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Tonight on Christmas eve, the following letter signed by 127 striking writers with pilots pending was emailed to the Hollywood CEOs and almost 200 studio and network TV development execs. "These execs are our partners in these projects," say the two people who initiated this letter and wish to remain anonymous (although I have confirmed their identities), "so we wanted to reach out in an effort to get the AMPTP back to the table while there is still a chance of getting pilot season back on track. We did our best to contact all the writers with pilots, but some were out of town or out of reach, so this does not represent ALL the writers with pilots -- only those we were able to reach who agreed to be included. This was done with the blessing and support of the WGA, but not through the WGA."
Dear (studio/network exec),
‘Tis the season. Pilot season. We, the pilot writers, feel the loss of our ongoing creative partnership, and in the spirit of the holidays, we wanted to offer our help in getting the ’08-’09 crop of television shows back on track. We’re willing to write silent night after silent night to make up for lost time if your company will only finalize a fair deal with the WGA. To do that, talks must resume. Our guild is ready and eager. We feel that what our guild is asking is more than reasonable, and we believe that you, as our partner in these new shows, know our value and know that what we are asking is not excessive.
We love our new projects. We want to create great television which would put everyone back to work and ensure prosperity for all. We know we would all like to start the new year getting back to doing what we love. If there is any way you can facilitate this process, we would be eternally grateful.
Sincerely,
Allison Adler
Justin Adler
Jack Amiel & Michael Begler
Jeff Astrof
Katy Ballard
Alex Barnow & Marc Firek
Edward Allen Bernero
Scott Z. Burns
Cindy Caponera
Cindy Chupack
Dan Cohen & F.J. Pratt
Randy Cohen & Chris Kelly
Brad Copeland
Rick Copp
Matt Corman & Chris Ord
Carter Covington
Mark Cullen & Rob Cullen
Ed Decter
Nastaran Dibai & Jeffrey B. Hodes
J.P. Donahue & Kevin Polay
Chris Downey
Larry Doyle
Aaron Ehasz
Amy Engelberg & Wendy Engelberg
Jacob Epstein
Stephen Falk
David Feige
Michael Feldman
Joel Fields
Christopher Fife
Chad Fiveash & James Stoteraux
Dave Flebotte
R. Lee Fleming, Jr.
Dan Fogelman
Victor Fresco
Michael Frost Beckner
Jonathan Goldstein
Rob Greenberg & Suzy Mamann-Greenberg
Lyn Greene & Richard Levine
Hart Hanson
Zach Helm
William Blake Herron
David Holden
Amy Holden Jones
David Hudgins
Doug Jung
Alexa Junge
Mitchel Katlin & Nat Bernstein
Joe Keenan
Tim Kelleher
Jack Kenny
Moira Kirland
Marc Klein
Jennifer Konner & Alexandra Rushfield
Bill Kunstler
Dave Lampson & Andrew Leeds
Sheila R. Lawrence
Jim Leonard
Christine Levinson
Jeffrey Lieber
Matthew Lieberman
Angel Dean Lopez
Rob Lotterstein
Caryn Lucas
Greg Malins
Patrick Massett & John Zinman
Blake Masters
Dan McDermott
Gregg Mettler
J. Israel Miller & M.A. Fortin
Murray Miller & Judah Miller
Norman Morrill
Kevin Murphy
Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein
Michael Oates Palmer
Bob Odenkirk
Jan Oxenberg
Mark Palmer
Charles Pratt, Jr.
Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Ethan Reiff & Cyrus Voris
Jeffrey Richman & Suzanne Martin
Julie Rottenberg & Elisa Zuritsky
Paul Ruehl
Dario Scardapane
Robin Schiff
Dana Schmalenberg
Mike Scully & Julie Thacker-Scully
John Scott Shepherd
Mike Sikowitz
Stephanie K. Smith
Jon Steinberg
Joshua Sternin & Jeffrey Ventimilia
Dana Stevens
Francis Stokes
Rob Thomas
Gary Tieche
David Titcher
Stephen Tolkin
Kriss Turner
Mike Werb
Thomas Wheeler
Nicholas Wootton
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thank goodness! This is what a split in the guild looks like without using the term “split’. This is reasonable. This takes into account that we are not auto workers – but independent contractors whose work is based on intimate relationships with the people on the other side. This is a business of relationships, not assembly lines. Not every negotiating tactic can be applied to every industry. Do you understand that, David Young? This is the first of many letters to come – and many back channel attempts to get things back on track. This is about getting back to work, not protecting the egos of our misguided leadership.
Well, this indeed shows the beads of sweat forming on a whole lot of WGA members. This is a silly, self serving letter that will have the AMPTP taking victory laps over the holidays. What fools. I work at an agency and have had the misfortune of reading some of the pilot scripts that are already in, including one from a “prominent” writer on this list about space aliens living in a gated community. It makes “Cavemen” seem like Chaucer. Network TV is a dinosaur struggling in tar and I wouldn’t blame the producers for throwing in the towel and tossing out this entire crop of next year’s failures, a mess of unsold pilots that will waste time, energy and money and not create new jobs, but just a slew of You Tube videos. Change is hard, but it’s often for the good. Welcome to the new world order where the best TV shows are all on cable and better ideas will appear on the web or other venues before graduating to TV, if their forward thinking creators so choose. Happy holidays, pilot writers. And also good riddance.
nikki, happy holiday to you and yours.
After reading this “letter” to the studios from the 100+ writers who have potential pilot deals, I had to laugh. These are part of the same group of writers who have called the studios greedy and other negatives, and now these writers come whimpering for these greedy studios to put up hundreds of millions of their own dollars on the riskiest business model alive, the pilot. You gotta be kidding me? From the tone of this and recent other WGA press releases it is obvious they are feeling like Ricky Hatton in round 9 of his recent fight against Floyd Mayweather. Their bark, like Hatton’s, has no bite, NONE. These writers, who have selfishly put thousands of real human beings out of work, are finaly realizing this, in this new digital internet age we are entering, the studios do not need the writers as much as they thought. Content, much of it light years better than much of current scripted tv, is already being produced, by 11th graders!! MY plea to the studios, PLEASE do not give in. It is only a matter of months before the WGA, or what is left of it, will come begging to you, with no demands other than to start paying them their (mostly) obscene salaries. I look foward to returning to my job (where real evidence of work is seen daily) in the below the line crafts someday, but until then, I hope the studios have the spine to demolish and rebuild the current way shows are written and produced. Merry Christmas
Somehow, as I read and re-read this letter, I keep hearing the old sales adage: “The first one to speak, loses.”
