strike

[Pubrick]

so there's been talk of a hollywood strike in almost every news item about upcoming movies. is this the same strike that is on the news all of a sudden? union stuff usually bores me to tears, but this seems a bit more relevant than the tribulations of piano tuners..



my understanding is that writers want a cut of the revenue from new distribution streams, online etc. the studios say they don't know how big the pie is and so can't/don't want to divvy it up. a writer's strike will mean more reality tv. though it seems that nobody really WANTS it to happen, everyone has been talking about it as an inevitability for some time now.

who else is going on strike? will they win? how will this affect LOST?



mac. explain yourself.

[hedwig]

Hollywood Writers Could Strike by Friday
By GARY GENTILE – 7 hours ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Talks between Hollywood writers and producers have reached a cliffhanger, with the next few days determining whether there will be a strike or a happy ending.

A strike could happen as early as Friday, with writers meeting Thursday night to discuss whether to walk out or continue to work without a contract while seeking a deal.

Their contract expired at midnight Wednesday after talks ended abruptly, with both sides saying they were still far apart on the key issue of raising payment from the sale of DVDs and extending payment to the distribution of TV shows and film over the Internet. No new talks were scheduled for Thursday.

While both sides have withdrawn other proposals since talks began in July, neither has budged on what the Writers Guild of America termed "the hated DVD formula," which pays writers pennies on the sale of home video.

Writers had sought to boost that payment. They wanted the richer formula applied equally to the sale of digital downloads. They were also seeking a piece of advertising dollars generated when TV shows and films are streamed for free over the Internet.

Writers also want to be paid for creating original content for the Internet, cell phones or other digital devices.

Producers maintain that profits from DVDs largely offset the increased cost of production. They also don't want to commit themselves to higher payment for digital distribution at a time when business models are still uncertain.

"The magnitude of that proposal alone is blocking us from making any further progress," J. Nicholas Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, told writers Wednesday.

"We cannot move further as long as that issue remains on the table. In short, the DVD issue is a complete roadblock to any further progress."

The issue is key to the industry because actors also are expected to fight for a larger share of DVD and digital revenue when their contract expires in June.

While the WGA leadership has authority to call a strike, it is expected to give negotiations one last try.

Jonathan Handel, an entertainment lawyer at the Los Angeles law firm of TroyGould who served in the 1990s as an associate counsel for the guild, said it was in the union's interest to delay a walkout, perhaps by five days or more.

"The writers guild has two weapons: one is a strike, the other is the threat of a strike. It has no reason to toss that weapon away without using it for a bit," Handel said.

If writers do strike, the first casualty would likely be late-night talk shows, which are dependent on current events to fuel monologues and other entertainment.

"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" will almost certainly be forced into reruns by a lack of fresh skits and monologues if writers walk off the job.

"If the strike happens, we are very likely looking at repeats for both shows," said Tony Fox, a spokesman for Comedy Central, which airs the shows starring Stewart and Stephen Colbert that lampoon political doings of the day.

"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" could follow.

NBC declined to comment on what would be in store for the show. But a person with the network, who was not authorized to comment and spoke on condition of anonymity, said "Tonight" and other NBC late-night shows likely would have to resort to repeats with no writing staff to generate new material.

CBS declined comment on the possible fate of "The Late Show with David Letterman."

A strike would not immediately affect film or prime-time TV production. Most studios have stockpiled dozens of movie scripts, and TV shows have enough scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year.

After that, networks might turn to reality shows, news programs and reruns to fill the prime-time airwaves.

AP Television Writer Lynn Elber contributed to this report.

[picolas]

i'd love to watch some early daily show. i missed out on the days of vance degeneres, for example. and no i don't have access to the archives because of stupid canadian internet redirection. and so far proxy's aren't working. maybe we'll finally see that unproduced kaufman show! or further examination of the macarena.

[The Sheriff]

while theyre busy being on strike, trying to get their demands met and stupidities like that, we'll just move in and take over.

[Bethie]

who needs writers! improvise!

[modage]

Writers Strike Officially Starts 12:01 a.m. Monday
Source: Variety November 2, 2007

The Writers Guild of America has announced that its 12,000 members will go on strike Monday against studios and networks, reports Variety.

The strike officially begins at 12:01 a.m. Monday. Members began receiving the official announcement Friday afternoon -- at the same time that the WGA was holding a news conference at WGA West headquarters in Los Angeles.

Members were told that all writing covered under WGA agreements must cease when the strike starts.

Talks between the WGA and the companies broke down on Wednesday, a few hours before the contract expired, over the issue of DVD residuals and work for the Internet. No new talks have been scheduled, but WGA West president Patric Verrone and WGA East president Michael Winship said at the news conference that they would be open to meeting with the companies.

The WGA's expected to mount multiple picket lines Monday. The guild's email to members said, "We'll be sending you information about our picket lines. Come out and show your solidarity. Your Contract Captain will be in touch with you. Be prepared to serve."

[matt35mm]

Wasn't this one of the signs of the Apocalypse?

[Sleepless]

how will this affect LOST?

I've kinda been following this over the last month or so, and of course it's all over TV now, which is kinda ironic I think. Of course, they're journalists, not writers...

Apparently, as the articles by Hedwig and Modage pointed out, it's primarily going to be talk shows that are affected immediately. Primetime shows largely have many episodes in the can by this point in the year (especially this year since networks were anticipating the strike). So depending how long the strike goes on, it depends... Some shows already have eps in the can, plus more scripts which they can still shoot and air before they run out of material, so many shouldn't be affected at all. Lost, in particular, shouldn't be hurt at all seeing as it's not due to air until February, so they're already way ahead of the game, and when the new season does start up again it should go straight through as planned without any problenms at all.

