So Aaron Sorkin has met with HBO's Sue Naegle and they're trying to come up with a series. But the intriguing news from a brief GQ interview with him is what Sorkin had to say about his behind-the-scenes activity during the writers strike. And it closes out something that has stuck in my craw all these months.
To refresh your memory, I'd reported January 2nd about a secret meeting of some top screenwriters and TV showrunners banding together to make a powerful coalition that would force the WGA leadership to accept whatever deal the DGA makes with the AMPTP. Their hush-hush activity was to weigh their options about how to best exert pressure for the strike to be settled. Well, I was excoriated for posting this info, with some Internet loudmouths even claiming this group didn't exist. And on February 4th I elaborated further that the leaders of different dissident factions within the WGA ("some made up of very powerful TV showrunners and feature film writers") had approached the guild toppers with an ultimatum that they would no longer be silent if a deal weren't done within 48 hours. So now Sorkin confirms this to GQ:
What did you do during the Hollywood writers’ strike? Guilt-free vacation?
I had a play in previews on Broadway.Right, The Farnsworth Invention.
For three and a half weeks I was in the unique position of being on strike and being struck against at the same time.Yes, the Broadway stagehands went on strike.
This was about three weeks before Charlie Wilson’s War was opening. I thought, If the projectionists go on strike, that’ll fill out my bingo card. I’ll have to ask my parents for my allowance again. Anyway, I spent most of the time during the writers’ strike in New York with the play. Once that was over and I’d come back to L.A., I did participate in something that should have happened months earlier. Paul Attanasio—The guy who produces House?
Yes—invited about seven or eight or nine of us over to his house for dinner. All screenwriters you would know. We all agreed that we had been irresponsible and that, in an effort not to seem elitist, we had remained quiet during this strike. We hadn’t voiced our objections. We hadn’t put pressure on Patric Verrone and the other heads of the union to end this thing. It wasn’t a strike we were passionate about. The fact of the matter is that people we all work with every day—and I’m talking about the 120 or so people on a movie set or a TV set, who are all the principal wage earners for their families—don’t have the kind of bank accounts that can weather a strike like this. We’d been wrong.What was the dinner like?
The Directors Guild had reached an agreement the day before. We, that night, called the leadership of the Writers Guild. I know it sounds like a bunch of revolutionaries getting together to do the right thing, but you should know the dinner was catered. It’s not like the old days. This isn’t a Clifford Odets Waiting for Lefty thing, okay? Everybody showed up in a German car. And this is exactly why we didn’t want to voice our objections to the strike. We thought, We’re going to get killed. However, here’s what we told our leadership at the Guild: that we feel strongly that the DGA deal is fair, That we should accept from the studios and networks what they’ve given to the DGA. We named who we were in the room and said that if we didn’t see fast action over the next forty-eight hours, that we would have to make our feelings public.And?
I have no idea if it worked or not. I know that the strike ended. It could have been for entirely different reasons.
Here are some questions I wish the interviewer would have asked:
“While in New York working on your play did you also find time to walk the picket lines with your fellow writers to show solidarity?”
“Did you and your little group of catered diners think twice about calling the WGA because they represent all writers and not just the elite and by calling them it undermined their efforts to get a better contract?”
“Did you use any of the fortune you’ve made as a writer to help out some of the less fortunate scribes?”
“Was the real reason you wanted to end the strike because as shitty as the deal the DGA was it didn’t really affect you? I mean at your level you get huge paydays regardless of the guild’s MBA, unlike the little writers.”
“Aren’t you a lot like Jay Leno and only talk a good game but when it comes right down to it…you’re selfish?”
That doesn’t sound at all like a bunch of revolutionaries getting together to do the right thing.
Let the wailing and gnashing of teeth commence. The nerve. Wanting to put people back to work. Pitchforks and torches anyone? How about tar and feather?
Wow!! He admits that a bunch of rich writer/producers, who certainly don’t have to quibble over DVD royalties, and who have one foot in the AMPTP camp, pressured the Writers Guild to accept a contract that writers didn’t like because the strike was hurting these writer/producers’ cash flows. And apparently he’s proud of it, thinking he helped end the strike. Way to go, Aaron!
This is why the WGA does not work as a union. EP’s have much of the power and they have completely different agendas than guys like me. The Sorkins of the world do not care about the internet money. They don’t care about the future of internet revenue. They are made. The fight was for future generations of writers, who were sold down the river by guys like Paul Attanasio and Sorkin.
And trust me, Aaron, you don’t have to tell us it was a catered dinner and you are not revolutionaries, because you undercut the revolutionaries. You know those episodes of the West Wing you wrote, where a Democratic Senator undercut the president’s agenda? That would be you.
And over the long run, everyone will be worse off.
Okay, Attanasio and Sorkin. That’s a dirty with a dirty 28 still to be named. Who are the other 28? Let’s list ‘em. Nikki, do you know? Anyone else?
Hmm… Sorkin says the dinner took place the day after the DGA settled, so that would have been January 18, 2008. After he and his group of writers called the WGA leadership and issued their “fast action in 48 hours” ultimatum, the Writers strike still went on for another month. So either Sorkin has his dates wrong, or he still treats deadlines as arbitrarily as he did when he wrote for “The West Wing.”
He should write a show about what it was like behind the scenes at Paul Attanasio’s house.
Im glad he ended the strike though. That’s cool. I wish he could have just maybe shortened the run of his play and ended the strike sooner. But I’m sure the play important as well.