Well, it’s a better attempt at getting them to listen that “you suck, bastards!”, but I have as little sympathy for the AMPTP has they have for anyone else. Really doubtful anything will come of this, but at least it’s happier than before. Fuck them all, WGA. Do everything in your power to win, or we will all lose.
Desperation, can you dig it?
I can’t tell if this looks desperate or not. This letter doesn’t have the “give em hell” feel that a lot of other strike actions have had.
Stay strong, writers!
This is the most embarassing piece of pleading I’ve ever seen. Have some balls, boys.
Nothing like seeing 127 nervous writers all bend over.
Knowing how contemptuous the AMPTP is of the WGA, this just sounds like: “Dear Sirs, even though you are determined to see us all starve to death in a gutter, won’t you please talk to us? We won’t eat much, and we’re very clean.”
Go, Writers!!! If it meant anything, I would totally sign my name to it as a TV Viewer who just wants a fair deal for the people who create the shows that I love and enjoy that I want to see back on the air!!
Please, please let a Christmas miracle happen!!
They’ll get used by the AMPTP and then discarded. Just like Teri Hatcher in “Tomorrow Never Dies” they’ll end up face down on the bed after the Big Media parades this letter around saying “See? Not everyone agrees with the WGA leadership.” What a suckhole letter.
You really can’t ask the AMPTP nicely to give us a deal. They really don’t understand that concept and they have only a little more use for the execs at the studios than they do for the WGA.
I expected it to be the showrunners, not the showrunners-to-be who would be playing the Abe Vigoda part. But in this industry, you never can tell who will screw you first.
You can only be certain someone will…..
A valiant effort, guys, but it’s not going to work. When you left that table on November 4th, you sealed your fate. Poor leadership if you ask me.
So out of these 127 pilots how many will make it to a series order? Statistically based on past seaasons at most 27 pilots will get a series order which means 100 will die before they ever air. They will wind up on YouTube or shown at that theater that shows failed pilots many of which are very entertaining by the way.
Out of the 27 which become series how many will be cancelled before their 13th episode? Possibly as many as 20. Out of the remaining 7 shows how many will last long enough to become long running hit shows to pay for all the other failed shows? Probably only one or two.
For every “Office” that becomes successful (and which only became a hit because Kevin Reilly believed in it, I guess that’s why idiot Zucker the Billion Dollar Profit Reducer fired him) there are 20 other half-hour comedies that die painful deaths.
So it would be a lot easier if the 127 writers could caucus amongst themselves and decide which of their pilot scripts are worth making. Networks would save a lot of money if they didn’t have to film so many pilots that go nowhere. This is how they are thinking now. They want a wholesale overhaul of the pilot business. And they are right to be thinking this way.
My God,
For the love of dignity what in the world is this supposed to mean? A chance to somehow show off to the rest of the town that you’ve somehow wheedled a pilot this year? “Please sir..I want some more” My god, I would be humiliated to publicly grovel the way you people are doing. Why not simply crawl on your bellies and beg? “Honestly sirs, we would be eternally grateful..” Where in the hell can I heave? Is this supposed to demonstrate some kind of resolve? Fortitude? Strength? And do you think you’re the only ones with something to lose? The difference is not all of us have to climb on a soap-box and rend our clothes in grief. Beg for crumbs from the table. Supplicate ourselves at the feet of the masters. To hell with them! Have a bit of dignity. A bit of pride! Have you at long last, not the slightest bit of shame? I think the answer is as apparent as the names on this paper.
Please tell me this is from a parody website. “Please, Sir, may I have another?” You people make me want to puke. Merry Christmas.
So the message here is: “We want ours. Forget about the long term good of the union, just get us our deals now.” I found the letter contemptible and embarrassing. And remember, 97% of your pilots would’ve failed anyway.
Oh, my heart bleeds for these pilot writers…(That’s sarcasm in case you don’t know) What about the rest of us? Why aren’t you big shots asking for the alliance to come back to get us all working… Instead, these over paid puff writers are so self serving it’s disgusting… I’m glad my name’s not on that list… though I have a feature on hold because of the strike… So I’m not just some cast off hack who wants the two sides to get together. What a disgrace on these writers… Turning your back on the rest of us… “Solve the strike so MY pilot might get made?” F*%& you guys… I’ll remember those names. D.
Shame, shame on all of you… You put your personal, selfish, self interest in front of the rest of your membership… Call on the Alliance to come back to the table… but not so YOUR pilots can get done… Others have staff jobs, free lance assigments or features that are all stalled because of the strike. So stand with us, the membership, you spoiled pilot writers… And worry about the guild’s well being, not your personal insignificant lives. D.
Wow! As I read that letter I can picture all those show-runners on their knees begging. That’s kind of sad, actually. If I received that letter, I would do nothing because it implies the Guild is weakened. Way to stand firm boys and girls.
Pilot Season-I remember Pilot Season. Seems like just last year….kids-did I ever tell you the story about Pilot Season? No? Well, it’s not a fairy tale, it was real. People actually working in the television industry. No really! Thousands of TV folk, toiling behind the scenes to bring that new TV show to life. The odds were against them, but still, every year Hope was in the air that maybe, just maybe, this show would be The Next Big Thing, the one that would be watched and talked about around every water cooler. And maybe make some money, too. Yeah, it does sound like a fairy tale…
Don’t worry guys, this letter is only a presentation, not a full pilot, that why it seems like half-assed groveling.
Starting to get annoyed…
All aboard the Ship of Fools.
I had to cross check the list against WGA who’s who files to recognize more than half-a-dozen names. If the most famous name after Rob Thomas on that list is Bob Odenkirk, we’re not talking about Prines of the Realm.
