12/16/2007

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS

MONDAY DECEMBER 17th:

  • STRIKER’S STUDIO WALK-A-THON: A 7 mile walk beginning at Disney’s main gate at 9:00 am. For more information, please contact Josh Singer at jsinger10@gmail.com

  • DAYTIME UNITED: The writers of Daytime Dramas, Telenovelas, and Internet Serials are hosting a special picket event on Monday, December 17th, from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm at CBS Television City, on the Fairfax side. This will coincide with a similar event in Manhattan, organized by WGAE. With the enthusiastic support of AFTRA, the actors from our favorite Daytime Dramas -- plus directors, staff and crew -- will join the picket line in solidarity with the writers. For more information, please contact Karen Harris (poainc@sbcglobal.net) or Sara Bibel (sarab@earthlink.net )

  • UNITED HOLLYWOOD LIVE: Covering all aspects of the WGA strike, the interactive show will include interviews, live reports from the various picket lines and video clips. Tune in by clicking on the United Hollywood Live widget along the right hand side of www.UnitedHollywood.com or by going to www.NowLive.com/show/UnitedHollywood. The show will air each Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12:00 pm -1:30 pm for the duration of the strike.

  • MEMBERSHIP ASSEMBLY: On Monday, December 17th at 6:30 pm there will be a Membership Assembly at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium 1855 Main Street Santa Monica, CA 90401. This meeting is for current active members only. Parking at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is limited. We encourage you to carpool.

    TUESDAY DECEMBER 18TH:

  • “SCENE OF THE CRIME” RALLY AT THE AMPTP: A special event sponsored by writers of cop/crime shows and their stars from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm at the AMPTP Headquarters, 15503 Ventura Blvd in Encino between Haskell Ave. and the 405 (about 1/8 of a mile WEST of the 405, on the NORTH side of Ventura Blvd.) Best street parking (free, 2-hour) is south of Ventura Blvd. on Firmament Ave. and its side streets. Plentiful paid parking at the Sherman Oaks Galleria, just east of the 405 on the north side of Ventura Blvd.
    The AMPTP and six co-conspirators have been indicted for trying to steal the Internet and misappropriate the future of writers. A reading of the Bill of Indictment will take place and the AMPTP and its accomplices will then be encouraged to seek a plea bargain. At which point appropriate chanting (“A-M-P-T-P, COP A PLEA!”) will take place. An attempt will be made to wrap Crime Scene Tape completely around the building. For more information, please contact Kit Boss at kitboss@verizon.net or Lynne Litt at lalel@aol.com
    This is NOT a picket. Please do not wear your STRIKE shirts or carry ON-STRIKE signs. You may wear your red WGA shirts or dress to participate in the street theater.

  • Due to popular demand, David Milch will again speak about new business models for writers at the WGA Theater, 135
    Doheny Blvd., Beverly Hills. The talk begins at 2:15pm.

    WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 19TH:

  • CITY COUNCIL HEARING ON THE IMPACT OF THE WGA STRIKE: On Wednesday December 19th, the Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee of the Los Angeles City Council will conduct a hearing on the economic impact of the Writers Guild strike on the local and regional economy. There will be testimony by various economic experts and representatives of the WGA and the AMPTP. Patric Verrone, David Young and John Bowman will talk about the history of bargaining and the issues at stake. Please join us at 7:30 am at Los Angeles City Hall Main Chambers (3rd Floor) 200 N. Spring Street Los Angeles, CA 90012. Wear your strike t-shirts and show up in numbers—we need to pack the room!

  • 17 comments:

    Unknown said...

    Hey, how about talking about gaining some RESPECT as a writer in this strike? I have heard stories of the higher ups modifying your work after it has been submitted, then we complain about the bad quality of television and movies.

    not a troll said...

    42 days since the writers walked out. The whole town is waiting.

    Carl said...
    This comment has been removed by the author.
    Harold said...

    I'd like the waiver to Letterman's show be addressed in the blog. That is disappointing.

