Writers strike updates: The apocalypse deepens
I’m guessing the average person doesn’t have Variety and The Hollywood Reporter on their newsfeed, and probably isn’t interested in the minor details of the Writers Guild of America strike anyway. So here’s a brief recap on the latest, and how it affects YOU, John and Jane Q. Public-Citizen. (You hyphenated when you got married.)
• First, don’t hold your breath for a quick resolution. The opposing sides — the WGA (the good guys) and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (the greedy fat cats) — became so polarized and incensed during the pre-strike negotiations that now everybody just hates each other. The AMPTP says it has no interest in resuming talks as long as the WGA members are picketing; the WGA isn’t going to end the strike until talks are resumed. Sigh.
• Variety says that “without reviving the WGA talks, the scribes’ work stoppage could easily bleed into the middle of next year” (!!!!!!!!!!) (emphasis mine).
• It was initially thought that even with the writers gone, most shows could go ahead and produce the few scripts that had already been handed in. But that’s turning out not to be the case. Why? Because most TV shows’ producers are also writers. The networks said, basically, “We understand that Joe Schmo the writer isn’t coming to work this week. But that doesn’t mean Joe Schmo the producer can’t come in and do non-writing work.” And most of the writer/producers have basically said, “Actually, um, yeah, it does mean that.” Out of solidarity with their fellow writers, most show-runners are for all intents and purposes on strike, too. This means the networks will run out of new episodes to air even sooner than they thought they would.
• “Family Guy” head Seth MacFarlane says this Sunday’s episode is the last one that’s finished. A few others are in various stages of completion, but he ain’t liftin’ a finger, and if Fox tried to bring in scab talent to finish them, MacFarlane would be seriously P.O.’ed.
• Fox has postponed “24″ indefinitely. Apparently the show wasn’t as far along as I thought it was, and Fox doesn’t want to launch it until they’re sure they can show all 24 episodes without interruption. Let’s be glad they have that much sense.
• Here’s something I hadn’t thought of: Without late-night talk shows as a platform to promote films, how will anyone know who the Oscar front-runners are supposed to be?
• “The Office” will be in reruns after next week’s episode. Production shut down today when several key actors — many of whom are also writers — didn’t show up for work. According to one source, Steve Carell called NBC and said he couldn’t come to work because he was suffering from a case of “enlarged balls.” Whether he really said that or not, it’s hilarious. (And vulgar. Sorry, Mom.)
• For the most part, we don’t know how many episodes are already finished on various shows. The networks don’t want to say, since they don’t want to give competing networks a heads-up. What info we do have comes from the writers speaking up.
• “The Office” is on the forefront of this battle, part of which has to do with writers wanting a piece of the action when TV shows are sold on iTunes or viewed for free on ad-supported (and thus revenue-earning) network websites. “The Office” is one of the most commonly downloaded shows, and the writers aren’t getting a dime. Below is a great video of some of the writer/producer/actors on the picket line, explaining the problem.
November 8th, 2007 at 7:33 am
Death to TV, death to movies! Perhaps if this goes on long enough then new blood writers can get into the business. Companies will become so desperate that they will hire non-strike writers that will write, I don’t know, original and creative stories.
Of course, that won’t be before those lame reality shows kick into high gear and more third rate movies are made, but they had writers in them as well. People might actually go back to watching classic television and movies out of desperation and find something of lasting value. If they don’t do that they might find something more useful to do with their time as soon as they get bored. Kids will go outside and . . . scratch that because they will just play more computer games.
At any rate, I for one don’t find this a bad thing. It is more encouraging that changes will happen, but not the kind the Writers Club is looking for.
November 8th, 2007 at 8:31 am
Interesting stuff. I’m grateful for the backlog of shows on our DVR, not to mention all the movies I’ve been meaning to see forever but have shoved to the back burner in favor of loads and loads of TV. Last night my husband kept referring to the writers strike as “The Writers’ Block.” That works!
November 8th, 2007 at 10:13 am
This may be a boon for the DVR-less who don’t watch that much TV. I’ll finally get to see some reruns of episodes that I never caught the first time around.
Also benefiting from the strike are people who like familiar, comfortable things. Unfortunately for them, the reruns will probably be of shows that are (would be?) currently in production and not anything from the pre-Bunker days when civility had a place on the airwaves.
November 8th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Wow. I’m already sick of hearing about it, and it’s just Thursday.