These aholes do not speak for me. Or anyone I know.
“If there is any way you can facilitate this process, we would be eternally grateful.”
I’ll bet you would, specially when you get your paychecks.
(He projectile vomits.)
Wow, there are some angry people who post here. The writers of the pilots that would provide new jobs for hundreds of WGA writers, and millions in profits for the studios at the upfronts, are saying that unlike the PR spun by the AMPTP, writers are not unreasonable and do want to get back to work as soon as possible. They are saying that they don’t feel the network execs are the enemy, but partners, and would hope their partners use whatever leverage they can to get the town working again.
They did not ask Nikki to print their names, nor say to only help them and not the rest of the WGA membership. Pilot season is immensely important to a large part of the Guild membership and for them to fight to not see it go down the toilet, is admirable.
Yes, they would benefit if their individual pilots got picked up but as everyone on that list is well aware, the chances of getting their own pilot picked up is slim to none. And yet, they wrote the letter anyway– thinking of not only themselves but the group, the Guild membership that relies on staffing season for jobs, and saying they hope pilot season survives.
You may not love the tone of the letter, but these people are doing what they can to get us all back to work. And to that, I say thank you!
Rather than bad mouth people for trying to help all of us get back to work, I would ask the angry posters to go do something constructive on Christmas.
How embarrassing is that!!
This is not a “throw in the towel” letter, it is not a “pilot writers are more important than other writers” letter (man, David G, your inferences are borderline psychotic), it is not a “we’re weakening” letter. Sheesh. It’s simply a tiny reminder to AMPTP that the 2008-2009 pilot season is on the line. It is not meant to imply pilot season is more or less important than any of the other writing that has ceased. Do we expect AMPTP to come back to the table because of this letter? Gee, what do you think? We’re not idiots. The vile and venom spewed from people on this site is astounding. Obliviously, some are AMPTP shills, AMPTP has admitted as much. The others are following the AMPTP script to a tee — “sick ‘em on each other.” Congratulations, puppets.
We are together and more resolute and stronger than ever. Sorry to all the union breakers and toadies who think this letter indicates otherwise.
When we get back to the picket lines, these folks will all be wearing black baseball caps that read, “Showrunner Wannabes United.”
“moderate writer”
you have an ongoing clear agenda here to persistently plant your idea of imminent guild disintegration
you are a shill and an annoying one, at that
if you’re not a shill, post your name – you have nothing to lose, you’re furthering the amptp agenda – therefore they won’t penalize you
I turn red with shame reading this letter. It’s like hearing a really lame pitch in the room, and you feel kind of uncomfortable and sad for the guy and you want to turn away.
Yet another example of why writers should not represent themselves in any way shape or form during negotiations. Formally, or informally.
This letter oozes sweat and weakness.
Merry Christmas, Leslie. You got what you asked for.
“below the line man” is a shill who also posts under the name below the line guy
aside from your incoherent and fact-less rantings, here’s why you’re a shill
no genuine btl person currently out of work would plead with the amptp not to give in and to perpetuate the strike, thus perpetuating your joblessness – no btl person would sacrifice money for food and shelter indefinitely out of random hatred for writers – and if you were a genuine btl, your peers should turn on you for essentially begging for their ongoing unemployment and inability to pay their bills
you’re doing lousy shill work – you know who you are
George Glass: “You may not love the tone of the letter, but these people are doing what they can to get us all back to work.”
The problem with that is that the letter was penned by professional writers. Tone is supposed to be what they do — that they show such a tin ear for the situation is distressing. Of all the tones to choose for a letter to the production execs, obsequiousness is the least helpful.
That letter is so silly. Nice way to support the rest.
The AMPTP is licking their chops right now.
BTW, Did Carlton Cuse edit it for ya?
Wow. I understand why they did…but what a bunch of self-serving pussies.
Well, that didn’t go over like I’d hoped.
As one of the signatories above, I have to say I’m a little surprised by the venom being spewed here. For me, at least, this was not, nor was it ever about MY projects.
It was about frustration. Not frustration at our leadership, or our tactics, I’m an enormous supporter of Pat Verrone, John Bowman and the others. I’ve been vocal about that at meetings, rallies and on the picket lines, and will continue to do so. I’ve been frustrated at not personally having done more.
So, when the original e-mail was sent to me (Yes, this is a watered down version, the price of writing anything by committee), I signed on because I believed — and still do, despite what we read in Nikki’s column yesterday — that the AMPTP does not wish to lose the ‘08-’09 season. I felt that this letter would be a public acknowlegement of my solidarity with my Guild, and possibly add a tiny, tiny bit of psychological leverage. (What can I say? I’m an idealist at my core.)
As to the quality of television pilots lately, especially in comedy where I work, I’ll grant, we’re hardly in a golden age (and if anyone wants to be bored for hours and hours upon end, I will gladly spew my theories as to why TV comedy is in the state it’s in). But let’s face it, pilot season generates an enormous amount of work for this town. Directors, actors, crews… frankly, the WGA is probably the only guild that doesn’t see an enormous boost in employment during pilot season. Comedy writers will often work for free to help friends punch up their pilots.
Anyone who’s ever worked with me and my partner, I think, will tell you that we genuinely care about many members of the crews we employ on our pilots. (Yes, many. A rare few are dicks.) We’ve hired them again and again whenever we can, and will hopefully continue to do so. Say what you will about me for signing this, but the idea that I did if for my own greed, to undercut my guild, or as a sign of my waivering, is offensive and untrue.
Finally, although I would have preferred the original, stronger worded text, I’m still on board with the basic message of this e-mail: If the AMPTP will get back to the table, and negotiate a fair deal with the WGA, then my partner and I will bust our collective asses off, to write pilots that will put people back to work. It’s not much, but it’s all I can do.
Oh well, I guess you have to try anything. But you’re just yelling down an empty well.
