Writers strike is a go

[Relique du Madde]

Wow, no love for Ugandans. :\

Quite the opposite. I have no love for the children on Kid Nation.

I only selected Uganda because it's recent 20 something year long civil war was likely to have produced a number of errant landmines and because its mentioning is not as politically divisive as other regions in this world.

If it was feasible, I'd ship the Kid Nation children to Antarctica to face an icy death, but unfortunately that would put unspecified number animals at risk of being clubbed to death by starving children.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

There's an interesting (and somewhat alarming ) article in this weeks LA Weekly by Nikki Finke.

Her blog at http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/ also has daily updates on the situation.

 

[Ranger REG]

I was reading a story on ICV2 that mentioned that since 24 has been pulled from the schedule (they don't want to start it until they are sure they can finish it) that the Sarah Conner Chronicles will now premiere in 24's 9 pm slot in January.

I knew they already shot the two-hour pilot, but how many more episodes after that have already been shot?

Sad but a wise move to postpone 24.

 

[DonTadow]

Quite the opposite. I have no love for the children on Kid Nation.

I only selected Uganda because it's recent 20 something year long civil war was likely to have produced a number of errant landmines and because its mentioning is not as politically divisive as other regions in this world.

If it was feasible, I'd ship the Kid Nation children to Antarctica to face an icy death, but unfortunately that would put unspecified number animals at risk of being clubbed to death by starving children.

Honestly though, for anyone whose watched the show, its no different than if someone took a camera to a camp for 6 weeks (and skillfully) did not tape of the adults. It's good entertainment. Interesting to see these kids make decisions. Though I some things (rootbeer in the shape of beer bottles, a tavern, dancing for money) obviously shouldn't be going on.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Though I some things (rootbeer in the shape of beer bottles, a tavern, dancing for money) obviously shouldn't be going on.

OT: My friend and I always laugh and make drunk jokes when the kids go to the tavern to do root beer shots and sulk.

I enjoy the show (though I can't stand the little prom queen). I just wish they'd institute some penalties against her and her posse (which, the last show I saw, they were going to start doing- finally). I also think it would be cool if the kids had a jail, or if Greg and Blaine decided to get a gang of their own together to terrorize the town as outlaws or something. If I were there, I think it would be cool and funny to do, if only to see if the producers would step in and do something about it.

 

[Insight]

Only if you plan on not working in that industry after the strike ends...

I support the union's right to strike, no question.

However...

There are non-WGA signatory production companies that take submissions from unproduced writers (who therefore do not qualify to join the WGA). Most writers like myself who cannot join the WGA can submit work to non-signatory prod cos without scabbing as long as I don't sign an agreement until the strike is over.

 

[Mistwell]

I crossed the picket line yesterday (a friend was trying out for "Deal or no Deal", and I might end up as one of her "supporters").

I noticed something...ALL the picketing writers had a serious beer belly going on. I mean, there were over a dozen, and all of them were not just a tad overweight (because really, few among us are not a tad overweight), but they were seriously in need of some weight loss.

Which, of course, they were getting at the moment.

I heard someone on the radio across the street from the Burbank strikers make the exact same observation...so I guess it holds true for at least two major locations of the strike.

So, maybe something good will come of this strike after all...some well needed exercise!

I do find it a bit disturbing that people have linked to no less than four different sources for news on this issue, and one petition-signing campaign as well, and ALL of them are from the writer's perspective (several directly from a striker). Kinda a biased view of the subject matter if all you read is one side's views. The writers have some good points, and I think in general I come down slightly on their side, but the Producers have some good points as well, and they seem to be going unnoticed.

If anyone is curious about the Producer's perspective, you can see some of it here (though warning, some strong language used):

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/6/153456/262

 

[Grog]

Getting the producers' point of view on the strike is all well and good, but that article was just a rant as far as I could tell.

Anyway, nothing I've heard from the producers so far has addressed the central issue of the strike - namely, that the writers want to be paid for their work, regardless of what medium is used to deliver it to viewers. The fact is that the studios don't want to pay anyone - the writers, the directors, the actors - for content shown via the internet. "The Office," for example, had full episodes shown on NBC.com, and NBC sold ads that ran during the episodes, and the network called them "promotions" and didn't pay anyone one red cent for them. How many people here would start working for free if your boss demanded it?

One thing I think a lot of people don't realize is that, for a Hollywood writer, it's easily possible to be considered basically washed up by the time you're 40. The reason being that Hollywood is obsessed with the 18-34 demographic (the majority of stuff they produce is for that age group), and Hollywood CW says that you can't write for that demographic if you're much older than they are. It's often extremely difficult for a 40+ screenwriter to find work, and so residuals are literally all they have to feed their families with. They can't afford to get cheated out of them just because the delivery method for their work has changed.

 

[Pyrex]

I do find it a bit disturbing that people have linked to no less than four different sources for news on this issue, and one petition-signing campaign as well, and ALL of them are from the writer's perspective (several directly from a striker).

I think that's because, on the whole, articles by-and-for the writers come across as more (ahem) well-spoken.

They're less ranty and whiny than, say, the producer article you linked making the writers seem more reasonable (and, ergo, in the right) than the producers.

Which may or may not actually *be* the case; but as I haven't seen any article from *either* side that says anything other than "we want more money and they don't want to give it to us" I don't really feel qualified to speak on which side may be "right".

 

[Grog]

Which may or may not actually *be* the case; but as I haven't seen any article from *either* side that says anything other than "we want more money and they don't want to give it to us" I don't really feel qualified to speak on which side may be "right".

The whole thing basically comes down to one simple question - do you think that the writers (and the directors, and the actors) should get paid less (or, in many cases, nothing at all) because their work gets shown on the internet rather than on TV?