I think it’s time for George Clooney to call his caterer.
“It’s not like the old days. This isn’t a Clifford Odets Waiting for Lefty thing, okay? Everybody showed up in a German car.”
SCAB.TURNCOAT.TRAITOR.
He’s not fit to shine Clifford Odet’s shoes.
It takes guts to post this Nikki, because this is going to open up a lot of old wounds.
Here’s what Sorkin, Attanasio, Broyles, Zaillian, Frank, Roth et al failed to understand: that the strike was affecting lots of middle-class writers who are the principal bread winners in their families who don’t eat catered dinners in Brentwood and drive home in their German cars.
This arrogant group’s pseudo-concern with “their crews” is beyond arrogance — we middle-class writers have a lot more in common with the benighted crew members than these blowhards.
So thanks, guys, for undermining the guild, and all of us who sacrificed so much to get an equitable deal.
The final ironic nail? Sorkin’s made a fortune portraying a lefty noblesse oblige class that makes the right decisions for the people it controls. Too bad life doesn’t imitate art.
Are you only now discovering this guy’s a world-class prick?
Wow, he comes off as a complete douchebag.
I wish this interview was posted a few days ago, I wouldn’t have bought Studio 60 on DVD.
“Coincidence? I think NOT.”
While I respect Aaron’s position on the strike, even though it was far different than my own (gung ho), I think it’s a crock of shit to say he wanted to end the strike to put crew back to work. The fact is Aaron and his buddies didn’t care about securing new media residuals or anything else for future guild members, they simply wanted their A-list asses back to work ASAP. I appreciate that he was not as publicly divisive as he could have been given his stance, but don’t say it was about crew. It was about you, Aaron. You and your buddies. Be a man and say so, because everyone knows that DGA deal is and always will be a complete joke.
So NIkki is this about some bloggers that “excoriated’ you?
Is it unethical for union members to have dinner and talk about issues that effect them?
Is it that bad for working members of a union to call the union and express their interests in matter?
This is all part of a healthy democratic process. They are members of the guild and have the right to express opinions.
Thank God for Aaron Sorkin and his friends for saving thousands of lives.
Now if only the actors had someone with such courage.
I’d prefer to think the members of the Writers Guild, who suffered much more than Mr. Sorkin and his friends and their elected representatives, brought the strike to a conclusion. If it was Aaron Sorkin and the Gang of Eight, why mention it now? It will just inspire hatred from everyone who lost their house or their good credit because these guys didn’t speak up sooner.
And, frankly, these eight writers – I don’t care who they are – weren’t elected to “end the strike.” So basically, as I’m writing this, I’m formulating the opinion “Thanks for the interest, you rich dickwad, but it was the wrong decision and you made it waaay too late. So thanks for nothing” (he mutters “out of touch A-hole as he wanders away….)
Hey! If I didn’t already have a reason to think Aaron Sorkin had dribbled the last of his wad and I wouldn’t be watching his works much more in the future…this does it.
Douche.
Thanks, Nikki.
Yet another reason to punch Sorkin in the mouth next time I see him.
Yeah, ….. it’s a shame nobody voted for that last minute deal. Oh wait. It was passed ….. By an overwhelming majority. Take responsability fir the things you do.
What a collosal douche bag. I have lost all respect for Aaron Sorkin.
Hey, Aaron, maybe you should have used that power to strong arm the Studios instead… to take care of your fellow writers, rather than selling them out.
Hope those crab cakes were delicious, asshole!
“Wanting to put people back to work.”
Oh, if only. He wanted to put HIMSELF back to work. And he couldn’t care less about the things that would have helped out the little guy but would have just been peanuts to him. Hell yeah, the nerve.
what features is sorkin working on now? what’s the hbo thing about?
Wow,
It’s interesting to me that many, if not all of these posts, are angry at Sorkin for some believing he had a responsiblity to them. As a member, and not an elected Union official, he could’ve sat on his (and thereby the group’s) collective butts. The truth is, YES, he and the group could’ve become the head of a spear to the AMPTP, representing the downtrodden-middle class writers. But the reality, as all the unions are now realizing, like Sorkin said, the days of Clifford Odets are gone. Striking is not the “nuclear bomb” it used to be, not with the fallout shelter called reality television. Not to mention the fact that going to war with producers that are no longer single entities, but mega-conglomerates that can literally sweat you out, strikes are now more painful to the worker and not the producer. As the WGA strike has shown, many of the writers who had deals with studios and networks were clipped and are now on the work hunt. No more free money to sit around and “create”. Now that SAG, of which I am a member, is trying to drag out their “phantom strike” to gain enuff sympathy to put together a strike vote, is learning that the AMPTP is not afraid of a strike like they once used to be. We could’ve nipped this in the bud years ago by more gov’t regulation of the sale and subsequent centralization of ownership in media & even by the merger of the two major acting unions. But alas, NONE of these things happened. Hindsight being 20/20 (and maybe forsight), the industry has changed and this go-round all the creative talent is going to have to take gas until New Media and the money models for them become more concrete, in the coming years.
Tho there may be arrogance in his stance and actions, still doesn’t change the facts that the idea was for everyone to get back to work. Can’t make money if you don’t work…simple financial physics.
“Did you use any of the fortune you’ve made as a writer to help out some of the less fortunate scribes?”
