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As you know, I've been ill with bronchial flu and a fever but also reporting for days now that the informal talks have been productive and progressing. Now sources are telling me the WGA and moguls are at the point where they may reach a final settlement very soon after overcoming major hurdles. The New York Times is reporting this also and quotes sources saying "a tentative agreement" may come "as early as next week". This means a settlement to end the strike and put Hollywood back to work could also come soon enough to hold a real Oscars. As the news spread, cautious optimism spread, too.
2ND UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times reports that "Guild negotiators Young, Verrone and Bowman on Monday are expected to brief the union's 17-member negotiating committee and board of directors on the proposed contract."
UPDATE: United Hollywood, the unofficial website for WGA info, says: "UH has confirmed from off-the-record sources that progress is indeed being made in the informal talks, and that creative solutions to the biggest differences between the AMPTP and the WGA have gotten the tentative and cautious approval of both sides. This does not mean there is a deal in principle yet. It means we may, finally, be very close to one -- as close as days away. And while we're cautiously optimistic about what we're hearing, it comes with a real caveat. Just as happened with the DGA deal, points that are agreed to in informal negotiation can be thought of as points on a deal memo -- but it's the drafting language that comes from hammering out those points that makes them legally binding. And our sources say that draft language doesn't yet exist. That's a big part of what will be happening in the next few days, as negotiations continue. Until the WGA and the companies have enshrined the deal points -- whatever they are -- into real draft language, those deal points can't be thought of as final."
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Please dont say that to loud look what happen in December. If there going to settle then lets do it. dont give people a big sigh then it breaks down again
There was no information in today’s NYT story that wasn’t in Nikki’s post last night.
Nikki has owned this story from beginning to end (if this is indeed the end.)
I wouldn’t believe Mr. Cipely any further than I could throw Dave McNary and the trash he throws over at Variety.
Hope you are feeling better.
Oh, please, please, please let this be true!
The hell with the Oscars. Can the TV season be saved?
United Hollywood has confirmed from their sources that things are going well. Have some hope already, killjoys.
I’ll address this to WGA member who mentioned the “Lucy with the football” scenario yet again.
Please shut the hell up! You’re a writer… not a negotiator.
You are either some hack looking for a reason not to write…. or you’re just praying for a superb deal that pays you to write the idiotic drivel that passes as television these days.
Mr.Cieply wrote a completely biased article just days before (on the 31st) titled: “Recent Moves by Guild Leaders Rattle Writers’ Talks”
In that article Cieply stated how Phil Alden Robinson’s email to UnitedHollywood in which he called on writers to be tough and get a good deal, had somehow derailed the talks and possibly unfairly broken the news blackout agreement. Of course, Phil isn’t on the WGA negotiating committee and has been in none of the meetings so his letter is just another letter of support and solidarity, but it was portrayed very differently in the article.
And then Cieply went on to say how the WGA leadership shocked Les Moonves by planning to meet with Viacom investors to let them know how much the AMPTP’s failure to negotiate a reasonable deal has cost them. He of course failed to mention that the meeting was called off very publicly (headline in Variety the day before) as a gesture of good will by the writers. Of course, if he included the full story how would he make the writers look unreasonable?
So do take what Mr. Cieply says with that in mind. All these leaks of things going well would point to an upcoming leaving of the table once more by the studios (as always planned.) They can then blame the “unreasonable” WGA leadership for not taking the lowball offer.
Sorry to say, but they have absolutely no reason to leak such information otherwise.
My God you people are the most pessimistic, sad, pathetic sounding people. It must really suck to be you.
Welcome back, Nikki.
Michael Cieply will repeat anything an authority figure tells him without even checking against another source. Never believe anything he says. The NYT public editor should investigate his terrible reporting on this strike. Nikki — you know this! Nothing is lost by casting a gimlet eye on this story.
The studios are going to offer crap, and then be “shocked” when the WGA doesn’t take it. They’ll then try to blame the WGA leadership for being inexperienced and unreasonable, unlike the brilliant leadership of the DGA (who of course could care less about new media residuals.) And lucky for the studios, hacks like Michael Cieply will help them get their spin out to the world.
Feel better Nikki Darlin’ –
That spoof was hysterical…
Bottom line here:
1) Writers will believe it when we see it and hear it from our Negs.
2) If the Moguls did not change EST Formulas from a flat rate to a decent percentage rate I doubt our Guys would accept it or even bring it to a vote…
3)SAG has now taken the lead on protecting both Guilds. Moguls know that and realize they can’t get away with their old tactics.
hey wga member – you’re a tool.
From UH… interesting…
Thanks Nikki
“NY Times Reports Progress In Talks
As this is written, the WGA and AMPTP are still under a news blackout regarding the ongoing informal negotiations.
However, the NY Times just reported that “major roadblocks” have been gotten past in the negotiations, and progress will be swifter in the negotiations going forward — with an eye toward an agreement in principle coming out of negotiations fairly soon.
UH has confirmed from off-the-record sources that progress is indeed being made in the informal talks, and that creative solutions to the biggest differences between the AMPTP and the WGA have gotten the tentative and cautious approval of both sides.
This does not mean there is a deal in principle yet. It means we may, finally, be very close to one — as close as days away.
And while we’re cautiously optimistic about what we’re hearing, it comes with a real caveat.
Just as happened with the DGA deal, points that are agreed to in informal negotiation can be thought of as points on a deal memo — but it’s the drafting language that comes from hammering out those points that makes them legally binding. And our sources say that draft language doesn’t yet exist. That’s a big part of what will be happening in the next few days, as negotiations continue.
Until the WGA and the companies have enshrined the deal points — whatever they are — into real draft language, those deal points can’t be thought of as final.