You’re darn skippy there’s some angry people who post here–
I have been dragged into the breach by a showrunner who makes, quite literally, about 10,000 times what I make on any given episode, forced to change my plans, put whole chunks of my life on hold, because of the dramatic tactics taken by the WGA leadership. Now to hear these potential showrunners practically groveling on their knees to please bring our shows back is laughable, and confidence-shattering. What I’m reacting to is the seeming change in tone of this letter and other official missives from the WGA. Are they playing hardball or not? Why would the WGA give its blessing to something like this? It’s downright scary, because as much as I have and want to continue to sympathize with the writers, moves like this one, while I’m dipping into savings and waiting on unemployment checks to pay bills–to replace money THAT WILL NEVER COME BACK, shake my resolve to the core.
What’s the over/under on when the pink slips start being handed to the network and studio development execs?
And the junior lit agents?
And the old lit agents?
To Jeffrey Ventimilia:
You’re surprised at the response to your self serving and brazenly desperate letter? Seriously? Where’s the comprable letter from major screenwriters whose projects have been tossed asunder at the moment?
I noticed that most of these pilot writers have mere script deals. Where are the names of the big guns like Whedon or Abrams? Could it be they don’t have the same sense of fear and frustartion due to put pilots with hefty penalties?
The bottom line is pretty simple, your letter isn’t about putting the town back to work. It’s about these writers still trying to hold onto the pilot season before their material is summarily scrapped. Based on the poor quality of the letter, then it won’t be the viewers’ loss.
Sounds like a lot of you got up on the wrong side of the bed. Do you really think this letter was anything more than a PR move on the part of these writers?
Anything the WGA members can do to fortify the perception that the writers are ready to negotiate when and if the moguls decide to come down off their towers and treat the Hollywood Creative Community with the respect it deserves.
Without writers, actors and directors the moguls would have nothing to mogul. They’d all be out managing mortgage firms or the like.
You say, ‘Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won’t say anything. Just leave us alone.’
Well, I’m not gonna leave you alone.
I want you to get mad.
(A real writer wrote that. And it wasn’t The Pilot Season he was trying to save.)
Jeffrey V wrote:
“Say what you will about me for signing this, but the idea that I did if for my own greed, to undercut my guild, or as a sign of my waivering, is offensive and untrue.”
I’m a fellow member who has picketed with you. I don’t think you did it for any of the reasons above. But if you signed onto something that was hard line in tone, then you were played, because the letter with your name on it is embarrassing and groveling and probably the most naive thing I’ve ever read in my life.
If the writers on that letter signed something very different, please send the original to Nikki to print so that we can see how the moron who edited it came out with that no-spine mess above.
Thanks.
Jeffrey Ventimilia: “Finally, although I would have preferred the original, stronger worded text, I’m still on board with the basic message of this e-mail: If the AMPTP will get back to the table, and negotiate a fair deal with the WGA, then my partner and I will bust our collective asses off, to write pilots that will put people back to work. It’s not much, but it’s all I can do.”
I think that everyone, the AMPTP and the production execs you work with included, already knew that.
Your message would have been more effective if you had formulated it as a deadline — “if there’s no new contract in place by such-and-such a date, then no matter how hard we work, we’ll never be able to finish writing in time to get pilot season back on track.” That creates pressure on the AMPTP without the tone of submissiveness or incipient desperation. (Since I’m not the only one who detected those qualities in the tone of the letter, I’m pretty sure they’re actually there.)
An alternative would have been to tell the AMPTP and the production executives that while the WGA does not give in to ultimatums, you’re confident that there can be healthy and productive horse-trading at the bargaining table (including the famous six issues) if the AMPTP agrees to sit down at the table now. That would convey a willingness to deal and specifically a willingness to find a way for both the AMPTP and WGA to save face (the AMPTP gets some of what it demands and the WGA avoids caving in to an ultimatum). However, that would be stepping squarely on the toes of the Negotiating Committee and would therefore either be a bold challenge to them or a way for them to float a trial balloon through your good offices.
From the writing style and the use of tortured analogies (Teri Hatcher? Floyd Meriwether?) it’s obvious that “below the line man” and “another writer” are the same guy.
Chances are many of the posts on this board are all written by the same handful of people. Who knows what motivates them to write long, angry screeds on Christmas. I do hope they’re getting double overtime for working on a holiday — if not, perhaps they need to join the WGA.
As for everyone else — enjoy your holiday, and don’t believe everything you read.
I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. The letter sounds perfectly fine to me and makes no attempt to go around anybody. It doesn’t sound defeatist at all and it simply says “come back to the table” in a very reasoned and reasonable way. Sure, you can always nitpick on every word, but overall this seems like one more example of how the writers are completely reasonable people, unlike how the moguls would like them presented to the public. Especially if this had a WGA blessing, I don’t see an issue here at all. But I guess everyone’s entitled to their opinion, so that’s mine. Sorry you’re getting grief, and best of luck on your pilots!
I’d like to know who put this august group together.
Let’s face it, we’re not talking about the big guns of the Writer’s Guild here, mainly just a list of names that most of us would react to with “huh”?
If there is a big mistake here (aside from the colossally stupid and naive one this letter represents) it’s that the WGA didn’t send out a message to all members telling them that in times like these, there may be the urge to give in to groups that just want to beg for their jobs back.
This happens in any strike. We put these scenes in every film we write about labor/management conflict, for God’s sake and the groups is usually led by an actor like Murray Hamilton.
We have to put up a united front. It’s too late now to back down. I really feel we are facing an opposition that does not intend to let us have our jobs back, not until they have broken this union, stripped us of our benefits and reduced us to the level of the third world workers these corporations are used to dealing with.
It’s a shame that “people are going to lose their houses over this.” Well guess what, you spineless cowards, you ALWAYS were going to lose those houses.
The AMPTP has their eyes set on our profits and benefits. They were going to find some way to take them anyway, no matter what.
In fact, they already have. It just took this strike for most of us to realize it.
You’ve already lost half of the fees you make off TV scripts. The network rerun is dead. It has been since the day some bean counter at the networks realized they could save $20,000 per script by rerunning on the net.
There goes your house.
So if the house is going to go anyway, isn’t it more noble and principled to lose it in a fight?
On your feet?
Instead of on your knees?
You don’t speak for me.
Don’t try to again.
