The cast of Grey's Anatomy stood by their strikers yesterday. I'm embedding two clips here, go to the United Hollywood YouTube page for even more.
11/08/2007
Day Three Highlights: Grey's Anatomy on the Line
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38 comments:
The blog "makeover" looks great!
Keep up the fight!
I saw this bit of news today:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119448570030485984.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
An excerpt:
"AOL's agreement yesterday to buy online-ad firm Quigo caps a $1 billion acquisition spree aimed at helping the Time Warner Inc. unit transform itself from a subscription-based Internet-service provider to a digital-advertising network."
Seems like an awful lot of money and interest in new media for it to be such a spooky new medium that cannot support paying writers...
Keep it up, make them pay!
I made this for all of you...
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/5830/nickcounterwz4.jpg
Down with Nick Counter!
Keep it up! Writers do quite a bit for all of us, so I hope you all get a deal that works for you soon!
Is there anything a university student stuck in the midwest can do to help you all out? There are a lot of us out here who are rooting for all of you!
what a bunch of spoiled brats you all appear to be. you really think joe public supports your collective tantrum? hollywood is indeed on a different planet.
And yet, and I'm not even a writer, just a fan, you, Mr. Anonymous, come here and hide behind anonymity while insulting people who have legitimate legal claims for what they are fighting for.
That seems to be missing from a lot of the arguments and comments I hear against the writers. Sure, the ones that are at the top right now working on the big shows are getting some fair compensation, and yes, the television and movie industry as a whole sees some very overpaid employees, but I think Jon Baitz put it best - the fact that people are sympathizing with the STUDIOS, whose honchos make millions and millions a year, is just shameful and embarrassing.
Give the writers their due and stop hiding behind anonymous names to insult and denigrate ( I'm using one simply because I don't have an account).
well i don't sympathize with either side. both sides are greedy pigs. hey, i know! let's just make joe schmo in flyover country pay an additional "writer's surcharge" of like $5.00 per dvd and $1.00 per digital download. A fee that would go straight to those sainted writers. I'm sure joe public would be happy to fork it over for quality writing - like there is on shows like "till death". Face it. Lots of people with REAL and important jobs don't get paid enough, and they resent you blow-dried hollywood types for not knowing how good you have it. What makes you so special?
As an egotistical blogger and graduate student, I can understand the idea of being underpaid and overworked. The WGA has my full support and I hope you don't back down from your 8 cents from DVD rentals. Fuck the studios. Anyone sympathetic to them should be blacklisted.
First off, that doesn't seem to be what the writers are asking for. They seem to be asking for a share (a very small seeming share) of the profits off of their work being exhibited in new formats.
Secondly, with the mere use of the terms "joe public" and "joe schmo," which both seem to drip with contempt, you seem to be differentiating yourself from the common person. How in the world can you speak for anyone else, then, if you find yourself to be of a completely separate type of human being?
Err, probably shoulda thrown a @Anonymous 5:41 AM in to my last post. Sorry.
What these writers and actors are doing that's so amazing is participating in an organized, cohesive battle that will benefit the real underdogs -- new writers, struggling writers, writers who are unemployed half the time and rely on their residuals. The WGA rank and file is NOT rich, spoiled or greedy. They are creative, hard-working people with families. The studios and networks are trying, intentionally, to throw them under the bus while they profit more and more from "new media" ventures.
If you find it hard to sympathize with the staff and cast of Grey's Anatomy, Lost, and The Office, you're missing the point. They're not just doing this for themselves.
As any business 101 student can tell you, business charge "what the market will bear" for products and services. Meaning that the studios are going to charge you as much as they think they can get away with for DVDs, downloads, movie tickets, etc.
Even if the content were created by magic elves who worked for free, the studios will charge as much as they can get you to pay. If the writers got 10% of DVD sales instead of .4$, the studios will charge as much as they can get you to pay.
In short, the amount you pay for a DVD will not change because of this strike. If they could get away with charging $1 more, they would already be doing so even without the money going to the writers.
Labor disputes aren't about higher or lower prices, no matter how much the bosses always use that scare tactic to try to rally consumers to their side. Labor disputes are about how to divide the revenue that's coming in. There's going to be billions of dollars spent on entertainment every year. The question is do all of those billions go into the pockets of a few studio heads, or does more of it make it into the hands of the folks doing much of the work.
And folks, this is the story with EVERY strike (although in many other industries there are often strikes over issues of safety and forced overtime as well). Remember that if the longshore workers get locked out again, or when you hear about nurses on strike in your town.
And as far as other workers "doing more important jobs for less money", there is a very simple answer to that problem. They need to organize together so they can have enough power to bargain collectively like the writers, actors, airline pilots, etc. And when they want to do so, the labor movement of which the WGA is a part, will be there to help.
good luck, hope you get what you want/deserve!!
Maybe, if writters get more money, they will write better episodes and no that George/Izzie crap?
If so, then I support them ;)
I'm with you, eso!
If writers can't live on their residuals than they need to look at getting a part time job.
I'm underpaid and have a hard time feeling empathy for those that make more than I do. Stopping buying your $4 Starbucks learn to tighten your belt during those dry spells.
I also think that the studios shouldn't have an issue with sharing the wealth. I do not see the the request from the WGA as unreasonable.
I just see a bunch of rich parents(studios) and their rich kids(writers) fighting.
I may have grown up loving TV, but just like when the Friends cast wanted more money I stopped watching. I just may do this again.
TV Baby of the 70's
is there somewhere we can donate to help support strikers and their families? i'd rather send them $19.99 than buy another DVD!!
Is someone working on website badges that non-wga sites can put up to show their support for the strike?