The only reason we’ve gotten as far as we have in the negotiations is because the pressure has stayed on. If we let up on that pressure, even a little, it could affect the draft language of the agreement. It could, in a very real way, diminish the power of our negotiators and our Guild now, when it matters most.
Stay out there. Stay on the lines, stay informed. Stay strong. We’ll have more soon.”
Just because Ceiply wrote it doesn’t mean it’s not true. On the other hand…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-tasini/is-michael-cieply-the-wor_b_83066.html
I’m thinking, like EVERYTHING in Hollywood, don’t buy the farm until the check clears. And we haven’t even SEEN a check yet…
Hope you’re feeling better, Nikki. Thanks for continuing to report.
This is great news. But do you think this means that the tv season could be saved?
p.s. thanks for updating Nikki. i hope you are feeling better!
Dear Studio Shill “Wow” — thank you for confirming everyone’s suspicions that this is yet another studio trick. It doesn’t suck to be a successful creative figure in showbiz, it sucks to be a paid studio shill making $14.50 an hour to post false blog items on a Saturday.
So… people keep commenting about a post by “WGA member” that mentioned the Lucy and the football scenario, but apparently Nikki has deleted that post from the comments here. Nikki, if you’re interested in purging history Stalin-style, then at least cut out the comments where people call “WGA Member” a tool, etc, to cover your tracks!
There sure are a lot of people getting upset simply because one “WGA Member” posted that we should take news reports with a grain of salt and that people shouldn’t get their hopes up.
Truth is, either they’re close to a deal or they’re not. Nothing we post here will change that. So it just seems to confirm other people’s suspicions that these name-callers are studio employees or their hired hands who are out to tarnish writers.
Being cautious about good news at this point is only natural. Screaming about how the studios are surely going to screw the WGA with a lowball deal, or that the writers should shut up and take it shows a lack of respect and trust to the WGA negotiators who might just be able to puill off a good deal.
Calling each other names like studio shill or pathetic is just immature and does not help anyone. How about just waiting till Monday to hear what’s really happening before damning or praising?
Gotta have hope….
BTL 399
“It doesn’t suck to be a successful creative figure in showbiz, it sucks to be a paid studio shill making $14.50 an hour to post false blog items on a Saturday.”
Ughhh… don’t you see it’s this very attitude that grates on everybody? $14.50/hour… this shows just how out of touch the writers are with people who are truly in need of financial help. $14.50/hour is great money compared to many many jobs. I know being a creative figure in showbiz (i.e. being responsible for three jokes a week on The Earl Show) is really amazing and does the world a lot of good that you should be overly compensated for… but you must understand that countless people think the vast majority of writers are complete hacks who are lucky to have jobs in the first place.
Dear Studio Shill “Wow” — thank you for confirming everyone’s suspicions that this is yet another studio trick. It doesn’t suck to be a successful creative figure in showbiz, it sucks to be a paid studio shill making $14.50 an hour to post false blog items on a Saturday.
Dear You A Loser!
To whom exactly are you going to direct your paranoid, delusional vitriol to when the strike ends within the next two weeks?
Just curious.
If you guys don’t mind, I’ll be optimistic about this. I don’t think it’s exactly the same situation as last time, because the DGA deal, the Oscars, and force majeure has changed the landscape from when last we were at this point and the AMPTP weasels walked away. I think there is actual incentive for the studios to get this done and get it done soon.
Good news!!!
But, being a feature film writer… I could care less if the TV season is saved or not. It’s crap anyway and partly responsible for our lack of leverage in this strike. BAD TV is not worth saving… the public knows it and so do the moguls. Those network “writers” need to create something of substance like Showtime’s “Dexter” or HBO’s “Entourage”.
When this strike ends… it’s time for the feature film writers to seriously consider forming their own union in the near future.
WOW: “My God you people are the most pessimistic, sad, pathetic sounding people. It must really suck to be you.
Comment by Wow”
Is it pessimism or realism? You know what it REALLY must suck to be? It must suck to be someone who has to denigrate a REASONABLY skeptical audience’s opinions just because you don’t like them. If you knew ANYTHING about the dynamics at play here, you would understand the skepticism, not attacking it.
And to “You a loser” — calling “WOW” a studio shill is baseless. Why can’t he just be a fool?
Dear Jesus, you wrote: ” $14.50/hour… this shows just how out of touch the writers are with people who are truly in need of financial help. $14.50/hour is great money compared to many many jobs.”
Really? One writer’s comment mocking $14.50 shows how “out of touch the writers are”?
Is that how it works? Really? Thank for the lesson in how to over-generalize.
So I guess your post means that all people who don’t support the writers are morons then?
Is that how it works?
I’ll post anti-WGA comment for $13.75/hour. Who wants me?
Again, patience.
Let the negotiators do their job as the WGA and SAG (my guild) keep up the pressure.
When a tentative agreement is reached and the WGA membership has a chance to check it out, THEN let the debate over ratification begin.
Until then, best to take any rumors about the status of the talks with a mine of salt.
Feature Film Writer wrote:
“being a feature film writer… I could care less if the TV season is saved or not. It’s crap anyway and partly responsible for our lack of leverage in this strike.”
Yeah, but “White Chicks” is literature.
What a self-righteous asshole.
Ordinarily I would mistrust anything “reported” by Cieply, but the combo of UH’s remarks, with AP and Reuters both reporting progress as well, at least has me hopeful that we might be looking at some kind of a pre-talk preliminary understanding.
If it is a crappy AMPTP negotiating tactic, well – fine. Nothing those crazy bananoos folks at the AMPTP do would be surprising, and it won’t break the WGA’s resolve. We’ll chalk it up to “nice try, but no cigar.”
