11/21/2007

Pre-Thanksgiving News and Notes

As UnitedHollywood settles into the slower, holiday news cycle, we'll still be updating the site. Just ...you know, not as much. The big news over the next few days will be the speechless campaign. So look for that. And we'll be back with full coverage of the resumed negotiations on the 26th.

  • StrikeSwag.com has shirts and a brand new supply of red writer's bracelets in stock.

    Proceeds support the Union Solidarity Fund, so click over and pick up some swag!
  • Campanile Restaurant on LaBrea just emailed us with details of their Writers Soup Kitchen. Starting tonight, you can order off a special menu that includes a choice of soup, entree, and dessert for $18/person. What makes this especially great is that you only need to show one WGA card per table. So, in the spirit of solidarity, head over there with your favorite member of SAG, the Teamsters, SEIU, DGA or any of the other many unions who marched with us yesterday. Click over to their Web site for info and reservations.
  • Speaking of yesterday's march, no doubt many of you noticed the plane flying overhead with the "we're all on the same page" slogan trailing behind it. That plane was booked by WGA member Todd Robinson and sponsored by Elizabeth Robinson's company, Principal Entertainment. Big shout out to the Todd and Elizabeth for their generosity.
  • Slate.com is hosting an interesting poll for Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau about viewers' reactions to the WGA strike. It's completely unscientific, but still worth a click.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

CBS Television Network
51 W. 52nd St.
New York, NY 10019
Main Number: 212-975-4321
212-975-4545 – Les Moonves' secretary

Tonia Lassnah said...

i have a friend who may lose his job over this strike. he's not a writer but works within the industry. I honestly cannot say that I support this strike if folks who are not writers and actors are losing their jobs.

Patrick Meighan said...

lashawna,

I'm sorry for your friend. That's gotta be very scary for him/her to endure, and he/she is lucky to have a good friend like you to talk to in tough times like that.

Speaking as a WGA member, though, I'm very conscious of the fact that I owe my pension, my heath care, and my middle-class living to writers who came before me that were willing to fight to win them... even when fighting meant going out on strike. Every single one of those strikes that came before, sadly, put folks like your friend out of work for brief (and very scary) periods of time, but they formed the building blocks upon which the American middle class has been built.

In any event, if I, as a WGA member, am a jerk for being willing to strike and walk away from my job, and if the cost of that strike is the loss of your friend's (non-writing) job, well, that puts me, regretably, in the same category of jerks as all the others who came before me, to whom I (and my wife and daughter) owe so very much.

I am very, very sorry about your friend potentially losing his/her job, and I hope that he/she gets it back very soon after this strike is over.

And if the AMPTP offers a fair contract on Monday, it'll be over just that soon.

Fingers crossed,

Patrick Meighan
Culver City, CA

Patrick Meighan said...

Oops, lashawna, I just noticed that you referred to your friend as a he ("he's not a writer"), so all my gender non-specificity was unnecessary (in addition to being tiresome).

My mistake.

Best,

Patrick Meighan
Culver City, CA

El Rebobinador said...

I cant wait to put my t-shirt of the WGA Strike...
From Chile and Spain
We are in the picket line with you guys,,,
Dont give up...
We follow the WGA Strike in this site and in.
www.obesotv.blogspot.com

Tom said...

Great stuff mate!!!!

check out my blog:

termsandconditions1.blogpspot.com

Anonymous said...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jFwL6iFDk9Q

Now help make their holiday's just as special and work out a deal! They are out of work because of all this, like the rest of those who are clapping. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I'm a guy and that made me tear up ever so slightly...

chimerastone said...

Writers should have get better deal in their wages. I know from experience it takes ages to edit writing and sometimes I feel like giving me. Many times I have been suggest to do write a film.

Writers should fight for their rights.

James said...

Best wishes and a Happy Thanksgiving to all the writers and supporters.

Jc
www.dollhouseecho.com

Anonymous said...

Chimerastone that was pretty clever. Have my babies, please?

Anonymous said...

There can be music without lyrics (words) because of beethoven and mozart, but not without the notes, though. I just wanted to correct Keys on that. Lol

Anyways, but we all know that the writers are the KING of all medias, including newspapers and the very first media that ever came out, not sure what it is, but for all them bible believers you wouldn't have a bible without a writer. Hell, Einstein couldn't have created his theory without writing it! They're not asking for fame either, but just to get their money's worth. PAY THEM, GEEZ! I think I made my point VERY CLEAR!

PearlyWrites, LLC said...

Awesome! I am def. purchasing some of these items in support of the writer's strike. I hope also that the writer's will not suffer after a settlement has been made.

John Bryans Fontaine said...

The Writer's strike is focusing the country's attention on the only economic hopes left for the average individual: Unions and Guilds. With the downturn in the economy, as well as the credit crisis, the writer's strike itself is taking on way more importance than any form of entertainment. For by showing workers that they don’t have to be silent and acquiesce to management ( as the former have since the eighties ), the writers are benefiting this country way more than clever lines would. People tend to choose bread before they want circuses, after all.

For what other economic hopes are there remaining? Trickle-down economics? Investing in Real Estate? 'The Secret'?

Anonymous said...

The writers' claim that that AMPTM caused all this is laughable. If a mother punishes her child for bad behavior, it's like saying that the mother is responsible for the child being punished. I hope on this Thanksgiving people remember the real needy folks in our country, not some greedy middle class writers looking for more money. Also, the writers seem to feel that they are doing the studios a favor by letting them produce their work, as if there was some natural entitlement for these writers' work to be produced. The way I look at it is that the studios and producers put the money up - they are taking the biggest risk. The writers get paid either way. Those who take the big risk should get the big reward. Here's hoping the AMPTP doesn't cave into these unreasonable demands.

Anonymous said...

Would you believe Yahoo is openly ENCOURAGING people to watch stuff online??!?

See for yourself:
http://www.yahoo.com/s/742850

This was one of their featured articles on Thanksgiving evening, roughly 7:45 pm EST.

MJEM said...

All I ever hear from performers is that it all comes down to the writing. Quality scripts... they're so important. I just hope it all gets resolved!

Good luck to those involved,

MJEM

Anonymous said...

Once this strike is settled, it'll be business as usual. The actors are the talent. The directors are the visionaries and storytellers. And the producers give the story life and the its opportunity to be seen.

So, what of the writers? They're the least important in the process, their skills and talents the least appreciated, they're tolerated but only barely.

So, this strike doesn't change anything, it just increases (hopefully) the amount the studios will pay to tell us how worthless we are -- nothing new.

And I guess we should be grateful we're part of the system at all.

Anonymous said...

Anyone else noticing how many of the negative comments come from someone named ANONYMOUS?

If you believe it, own it. Take credit for it. That's what WRITERS do.

Rama Stagner

Anonymous said...

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

THERE! I'm NOT anonymous! HAPPY?!