If you need donations look at Network for Good or Chipin. Paypal has something now too.
Thanks and keep up the good fight.
There's really only one question I'd like to ask all these picketers. Is the profit sharing in your contract?
If it's not, go home.
The studio pays your salary. They pay everyones salary and production expense for the show. Once you hand it over to them, it's theirs. They can do WHATEVER they want with it.
If you wanted profit sharing on streaming and DVD videos etc, then you should have added that to your contract. You can't come back years later and go on strike because you realized you made a mistake signing on.
If they have profit sharing in their contract, and the studios aren't paying the precise amount they are owed, then I can sympathize. But if not, you're wasting media time and I hope the studios come down on you hard.
Great video, and it sounds like your slogans are getting better.
The Grey's fan, at least some of us, have formed an attachment to the writers due to the writers' blog (Krista's my favorite) so, if you do any more interviews with them, could you have them introduced? (unless terrible things will happen to them if anyone knows their names, of course)
So, who was that writer in the first video? Mark? Allan? Mr Werksman (whose first name i don't recall)
Anonymous 5:20 am - you can still sign your post with your name, as I did, even if you don't have an account. or just write your name at the end :-) (which I did before the other was an option)
Pam Ashworth
There's really only one question I'd like to ask all these picketers. Is the profit sharing in your contract?
If it's not, go home.
To answer your question, the writers currently have no contract. Their last one expired and they're on strike in an attempt to get profit sharing added to the contract, so that pretty much makes your whole argument baseless.
Apologies to Eric(h?), Chris, and Kip at Greys for forgetting their names
"To answer your question, the writers currently have no contract. Their last one expired and they're on strike in an attempt to get profit sharing added to the contract, so that pretty much makes your whole argument baseless."
You also have to remember who's in charge here. The writers are fighting to get profit sharing and their content on the studios network. The studio decides who gets on and under what terms.
If the writers want to make their own form of distribution, then by all means. But until then, the studios get the last word. Period.
Chris,
Conversely, if the studios want good writers to keep making products that make them very rich, they have to give the writers what they want. Period.
This strike is no different than if you went to your boss and said, "Look, boss, I need a raise if I'm going to keep working here."
The only difference is, as a lone individual, you don't have much power to get a raise out of your boss. No matter how important you think you are, you're likely to be replacable. But if everyone at your job went to the boss together and said, "Look, we all need raises if we're going to keep working here" they'd actually have to take you seriously. You might not get exactly what you want, but if you stand together then they have to at least listen to you and negotiate.
That's really all a union is.
That's great that the actors are out there! Keep up the good fight!
The ignorance of the anonymous commenters is astonishing. Maybe TV really does rot your brain.
I'm behind you guys 100%. You are doing the work, you should share in the profits.
Fight for your money, guys! I really am supporting you, cause it's your right to get money for the things the companies sell. It's your work. And it really is great work! worth to get paid for.
Apparently, Anonymous-pity-thy-self cannot see beyond his own cage to the larger principles of justice and fairness. Too bad. Those are the same issues s/he suffers the lack of in his "underpaid" job and, if he'd simply join the struggle instead of snipping at those who stand up for their rights and principles, he'd see s/he too might have gain in the long run.
Justice for one is justice for all!
"The ignorance of the anonymous commenters is astonishing. Maybe TV really does rot your brain."
I agree. Some of these anonymous comments are ridiculous. I agree with the writers a 100%. They deserve the profits of what they are creating, without them there is no show, they should be getting paid way more than they are. If you dont agree with them, then you aren't smart enough to see why they are doing what they are doing. They don't make as much as you think, and even if they do, in 5 years when internet is the main thing to see tv shows on, they will be making nothing then. It's smarter to fight for it now then it would be in the future.
You guys should be using Revver.com to host and share these videos. Revver pairs ads with videos and shares all ad revenue with creators, which is basically what the WGA is fighting for - a cut of the revenue. It makes more sense than YouTube, which hasn't been all that great at sharing revenue with more than a handful of creators.
i'm behind the writers 100%, and hope they can get this thing settled quickly for the sake of them and their families. my dad was on strike for months when i was a child and 22 years later, my parents are still in debt because of it. strikes are a horrible thing on the strikers, yes, they COULD chose not to strike, but values and principles mean much more than money, as much as it may hurt.
best of luck to you all!
-am
Really justice for one is justice for all? As an Apache I sure haven't seen much justice for my people. An I have been standing up and protesting for two decades and still nothing.
You want more money keep writing, don't stop and try to live on the fruits of your past.
As I clearly stated and which you must have missed I do not think the WGA is be unreasonable. What I do see is a lot of rich kids fighting for more when their actions affect those that don't have the resources to whither the strike. But they can't see past their morning cup of 4bucks and only care about themselves.
TV Baby of the 70s.
oops, and Tony (she says, reading the credits for tonight's ep)
and of course all the female writers too
Great to see George there a self proclaimed "union man"!!! :)
Dempsy is by far the coolest.
The other cast members come across as naive.
to tv baby of the '70s,
dude, seriously. i'm pretty sure none of the writers want to stop writing or have to "live on the fruits of the past." the thing is that their shows get canceled or they end, and then what do they do? it doesn't matter how much they write if they don't have a show or movie to write FOR. from what i understand, most of the writers do keep writing when they're out of work--things that will hopefully lead to new jobs. that's where the residuals come in. they need them to, you know, keep them from having to live in a box in between shows.
also, most of the "rich kids" don't seem to be there for themselves. they realize that they're important to the their shows, etc., and are trying to use their fame to help people who need all the help they can get. in any case, no matter how rich they are, they still deserve to be paid fairly for their work.
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