I’m still keeping on with my strike-work ’til someone officially speaking for the strike tells me to stop.
I just have two points to make…
1. No waiver for the Oscars until a real deal is in place.
2. The AMPTP and the WGA have to realize that they need each other, and if the film industry is to survive in the face of competition from new media (video games, internet) they have to make their relationship collaborative instead of adversarial.
That’s my two cents.
The studio shills are now taking the name “Jesus”? That’s offensive. Talk about a Messiah Complex.
Since Nikki inadvertenly deleted my earlier post that everyone keeps referring to, here it is again:
Rembember, fellow writers, just because Nikki says it’s not Lucy with the football again doesn’t mean it’s not Lucy with the football again.
The New York Times’s Michael Cieply is the same hack who wrote that nasty piece about Verrone and Young that for some reason known only to God and Bill Keller wound up on the front page above the fold.
This not only could be a way to raise our hopes and dash them again, but rather to raise our hopes so that it would bring pressure on the WGA leadership to not reject the studios’ “best and final offer.”
It’s certainly not out of the question that the studios would do this via the Times, especially since we essentially did the same thing last week via that SAG letter.
Particulaly suspcious about the article is its mention of reaching a deal without the need for formal negotiations, with the details to be addressed later. This could very well be a way for the studios to ensure that the Oscars happens, and then come Feb 25th they will say, “No, that’s not what we agreed to,” and the whole “deal” will collapse.
Think of the way the CEO’s have conducted this whole affair, and filter any rumors through that muck.
Come on, “Feature Film Writer”…sure there are some crappy TV shows. There are also some crappy movies. I’m pretty sure the ratio is about the same in either medium. Why post just to disparage other writers?
Judging from the tight crevice your head seems to be wedged into, I’m wondering how you manage to see your keyboard.
Nikki,
Thanks for all your information, you have been ahead of the game since day 1.
Feel better soon, take it easy, and get plenty of rest.
I won’t get my hopes up, just to have them dashed again. So I will wait and see. Hopefully everyone can go back to work soon.
Why all the name calling? We’re all adults.
The level of discourse on this site is wonderful. Firstly, we don’t know that Nikki’s or UH’s or NYT’s sources are on the studios’ side. What if it came from WGA negotiators or WGA people who were in the room? Some people say, why would anybody but the AMPTP leak this information? Well, maybe some of the WGAs in the room hear some of the pessimism and want to give out a glimmer of hope. I’m not saying this is what happened but it’s possible.
Also, it just doesn’t seem like something the studios would do at this point. Outside influences like the WGA breaking off the meeting with market analysts would seem to point towards progress being made. If it was going south, I wouldn’t expect the leadership now to do that. Also the fact that UH (a much more hardline site) posted this is encouraging. And remember, Nikki called it first before the Moguls broke off talks in December. She was optimistic at first but slowly that faded into announcing that the Studios planned to break off talks a day or two before they did.
All I’m saying is that while we shouldn’t buy the farm before the check clears (or we see the check), we should at least wait and see what’s on the check before we rip it up. Maybe the Studios are just screwing with you guys but I honestly don’t see a good reason for them to do so at this point. I don’t think they want to wait until June to settle this.
Feature Film Writer,
Have you seen Norbit or Captivity? Go ahead and start your own union. Good luck with that.
i just hope that the brilliant and compassionate Verrone and Young let the writers return to work while the contract is being drawn up. If not, that could mean completing one LESS episode and take an additional two weeks of pay out of everyone’s pocket.
The sooner the better.
A scoop for you Nikster – “Guild negotiators David Young, Patric M. Verrone and John Bowman are scheduled to brief the union’s negotiating committee on the proposed deal Monday.”
You’ll have to hurry though if you want to call it an exclusive as it has been up on the LAT since around four.
I’m going to be optimistic about this, for once.
Tentative deal points leading to legal discussion is far more than we’ve heard in a long while.
I’ll join the wait and see club.
NBC Nightly news just reported the deal is done and will be shown to the membership on Monday.
Hope it’s coming to an end. Hope everyone involved, the entire industry, benefits. Hope feature writer fellow, he of the deriding posting, never has to work on a Martin Lawrence picture. Seriously,
thanks Nikki Finke. I’m an east coaster, new to the guild, tv and features, (yes, Virginia, I believe there is possibility for quality in both) and your blog has been an eye opener to an industry I’m just becoming involved with (weird timing, eh?) Sorry you’ve been ill, glad you’re feeling better. And, oh yeah, to all the underdogs everywhere – GO GIANTS!!!
thanks for keeping on top of this even as you lay ill in your sick bed, nikki.
i’m not feelin’ so good myself.
So does this spell the end for Nick Counter, that little limp dick who couldn’t get the job done for the studios? Turns out Nick was just a little china doll who cracked when big bad Dave Young wouldn’t let him have more chairs.
Glad mommy Iger and daddy Chernin finally took over and sent big bad Nick to his room with no supper, for this was not a job for children.
“Feature Film Writer”
What a clown. Great name, too. “Feature Film Writer”. I’ll bet it says that on your license plate. Clown.
Hope we’re all back soon.
Blah Blah Blah! Will they get the talks over with already, sign a deal and let all of us get back to work?
Wait, wait…Entourage is a ’show of substance’??
I don’t care if they give the WGA double what they’re asking for. I really want the Oscars to be canceled. I want Gil Cates to sit home twiddling his thumbs til next year. You know, the only reason he directs an awards show is because he couldn’t make it as a real director. That failure is who represents the DGA. What a joke.
OK…call me an optimist, I’m buying a bottle of champagne tomorrow–just in case.