Is that some sort of requirement now? Since when is it required to give your hard-earned money away just because you have some?
I cannot STAND redistributionists. It’s his money, he earned it, he’s not required to “help out less fortunate scribes.” That’s just stupid. Criticize the man for valid reasons, but this is NOT one of them.
So what. They had a viewpoint. They expressed it. I might be upset if I thought the WGA leadership had the ability or aplomb to craft a better deal. Patric and David made so many ridiculous errors in negotiating that it made sense to take that deal. They weren’t going to get much better. The AMPTP already had outmaneuvered them. The leverage was gone.
Golly, don’t you just feel soooooo sorry that a writer strike (or a potential theater strike in NY) would’ve forced the great Aaron Sorkin to: “I’ll have to ask my parents for my allowance again.” Maybe had he not stuffed coke up his nose freebase style, he’d have a few bucks to carry him through such trying times.
One of his TV show credits would be a happy career for most struggling writers. You know the ones, they walked the picket line while Sorkin was bemoaning his lot in life at some secret meeting held so he could feast at the table of Hollywood, while leaving crumbs to the ones begging for work to feed their families instead of their nose like Sorkin did..
Why is everyone so surprised? After all, we’ve seen this kind of arrogance from the AMPTP before. :shrugs:
The strike ended 30 days after their 48-hour ultimatum with our getting a BETTER deal than the DGA’s, and Sorkin is wondering if he helped to end the strike? What a pompous wretch he is.
Just for the record in regard to comments here:
I don’t know if Steve Zallian was at that meeting or not, but I do know that he was walking the picket line with me every single day at Fox, as collegial and kind a person as I met during the strike. Remember, also that he refused to conduct a Q&A for American Gangster during the strike. Unfair to lump him with the likes of Sorkin.
Also, during the HUAC hearings, Clifford Odets named names. So I would say Sorkin IS fit to shine Odets’s shoes. Perfectly fit.
And he calls himself a liberal!?! A Democrat !?!?!?
Sounds more like a Republican to me.
hey scott and playmaker
so, on sorkin’s side in this, (good luck – it’s gonna be lonely over there)just as you’re on aftra and u4s’s side in that fight?
multiple pricks.
I blame the ‘West Wing’ audience. Sorkin’s self-important ain’t-I-the-smarty-pants bullshitty writing garnered too much exalted attention, like he was the Messiah of Television come to save us all, and then look what happened. Tried to blow it for the rest of us. Could someone please out the other members of that catered affair, please?
What a prick.
Hearing this makes me appreciate Shawn Ryan, Neal Baer and the like. Show Runners who took the hit and fought for the little guy even though Aaron Sorkin was stuffing his face with endive and undermining his fellow writers.
Remember that time during a “Sports Night” table read when there was a typo that the Writers’ Assistant had made in the script, and rather than just move on, Sorkin stopped the read, had the poor assistant stand up, and then “playfully” slapped him in front of everyone while they all looked on in horror?
What a man of the people!
As a former crew member of Aaron’s and a person who is currently working on a television crew, I would like to thank Mr. Sorkin and the others who helped to end the writer’s strike. My family thanks you as well.
What a dooooooouche. Quick, somebody trot out the horror stories of just how awful he is to the underlings on his shows.
Aaron Sorkin, no matter how he’d like to present himself in this little anecdote, is not some kind of friend to the little guy, the working mom, the sole breadwinner, the person trying to do a low-level job well. He’s a narcissistic dick who has a vision of himself that doesn’t really mesh with the reality of how people experience working with him.
Thanks for ending the strike, though. That was cool of you! Maybe you and Paul Attanasio would like to drop by the Middle East next. Get shit DONE.
No matter who or what ended the strike it had to end sometime. Yes old wounds are being opened, but the blame is squarely in the timing of the strike. Personally I think you would have got a better deal if you hadn’t struck. Yes the AMPTP is using draconian methods, but do you blame them. They are trying to destroy the movie business welfare system out of spite. No other reason.
What I have lost in all of this is forty pounds, all my savings and most of my sanity. So you can cry all you want, but there other’s who suffered as well. Sorkin is a dick for reasons other than this, but you all are dicks just for striking
Malren,
He “earned” it by having a rich corporate lawyer dad who indulged him and enabled him to pursue his career?
And the people in Somalia “earned” their starvation?
You’re an idiot.
WHAT A SMUG ASSHOLE. SO SELF IMPORTANT AND TYPICAL OF THE LIBERAL ELITE FEELING GUILTY ABOUT THEIR GERMAN CARS BUT DRIVING THEM ANYWAY. THIS GUY IS A SCMUCK WHO THINKS HE’S ANTON CHEKOV WHEN IS WRITING HAS AS MUCH SUBSTANCE AS CONDENSED MILK.
Aaron Sorkin’s biggest sin is not screwing over his fellow WGA writers, it’s not being a crackhead, it’s not his extreme lack of self-awareness which allows him to publicly state he was protecting the little guy when everyone knows he has a rep as the biggest scumbag in Hollywood — his biggest sin is that his writing SUCKS. It’s overwritten melodramatic pap. The guy had one hit show. One. And so what that people watched it, people watch Leno too.
Gretchen, I’m glad someone brought the slapping incident up. Yeah. A real stand-up guy, particularly when HR struggles to explain to you that you cannot slap your very young WA and asks you to apologize, and you get your shorts in a huffy bitchfit twist about people not being able to take a joke.
