Voices4Action! - Billy Ray Speaks Out in Support of the Strike

We're continuing to post interviews with writers, directors, and actors, in support of the strike. Please check in at Voices4Action! to hear Billy Ray talk about the emotional and financial toll the strike has taken on the community.

Adopt a Writer: a Fan Generated Project

Liz Pardue, Editor of Glowy Box at http://www.glowybox.blogspot.com/ writes this synopsis:

Adopt A Writer is a project organized by TV bloggers in support of the WGA, in association with United Fandom and United Hollywood.

Each participating blog will interview a TV writer about their life as a writer —and as a striking writer— with the goal of putting a human face on the WGA for our readers and showing the public that the average writer is much more like the average viewer than the AMPTP wants us to believe. Each interview will be published on the interviewing blog's site, and all interviews are also collected on the central Adopt A Writer site.

More than fifteen top independent entertainment blogs have signed on to participate in the project, and we're in the process of recruiting writers. (If you're a writer and you'd like to be adopted, please email Adopt A Writer at adoptawriter@gmail.com.)

Visit Adopt a Writer at http://adoptawriter.wordpress.com/.

John Sayles Talks Labor, Movies and the Strike

Over at HuffPo, writer-director John Sayles gives an interview with Bob Eisele about unions, the entertainment industry, the strike and how the changing world of Internet delivery is intersecting with the consolidation of huge corporations:

What we have today are fewer unionized workers, especially if you don't count public service workers, than you've ever had before. And the movie industry is one of the most unionized industries left. I feel a lot of what this strike is about is corporations looking at their entertainment division and saying, "What's the deal here? As the paradigm changes, can't we turn this into Wal-Mart?"

Read the whole conversation here.

A Working Writer: "Right in the Middle"

The latest interview from the "Working Writer" Project is Dawn Dekeyser:



See more at aworkingwriter.com.

Battlestar Galactica: The Writers' Story

(Show runner, Ronald D. Moore of "Battlestar Galactica" was interviewed by IGN. He describes his experiences with the studio on New Media.)

http://tv.ign.com/articles/833/833633p1.html

LOST and DESPERATE

Damon Lindelof, creator of LOST, and Marc Cherry, creator of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, give a pretty simple explanation for why Internet and new media is such a big deal, not just for writers, but for everyone who produces or watches films and television. Also discussed: The Bank of Marc Cherry's Mom.

The Office: "Shut Down for Good"

From a source close to "The Office" --

The Office has shut down for good. Around 2:00 pm Tuesday. The crew has been asked back Wednesday to strike the location, but there will be no more shooting. This is thanks to a complete staff picket from 4:15 am to 3:00 Monday (when they called the day) and 6:45 am Tuesday until they shut it down. It is also thanks to a number of WGAmebers/actors making principled stands and not reporting to work.

Additionally, I've been told that Steve Carell informed NBC he is unable to report to work because he is suffering from “enlarged balls.” Not just enlarged, I'd say, but brass ones. The source on this one adds, "We wish him a happy, slow recovery."

SHOWRUNNERS STOP TV!

There's been a lot of discussion and rumors flying around about which TV showrunners would respect the WGA picket lines. Right now, the answer seems to be, "All of them." Herc from AICN has a great post up with details on the status of many major showrunners from drama and comedy, including personal statements from Shonda Rhimes ("Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice") and Shawn Ryan ("The Shield" and "The Unit").

Click here for the details on these two and many more.

Hugh Fink NPR Interview

(Comedy writer Hugh Fink talks with Melissa Block on NPR.)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15858209