The AMPTP is faced with losing the Oscars (at least in its most profitable format), a militant SAG, possible Congressional investigation, no pilot season, and have already cut ties to development deals they had felt buyers remorse over. I can see no (logical) reason for them to drag out a strike that will only insure a bigger travesty come summer.
So I’ll buy my champagne, and hope I drink it sooner rather than later.
Whoa, hey, keep it cool my damies. Keep it cool.
The deal is practically done, the framework is now in place and you all have the upcoming Oscars to thank for it. The moguls are terrified of picketers in front of the red carpet but they also know the writers are desperate to go back to work so the Oscars were used as a convenient and timely goal to force a deal.
But how many writing deals were force-majeured into oblivion? How many will ever be reinstated? Not very many that’s for sure. To all those writers who lost their cushy deals, what did you think was going to happen? Oh that’s right you didn’t think it would happen to you. Your agent told you you’d survive.
You were special. You were unique. You were so talented that the studio couldn’t possibly afford to get rid of your deal right? Now you know how all those laid off from this strike feel. Serves you right.
The strike has been a huge benefit for the studios and networks. They have been able to get rid of dozens of these writers deals that were wasting money and producing nothing of value. They are making more from their stupid reality shows which are getting better ratings.
Turns out Gavin Polone was right about pretty much everything all along. I’d give him a 90% accuracy in prediction rating for his posts on here. He’s still a jerk and a schmuck and an untalented egomaniac but his batting average was pretty good here.
I’ve also noticed the numbers dwindling in front of all the studios. The first month the sidewalks were crowded. For the last month they have been a joke. Where is everyone? Clearly they are staying home. Why? Who is picketing and who is staying home?
The moral of this story is the lousy timing of it. And the lack of real courage on the part of the Guild. They were afraid to ask for more than pennies so that’s all they’ll get. No one has the guts or the financial wherewithal to stay out on strike for one year which is what will be required to get real profits from the internet and from dvd sales.
As an honest observer I have to give the win to the studios and networks on this. They will continue to make their billions and the writers will continue to get crumbs from the table. Business as usual. Better luck next time writers. Your minimal gains this time will look like crap very soon.
The money you’ve lost picketing will never be made back. No matter how much the Guild thinks they will “gain from this deal” the reality is they are still getting pennies. They don’t have the courage needed to get real money and they don’t have the ability to stay on the sidewalks for as long as is necessary to get actual dollars.
Personally, WGA Member is right on these talks. There is no way that they are tackling the big issues right now. That is unless if John Wells is running things and is convincing the WGA board to drop issues left and right just so that he can end ER with a splashy 3-hour send-off. Fortunately, I think this “deal” will likely not make it past the board of directors and the only vote that should be coming up for you in the next few weeks is whether to expel John Wells from the Guild. His name has been coming up in the past few weeks and there is no way that he should be running things unless you want a deal with so many lowball concessions that it makes the DGA deal look good.
A friend and I were watching the democratic debate from the Kodak the other night. She suggested there were enough celebrities in the audience, the Academy should have brought the statues and given out the Oscars, since everybody was there anyway.
We also tried to envision the dual Oscar plans, A and B. Um…astroturf instead of a red carpet???
I don’t give a hoot about the Oscars. I just want to see everyone back at work and original TV programming.
Please feel better soon Nikki. Thanks for the hard work. We’re all a little frazzled at this point, what about a collective deep breath?
Mark Malone
I understand all you writers who think this could be another bait and switch tactic, but I have to say, as an outside observer (I work in the web world, but have been following this strike with great interest — not only because I strongly support the WGA like most Americans but because I work in an industry which may well become increasingly involved with you guys going forward) … from my perspective it looks to me like this is a very different situation than happened last time. It seems to me the overall situation is fairly clear: the AMPTP clearly wanted a strike, and they thought they could outlast you guys. They thought the public wasn’t going to care, they thought it would be an internal dispute that wouldn’t galvanize the writers and wouldn’t gain such support from the actors and from the general public. They thought that they’d starve the writers for a certain amount of time by taking positions that were clearly absurd, and they thought you’d cave. They thought that the Internet is such a huge new opportunity that it was worth sacrificing a couple of months to secure an unfair deal in their favor, and after pushing hard enough they would have cowed you guys into settling for something much less than you should.
Well, I think they’ve been proven wrong on nearly every count. I think the AMPTP miscalculated big time. I think they were taken by surprise by the tremendous support for the WGA coming from actors, showrunners, directors, and the general public. I have to say that on my side I was shocked at the tactics of the AMPTP — it was beyond the pale. I think the AMPTP thought they could bamboozle people with PR — it didn’t work, and it was never going to work.
After months of this, after the Golden Globes crashed and burned (not only because the WGA didn’t grant a waiver — but more importantly because the actors and agents said they weren’t going to cross the picket lines), after it looked quite clear that the WGA was damn serious, that the AMPTP was looking worse and worse in the eyes of nearly everyone, AND last, but perhaps not least, because the strike was causing a hell of a lot of companies to bail on the AMPTP and sign their own deals (not to mention new money coming in to promise writers a fair deal working for entities who weren’t members of the AMPTP) — potentially rendering the AMPTP irrelevant in the long run — I think the companies finally have realized that time is NOT on their side. The longer this goes on, the worse it is going to be — not for the WGA, but for THEM. And I think they have every reason to want to sign a deal before it gets even worse.
So — yeah, maybe I’m wrong, maybe the strike will still be going on a month from now … but I don’t think so. As an outside observer, that’s how it looks to me. I think you guys really may well have reason to be optimistic.
Thats it, panic.
LMFAO!
PC
Remember, fellow writers, just because Nikki says it’s not Lucy with the football again doesn’t mean it’s not Lucy with the football again.