Classy.
Hilarious to see a string of bitter writers (well, likely wannabes) who probably have half a dozen Obama stickers spread across the back of their Priuses sounding like so many Hilary supporters.
Malren ‘i cannot stand redistributionists’ potter
one man’s decent living wage is another man’s ‘redistribution of wealth’.
i suppose you would abolish the minimum wage too? what is it with you people who have no problem with exploitation or nepotism but have an aneurysm when someone suggests helping out a brother in times of need? Go watch some frank capra or robin hood for chrissakes! or better still ‘a christmas carol’.
Is Sorkin coming out with this now because the WGA elections are next month? Who’s he backing?
t-rex
I said he had the right to express his opinions and to have dinner with other union members. Just like you do T-rex. Yes I support your right to voice your opinion.
But please, stop the false projections about my statements. Everyone can read my statements for themselves. So everyone, when did I ever say that I support the outcome or the full slate of his opinions?
Why are you still on here T-Rex? The sag thing is over. Done. It’s not even the topic of this article and blog. Nothing you’re gonna say is going to get them back to the table. There is absolutely no reason to bring up the sag thing again. Sag will work under their old contract for the next 3 years. Call it the 6 year contract now. In 3 years you can negotiate a new contract or choose to call it the 9 year contract. Acknowledge and move on.
Noddy and Givemeabreak-
Phelps has too many gold medals!!! What a prick!!! Why doesn’t he give them to the other USA team members? They are trying hard too!!! They should kick him out!!
His family supported him and all he did was go swimming everyday. He had a dad who indulged him and enabled him to pursue his career.
No swimmer left behind!!!
hahahahah
Unbelievable. Where does this sense of entitlement come from? Who do all of you think you are? He got the brass ring this time and he is failing as a human being- why do you think that means he owes you, or for that matter that anyone does? Writers are a ‘creative’, which means your income and success are somewhat based on your talent – are you angry because some people with money thought he was more talented or because they don’t think you are?
I mean really- more than just his families friends liked his show by the way- I’m sure if it was your show, it wouldn’t be about someone handing you everything- you would say you earned it, right?
I’m beginning to think that maybe throwing verbal stones is what most of you seem to do best.
Playmaker and Audra,
……………I love you both! Let’s move on people.
One thing about this site. It brings out the small minds and wannabe’s.
Remember the old saying, “those with talent succeed. those without talent have no choice but to complain about those who do” – Oscar Levant
Audra – “Writers are a ‘creative’, which means your income and success are somewhat based on your talent.”
Um, have you ever been to Hollywood?
sadest thread on this site since the strike. thanks everyone for helping in this. great use of all our time.
let’s all go out a write, and maybe in 3-25 years we can be the subject of a new media thread like this.
Milo, why o why did you buy Studio 60? Sorkin’s “comedy” writing is horrible, and for god’s sake, don’t pipe up about it being a “dramedy”. The so-called “sketches” were suck-ass. Gimme “The Dick Van Dyke Show” anytime if you want to see the backroom action of a television comedy show.
It’s beyond verbal stones!
Certain writers relish during a strike, as it feeds a sickening, desperate need for chaos and drama and general malice; along with providing a platform for otherwise angry artists to exorcise their demons. It’s evident, based on the rancor above, that certain writers are simply not allowing themselves the proper canvases on which to spit their voice. And so they turn their heads and lob gobs of saliva onto those around them. And who better — who easier — of a target than rich writers who drive Porches?
This kind of a socialistic attitude toward art is antithetical to not only creativity but success; and thus one inhabits this toxic attitude as a means of never having to experience the many failures that success inevitably offers.
It’s like a bird who rips off its own wing out of fear of getting shot; and then, over time, in his crippled misery, shouts insults at birds who soar pass his nest.
Let’s face it, any writer who’s achieved a level of success that yeilds a catered dinner party has had to endure many failures, no matter how shallow the work.
You want change the way things work, drop your picket sign; stop yelling at others; and write a novel. Teach us something we don’t know.
Yelling gets you nowhere in life — didn’t your kindegarten teacher tell this?
playmaker:
first: I’m also a writer (and a director)
“conjecture” is defined as “guessing.”
“fact” is defined as : “something that actually happened”
when you stop using conjecture and start using facts, we can have a conversation. I’m not going to repeat my questions to you or suit, or 44, or anonymous, because you don’t answer them. you just… guess.
good luck with that.
let’s all be clear about what sorkin said. he said: “I went to a friend’s house, sat around with a bunch of other wildly successful (financially at least) show-runners.we took it upon ourselves to decide that, since we face crews every day, and they were hurting from the wga srike, that we would demand the wga agree to the dga deal. then shortly thereafter they did.”
this is the statement of a coward. he didn’t think the needs of the middle class members of his own union, the wga, were as important as the needs of his crew. and because he and the others had to FACE their crews, he and other show-runners strong-armed the wga into capitulating to the same shitty deal that the dga signed, and now aftra has signed.
let me tell you something, all you other cowards supporting sorkin.
if you think sorkin is in the right, and, despite his “liberal”
fight-for-the-little-guy-thematic-writing-thread, he was justified in making as republican a decision as one could possibly make under the circumstances – if you think that your candy-ass posts supporting this coward are going to bail him out when he has to FACE his UNION instead of his CREW? you’re dumber than I already know you are.
sorkin just signed his shit warrant. he is mr.shit among writers for the rest of his life.
and, since I’m also a writer? if anyone ever “play” slapped me? I’d fucking knock his ass out.