Entertainment Weekly recently mentioned their sympathy for John Stewart whose show will be one of the immediate casualties of the strike, but also mentioned that he will find himself in a tough scenario if the strike continues until the Oscars (24 Feb) as he will have to host the ceremony but will be unable to write any gags as that would be a violation of the strike. They've also bemoaned the imminent arrival of crappy reality shows flooding the networks, particularly criticizing one called "Farmer Wants A Wife".

Appologies, I'm paraphrasing here, I couldn't find the articles I wanted to quote online, so had to transcribe in a rush from the print editions.

[MacGuffin]

how will this affect LOST?

How will the strike affect 'Lost?'
Source: Entertainment Weekly

So far, the news about what the strike will mean for Lost's return to ABC this winter isn't all that bad, but it could get worse if the picketing persists. According to Lost executive producer Carlton Cuse — who was walking the picket line Monday in front of Burbank's Disney lot with fellow EP Damon Lindelof — ABC will soon have eight episodes in the can that it can begin airing after the first of the year (ABC has yet to announce a start date, though it seems likely the show will return in February). If the strike is prolonged and the scribes can't get back to work writing the rest of the episodes, fans are going to be stuck with the kind of stunted season they were forced to endure last year. "It will feel like buying a Harry Potter book, reading half of it, and then having to put it down for many months," explains Cuse. "There is a cliffhanger at the end of the eighth episode. It will only be frustrating [for viewers] to have to step away from the show and not see the second half of the season.

"The first half of the season, like a good novel, sets all the events of the show in motion and the second half deals with the consequences," Cuse continued. "We're very proud of the first eight but it feels weird to have to stop literally mid-stream."

[picolas]

it feels weird to have to stop literally mid-stream."

future episodes occur in the middle of a stream? you plan to be in the middle of a stream for when the eighth episode ends? writers strike indeed.

[cron]

some chants heard today, according to david mills:

When you've got comedy writers working a picket line, you're bound to hear some clever chants. Here were some of today's best:

"Eva! Longoria! Who's gonna write your storia?"

"Marcia Cross, don't cross the picket line! Marcia Cross, don't cross the picket line!"

"Nicollette! Sheridan! We can't think of one for you!"

And this one I'm still feeling:

"We're finally getting some exercise! We're finally getting some exercise!"

[Pubrick]

that's fucking hilarious.

GENIUS IDEA #595: a reality show about the writers on strike.

checkmate, suckas.

[MacGuffin]

WRITERS, STUDIOS AGREE TO TALK
Negotiations to begin Nov. 26
Source: Variety

Studios and networks will resume negotiations with striking writers on Nov. 26.

The WGA remains on strike. The companies recently dropped their insistence that the strike had to stop, at least temporarily, as a condition of restarting negotiations.

The Friday night announcement came on the 12th day of the strike in the form of a joint statement from the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers.

Both sides have agreed to a news blackout.

"Leaders from the AMPTP and the WGA have mutually agreed to resume formal negotiations on November 26," the statement said. "No other details or press statements will be issued."

Shortly after the joint statement was released, WGA West president Patric Verrone sent an email to the WGA membership.

"This announcement is a direct result of your efforts," Verrone said. "For 12 days I have repeated that a powerful strike means a short strike. ...Now it is equally important that we now prove that good news won't slow us down, either. We must remember that returning to the bargaining table is only a start. Our work is not done until we achieve a good contract and that is by no means assured. Accordingly, what we achieve in negotiations will be a direct result of how successfully we can keep up our determination and resolve."

Backchannel efforts have been ongoing throughout the strike to restart the talks, spurred partly by the fact that the negotiations were progressing on Nov. 4, the final day of bargaining. Since then, as job losses and show cancellations gained momentum, agents, high-profile screenwriters and showrunners have exerted pressure for a resumption of talks.

WGA leaders were angry over what they saw as a lack of substantive response by the AMPTP after the guild took its DVD residuals increase off the table. By contrast, the companies contended that they had made significant moves in new-media compensation for streaming video, providing a six-week window for promotion and giving the WGA jurisdiction over made-for-Internet work that was based on existing properties.

Verrone had indicated that for his union to restart negotiations, it needed to receive assurance that the companies would offer more in new media than they did on Nov. 4.

As for the companies, AMPTP president Nick Counter had said he needed to be convinced that the guild wanted to make a deal. He had moved away from last week's stance that the guild would have to stop striking in order to return to the table.

"For true negotiations to take place, there has to be some expectation that a deal can be made, but by their past actions and their current rhetoric that certainly doesn't appear to be the case," Counter said in his most recent statement.

On Wednesday, the WGA trumpeted a pair of surveys showing the public had plenty of sympathy for the writers, with backing of 69% in a Pepperdine poll and 63% in a SurveyUSA poll. Companies received a only a smattering of support, with 4% and 8%.

That same day, IATSE topper Thomas Short had blasted WGA leaders over job losses, noting that more than 50 TV series have been shut down by the strike. "The IATSE alone has over 50,000 members working in motion picture, television and broadcasting and tens of thousands more are losing jobs in related fields," he said.

[polkablues]

that's fucking hilarious.

GENIUS IDEA #595: a reality show about the writers on strike.

checkmate, suckas.

And it needs to be the writers of The Office:

[Jeremy Blackman]

Let me ask a small question. Why does 95% of the news coverage and discussion about strikes focus on the various ways in which the strikes are harmful?