Sherilyn,
You may not like the letter that went out, and that’s your opinion. Although I can’t for the life of me see where the writers who signed it ever placed themselves above any other writers, or do anything to cause such venom.
But you really hope all the unions implode? So that there would be no health insurance for any workers in the industry. No one to make sure Teamsters don’t work so many hours that they get into deadly accidents doing their jobs (has happened and will happen a lot more if you have your way.) And I guess you don’t want any union workers– people who dedicate years to this industry– to have a pension and be able to retire one day. No getting old under Sherlyin’s watch! And you definitely better not get old AND sick. She’ll just kick you to the curb.
Hey, I know what you’d love, why not get rid of minimum wage and allow child labor again too?
You would make a great media mogul, Sherilyn. Thanks for sharing your Christmas spirit!
Sherilyn,
I guess you don’t realize that you become a part of the WGA by selling a feature script or writing enough episodes of network TV. You work to become a member, you don’t become a member of the WGA and then they find work for you.
And maybe you’re right, we get rid of all unions (bye bye health plans!) and nepotism in the world will completely disappear. I mean, take Ruport Murdoch. He’s the union-buster in chief, so I’m sure he isn’t letting his kids run his company because they’re related. Nah, had nothing to do with it, right?
For God sakes, leave Jeff alone. He’s a great guy. At least he had the nerve to post here using his own name.
Hmm, when was the last time any of you had a pilot deal? In fact, when was the last time any of you were staffed?
Jeffrey… this letter makes obvious sense and I don’t know why people are attacking it so. It’s simple. And it’s obviously not intended to “bend over,” just to highlight another angle of what the companies are about to give up: all their new shows.
People… this letter is just one more way saying anything but “get back to the table, AMPTP.” They probably won’t listen but who gives a shit? Point being made: pilots lead to series which lead to jobs. That’s all. Lighten the Christmas fuck up.
An utterly harmless if no doubt ineffectual attempt to remind network execs — who might well stand to be fired themselves if the strike continues long enough — that maybe they ought to put some pressure on their bosses with respect to resuming negotiations.
If I’d had a pilot in development this season, I might have read and signed it without a second thought.
Big fucking deal.
Even if it does give an opportunity for fake outrage from fake writers with nothing better to do on the holiday.
Time to get back to your regularly scheduled talking points, guys.
Clearly the AMPTP shills are pounding this message board. Trying to give the illusion of writers turning on each other. The problem is, we’ve all been on the strike line. We know how strong our resolve is and we know who the real bad guys are. If only the AMPTP had the balls to open their site to comments. Don’t think you’d find a lot of sympathizers there and probably more than a million WGA members /shills. Take this board for what it’s worth. Some good information, some bad information and a lot of vitriol from the AMPTP. They know we read and rely on this site. If you were the AMPTP wouldn’t your first directive to their shitty PR firm be to ambush this site and others like it.
No, we’re united. We’re strong and I applaud the writers on this list as they represent thousands of potential jobs for this town. Bravo, brave writers. Strike on.
Shit, Jeffery Katzenberg wouldn’t have worked through the holidays if he knew those 127 pussies were going to do his bidding for him.
What a bunch of assholes. Thank the lord that David Young was willing to take that job — I bet he had no clue when he started that so many writers were so lily-livered. At least the person leading us isn’t standing in the corner shaking like those 127.
This letter is soft.
Makes the guild look soft.
Pilots? Probably one of those will last more than a year on the air.
What’s next the staffs of TV shows start begging for their jobs back like little biatches? They have more to lose. They’re already on the gravy train. They’re not crying to the AMPTP.
I can certainly see why everybody is so upset about this letter. It is a travesty!
For starters, it calls for the AMPTP to return to the table! Yes, you read that correctly! “Return to the table!” Just like the WGA has been saying continuously since the AMPTP walked out!
And then, to make matters worse, these traitors say that the AMPTP should negotiate a fair deal with the WGA. Are they insane?! This isn’t about a fair deal! This is about… uh… calling Nick Counter an asshole! Which, by the way, this letter didn’t do even ONCE!
But here’s the kicker: If a fair deal is reached (and apparently, they would prefer one be reached soon, for some bizarre reason), these writers have the audacity to suggest that they will go back to work! That’s right! They will once again provide writing services after a successful negotiation! What douche bags!
All I can say, as someone who doesn’t have a pilot and therefore wasn’t consulted by these elitist bastards, is that these writers who never claimed to speak for me don’t speak for me. And I can’t tell you how angry I’ll be if the importance of pilot season winds up bringing this strike to a successful resolution.
Nick Counter is an asshole!
1) Jeff Ventimilia deserves big credit.
2) I signed the letter above in support for the WGA — AND because I feel it’s important to emphasize that the AMPTP are the ones who have walked away from the table, that the AMPTP are the ones who are keeping this from reaching a settlement, and this is NOT about a “misguided Guild leadership” but instead, a group of 8 CEOs who want to bust a union, and are willing to break an industry in the process.
3) If the above letter had had more of the “JJ Abrams” big-shot types people mentioned, you would then have complained that it was all being populated by hyphenates who were thinking as producers not writers. Yes, you would have. (Never mind the fact that there are a ton of significant showrunners on this list, or many writers who have been on that Emmy stage.)
4) It’s true, the original version of this letter I put my name on had some language fitting in with the Guild strategy of trying to make individual deals with studios/networks, and further encourage dissension within the AMPTP. Apparently that strategy was labelled as divisive, and, as happens in the Halls of Congress, the letter was watered down a little to get more signatures on the list. Given how much bullshit AMPTP spin has been going around about how the writers are at odds with each other (not true), I put my name on this letter as a statement of a) solidarity, b) unity, and c) a public relations move to EMPHASIZE again that the AMPTP left the table, not the writers.
Look, I have two pilots this year. It’d be my dream for one of them to get made and get on the air. But what the AMPTP and their CEOs have done is EXTRAORDINARY — they are threatening to BREAK the entire industry. They have it in their power to fix this. They have it in their financial resources to meet the writers halfway. They’re refusing to do any of that … for now.