I NEVER treat ANY fellow actor, or crew person I work with, in that way. not in the things I’ve directed. or towards a writer on staff. NEVER. and from what I’ve heard, and what I read on this blog about sorkin’s reputation? the fact that you’re defending this piece of shit is pathetic.
find some balls you fucking weasels.
over and out.
Heart be still! Verbal Stones, writes so…mellifluous. But did you bother to read the posts? Mr. Sorkin is the object of venting because he came from a comfortable background that undoubtedly mitigated any sense of failure–you can always hock that silver spoon in your mouth if you’re desperate. Then to compound the issue, he advocated a stance diametrically the opposite of most of his purported labor brothers in arms. Further, several posters have confirmed that this man has been a prick to his co-workers, particularly below the line status. And then this paragon of mis-virtue has the gall to imply he and his fellow Judas goats were key to the strike ending? Yeah, there’s lots of spit flying around, Dr. Pangloss; it’s because the AMPTP fought dirty and Sorkin and his entitled cronies helped grease the rails.
“so, on sorkin’s side in this, (good luck – it’s gonna be lonely over there)just as you’re on aftra and u4s’s side in that fight?
multiple pricks.” T rex
Seriously, you are such a broken record.
How can you tie aftra, the new sag slate and this together… is mind blowing.
I would say that Sorkin was telling an anecdote that got miscontrued by a reporter. I would imagine that that group had serious issues with how their leadership was handling the situation. They have a right to express that. They have a lot at stake besides their obvious self interest; they do have a responsibility to their crews and cast. Few of those types take for granted how hard it is to get a show on the air and keep it there. They hardly control timeslots and marketing budgets.
Too bad the movie and tv stars of SAG have no such outlet for our leaders who are also mishandling things. I pray there are private meetings being held and they can eat from nobu and drive up in hummers, just make them do a better job.We have no contract, we’ve all had a horrid work year.
I would like to sit down with those showrunners and explain how the DGA was NOT in the writers interest and certainly horrible for SAG members.I only wish the WGA leaders and SAG leaders had coordinated and realized a year ago how this could possible play out and move to avoid exactly what has happened. I think writers on here are jumping to conclusions about Sorkin. As someone wrote, it ended 48 days later, I know because I walked those lines at Fox.
I think what he is guilty of is assuming that their lobbying worked. The amptp won’t be rushed as we are now seeing.
Let’s band together as artists we have a common goal.
To work.
This is better than the Olympics, Audra and Verbal Stones go head-to-head for most insipid comment, with #44, always thinck in the hunt, strangely silent. It will only take one round of ‘america like money no socialersm, yer just jalous, starrrvve, rememra the crew but n oligashun here in merka’ to bring it home–step up and win.
The fucking arrogance of bastard. He and his group decided it was time to end it. Fuck him. There’s always pain during a strike and yes, we don’t strike for us. We strike for the next group.
What about the one year strike forty years ago to get us health benefits. How much did that hurt those people, but look at the generations of benefit for us.
Name names of these fucking scumbags that tried to undermine Patrick.
Militant
Say what you will about Sorkin and his dinnermates, it’s their cowardice and disingenuousness that are most detestable here, even more than their contemptible undermining of the strike effort.
“Here’s what we told our leadership at the Guild: that… if we didn’t see fast action over the next forty-eight hours, that we would have to make our feelings public.”
If you didn’t agree with the strike or its administration, you should have made them public all along.
“In an effort not to seem elitist, we hadn’t… put pressure on Patric Verrone and the other heads of the union to end this thing.”
Skulking around like a tribunal of elders — over lobster, yet — instead of voicing your opinions openly as equal participants in a one-member, one-vote writers’ collective is a mighty poor defense against charges of elitism.
Oh, and way to put the interests of your crew among those of your fellow writers; if, of course, your stated motivations are to be believed. Which they aren’t.
Verbal stones,
You’re as clueless as Sorkin. I’m going to whisper this to you, so lean in close: the issues Sorkin & Co. are choosing to dismiss are real and in the longterm (or short-term, actually) will weigh heavily on those who don’t wake up to the changing reality of the entertainment industry.
Sorkin was in a position to be a leader and instead decided to look out for #1, or worse, exercise his right to be apathetic. That’s his choice, but it’s our right to express our dismay. Funny, reading his interview, I wonder if he even knew what we were fighting for.
(I’m still whispering)
I suggest you save your dime store psychology (talk about drama, lol) and instead divert some of that energy into educating yourself on the issues, before they educate you. Finding yourself beating on the Ark door while wading hip deep in rain water would be most unfortunate, wouldn’t it?
That is, if you work in this industry at all.
As usual, the tiny minority that preferred to strike forever posts their comments, but eviscerating Sorkin won’t get anyone more pennies for home video.
Guess what?
More than 90% of the guild agreed with Sorkin. Enough was enough. Verrone et al had mishandled the strike negotiations. AMPTP had taken complete control when the guild negotiators gave up DVD residuals in exchange for absolutely nothing.
Negotiations occurred afterward only when AMPTP determined they would. Meanwhile, guild members collected penicls.
Negotiations occurred afterward only when proposals that AMPTP wanted dropped were dropped. Meanwhile, guild members made some Youtube videos.
That’s AMPTP being in complete control, and the WGA doing typical guild masturbatory B.S. to occupy time.