    The problem is that all of late night is going back on air by January 7 - waivers or not. Then, the "individual negotiations" thing comes out and Letterman's show is going to get a strike waiver.

    And what Letterman is getting IS a strike waiver. An "interim agreement" with a production company is not a new contract. Worldwide Pants isn't permanently agreeing to any of WGA's contract demands anymore than the rest of the AMPTP is.

    The "individual negotiations" look more like an attempt to spin the fact that shows are dropping their support for the strike. Make no mistake about it, when Leno et al resume airing, they don't give a crap about the strike and it's B.S. to pretend otherwise.

    The showrunners will drop their support next. They backstabbed the WGA in 1988 and will drop their support again - but this time it will be because the WGA negotiators are so incompetent as opposed to being spoiled jerks like they were in 88. There will be so many strike waivers handed out, the strike itself will be a joke.

    This looks more and more like 1988. All that striking and nothing achieved. This thing was lost as soon as DVDs were taken off the table without any fact-based promise from AMPTP. The WGA negotiators lost what little respect they had at the table when that happened.

    It's too late for new negotiators. That looks weak. The position that WGA is now in is hoping that the DGA will make a good deal. That's obviously not a good position to be in. The DGA might as well be a branch of the AMPTP like IATSE. I'm certain now that the DGA will end the strike - on ITS terms, not the WGA's.

    At the end of the contract term that is finally made for this contract, any strike threat is an empty one for another 20 years since the previous two would have acheived nothing. I can't believe how much the WGA screwed up their negotiations. Yeah, AMPTP left the table, but since they've had the advantage ever since DVDs came off the table, they can do whatever they want.

    DVDs was a pivotal point. The WGA bargaining position was never stronger than the day before that happened. It continues to get weaker, but it's moot since the DGA will not be taking over. It doesn't matter that you can put DVDs back on the table. When it came time to bargain, the WGA blinked first. You rarely overcome that.

    Remember this leadership's incompetence in the future. They weren't sellouts like John Wells (who should be kicked out of the Guild for his ass-raping of its members under his leadership), but principled incompetence isn't much better than unprincipled collusion.

    not a troll said...

    While this strike goes on I wonder how much money each writer (who was working in the first place) is losing as each day goes by. Will they ever make that up even if they get everything they are asking for? Remember, this is not for the next generation this is for the next 3 years. Oh and Carl, you don't get paid to write, do you? It might be why sitcoms are dead.

    Jenny said...

    not a troll obviously IS. Yes the writers are losing money but they are doing so because they are standing up for what's right and for the future of all writers. The AMPTP is refusing to negotiate out of greed and ego. And the members of the group are not fiscally impacted one bit personally but they are losing lots of money for their shareholders.

    And Carl that top 10 list was brilliant!!!!

    Anonymous said...

    Although it is awful how much the writers are actually losing due to the strike - they are standing up for what they believe in. Kuddos to them for having the balls to actually do it. I know I could never afford to strike- not that they can afford it either...
    My heart goes out to all of you writers. I wish there was something I could do to help.

    Occasional Showrunner said...

    Way to vomit back up the AMPTP talking points, NAT! You earned your check today. Now you can afford to emerge from mom's basement and buy more zit cream and JOLT cola.

    No shit I'm losing money. I'm on strike. That's what happens. Except that the money I'm losing now is pennies on the dollar to what I'd've lost if we'd taken the AMPTP's bullshit initial offer or their pig-in-a-dress "New Economic Partnership."

    So you can wave your microscopic little e-peen all day, it's not going to make a damn bit of difference. Kinda humorous to see you try, actually.

    artdeptgirl said...

    "I wish there was something I could do to help."

    simple mindz,

    have you written to the advertisers that purchased ad time on your favorite shows? have you shared with them that you support the writers and that you believe they deserve a fair deal?

    *that's* something you can do to help. the advertisers are trying to reach you, the audience, when they buy ad time. that gives you, as a consumer, power.

    politely voice your opinion to them. it can go a long way.

    Captain Obvious said...