That’ll start to change, I think, in January or February. When CBS and Sony are suddenly hemorraghing — when the Wall Street folks continue to get angry calls from shareholders saying, “FIX THIS” — when the advertisers continue to take their money away — and when the other networks suddenly realize that Rupert Murdoch laughing all the way to the bank with American Idol getting a 90 share rating, while his “colleagues” are stuck with a roster of reruns and unsuccessful reality shows….
Then we’ll see how united the AMPTP will be. But anyone who paints this letter as some sort of “desperation move” or as signs of a divided Guild … might as well be the folks who think Citizen Kane was about a sled.
The person calling themselves a moderate writer’ gives it away with the personal attack on David Young. Whoop took it a bit too far my well-paid friend, there.
Those bastards! They aren’t yelling about what bastards the AMPTP are to get them to come back to the table! They’re actually. . .oh, it’s so pathetic I almost can’t say it. . .asking them to come back to the table! I know! Weenies! Traitors! How can you 127 look at the mirror in the morning?!
. . .Seriously, chill. You’re all doing exactly what the AMPTP wants you to. You all want to get back to work. Don’t blame people for voicing it, especially when they have their work on the line. Those pilots are tremendous efforts, even if they probably won’t make it. People fighting to give them even a chance is just plain human. Let go of the attidude, please.
hold your anger a second. aren’t these guys just saying: we want to work. you want to work. get your respective moguls back to the table so we don’t lose everything we’ve done together up to this point?
or do you really think all the studio execs want to be unemployed too? never once did the pilot guys say: just get pilots back. i believe their intention to be: push your mogul back to the negotiating table.
maybe i’m wrong. or maybe you’re quick to jump on the stoning bandwagon.
From the letter:
“only those we were able to reach who agreed to be included. This was done with the blessing and support of the WGA, but not through the WGA.”
The WGA blessed and supports this letter. For these 127 to sign their names is brave considering the mob mentality on blogs like this and elsewhere. If 127 were brave enough to let their felling known then I am sure many many more feel this way too.
The naysayers here act like they have waved a white flag and bent over to the AMPTP. I don’t see that in the letter. Sounds to me like they are putting forth an olive branch.
And of course the mob screams “scabs, bastards, and shills” like lines from a bad re-make of an old TV show made into a film.
I don’t see any problem with this letter.
They ask for a fair deal and emphasize that that is what the WGA is asking for.
They say if they get a fair deal they will go back to work.
Isn’t that the point of all this?
I support the WGA completely and hope the studio execs see reason.
It is clear from this letter that the signatories feel the same way.
Wow. The nasty reaction to this letter is crazy. I gotta say, I don’t think that the people who signed this letter did it for any other reason than to use the ticking clock on pilot season as yet another way to appeal to these greedy, stubborn assholes who are playing with everyone’s futures.
They said it wasn’t a guild thing, so then this was clearly meant as their own personal attempt to use their working relationships with these execs to get them back to the table. Isn’t that all anyone wants? Get their asses back in the seats ASAP. They left the table. We’re still here. Come back, you might be able to actually salvage something, is what I think they were saying. And I say whatever works…
It’s clear from these posts that there are a lot of bitter, angry writers out there and shills being paid by the Amptp. I’ve been picketing. I’m angry, too. But not at my fellow writers. Not at the negotiating committee. At the AMPTP. I want to get back to work, I want to get paid on things, and I can be as cynical as many of you, but when I read that letter not for one minute did I think that the people who signed it did it to make themselves feel important or to toot their own horns.
Clearly the people who organized it, who spent their time during this holiday season writing it, collecting signatures, probably going back and forth on drafts (according to the writer who said he signed it after changes…) only intended it to help. Wanted to try to make a difference by reaching out, in the spirit of the holidays, in a more personal way to the executives they work with.
And now everybody attacks them on this board? Nice. Could their letter have been more strident? I guess, but they clearly wanted to try it this way. That’s their right. Might not have been what you or I had done, but I admire them for looking for a way to use their relationships to get the AMPTP back to the table. And now people want to turn it into some thing about the haves and have nots. Exactly what the AMPTP does. If you think this letter they sent showed weakness (which I don’t), keep writing these nasty comments, that’ll show ‘em…even more weakness.
Those who are angry (aside from the obvious shills) at the writers who signed this letter are missing the point. From a PR standpoint, to have these allegedly “overpaid” and “arrogant” showrunners actually humbly remove their hats and approach the AMPTP with a plea to come back to the table is, well, refreshing. To be reminded that, behind our steadfastness and demand for fairness, there’s ALWAYS the desire to work again, isn’t going to hurt our cause. What hurts our cause is the corporations’ intractable greed — but that same greed is what will bring the AMPTP back to the table. This letter is merely an attempt at civility in an increasingly incendiary strike. I’m a 15 year Guild member and current showrunner, and no writer or showrunner I know would ever agree to an appalling $250 dollar internet residual. So no matter how obsequious some may find the letter, the truth is, the letter is just another angle, a little texture in an otherwise hostile climate. It won’t help us, and it will certainly not hurt us. The strike will end when a good deal is presented. If I have to lose my house, fine. If I have to flip burgers, also fine. The idea of showrunners going Fi-Core is ludicrous. Writers are, by their nature, passionate about storytelling. And no writer would write a story where the good guys betray their fundamental values just to make a paycheck. The business will implode before a single talented writer in the Guild goes Fi-Core. Because no showrunner would ever garner the respect necessary to run a show if he/she went fi-core. So from both an idealistic and practical stance, Fi-Core simply isn’t an option. This strike is over when the AMPTP is tired of explaining their rigid and money-losing strategy to shareholders, period.
How ironic is it that we Joe Public who day after day turned to reality based television in order to see ourselves in our hopeful 5 second bid for fame allowed the executives to bargain on our continued attendance on these morally defunct, pathetic examples of drama.
I still have not forgiven Fox for canceling Firefly or any other show that promised more than the peep show into tawdry behavior. I continue to marvel at the preponderance of shows that revel humans as baseborn rather than highlighting the human spirit that makes us sour above our imaginings.