The only thing that Verrone et al did after the DGA deal was try to find ways to save face. The guild essentially accepted the same deal as the DGA, but a deal that was initially claimed to be unsatisfactory was suddenly a “historic” deal later.
I blame Sorkin for not speaking up sooner, not for speaking.
At least there won’t be another guild strike for 20+ years. The WGA did a good job of proving to its members that a strike is pointless. After two decades, there will be enough new members that don’t remember the failures of the previous strike.
Sort of like THIS LAST TIME.
Not looking forward to the “interim agreements” and other repeated mistakes that will be made in twenty years.
Whether you think Sorkin is a douche or not, I genuinely do not understand why a smart man would consider having a catered dinner to end a worker’s strike a revolutionary or leftist act.
But after all the denials of this so-called Group of Nine by Verrone, Mazin, et al…well, this just makes the WGA leadership look pretty weak as well.
Cheetah,
That’s hilariously dumb. Obama supporters are the most vitriolic, hateful, self-righteous gang of miscreants. Ironically, not dissimilar from Bush supporters.
The subtext of your open ignorance is that WOMEN shouldn’t have opinions or representation, and should just “go along” and not make trouble.
Those days are over. Deal.
As for Sorkin, his writing is truly gifted, a stark contrast to certain other writers who are overrated, offensive dullards. Sorkin deserves his success. More Sorkin, less Apatow. Stat.
However, one of the comments that might be grating people is using the shield of “putting the crew back to work.”
I went to the Aaron Sorkin Humanitas workshop many years ago, when “West Wing” was in its first years. Sorkin commented then, in a room full of writers, that “The worst thing about Hollywood is that there are so many bad writers. They make things so hard for the rest of us.”
That sentiment fits in pretty well with his statements here. To Sorkin, if you make so little money that you need what the Guild offers, you aren’t talented enough and are deserving of scorn.
There’s part of me that believes that is true. But I went out and picketed anyway. I’m just sick and twisted like that.
The writers’ strike ended because 93% of WGA voted to end the strike and agree to the new contract.
I realize it’s easier to blame some douchebag showrunner for ending the strike, but really folks, you have to blame the 93% who voted to end the strike. And that’s not an easy thing to do.
Hey Anonymous… Have you ever been out of Hollywood?
If writing is not based on creativity at all, then why are
you desperately trying to have a career you can’t afford
to purchase?
Because in your dreams when YOU make it, it will be because you were talented and fought through the fire and came out on top, right?
What a horrible human being. He’s also why most everyone in america hates “hollywood liberals.” While Sorkin is very much for the common man when it’s convenient, he does a quick about face when it might cause him a tiny bit of personal hardship.
BTW, anyone familiar with Studio 60 knows Sorkin’s contempt for every writer but himself.
Slow golf clap for Verbal Stones. Could you have taken an easier attack path? Doubtful. Simplistic, obvious and in great need of editing. Try again.
If the WGA strike, and the hysterical bile posted here prove anything, it’s this: Those who can’t do will dedicate every ounce of energy they have to tearing down those who can.
There is a way to improve your lot in Hollywood without forcing a bunch of working people out of their homes in the middle of a credit and mortgage crisis. It’s called writing something good. It certainly worked for the people at that meeting with Mr. Sorkin.
And for those of you who think your brilliant gems are being unappreciated, I will only say what Brecht said: The audience is never wrong.
Having been forced to endure this hopelessly misguided, un-necessarily destructive strike has finally made me understand what Aristotle and John Adams knew so well: There is a fine line between democracy and mob rule.
So for those of you who are proud of your “hard fought gains”, please know that they were won off the backs of your fellow writers. The real working writers whose dues make your insurance and pension fund possible. You didn’t stick it to the man, you stuck it to your own community.
T-rex
Ok here are some facts for you:
FACT:This blog is not about the SAG contract.
FACT: No matter the topic, you always harp on the same thing. The SAG contract. Did you read the article? Where does it say SAG?
FACT: Nobody wants to hear you rant endlessly about the SAG contract.
No news agency, website, or anything anywhere is talking about the SAG contract. You want to know why?
FACT: There is no news! No contract! The deal is extinct. Like you-the dinosaur, Game over!!!
So sit with that for the next 3 years.
Hey T-Rex,
Don’t know if you’re talking to me or the other Scott, but I can say our position, though lonely on this message board, is in the overwhelming majority in the real world of production. You know, the world where people actually work and make a living. The world that would be most affected if belligerent douchebags like yourself got their way.
Hey Writer Bob,
How do you know that they were dining on lobster? Are you really caterer Bob?
per “Actual Working Writer”: There is a way to improve your lot in Hollywood without forcing a bunch of working people out of their homes in the middle of a credit and mortgage crisis. It’s called writing something good. It certainly worked for the people at that meeting with Mr. Sorkin.
“Writing something good” for 30-odd weeks a year (or at least striving to) wasn’t enough to keep my produced sitcom work from appearing on the TV networks’ Web sites without compensation. That took a strike.
And for the record, I still maintain we took a lousy deal, but it’s better than the one we had last year at this time, at least regarding new media.
Sorkin’s ass was in New York in a theatre, in Brentwood at an elitist dinner, etc., but where was he on the strike line? I don’t expect him to have to give his money to help other struggling writers during the strike, but I do expect him to pull his fair share of time on the picket lines like everyone else.