And a piano could fall from the sky and land on top of your car next time you leave the house.
As Emerson said: That which we think all day is the world we live in. Fear, worry, speculation . . . it’s all so boring and trivial. Besides, you’re a writer, no? Take a risk or two. I.e., Grow some balls . . .
first of all, the ratification vote takes place months before the language of the deal is negotiated. for instance, dga members have already gotten the ratification ballot for their deal. get it? it’s over. and the end of the strike has nothing to do with the fact that 800 of the biggest idiots among you are still ‘on the line.’ it’s because people who actually care about the business finally put enough pressure on verrone and young et al that they had to make a realistic deal. after all, as someone more articulate than myself pointed out, there’s the deal you think you deserve and there’s the deal you can actually get. the legacy of this strike for television is fewer pilots, no more overall deals, smaller staffs. anotherwords, less work the very middle class writers we were lead to believe this strike was for. walk up. it’s over. and none too soon.
I just hope they get a deal fast so Nikki will stop bitching about being sick.
Anybody else notice that nobody is posting under real names here any more? I am a journalist turned TV/screenwriter and now a strike captain in the East and I am trying to buck the trend (please be kind).
I know this much is true: anyone leaking information to Nikki, or Michael Cieply, or anyone is guilty of violating the media blackout. They might just really want to be the Selfless Citizen (or Important Source) who Gets The Real News Out First, but my experience as a journalist tells me that — even if they DO have the insider information they claim — they have an AGENDA.
To me the situation is simple: You can’t be “almost” settled, any more than a woman can be “almost” pregnant. And dangling these kinds of rumors may get some people’s hopes up to make them more desperate to settle. That is at least one agenda here. Especially with stories like the LA TImes’ focusing on below-the-line workers’ anger.
If anything has been consistent during the strike, it has been the efforts to divide and conquer the guild. And the way the press works, they’re excited by squabbles, so they will publish an op-ed by a one-man political party ( John Ridley), or pick up on an email from John Wells and turn it into an official reaction to try to stir the pot. This site, for all its intentions, has also fomented flaming and bitchiness, much of it under the cloak of anonymity. And it was, conveniently or not, on hiatus when the plan went down that everyone predicted — the quick deal with the nonstriking DGA as a slap in the face to those of us on the picket lines.
The United Hollywood site has provided writers a forum to voice their support when rumors of schisms were touted, and to voice honest caution in the face of rampant email, blog, and even print journalism all rushing to be the first to say the deal is done.
I am certainly not in favor of anyone being out of work any longer, but it would be asinine and suicidal for the writers to now explode their just quest for a fair deal thanks to some mind-fuck of an endgame.
Just returned from the PGA awards where the buzz was that the strike had been settled. The buzz was loud enough for Dick Wolf to announce it from the stage
Something else I just love about the people on this site, anyone that has a different opinion is a “shill.” Right. I’m 25 and live in Dallas and just want the rest of the Lost season and to see Scrubs get a proper finale. I don’t have one side or the other in this strike all though I am typically anti-union.
My comment was in regards to your attitudes. I personally could not get through life being as negative as most of you people are. But maybe I’m just overly optimistic about the world and life in general.
Of course now here comes even more responses about how I’m a shill and can’t actually have my own opinion.
Feature Film Writer is anything but. I wouldn’t waste another word responding to him/her. That is all.
I will be happy to work again, but will miss getting to know my fellow writers on the picket line. (Okay, I don’t get out much) Some of you are famous in the writing world, most are not, but all of your faces became familiar and I developed a deep and lasting respect for each of you.
All you young, up coming writers, thank the older writers who have picketed before you! I know I did while walking beside the people who walked before me.
We’re all tired, frustrated and even a little scared. We need to just relax, take a deep breath and as the old saying goes, hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Look, no matter what you hear, we do know that talks are continuing and the actual CEO are in the room. That’s reason enough to stay positive.
Hang tough.
Are you reading ALL the posts, Wow? ONE person called you a shill. Just one. I took the time to point out that there was no evidence of you being a shill. A fool maybe. But not a shill.
However, I SHOULD have called you a HYPOCRITE. You come on here and condemn negativity while at the same time writing: “My God you people are the most pessimistic, sad, pathetic sounding people. It must really suck to be you.”
Well, golly geepers! Thanks for such a positive, constructive post! You sure are a little bit of cyber sunshine.
And then you do it again!
WOW WROTE: “I personally could not get through life being as negative as most of you people are.”
Fine. That’s you. We are not you. A writer’s attitude is a writer’s attitude. I’m sorry you don’t like it. I’m sorry you couldn’t get through life with it. I’m also sorry that you live in denial about who YOU are.
Optimistic people do not come on bulletin boards read by striking writers during a VERY difficult time and insult them and mock their WELL-EARNED pessimism.
Do you show up at funerals and mock people’s pain? WTF are you doing here? Right, offering your opinion – uninformed as it is.
Wow –
” I personally could not get through life being as negative as most of you people are. But maybe I’m just overly optimistic about the world and life in general.”
Sorry that you’re missing Scrubs. I can’t imagine how hard that is on you.
Try being on strike battling for your family’s futures against corporations that don’t care about fairness and honor or your family’s futures.
it will cure you of your pesky optimism.
Okay, now I finally believe that a deal may be at hand, because for the first time the studios have their paid shills like “Anonymous” already posting about what a good deal it is and trying to convince the rank and file writers to accept it. Check out what “Anonymous” wrote:
” the legacy of this strike for television is fewer pilots, no more overall deals, smaller staffs. anotherwords, less work the very middle class writers we were lead to believe this strike was for. walk up. it’s over. and none too soon.”