I believe that this is a turn for the better. If you Writer can ensnare my soul, make me cry, lift me up and make me laugh in amazed glory, choose your medium among the many currently available and not only will I be present and accounted for, I will pay for the privilege.
Cable is the first step, could you non-working peers form a coalition and create the masterpiece to your ideals and provide it to us? Cable was first, what next, what next?
Josh, if you are out there, we miss you. Climb aboard Serenity and show them the way…..
To anyone who signed the letter, let me say ‘thanks for trying, guys.’
Personally I think a lot of the venom here is because this letter is a very gentle reminder to a lot of people who are toeing the AMPTP line that the moguls controlling that group aren’t interested in making a good deal for anyone but themselves. The AMPTP has a lot more to fear about being divided then the writers. Much has happened and been done to eliminate independent production, but it isn’t dead yet. That group of eight aren’t just about breaking the unions.
It is also very clear that writers, and the Guild, are ready, willing and eager to negotiate a FAIR contract. They aren’t the ones refusing to come to the table. Nothing in the letter indicates that the signatories are attempting to undermine that process in any way.
Hang in there. We all want to work. But none of us want to work without fair, reasonable and adequate compensation including benefits. And anyone with a brain knows that we wouldn’t have that without our unions.
Dear Jeffrey Ventimilia,
I did comment negatively against this letter, but after reading your response, and most especially, the fact that you actually put your name to your words, makes me second think that post. And I now feel a little ashamed for jumping on it.
I don’t think the letter worked out as intended, but I believe that many writers who agreed to it probably did not envision the final product and that its intent was misconstrued.
Regardless, you have my respect. Thank you for your comments. I wish the other writers who commented saying they were on the list also gave their names, but since they didn’t, I am only responding to you.
It’s funny (actually sad), but I really do believe that the anonymity on the comments on this site is because most writers are afraid of other writers and not the studios and the networks.
This is the Post that finally and firmly proves it. The writers on the letter used their names on a letter to the AMPTP, but are afraid to use their names on their comments on this site. That says a lot. And what it says is not very good.
The tally so far:
My Boss is My Partner (and we’re all in this together, writers, execs, company presidents — can’t we all just get along and do the thing we love, create the next “Two & A Half Men”?)People…17
My Boss is A Jerk (and I resent every one of his/her notes and, guess what, they all suck — thanks, but real writing is done by writers who can write alone, just give me the money and at least a little fucking respect for doing something you cannot do)People…33
You’re a Shill!/No YOU’RE a Shill! People…11
What the WGA and its talented members just don’t get here is that the corporate parents and their shareholders aren’t going to be crying to end this. Their numbers are going to improve by not making films and tv shows.
Production and development, with their attendant overhead, advertising expenditures and, yes, “off the top” residuals, are losers financially. With theatrical attendance flat at best, dvd way off, tv ratings down and pay networks paying less, noone can figure out how to make this business work right now. So, some down time is not the worst thing in the world for the business folks.
That’s what the genius mrrs. Verrone and Young didn’t allow for. That is I am sure what the DGA study says and they realize the smartest thing to do is settle quickly. The WGA leadership worked their membership, who are very talented artists, but for the most part not businesspeople, into a frenzy based on false assumptions and bad business sense.
Remember, the music business was a cash cow 10 years ago. It is dead now. For both the artists and the companies.
This is going to be a losing battle for the writers, because they have no leverage. They just don’t realize it. All the money has gone to the top actors , writers and directors. There isn’t much left to repay costs and to pay the rank the file. That is just the sad truth. You can rant and rave about ’studio accounting’ but these are public companies. There is no money laundering going on.
xxoo.
I have no problem at all with the message, but I do cringe at the wording. As someone else mentioned, it IS obsequious. That’s a small detail, no? Big picture, folks. And might I suggest a stiff cup of eggnog in the meantime…
At this point, I’d really like to see the writers put their heads together and just create a new distribution outlet for new product. There’s money ready to be made there. Someone just needs to take the first step without using YouTube. Seems futile to wait for the AMPTP to come back to the table when clearly they have no interest.
There was some talk about meetings with venture capitalists – any success?
As one of the writers who signed this letter, I have learned one important thing from reading these posts. Writers are a bitter group of people. If the letter had been more aggressive, we would’ve heard grievances about how we’re never gonna get anywhere with hostility. If it included the names of people like J.J. Abrams and David E. Kelly, we would’ve heard complaints about how people like that don’t need to put their names on a letter like this, because they have enough power and money to make things happen on their own. And, FYI, this letter was not put together by people who are against the WGA leadership. Sorry, that our names are not impressive enough for some of you, but as we all know, in this town any one of those names could end up having the pilot that ends up being the next big hit. So, I wouldn’t be so judgmental about the pedigree of the names. You may have said the same thing about Marc Cherry’s name on that list, if this was the year that he handed in his pilot for Desperate Housewives. Maybe the letter sounds like groveling, but it’s simply another effort on our part of trying to get the other side back to the negotiating table. After all, isn’t that what we all want in the end?
Wow. As a writer with a pilot script, I was asked to sign the above letter — well, the old version. And I did. I certainly didn’t think it would be published, but rather just sent to the executives we’re waiting to work with. Pointless? Probably. But an attempt to divide or to somehow say we’re better than anyone? Not in a million years. A signal that my resolve is somehow weakening? Come to the main gate at Disney any striking morning at 8am from here until the AMPTP gives us a fair deal and ask for me. I’ll be there.
As a relatively new member of the guild, I’m personally bummed that all this went down only a few weeks before I was due to hand in my script. Yet, selfishness aside, and I know this isn’t the Jersey long shoremen’s local, but a coalition of freelancers and the birthed product of their imaginations, there is a bigger fight here. And the letter, well, the letter, no matter how hard core the earlier draft may have been, really does comes across rather mewling and weighted with flop sweat.
Christ, I was finally doing my dream job, had one pilot shot and a deal to write another and then – God chuckled. Change is inevitible, but if the guild stays strong it can have some say in that change. If not, the change will come from without, whether guild members like it or not.
G.