I missed a few days on the lines and felt bad for that. But Sorkin didn’t think he had to be there at all as he was above it. There were people who donated their time at headquarters or in other ways if they could not put the hours in picketing. Apparently he did not feel the need to contribute at all.
I think much too much energy is being put towards this arrogant guy. I know we all signed in each day on the picket lines… maybe instead of looking to bring attention to the worst of us… we should point out the best. I know there were people out there (some who were better known than I am and made more money, some who made a lot less money than I did and were really struggling financially) who were there every SINGLE day. I applaud them. It wasn’t fun and yet they showed up without fail. Maybe the guild should make a list of the names of those people and let us all say thanks to them. Feels better to point them out instead of the fi-cores and elitists.
All this energy and anger should be constructively directed at the AMPTP.
Playmaker….
Once again……… Thank you! …..Bullseye!
I will be in my room if you need me.
“FIND SOME BALLS YOU FUCKING WEASELS!!!!” Says the guy “named” T-rex.
dearest playmaker:
the wga cave (and sorkin’s apparent part in it, in his own words) was as a direct result of the dga deal, the wga deal gave the amptp faith in calling the same standard deal “the template” which poor, ignorant aftra then agreed to, and which has sag in the spot it’s in now. I know there are several steps there, but focus hard, and clear your mind of all other thought, assuming there is any, and you’ll follow the breadcrumbs. you CAN do it.
and the sag situation IS in a state of stasis right now. but, come the results of the sag election? wall to wall coverage, which I’m sure you can’t wait for.
The posts on this blog prove one thing, irrefutably: unemployed and unemployable writers are morons and the WGA needs to cut loose those who can’t make it so the rest of the working membership can get back to the real work: getting rid of Verrone and David Young who bear all of the responsibility for the strike, the caving and the stupid “Truth Tour.” Blaming Sorkin is ridiculous and beneath you, Nikki.
T-REX
The breadcrumbs you should follow are these: First David Young decides not to negotiate early but rather back himself into the end of his contract so that a strike could be used as leverage. Just like the garment workers strike where his strategy fumbled and cost everyone their jobs forever. Once the strike leverage card was used he had no more cards to play. Then becuase strikes are essentially a war of financial attrition, the coorporations outlasted the strikers and a deal was accepted. Then SAG followed with the same strategy. Opting out of early talks to wait to use the end of thier contract as leverage against a strike. The DGA AFTRA and IATSE decide this is not a good plan for them and they decide to negotiate early and come out with contracts that benifit their membership. SAG stubbornly plays their hand the same as the WGA but with one fatal flaw-no support to mount a strike. So there is no leverage, not even to play the first card. Not only that but now that thier weakness has been revealed the AMPTP decides on a take it or leave it approach. They know the cards SAG is holding. Remember they were counting into the deck with all the other unions that went before them. They would rather that it is SAG that decides not to make a deal so they can continue to pay rates from 2005 that will now extend to 2011. What a win win for the AMPTP, no extra expense(like SAG has done with members dues) and savings by not having to pay raises .
Youngs Garment strategy-STRIKE ONE
Young using that same failed strategy for the WGA-STRIKE TWO
SAG adopting Young’s 2 time failed strategy-STRIKE THREE
Following someone’s failed one trick pony strategy without the foresight to see several moves ahead is the problem here.
The SAG elections won’t change anything. Remember, bylaws ensure that the same negotiators stay in place.
So what do you have? Extinct offers with no real motivation for the amptp to do anything until 2011.
Are the WGA AFTRA IATSE DGA contracts perfect? Not at all. Are they better than the old contract? Yes they are.
A little advice, if you don’t want other unions going in and setting a template, then go in early. If you want to use leverage, then have more than one thing to leverage. If you want to negotiate, then like a game of chess, hone your skills so that you can see several moves in advance.
Playmaker,
Good accounting, but lest we forget the wonderful job David Young did with America’s Next Top Model.
Course, to their benefit, the story editors on that show got paid to strike- even if it ended up costing them their jobs, and costing WGA the reality organize campaign.
You would have thought that the practice run at ANTM might have given the WGA cause to come up with another strategy…
Playmaker, you raise some good points, but let’s not forget that what AFTRA and the DGA did was dishonorable, and lowered the value of every guild contract in this town.
playmaker:
how’s the weather in your alternate reality?
yours is a particularly mind numbingly dumb interpretation of what happened.
first: if SAG went first – if SAG went in 400a.d. – do you think the amptp was going to agree to a percentage from first dollar and first airing on the internet?
and, again, for clarity – why wouldn’t the amptp agree to a percentage deal? they make money? sag makes money. they don’t make money, or they lose money? they have no fixed obligation to sag. and, if it’s pennies we’re talking about, then we agree on some kind of escrow system until it turns into real money. that’s a solvable problem.
why? I’ll tell you why – because the amptp decided long before any negotiations began, that they were going to try to muscle actors out of residuals on the internet. why? because producers HATE paying residuals. it is THE bane of their existence.
so, the wga starts making noise. writers start talking tough. actors realize it’s their fight too, and start talking supportively. BOOM! strike! it’s new! it’s exciting for a little while! then? it sucks.
the writers walk. the actors walk with them. and what does the dga do? “research.” yeah, it took them about 5 minutes to figure out residuals were of vastly lesser importance to them than actors (and less important to them than writers).