First of all, it’s “in other words” not “anotherwords” you uneducated moron. Second, everyone who’s ever worked in show business knows that anyone with an overall deal is NOT a “middle class writer.” Anotherwords, it’s clear you are some retarded inside-the-Beltway import rounded up by the studios’ consultants to post your semi-literate nonsense here, and not anyone who knows anything about something.
I’m excited to hear the strike is almost over. I really hope it ends soon, so I can just go back to being unemployed.
Game Over, Anonymous, Wow and others are all paid studio shills. Trust me, a “25 year old fan in Dallas” doesn’t give a shit or have a big enough dog in this fight to get so vitriolic.
Also, Game Over gives it away by his name. Every WGA member needs to seriously think about this: Why would someone choose that name? Who would be so convinced it’s over to call themselves that?
Every writer I know wants the strike to be over — provided the deal seems worth having struck. But the shills on this board, who were told to get out in force tonight, make it clear that there is no deal to be had here, or if it is it’s a bad one that the studios are trying to build pressure for us to take by leaking to every major outlet in the country.
We are being spun and played here. There is no other explanation for it. I have been saddened by how naive some of my fellow writers have been during this strike so I need to emphasize in the strongest terms possible: consider the agenda of what “Game Over” and “Anonymous” have to say? It is all to beat you into submission.
Look at Anonymous’s claim that Gavin Palone was 90 percent right. Gavin Palone was 90 percent wrong! He said we would get a worse deal by striking. Even if we took the DGA deal as is, that is a much better deal than we ever would have got without striking. It is only through our strike that the DGA got that deal and only through our perseverance that we will eventually get even more.
Not only that, but Anonymous is full of other outright lies. He says there’s no one on the picket lines any more. I went to both Fox and Paramount last week. There were just as many people there as there were during the first few weeks of the strike — in other words, tons. It’s pretty clear Anonymous didn’t try to find a parking spot around Paramount last week!
We are being spoonfed bullshit by professionals. Don’t accept it. Open your eyes. These people were liars and scum before the strike, they are liars and scum during the strike, and they will be long after it’s over.
If there really was a good deal, the studio chiefs would wait and announce it jointly, like they did with the WGA. Instead they are setting us up like they did back in December, and you people are falling for the same trick twice.
David Handelman, great post.
Yes, this kind of leak, obviously on the AMPTP side, is irresponsible, especially since it’s all over the big (AMPTP?) media outlets. It favors the AMPTP to pressure WGA members into voting for whatever the deal is.
You can feel the pressure already. If WGA members vote this down they become the bad guys. These are the kind of babies the AMPTP people are.
Hi. I’m a paid shill. But I’m posting this comment on my own dime. Why? Because I want all you whiny WGA writers to take a moment and stop and consider the fact that maybe all these people like “Game Over” and “Anonymous” and “Feature Film Writer” who by all appearances are my fellow paid shills are actually some of those 30 “moderate” writers who threatened to cross the picket line if Verrone didn’t take the DGA pact.
You see, while I may be a paid shill, I DO have some pride, as opposed to these 30 “moderate” writers — wait, I should probably put the quotes around the “30″ and not the “moderate” because I’m skeptical that there’s really more than a dozen of these prima donnas out there.
We, as paid shills, are only willing to stoop so low. For us it is about compensation, and while I admit we aren’t the most moral beings I’ve come across, I assure you that we are not the type to sell out our own the way these moderate traitors were so eager to do.
I suspect, as do my fellow shills, that these moderate pussies are flooding this and other blogs with their “Game Over”-type comments in order to turn whatever deal might emerge into a done deal. Because the thing you need to keep in mind about these turncoats is that they care nothing about future generations of writers, they care nothing about the previous writers who suffered in order to give you a pension and residuals and health insurance, rather all they care about is themselves. They are for the most part wealthy, and yet they are so upset about the prospect of losing a penny that they foam at the mouth about not being able to cross the line and work. So much so that they threaten to go back in to work if no deal is reached this month.
So before you get all high and mighty about us paid shills, please remember, we are mere mercenaries, not traitors. The traitors come from within.
Would everyone who’s getting so excited please remember that the CEO’s are furious with Verrone and Young for having the gaul to challenge them? The CEO’s are in the process of teaching them a lesson and you are all the volunteers from the studio audience being brought in to participate in this lesson.
Do you really think the CEO’s are going to let a couple of “outsider” punks give them an ass-whoopin’? These are people incapable of love and lacking all humanity — all they have is their “tough guy” images. Do you really think they’re going to let those images be shattered and be forever known as the CEO’s who caved and were brought to their knees by a lowly union?
This is three-card monte and you are the mark.
I guess the asshole who is posting as “Anonymous” will be getting back to work now serving coffee in that sad little shop where John Ridley will be dining all alone for the rest of his life. The two were made for each other.
1) Gavin Palone was no psychic. My production crew predicted the same result back in October.
2) Handleman, you give the AMPTP too much credit and the WGA too little scrutiny. The plain fact is, the leasership made serious miscalculations and mistakes. The showrunner walk-out fiasco, the lack of any plan to deal with the DGA brokering a deal before us, the “clock stops” health care blunder. A lot of the internal discord was genuine and not instigated by outside agents.
3) Feature Writer — you go ahead and start that feature writer union. Next time you want to strike, see how much leverage feature writers generate when they go “pencils down.” Then again, you may be the sort of writer who can afford to strike for 20 months.
While everyone can agree progress is good, I am a bit cautiously optimistic. All that has been said over the past week or so is “progress is being made and a deal is almost done.” Well, so far the strike has been on for 91 days and nothing. What’s going on in that negotiating room? What makes everyone think there’s progress. It doesn’t seem like there is any.