    Harold: You forget, DVDs being dropped was a pre-strike zero-hour attempt at making a deal. The AMPTP balked when it happened, as they weren't expecting it. They wanted to cleanly force a strike and then blame the WGA for "Making unreasonable demands about home video" and this is why the AMPTP's PR fell apart early in the strike. It was built on the assumption that DVDs would never leave the table.

    The issue kinda makes not a troll's parody of the AMPTP Walked Out banner moot.

    Captain Obvious said...

    To add to that... the same thing was done with the most recent round of negotiations. It was nothing more than an attempt to gain public support for the AMPTP. It was nothing more than a show. Scripted, even (I wonder who scabbed that?). Just a set-up so they could leave negotiations with their pre-written letter of admonishment and make it look as if the WGA was being unreasonable. It was the DVD strategy all over again, only this time any reference to DVDs were replaced with "Reality television and sympathy strikes"...

    Harold said...

    "You forget, DVDs being dropped was a pre-strike zero-hour attempt at making a deal."

    Captain Obvious, that's not how it went down. AMPTP said that they couldn't negotiate if DVDs were on the table. They said it was an obstacle to negotiation that they couldn't overcome.

    So, the WGA negotiators surrendered that issue. For nothing. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Not even a promise of anything other than negotiating. AMPTP didn't give anything for that.

    Read WGA's own statement about it. WGA removed it from the table WHEN THEY WERE REQUESTED TO DO IT. Not in some grand preemptive strategy. It was reactive, not proactive. They did because AMPTP demanded it, not a second before. It was WEAKNESS that AMPTP probably didn't honestly expect to see.

    Now, AMPTP has stepped away from the table saying that they can't negotiate if XYZ is on the table.

    Hey, it worked last time. RIGHT??

    The WGA is screwed. Strike waivers will be handed out to attempt to conceal lack of continued strike support. The DGA is going to end this thing and that deal is going to suck. There was clearly no strategy of any kind for these negotiations. There was no prioritization of issues. There was no planning of anything other than striking. WTF?

    It's ironic that those who write the scripts didn't draft a script for their negotiations. The negotiators have just been improvising. BADLY.

    What will make future deals worse is that there will be no realistic strike threat if this strike is as unsuccessful as the last one. Who the hell wants to strike only to achieve nothing? Right now, it's looking that way.

    That sucks.

    John Fernandez said...

    Let's not forget about the poor, poor landlords, drug'dealers and bartenders who are going to lose money. Jokes aside, there must be some sort of ripple effect in any major entertainment mecca in the world. At the risk of sounding patriotic I say, "We shall all hang together or surely we will hang seperately." Good luck guys I'm behind you 100%.

    MaryAn Batchellor said...

    If you can't make it to the City Council meeting on Wednesday but want to hear what's going on, a dial-up system allows the public to listen to live coverage of the Los Angeles City Public Meetings from any phone. The numbers below may be used from any location, not just in Los Angeles. Dial up and listen in.

    Use the numbers below:
    Downtown (213) 621-CITY
    San Pedro (310) 547-CITY
    West Los Angeles (310) 471-CITY
    Van Nuys (818) 904-9450

    Captain Obvious said...

    You make plenty of assumptions, Harold, but that don't mean they're correct. They're nothing more than extensions of your own opinion.

    The AMPTP, frankly, has no intentions of negotiating in good faith until they're damned good and ready. All this talk about the WGA's negotiators is just tilting at windmills. It's all irrelevant when the other side refuses to negotiate. Talking about the WGA's negotiators is AMPTP's distraction.

    Occasional Showrunner said...

    Today's AMPTP talking points:

    1. Your negotiators suck. They don't know they're doing. You are doomed.

    2. Separate deals are bad. They are a betrayal of the WGA spirit. You are doomed.

    3. You are all losing money that you will never get back. You are doomed.

    4. The Letterman waiver means the WGAe is stabbing the WGAw in the back. You are doomed.

    5. Did we mention you are doomed? You are doomed!

    There. Can I get my check now, Nick? Please donate it to WriteAid so that some people you have put out of work can pay their mortgages.

    Unknown said...
    This comment has been removed by the author.