Dear Fabriani and Lehane Hack . . . I mean “moderate writer,” “below the line guy” and my old friend “tv staffer” (After all . . aren’t you the same guy?) posting previously under “Bouncing Castle,” “just wondering,” “Cindy Loves Conan” etc. . .
Talk About Obvious. So part of the Fabriani and Lehane play book . . along with attempting to get the “btl” people to hate the WGA, supporting those SCABS, — Daley, Stewart and Colbert and their staffs– and attempting to create another class of permalancers by calling those‘modestly paid young people” who cross the picket line “commendable” (like I said, SCABS) is to pretend that a modest letter from some TVPilot-Hopefuls is a split in the Guild? C’mon you Fabriani and Lehane HACKS, let’s call it what it is: Wishful Thinking.
So now, two (2) more lies Making it “The TOP 12 Fabriani and Lehane Troll Lies and Posts”:
11. “thank goodness! This is what a split in the guild looks like without using the term “split’. This is reasonable” (That’s right, strike fear in everyone by labeling this letter something IT ISN’T: a split in the WGA Strike. But I Bet You Hope that All of us are calling our collegues TO TELL THEM THIS OBVIOUS CRAP that you wrote. And then you pretend you’re a “moderate writer” . . . Please . . . .
12. “Do you understand that, David Young? This is the first of many letters to come – and many back channel attempts to get things back on track. This is about getting back to work, not protecting the egos of our misguided leadership.” (No it’s not: This is about Another BS Fabriani and Lehane Crap Post and an attempt to justify the 100K per month that you are paid by the AMPTP (and maybe to show Nick Counter that you even work on Dec.26!!!) And nothing more.)
A WGA Supporter
Tired Feet,
Stop the self-pity. And Marc Cherry has more talent in his foreskin than you have in your entire body so quit comparing yourself to him.
Who are you going to compare yourself to next? Susan Harris? David Mamet? David Kelley?
When my wife and I were first approached about signing this letter, we had some of the reservations that many of you have expressed in your posts. We relayed our concerns about the wording to the people who wrote the letter (as did many of the writers who signed it, from my understanding) and some changes were made. I asked if the letter had been run by our leadership and was told it that it had. That was good enough for us. If they had been against this letter, we would never have signed it.
To clarify the intended targets of this letter, it was not written to the members of the AMPTP who have walked away from the bargaining table twice, but to the network and studio presidents, with the intention of encouraging them to support the writers in their quest for a fair deal and to remind them that they have a stake in this, too.
Is the wording too nice? Possibly, but this letter was to be read by several people who privately have been supportive of the AMPTP making a deal with us, but who have to publicly walk the corporate line. They don’t have the power to authorize a deal or to decide when the AMPTP walks away from the table. They are as much in the middle of this as everyone else.
When their bosses ask them to weigh in with their opinions (assuming they are from time to time), I want to hope there are some people on the other side who are still thinking rationally, not with their dicks – and that a fair, sensible deal can be reached that benefits everyone in the WGA and the other talent unions as well, not just pilot writers.
I remain 100% supportive of the WGA, this strike, and of this attempt for sanity to guide us to a fair deal so we can put this whole town back to work. I personally don’t believe that walking in a circle encouraging people to honk their horns is going to get us the deal we’re looking for, but come January 7th, we will be out theredoing it again, because that’s where our leadership wants us to be.
(And despite being having the good fortune to have bribed my way into being a Golden Globe nominee, I will be picketing outside the ceremony instead of sipping champagne inside the Beverly Hilton losing to Brad Bird, where I should be…)
Happy Holidays,
Mike Scully
Gee wiz, what a bunch of nasty comments. The letter seems perfectly reasonable and reflects what a lot of us even without pilots are thinking: make a fair deal so we can get back to work already.
And frankly, it seems like a smart idea to remind the execs that we’re not faceless enemies. They know us.
It was a dumb letter. Neville Chamberlain time. I don’t hit the picket line at 5:30 a.m. so my guild colleagues can ass-kiss away our upper hand. And yes, we do have the upper hand. If we don’t blow it with shit like this.
Mike Scully: “Is the wording too nice? Possibly, but this letter was to be read by several people who privately have been supportive of the AMPTP making a deal with us, but who have to publicly walk the corporate line. They don’t have the power to authorize a deal or to decide when the AMPTP walks away from the table. They are as much in the middle of this as everyone else.”
Being nice is good, Mike, but rather than combining nice with a pleading tone, it would have been better to combine it with a direct, no-nonsense tone. It’s unfortunate that the letter didn’t give your friends on the other side ammunition they could have used to bolster the WGA’s case to their bosses.
You needed to give your opposite numbers some new information, or at least old information cast in a new light. Something on the order of, “Look, you know we want to get to work on our pilots, and we know that you want us to get to work on them as well. But we BOTH know that if the strike goes past Valentine’s Day, the pilot season will be lost — IRRETRIEVABLY. And the only way to end the strike is for the AMPTP negotiators to return to the bargaining table. We don’t speak for the WGA Negotiating Committee, but it’s our sense that if negotiations resume now, the WGA will be prepared to negotiate in good faith on all open issues until a deal is reached that both sides can live with. When your bosses ask for your assessment of the situation, tell them that.”
Well said, Stuart. You make some excellent points.
Bravely stated, Anonymous.
Mike Scully
Wow, this letter got panned worse than the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.
All I know is that I would love to see these people be able to get back to work and produce these pilots. That would certainly better my chances of working again. Which, of course, is what this is all about. Right? Me being able to work again?
I think people are misunderstanding or misinterpreting the tenor of this letter — these writers are not trying to JUST get their pilots made — they are appealing to the execs with whom they have had long-standing relationships, reminding them that they know each other, trying to use the strength of these person-to-person relationships to urge the studios back to the table, which is for the benefit of all writers and the industry. They are NOT trying to make a side deal to get their own shows made and their own paychecks… I am stunned at the rancor and anger — seems like people are so eager to be pissed off at someone, they will go off half-cocked before they really understand the point…
ive just come upon this website and the letter and i recognize one of the names as a man that had a hit show as a showrunner and quit it it in support of the union so all you people belittleing these guys for trying good luck you dont even know these people or their motives typical bull im also out of work but i respect this man