so, the dga swoops in, cuts the legs out from under the wga, gets their deal eat and clean, and?
the wga is fucked. and, apparently, sorkin helped facilitate that, along with a group of stout hearted writer-heroes, who were more concerned about the members of the crews on their shows that made them multi,multi-millionaires, than they were with the middle class writers of their own union, who also have families and bills to pay and were out walking the line hoping for a good deal at the end of all that shit.
isn’t the first time the dga has screwed them. the wga llllooooovvvvees the dga. comrades in arms, those directors (and I’m in the dga).
then, roberta reardon puts her thinking cap on. “hmmm” roberta realizes. “I know I just agreed publicly in front of john sweeney to negotiate with sag, but… if I break my word and make a quick deal with the wmptp, I leave sag in a tough spot, and I pull in more money, more jurisdiction, more power for aftra. and, of course, I’ll throw in that ‘aftra cares about what’s best for the actor’ bullshit I always do.”
now, after 28 straight years of collective bargaining with aftra, even though rosenberg and allen don’t trust reardon as far as they can throw her, they really don’t think she’ll break her word to the president of the afl-cio. but, alas, she does.
so, where is sag? were they to say up front to aftra: “we think you’re going to betray us?” aftra would have pitched another of their frothing faux fits – “how could you say that! what disrespect! we care about the needs of the actor! that’s what this is all about!” – in short, their usual bullshit.
aftra does what it does for one reason and one reason only: to compete with sag by selling actors cheap. as they’ve done for as long as they’ve been around: “aftra! fighting for the right to pay actors less!”
so now it’s down to sag. want a fair deal on new media? don’t look to the dga. or the wga. or aftra. they all bent right over and took the amptp deal without lubricant.
now? sag waits for the elections. if mf wins? they go for a strike authorization. they’re not asking for one now because they want to see officially, where the membership is on this. they win? they go for the strike authorization.
then they walk into the amptp’s negotiating room and they say “give us a percentage of new media from dollar one and first airing. we’ll tweak a couple other things. you get dvd (I disagree with that, but they’ve already dropped it in their latest public pronouncements) and, we make a deal.”
the amptp says “no?” well, maybe they do. but, believe me, the producers are going to think long and hard about letting sag walk and losing billions of dollars. and they will, trust me, lose billions of dollars.
why? unlike any other creative union? can’t make product without pro sag actors, especially the stars. if sag strikes? the stars walk. why? they’re a pariah if they don’t and they know it. they’ll need fucking armed guards.
production stops overnight. that’s a nightmare scenario. think the amptp wants that? well, if they’re not careful, it’s comin’ baby…
and over what? the moon? the stars? nope. a fair contract. that’s all. a contract that protects the middle class actors ability to have a decent shot at making a living. remember – that’s what this is all about.
and, sorkin is a rat.
I agree with you playmaker.
Let the WGA vote out their leaders for their mistakes in this mess and let’s hope SAG votes in the Unite for Strength slate and other independent candidates.
The current leaders have had enough shots, we need new
strategies and thinking in our boardroom and not anymore candidates that think this negotiation is actually going well!
“You had me at hello” …………Can we please ride the crane now?
T-Rex,
We let you in the DGA? I wish you’d shut the fuck up and leave.
Scott – I’m sorry, is there something inaccurate in T-Rex’s post? If so, could you point it out for me?
TIA
too bad they can’t do the same with SAG.
I had no idea that our meeting would stir such anger among some writers and for that I’m sorry. We were members of the WGA–we pay dues, create jobs and bring distinction to the Guild. In every way possible we supported the strike from the moment it began until the moment it ended. There’s simply no reason at all why we shouldn’t have come together–as many groups of writers did–and discuss what we could do to put everyone back to work. I wouldn’t, nor would anyone else in the room, nor would the Guild leadership describe our actions as remotely strong-arming.
There were some posts above that express very interesting opinions that run counter to my own and I can certainly understand the passion and even the anger in the dissent–but to those few people who chose to invoke my personal life (and some ludicrous claim that I hit somebody) you make yourselves a little hard to be heard above the shrill whine of your smallness.
Aaron Sorkin
Right after the strike ended Paul Attanasio showed up at work rolling in a brand new BMW M6 convertible, a car that runs about $107,000. Just sayin’.
Maaaaaaan, Sorkin showed up in the comments and nobody told us?!? A little heads-up, Nikki?
(Sorry, I don’t know if anybody could hear that comment over the shrill whine of my smallness. It gets pretty loud sometimes.)
I thought it had already been made public who was at that dinner (Attanasio, Sorkin, Scott Frank, etc) and who organized it — John Wells. The same fella who immediately undermined the Guild leadership with that stupid email saying, “This is a great deal” the second the DGA deal was made. The same guy who while he was head of the WGA — of the g-d Guild! — called West Wing writers in and told them instead of getting their contractual bumps, he was ending their old contract and hiring them to new ones… that had them at the exact same level they had worked the year before. And yes, the same guy who became the head of the WGA after settling in a lawsuit over accusations of plagiarism from Barry Levinson and Paula Weinstein when elements of David Simon’s book of “Homicide Life on the Street” mysteriously wound up in a Wells pilot (this is before Homicide the TV series made it onto the screen. (A case which has been mysteriously scrubbed from the record — except for the Bernard Weinraub article about it in the NY Times archives.) Wells is an enormously talented producer, but if the WGA salutes him again, I’m throwing my membership in the trash.