November 8th, 2007 at 11:52 am
There was a WGA member on NPR yesterday noting that the WGA wants writers to send the organization copies of all material the writers were working on on the day the strike began. (That way the WGA can make sure no shows were later produced with altered scripts.)
Simultaneously the production companies are sending out “legal advisory” letters reminding the writers that all scripts are actually the property of the production companies and that disseminating them to anyone without the permission of the production companies is a violation of their contract, etc., etc.
What a mess!
November 8th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Wow. I’m already sick of hearing about it, and it’s just Thursday.
Yes, this is like how just about ANYTHING that happens in NYC can dominate the national news headlines for weeks even if it hasn’t the slightest impact on anyone living anywhere else in the country.
November 8th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
I’m wondering how this will affect independent films. Since some writers of these films are not members of the WGA would they be considered Scabs?
November 8th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
“We understand that Joe Schmo the writer isn’t coming to work this week. But that doesn’t mean Joe Schmo the producer can’t come in and do non-writing work.â€
Do writer-producers get two different salaries? If not then this kind of assumption seems wildly optimistic. C’mon Hollywood, how could you not see that one coming?
November 8th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
“At any rate, I for one don’t find this a bad thing. It is more encouraging that changes will happen, but not the kind the Writers Club is looking for.”
While I disagree with everything you posted, this in particular is wildly wrong.
It may appear that scabbing gives an opportunity to new writers, but in fact they get screwed worse than anyone else. TV production companies can get desperate enough to hire scabs, but the second the strike is over they will be summarily canned. And because they worked as scabs, they will never be considered by show producers for writing jobs ever again.
This happened during the last strike, and a lot of naive writers got hurt by it.
November 8th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
OK, forgive the stupid question- but don’t news shows have writers? I don’t think there’s ever been an anchor who could hold their own without a teleprompter. What’s happening with them?
November 8th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
If they are salaried, then not getting paid to write extra things like webisodes is part of the deal. When my employer asks me to do extra work or stay longer hours, I can’t ask for more money. If they want money for these extra sales, then they should retain royalty rights.
November 8th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
The thing a lot of people don’t realize about the strike is that the residuals are a very essential part of a writer’s salary. For example, I work in sales (not quite the same thing, but…) I receive a salary for showing up to work. However, that salary is WAY, WAY less than any salary I would actually be willing to work for, given my skills, education, and contribution for the company.
If my commission payout suddenly dropped (or, say, I didn’t get a higher commission scale after my sales vastly increased when I started using the internet to get sales), I would be upset. It would be essentially a pay cut. Just because I’m using a different method to get customers doesn’t mean they shouldn’t pay me for it.
Writers rely on residuals from reruns. The TV show “Lost” no longer shows reruns! At all. All new viewers are expected to either buy the DVD or get on-line and catch up. So the writers who had been expecting that residual as part of their negotiated salary are suddenly given a very severe CUT in pay.
This is getting a little rant-ish, so I think I’ll quit when I’m ahead. Needless to say, I’m firmly on the side of the writers, and look forward to the day when this is all resolved and I can watch me some high-quality TV again.
November 8th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
It is interesting to note that this snowball effect hits every worker involved. I have a friend in Los Angeles who is an EDITOR for “Lost” and I suppose he is going to have a difficult time keeping up with the bills as well.
One advantage of the strike of course is not seeing “Grey’s Anatomy”. I had “first and last time” moment watching it. Gosh I have a level of HATE for that show that knows no bounds. Most. Negative. Cynical. Show. Ever. Just my 2¢…
November 9th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Samantha, I was under the impression that this is a Hollywood Writers strike only and news shows don’t use hollywood writers (one is for fact, the other for fiction I guess).
November 9th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
More accurately, this is a Writers Guild of America strike. News shows, reality shows, game shows, and sports shows all use writers to one degree or another, but those writers don’t have to be WGA members (and in most cases aren’t). Entertainment programs, on the other hand MUST use WGA members.
November 9th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Oh, and to answer Mytzgud’s question (hi Dan!): If the strike continues for a long time, it could mean the return of the truly independent film, made with no help from studios whatsoever. Obviously anyone who wants to make a movie and has the resources can do it, whether anyone involved belongs to a union or not. Sundance and other festivals are full of movies fitting that description. No one considers them scabs because they’re working outside the studio system altogether. You’re only a scab if a studio hires you to do something.