Compiled from WGA and United Hollywood emails. -JA
TUESDAY DECEMBER 11TH:
PENCILS2MEDIAMOGULS: It's here! The first delivery of pencils will take place today. Over 500,000 pencils have been shipped. Please join us as we deliver the pencils to NBC CEO Jeff Zucker, Robert Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and to Universal Studios for GE's CEO Jeffrey Immelt. Writers slated to appear include: Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica), Joss Whedon (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly), Carol Barbee (Jericho), Alfred Gough (Smallville), Miles Millar (Smallville). We will meet at 11:30 am at Johnny Carson Park, 400 Bob Hope Drive in Burbank.
PICKET WITH THE WRITERS AND STARS OF HEROES: Showrunner Tim Kring along with series stars Ali Larter, Adrian Pasdar, Jack Coleman, Christine Rose will be on the picket line from 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm at Universal Studios’ Main Gate (Universal Center Drive and Lankershim). T- shirts and comics will be handed out to fans who show up and picket with us. Contact Adam Armus chammax [at] aol [dot] com.
CHRISTMAS CAROL VIDEO BY HOLLYWOOD INTERRUPTED: Today at Universal, Peter Rader will be shooting music videos featuring SAG actors and picketers singing modified carols that skewer the greedy old Scrooges who are ruining the holidays for so many with their appalling greed. It's part of Hollywood Interrupted's "Santa Supports the Strike" DVD boycott. Picketers are encouraged to bring Santa hats. Peter is distributing lyrics you can download here.
Coincidentally, Graham Flashner, Lorin Wertheimer and Maria Elena Rodriguez sent us their own satirical holiday songs. Download them here and here, then sing them at your next studio picket. But don't expect any hot cider from the moguls inside, only a big lump of coal.
BRING AN ACTOR FRIEND TO THE LINE DAY: This is about all actors coming out to support you, their friends and union brothers and sisters. Our fight is their fight. And hopefully, after they walk with you, a lot of them will keep coming back. All Studios, all shifts.
STUDENT PICKET DAY: Film and screenwriting students join WGA members on the picket line at Sony, Overland Gate from 10:00am to 1:00pm.
PINK HAT BRIGADE: Female sci-fi and genre writers gather on the picket lines once a week. You can spot us by our Pink Cowboy Hats adorned with alien antennae. Our next group picket is planned for Warner Brothers from 8:00 am – 11:00 am. For more information, please contact Gillian Horvath at ghorvath [at] aol [dot] com
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 12TH:
WGA/SEIU JOINT ACTION: Wednesday December 12th at 5:00 pm at the corner of Wilshire Blvd. & Veteran Ave. in Westwood. WGAW members will join SEIU Security Officers in a March and rally to bring General Electric’s disrespect of workers to light. Please wear red t-shirts. Picket signs & flashlights will be provided. Speakers will include President Faith Culbreath, SEIU SOULA Local 2006, Nancy De Los Santos, WGA Board Member, Dr. Norman Johnson, Sr., Pastor of First New Christian and Rev. Eric P. Lee, Sr., President/CEO - SCLC of Greater Los Angeles Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church.
THE STRIKE SHOW: A live comedy/variety show produced by Nick Kroll and Kat Foster. Wednesday December 12th at 10:00 pm at THE STEVE ALLEN THEATER Center for Inquiry-West, 4773 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90027 Two blocks west of Vermont -- Plenty of FREE parking in the rear. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. WGA Members get in Free, but donations are encouraged. All proceeds will benefit members of the industry who are affected by the strike via the Motion Picture and Television Fund, which provides financial assistance to industry members during these challenging times.
DIVERSITY PICKETING DAY: The Committee of Black Writers wants to cordially invite all members to DIVERSITY PICKETING DAY, Wednesday, December 12th at the Paramount Gates from 12- 2. Please join a diverse group of celebrities and writers for a day of unity on the picket line. Also, the Committee of Latino Writers is sponsoring salsa-dancing lessons at Paramount’s Bronson Gate (the unofficial dancing gate). Everyone is welcome. For more information contact Jacqueline McKinley at JacMac14 [at] aol [dot] com.
UNITED HOLLYWOOD LIVE: Tune in by clicking on the United Hollywood Live widget along the right hand side of this site or by clicking here. 12:00 pm -1:30 pm for the duration of the strike.
THURSDAY DECEMBER 13TH:
MIRACLE ON 1ST STREET TOY DRIVE: The Latino Writers Committee is sponsoring a toy drive to benefit east L.A.'s famous Hollenbeck Youth Center on THURSDAY DECEMBER 13th . For over 25 years, the Hollenbeck Youth Center has helped organize the Miracle on 1st Street Giveaway that annually distributes over 10,000 toys to needy inner city L.A. kids – it takes place in Boyle Heights on Dec. 15. If you can, please bring a new toy to drop off when you sign in for your Thursday picketing shift – there will be boxes available at all picket sites and in the WGA Lobby. Contact Alan Dybner at dyb@aol.com if you have any questions. Click for more information on the Hollenbeck Youth Center.
NYC MUSIC VIDEO SHOOT FOR CANTINERO: Chris Hicken aka Cantinero will be on the picket lines in New York this coming Thursday at noon shooting a video for his strike anthem, "No Apologies." He is looking for audience participation. We are told it is also student day on Thursday in NYC, so invites all students to join the chorus along with WGAE members on the line.