Of course the deal is done.
I had my pilot deal terminated last week.
They’re sweeping their tables clear, saving what money they can before announcing.
Question is, will the Guild be there to protect those of us who lost what amounts to a years income?
I’m guessing we’re on our own on this one.
Holy smokes, Finke, I see the last post was at 1:07AM. No wonder you’re sick. Go to bed. This isn’t an actual war. It’s a writers strike on Hollywood, not an air strike.
Let’s go back to work.
Dear Feature Film Writer -
Unless you wrote “No Country For Old Men”, I wouldn’t get too smug about how much better movies are than t.v.
At least we t.v. writers write for adult 18-49. You guys are writing garbage for teenagers 12-stupid.
I’d be more than happy to be in a separate union than you, though. But if you wrote “No Country”, please disregard.
Oh, and by the way…? “Entourage” is not substantive – it’s fluff for horny movie writers who never got any and who wish they were stars instead of writers so they could finally get some.
OK – that’s pretty much it.
What is it with some of you writers? Why can’t you just wait for official word from the WGA rather than believing every so called news story that seems to gather a life of it’s own? Your leadership said that there is a news blackout and when there is something to report they will make an announcement.
There are a couple of things that are out of sorts with this story though, that the WGA leadership are going to brief the negotiating committee? Wouldn’t one expect that to be the other way around if the deal were anywhere near complete? Jumping directly from informal talks to a deal. Just seems suspicious, one would expect to go from informal talks to formal negotiations.
On the positive side though there is the fact that not only is this being reported in the press, but there are links to the story from the WGA page itself, and on United Hollywood. One would expect if there were no truth to it, the WGA would not link to such a story.
Then of course there is no immediate denial either. Of course surely we all remember that certain bloggers (cough) reported the week before talks broke down, that a deal was done and all that had to happen was to put it on paper. (cough Nikki) And a week later the AMPTP walked away from the table.
But speculation is fun isn’t it? Still, until I hear from both parties that a deal is imminent, I won’t hold my breath. You all realize this whole story stems from a single reporter at the NY Times quoting an unnamed source? Right?
I think that Gavin Polone was actually correct in a lot of ways. Yes, the writers will get a better deal than the previous one as far as residuals, but they seem to have hurt themselves, and many many others in the long run. As someone else pointed out, the major result of this strike on the TV side is less pilots, less overalls deals and smaller staffs. That translates to less jobs for not only writers, but everyone else. So yes, you writers got your residuals, which for those writers who don’t write shows or films that are major hits, will amount to far less than the security, or at least hope for, of being constantly employed. With less pilots and overall deals, the writers have hurt themselves. And, I think the producers now only have contempt for the writers and have used this opportunity to completely change the paradigm of the industry. If writers have any hopes of making real money, they better learn to produce, act, direct or finance. At the end of the day, the writers will walk about with a new contract, but the producers will walk away with the victory and I know of many non-writers and non-producers that are angry at writers for taking such extreme cautions in striking. A moral victory only goes so far and it certainly doesn’t pay for food or shelter.
“Al Manheim” is a great pseudonym. Look it up, people. Still, I don’t know about any “showrunner walk out fiasco” that he mentions. Also, why don’t we wait and see what the deal *is* before we decide whether Gavin P.–or anyone– was right.
One of the biggest losers in this strike is The New York Times. Cieply’s god-awful coverage will forever taint my reading of that newspaper. It was once the paper of record. Now it’s the paper of Bill Kristol, Judith Miller and Michael Cieply. I’ll still read the book section but I’ll take everything I read with a heaping teaspoon of of salt.
I so hope this news is true! This strike needs to end NOW!
So many below the line people are suffering from all of this. The people that devote 15 hours a day, day after day, to helping make a project are suffering the most.
Many are already losing their medical insurance, pension points and now people are losing their homes.
As a Below the Line person myself, I am sure that this news comes as a great relief to those drivers, grips, electricians, props, hairdressers, make-up, wardrobe, P.A.’s, A.D.’s, Craft Service, Stand-Ins, Background Actors, Set Dressers, Construction, Camera crew, Sound crew and everyone else that has been affected deeply in this town by this strike.
Let the strike end now and let SAG make a deal next! Let’s get this town back to work!
To “Al Mahneim Glick” and his “production crew”:
1) Gavin Palone said we wouldn’t get a better deal by striking, a ludicrous comment that has already been proven wrong even if we took the DGA deal as is. He also said our maximum amount of leverage was BEFORE we struck. Seems to me that bringing all television and film production to a halt, as well as causing the demise of the Golden Globes and having the obvious ability to do the same to the Oscars should we choose, is what brought the CEO’s to their knees this week. Your “production” crew probably had the Cowboys in the Super Bowl also.
2) The showrunner walkout was a fiasco???? Excuse me sir, but the showrunner walkout is what made the strike a success. We SHUT DOWN television production completely. It was SHUT DOWN. These companies are in the TV business — hence no TV, no business. Maybe you are looking at it as a fiasco because your “production crew” lost work. We are sorry for any below-the-lines or others who lost work, but it was the studios who walked away on December 7th and did not come back till last week. It was the studios who made the decision to wait and bargain with the DGA first, not us.
As for your claim that the WGA leadership had no plan to deal with the DGA reaching a deal before us, that is just wrong. The leadership told us from day one that the DGA would reach a shitty deal first and the WGA plan was to remain firm (along with SAG) and insist on a deal that is acceptable TO US. And that is exactly what happened.
3) Don’t waste your time with “Feature Writer” as he is just a paid shill spewing nonsense on behalf of the studios.
