little silly. It’s great that we have resolve, but maybe we could use it to resolve to try and minimize the impact of the hosts going back to work, making a ton of money in ad revenue and providing a forum for the promotion of studio product?
“Dave, Jay and Conan are honoring their AFTRA contracts as performers. They are not going back as writers. They are not scabs.”
First off, so far only Jay and Conan are going back. Second, they’re not allowed to do any writing. “This prohibition includes all writing by any Guild member that would be performed on-air by that member (including monologues, characters, and featured appearances) if any portion of that written material is customarily written by striking writers.” Unless they spend the entire show singing and doing off-the-cuff interviews, it’s probably going to be hard to to comply fully with that provision, these shows tend to be highly scripted.
ALL the late night hosts were planning to go back at the start of the year — Dave included — with or without their writers. Of course they’d all prefer to have their writers so that they’d (a) have a much stronger shows and (b) wouldn’t be accused of hurting the strike.
Knowing Dave was coming back, but hoping to avoid (b) the people at Worldwide Pants, who are in a unique position to bargain among the late night shows as they own their show, approached the Guild and said in interviews that they wanted to make a deal. The Guild, as far as I can tell, did not start this process.
Seeing how all the hosts — again, including Dave — were set on coming back, the Guild talked with Worldwide Pants, thinking maybe there could be a small PR victory in all this (we made a deal for writers!). But they quickly realized that as long as all the hosts were planning to come back (Dave included) this was not a situation in which there would be any leverage that could hurt the major studios and bring the strike to a faster close.
If ONLY Dave had new episodes and the other shows were in repeats, yes, there would be leverage (great leverage.) But if all the hosts were planning on coming back (as Dave was planning to do, with or without writers), and Dave had his writers and the other didn’t — well, yes, his show would be a much better show and might do better in the ratings. But when Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts went on the other shows to promote their new movie, the ratings would still be strong on those shows. Most people watch because they like the specific host and his sensibility (which the writers write towards), and they like the guest of the night. The monologue and the sketches, while important, are not the whole reason, nor for many the main reason, to watch. (For me, Jay has the strongest monologue, Dave is by far best interviewer — better than Johnny — and Conan has the best sketches. And the oddest, too.)
When the day comes soon that the Guild does make a deal with a smaller production company or (hopefully) one of the big studios, then some percentage of our fellow picketers will go back to work. And yes, the rest of us will still be picketing. But that is the ONLY way to get the other studios to fold. It’s our strongest leverage and if it takes months off the length of the strike, that’s a good thing. To say we all must stay on strike together or not at all, even if making a deal with one company shortens the length of the strike (for all of us), is amazingly shortsighted. I agree strongly that we are all in this together, but we’re all in this together to get a good deal as quickly as possible– not to stay on strike.
And to say that any of these performers is a “scab” when they’re not going to be writing for a struck company seems bizarre to me. The only person who is a scab is someone who performs WRITING duties for a struck company. That’s it. An actor, host, comedian, musician, producer, teamster, talent booker, etc. who works on these shows is in no way a scab.
Another Thought said, “Letterman should not get a waiver from the WGA. Nor an Interim Agreement, nor a full agreement. And, as of today, the Guild is not going to give him any of those.”
Another Thought, is it reasonable to assume from that wording that Letterman was willing to agree to a full agreement (which I’m assuming but please correct me if I’m wrong means a formal, long-term, three year contract) but was turned down? In part because WWP doesn’t employ enough writers to overcome the fact that they work for CBS?
If so, can we have some clarification on which (or if not which, at least how many) companies would be large enough to make agreements with considering limited distribution channels and vertical integration?
Innocent bystanders will always be hurt during a strike. When teachers strike, students lose out by not being able to attend school. During the writer’s strike, non-writing staff will inevitably be hurt.
I don’t imagine it was easy for Leno, O’Brien, and everyone else to essentially cross the picket lines, but people are being put out of work. People who didn’t agree to strike are losing their jobs. To me the difference between O’Brien and Leno and the others are that they waited until the last possible minute to go back whereas Daly went back a while ago. Then again, Daly is unbelievably replaceable, so he must’ve been a much weaker target than Conan and Jay. It can’t be easy to choose between your peers and saving the jobs of people who haven’t done anything wrong. If Letterman wants to make a point, he should go back sans writing staff. And spend as much time as he can get away with plugging for the writers.
This situation isn’t easy for anyone, except the network fatcats. And they depend on the lower-paid to turn on each other. If the late-night guys can keep non-writing staff in business, it may actually help the WGA’s side, because they don’t have to worry as much about pressure to stop putting non-writing staff out of business.
Welcome to the world, Eva Weitzman-Stengel!
Now see if you can get Nick Counter back to the changing table.
Please Guild leaders,
WWP will agree to our terms. Let’s show that we were serious when we said that we are willing to bargain with individual companies. The proof is in the Christmas pudding.
WWP is doing everything that we wish the Big Media companies were doing — so let’s reward them for it.
WWP is at our table. They should get a carrot. All the media moguls who are off on vacation should get the stick.
Guys– (that’s the gender-neutral “guys”)
It’s pretty clear to me the leadership kinda fucked themselves on this one. They wanted to be cool to Letterman by granting him a waiver, but probably weren’t expecting the huge backlash, and now they’re caught in a situation where they may piss members off whatever they decide.
They better make a decision quick, **thoroughly explain their thinking/strategy to the membership** before there can be a backlash, and move on.
And this is offtopic, but here’s another thought– WGA members should realize that reality jurisdiction is not just about being nice to writers working insane hours w/o health care, but much more importantly is about **maintaining the WGA’s influence and relevance across the industry in the future**. It’ll help us during the next strike (and to avoid a next strike), so it’s kind of a big deal, not to be dismissed as easily as some suggested at the meeting on Monday.
Happy holidays.