INDIE FILM GATE: Please join your fellow writers at Indie Film Gate, a picketing event on Thursday, December 13th. Independent Film Screenwriters and their friends & supporters will be gathering at Paramount - Melrose Gate from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Confirmed speakers include Howard A. Rodman, Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, Robin Swicord, John August and Bill Condon. Site is located at 5555 Melrose Avenue and parking options include streets South of Melrose. Contact Kay Schaber Wolf: kschaber [at] wga [dot] org
WGEh: Canadian writers and the people who love them will be out and about picketing on Thursday, December 13th from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm at CBS Radford (main gate). Bring anything Canadian -- flags, hockey stick signs, plucky optimism -- and wear your Canadian colors in honor of this event.
FRIDAY DECEMBER 14TH:
WRITE AID: A benefit concert (organized by Marti Noxon, Dawn Prestwich, Nicole Yorkin and the United Showrunner Committee) to provide assistance to industry employees affected by the Strike featuring performances by Edie Izzard, Lewis Black, Patton Oswalt, Sarah Silverman and Tenacious D (Jack Black and Kyle Gass). Friday December 14th at Royce Hall, UCLA at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $75.00 per person and can by purchased at UCLALive.org or by calling (310) 825-2101 or through Ticketmaster. Tickets are also available at the UCLA Central Ticket Office (southwest corner of the James West Alumni Center) and at all Ticketmaster Outlets.
DANE COOK BENEFIT SHOW: Dane Cook is currently scheduled to headline this Friday at the Laugh Factory, and he is donating the entire door to support workers affected by the strike. We will post any changes or additional information as we get it.
BOSTON TV PARTY with Joss Whedon, Rob Kutner and Jaime Paglia: Full details in this Boston Herald article. "Festivities begin at the Meeting House of the First Parish Unitarian Church in Cambridge, where writers and celebrities will speak. Then the strikers and fans will march across Harvard Square to the Harvard Lampoon building for a rally."
“We encourage people to bring their own picket signs, (tasteful slogans please,)” the union says in a press release, “and look forward to having writers and fans march side by side in support of the people who provide the content that gives the studios and television networks their record profits.”THE STRIKE SHOW: see calendar WEDNESDAY 12/13
UNITED HOLLYWOOD LIVE: 12:00 pm -1:30 pm
8 comments:
Regarding the DVD boycott, I'm up for it. I must have spent thousands of dollars on DVD:s last year, and I am willing to stop entirely while the writers are on strike. However, I would like to find an efficient way to tell the studios that THIS IS WHY I have stopped purchasing their DVD:s, so the point is truly made. Any suggestions, any organized form we "DVD boycotters in support of the WGA" can use?
I noticed one of the strike events is for Indie Screenwriters, which spurred a few questions:
Are WGA Writers allowed to work on Independent Productions during the Strike?
If so, is there a low-budget agreement that is currently in effect?
If not, is something in the works? Several people have been posting that the best way to get back at the AMPTP is to just cut them out of the picture -- raise financing and go indie (easier said than done, but I love the idea). Is this a feasible plan, or would doing so not fall under Guild jurisdiction?
Thanks!
"NBC has quietly begun reimbursing advertisers an average of $500,000 each for failing to reach guaranteed ratings levels, the first time a network has taken such a step in years, media buyers said."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071211/tv_nm/nbc_dc;_ylt=ArBKyEjh.Niqmj2ine5ikvJxFb8C
You keep posting how the advertisers are losing all this money, how bout you look at yourselves as a whole? I know you dread even the letters AMPTP, but why not head over to their site and see how much money the WGA has lost since the beginning of the strike. www.amptp.org.
1000 Cranes participants have been looking forward to today all week. So far that I know of, we have 3 people in our campaign going. We are so excited to be physically supporting you guys!
I'm up for the DVD boycott, too! Oh wait, doesn't the Lost Season 3 DVD come out today? ...I'm up for the DVD boycott starting Wednesday, December 12!
I've been boycotting DVDs, theatrical releases, and studio sponsored downloads/streaming since the strike began. I'm also doing my best to make sure none of my money goes to Sony, General Electric, Disney, etc.
Which sucks, cuz I *really* want a PS3, but if this drags on long enough I'll probably buy an XBOX when the new Grand Theft Auto game comes out.
The new PR staff for the AMPTP has certainly been busy. Their own site's front page now includes the aforementioned "cost clock", designed to demoralize writers. It also contains statements refuting and discrediting past WGA statements. Some highlights:
"The AMPTP never demanded that the WGA withdraw its DVD proposal as a pre-condition to making an offer on Internet residuals."
Sounds like it's time to re-introduce DVD residuals... there doesn't seem to be an issue re-negotiating them.
"The negotiations did not break down over new media issues."
Looks like re-negotiating New Media residuals aren't an issue, either.
"Instead Mr. Verrone attended a rock concert and rally..."
"The fact is that neither Mr. Verrone, who was at a rock concert rally..."
Apparently, the core issue of Mr. Verrone attending rock concert rallies is a key point of contention. This should be addressed, possibly with a WGA-controlled pay-per-view structure allowing AMPTP representatives to view said rock concert rallies over the internet.
The FAQ section of the site is also very interesting. Apparently, the AMPTP's sole mission as an organization is to encourage and advise WGA members to cross a picket line. Sample questions:
"How does someone resign from the WGA?"
"Can the WGA prohibit me from resigning during a strike?"
"What happens if I resign from the WGA?"
Questions missing from the FAQ:
"How and why did the AMPTP have a carefully-prepared, detailed statement distributed minutes after their supposedly unexpected termination of talks on December 7th?"
"What progress has the AMPTP made on the key points of DVD and New Media residuals, since they apparently aren't a point of contention?"
"When does the AMPTP plan to return to negotiations with the WGA to address these key issues?"
Very interesting.
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