12/10/2007

United Hollywood Live

United Hollywood Live (12pm Pacific/3pm Eastern) will be joined by Robert J. Elisberg, whose excellent article on The Huffington Post questions why the AMPTP - made up of competitors - is allowed to negotiate as a single entity against the WGA. The show will also feature a live remote from the Trekkie Day rally at Paramount Studios where the writers of all Star Trek Incarnations will join us on the picket line.

Tune in by CLICKING HERE (or by using the widget located along the right hand side of UnitedHollywood.com). The show, which airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday, is also available as a podcast immediately after each broadcast via the widget and on iTunes (search: United Hollywood).

Fans and WGA supporters are encouraged to become a part of the broadcast via live IM chats, video feeds and phone calls to the studio. They can also add the United Hollywood Live widget to their websites.

5 comments:

Frustrated Bystander said...

How come no one's contacted Jerry Brown, our State Attorney General, to ask about labor law and anti-trust legislation? Isn't there something on the books that would prohibit AMPTP's monopolizing of the business against labor? When the force majeure comes about, couldn't there be a class action suit of wrongful write offs when the AMPTP is an active participant in the force majeure? Wouldn't the state of California have recourse in some fashion to exert pressures on the AMPTP and their short-sighted strategy to undo the current system of fair wages and fair re-use compensation?

This fight is for the next generation of artists coming up the ranks. Would it be fair to kick our talented pool of young artists back to the dark ages of bit player wages for A-list delivery of content? Dreams, upward mobility, and a high standard of living is why people come to America and why artists come to New York and Los Angeles. We're in the business of dreams, not nightmares. Fight on WGA. You're not asking for anything that isn't deserved and justly due.

Skyfleur said...

Good Show, Trey and Eric ;)
That rant at the beginning : a gem !

VDOVault said...

Good show guys but for those who missed it it has some profanity in it and you might not want to listen at work or in front of the kids :)

Ilexivant said...

To be fair, unionized labor essentially turns competitors in the labor force that would otherwise be bidding down wages with each other so that labor supply equilibrated with labor demand at a true market equilibrium... into monopolized labor where the prevailing wage is held artificially high due to collectively bargained contracts...

I'm not saying I don't agree the writer's deserve better than what the studios have offered...

but it's certainly amusing when you are complaining about competitors not competing with each other when supporting organized and unionized labor.

makomk said...

IANAL, but I think this is entirely legal. For example, see this (somewhat old) New York Times article.

(The interaction between anti-trust law and labour law in general is interesting. For example, can the AMPTP legally require that all reality TV is provided by companies that only use WGA writers, which is what the WGA want?)