Now WGA Accusing Larry Levinson Prods

COMMENTS (4)

• I’m a WGA member. I’ve never heard of Larry Levinson or his company. If they are violating the guild’s MBA, they should be sanctioned appropriately. But what’s curious about this, and the infamous case where Verone and his acolytes browbeat and ostracized those writers who chose financial core (as was their right), is that the WGA seems to have endless appetite for punishing the obscure and no balls whatsoever for calling out a scab like Jay Leno. Let us remember that Leno willfully, repeatedly, flagrantly, and very prominently provided writing services at the height of the strike, to the great detriment of us all. That was nearly 18 months ago. Now Leno is ending his days on the Tonight show with great fanfare and ceremony. The silence from Verone is as deafening as it is shameful.

  Comment by StickingWithMyUnion — Thursday May 28, 2009 @ 2:18am PDT  Reply to this post

• Dear StickingWithMyUnion,

  I’m very happy that you are a WGA member. Good for you. They used to have really good insurance over there. If you are not familiar with Larry Levinson, then you are fortunate. However, for your reference, the man has nearly 150 produced credits! He is one of the most prolific producers in town! Some years he has been credited with more than 30 movies. Sure, the credits are primarily for lower-budgeted material (MOW, cheaper mini-series) that is distributed via Hallmark or Spike TV and various other tv and cable channels, but that is not the point. So while Jay Leno is certainly far more visible, Larry Levinson is affecting the WGA and nearly every other union in town far more than Jay ever will.

  Comment by Shogun Worrier — Thursday May 28, 2009 @ 3:07pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I am an actor and did a lead in one of their terrible films… it was the WORST working experience of my life… a scary five weeks. It was a money gig- but ended up being the most unprofessional ridiculous experience ever. The hairstylist was rude and abusive to people, they were always breaking rules, witholding per diem, the director was on cocaine and a drunk, the movie was a piece, and there are more specific details that I won;t get into as they will make it clear who I am, but in a nutshell- they were sketchy and rude… and had no coffee in the coldest of temperatures. They shot within the zone up Angeles Crest and it took 90 MINUTES to get to work without traffic. But Sag has their dumb rule of the crow flying. The wrap party had hookers and strippers showing up looking for employment… along with their drug dealing heroin offering pimp. RUN FOR THE HILLS FROM LLP!

  Comment by Anonymous — Friday May 29, 2009 @ 1:53am PDT  Reply to this post

• Hey Shogun–

  You missed my point. Have your way w/LL if he’s an evil fuck. Tar and feathers. But Verone and his paper tigers need to stop cowering in fear of Leno, whose scab activities–although they don’t seem to bother you–came at a critical moment of a strike, were premeditated and egregious, were widely publicized, had a devastating effect on morale, and have thus far been swept deep under the rug by the guild’s timid administration as they simultaneously get all puffed up about a handful of NY soap writers trying to stay alive.

  It’s about hypocrisy and cowardice, and shaming the (increasingly shaky) good name of the WGA.

  Got it?

  Comment by StickingWithMyUnion — Friday May 29, 2009 @ 8:36am PDT  Reply to this post