Wow! reading all these comments this morning I couldn’t help noticing that:
AMPTP, Jerks that they are, are not going to negotiate a fair deal….”The sky is falling….the sky is falling!”
AMPTP/WGA on the verge of making a deal………………”The sky is falling….the sky is falling!”
Thank god this is almost over. I want to get back to work and stop reading the freakishly hysterical comments from WGA supporters on here. Then again, regardless of what the deal is, I’m sure a significant portion of you will still complain.
On another note, what the heck is ‘bronchial flu’ anyway? I don’t think there is such a thing…
The result of the strike for me: I hate writers.
I didn’t before the strike… Well, I did shortly before, when I heard some writers start saying that crap about how it all starts with the word/script/story or whatever.
This is not like writing a novel where you can sit in your house for a few years or months (if you’re a hack) and get something out into the publishing world with little initial investment.
The truth is, while the AMPTP may have been behaving badly themselves, writers need to realize that in this business it all starts with the money. Without money none of us work.
I’m sick of the arrogance. I’m sick of people being called shills if they express views contrary to the ditto-head views I read on this board. I’m sick of Nikki siding entirely with the writers (and as a consequence rarely including my posts). I’m sick of all of it.
Most especially I’m sick of being out of work.
Remember what the Stones say: “You can’t always get what you want…”
I hope you “get what you need” and we can get on with OUR lives.
I can’t wait to see your next script that some director or editor will have to rescue!
TO Anti-anonymous
Typical response. Can’t you be more original? And you call yourself a writer?
I am a visual effects artist for film and television. I would be glad to meet you in person and give you my card so I can tell you directly what I think of you and your strike. Over on Scribe Vibe one person in her first post asked me why I was so negative against writers then in her next post said “Honey, if I didn’t write, you would have nothing to effect.” This is exactly the attitude that me and all of my fellow co-workers hear coming from writers and you people need to get over yourselves. That show you wrote would look pretty stupid if it aired with all those black frames where it says “visual effects” wouldn’t it. You need every one of us in production to get those shows on the air. So anytime you would like to confirm my identity just let me know. Of course it is ironic your anonymous when your trying to be anti-.
It won’t matter what the deal might be, it obviously won’t be good enough for some of you no matter how good it is. Let’s hope that you are the minority of the WGA and the majority will actally pay attention to what is offered and listen to the recommendations of the WGA leaders. Have a little faith in your team please.
BTL 399
Is it me, or is there an aura of desperation coming out of United Hollywood lately? Reading the posts and the commentaries, they seem positively fear stricken with even the notion that the strike could be nearing an end.
Its as if the people running the site (and most of its readers) feel so empowered by their cause, that its conclusion — even with a result that benefits writers — would come as a soul-crushing blow.
What’s so frightening is that these same people seem to constitute the engine that drove this fiasco, which cost so many writers their deals and so many crew members their jobs and even their homes.
A final observation: I watched a documentary on Youtube the other day. In it, a British film crew travels through North Korea, filming the starving, enslaved populace, which are under a constant barrage of slogans and propaganda that seeks to bolster the personality cult that constitutes the regime.
I recommend watching this documentary, then switching over to United Hollywood and doing a little reading. There’s more than a slight similarity here — it’s a slavish devotion to militancy and a disconnect with reality that’s absolutely chilling.
I’m a paid shill and I’ve been trying to organize an AMPTP Shill Union. We’re considering a walkout– will WGA members strike in solidarity with us?
hey, i’ll post anti-WGA for $13.50 an hour…heck i’ll post it for $12.00 an hour its better than what we’re getting now…who wants me?
QUESTION: say the negotiating committee does indeed approve the terms.
Does anyone have an ETA of when writers can actually write/get paid again?
I assume the Oscars will get by on a waiver because when all is said and done, it’ll be a good month to flesh it all out/approve and draw up. Yes?
i refuse to get my hopes up b/c i only end up depressed when the talks don’t pan out … i am not cautiously optimistic, but i definitely don’t have the stomach for much more of this work stoppage.
Satto –
“Sorry that you’re missing Scrubs. I can’t imagine how hard that is on you.”
Well I’m missing 24 and yeah it sucks. I’d think you’d want your fans to be chomping at the bit to get their favorite shows back on the air – we are after all who you are writing for. Doh!
“Try being on strike battling for your family’s futures against corporations that don’t care about fairness and honor or your family’s futures.”
There is no fairness and honor in business anymore and I’m not sure it ever really existed in the first place.
I worked for the Mouse for over 10 years, with great success, but found myself on the side of supporting the integrity of the brand and thus on the losing side of a power struggle as the forces of darkness prevailed. It was clear then that you can’t have people in power who can see that the Emperor has no clothes. So I had to go. LOL!!
Writers aren’t the only ones who have been wronged by corporations and they won’t be the last.
“it will cure you of your pesky optimism.”
Or you can choose whether you’ll allow circumstances to define you or not. It is your choice in the end.
Now let’s all hope that their is something good behind all these rumors and that everyone will be back to work soon. If it’s a cruel joke – then harness the resulting frustration and keep fighting till you prevail.
Only you can deflate yourself and your passion.
Paid Shill @11:31 P.M. at Fib & Liar Headquarters:
“we are mere mercenaries, not traitors. The traitors come from within.”
Is that like saying that there’s honor among ass-holes?
C’mon. Your “traitors from within” comment is just another version of HOPING that the WGA is dividing– or the other favorite LIE of the last 88 days– that the “writers are rich egotists.”
Haven’t we seen enough of these IDIOTIC LIES?
I suspect that 100% of the WGA will wait and see the deal–if there actually is one–which is presented to them by the WGA Leadership.
A WGA Supporter
I think the tin foil hats are cutting off the circulation to some of your brains…