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Finke’s Source: Strike Is ‘Done, Basically’!!
I am – Hercules!!
Deadline Hollywood Daily’s Nikki Finke, who seems to be the go-to girl when it comes to all things strike-related, has been told by a “very reliable source” that “there appears to be a deal seemingly in place between both sides.”
The key paragraph:
"It's already done, basically," the insider describes. That's because of the weeks worth of groundwork by the Hollywood agents working the writers guild leadership on one side, and the studio and network moguls on the other. I was told not to expect an agreement this week. But my source thought it was possible that the strike could be settled before Christmas.
Read all of Finke’s piece here.
In the event Finke’s source turns out to be a big giant liar, learn how fans can in the meantime support the writers here.
Alan Moore’s Gentlemen Return!!
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+ Expand All
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Or locked?
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Does it mean Journeyman will get more epsiodes? Does it mean Reaper and Chuck will get more episodes? Does it mean Pushing Daisies will get more episodes? Does it mean next year will not suck dog crap for entertainment?
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Is there a petition I can sign to support them. Specifically, I'd like to keep the "Heroes" writers out on strike as long as possible, and hopefully, the studio can dig up some scabs or fanfic writers to give us better stories.
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And fix the script for "Star Trek". Chop chop!
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how much the writers caved. We know the studios were ready to go with reality programming so I would think it's unlikely that they buckled. The writers, on the other hand, were looking at the real possibility that they would have no jobs to go back to.
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see I made a funny
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Wow, so this source says it's possible the strike could be settled in a month. Crazy. This 'inside source' should really hide out, they don't want their cover blown. Here's a scoop: the sun might come up tomorrow. If you use that nugget, call me: Yourinsidesourceisadouchenozzle.
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feature films started falling apart. Angels and Demons, Pinkville, the Depp and Pitt films. The studios could put reruns and reality on for weeks and months, but they couldn't not have tent pole movies for winter 2008 and summer 2009.
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What does that mean for the current seasons? if it gets done by XMas, does that mean we get full seasons for most shows?
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Because, you know, those out of jobs (caterers, grips, electricians, etc) because the writers shut down production must be given the opportunity to explain to their children why Santa isn't coming this year.
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Ok, so seriously, why does it take till Christmas if they have a deal, basically?
The writers need to get back to writing, so we can get full seasons of all of our shows.
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didn't you see how the SNL writers did a benefit for their crew? I mean, it was in a comedy club and was attended by mostly friends and family, but I'm sure it raised a good $200 a crew member.
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Just most of them. Besides, $200 wouldn't buy Hannah Montana tickets. And we know Christmas would be ruined without them.
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yeah, i said that. it's making a come back
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...also making a comeback.
Seriously, this is good news if it's true. -
Would hate for it to last into the new year, hopefully if it gets finished this year we can get full series of everything as well.
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You'll be setting yourself up for a potential disappointment.
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That's all I care about. I don't care who eats.
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I hope this rumor is true, and it's settled favorably ASAP.
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...this is the biggest issue they've faced down possibly ever.
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What? Those never work? And people who think they work are idiots?
Right, I forgot. -
I just don't get all this love for the writers. It's not simply because I loathe unions (completely) that I hate this strike, I think the writers are really overrating themselves. The more they ask for is just another increase on cost of production making it harder to make any series and sure to make producers even more hesitant to experiment with odd, unique stories. Yeah writers, you're saving the business.
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Yeah, you're all going to say "it's only an extra .4%" but that is the point. All this hassle for a measly .4%? Who was the more selfish? The writers wanting a bit more costing crew salary (which I know easily outgrosses what little any of these writers will make extra with their .4% since the talented writers already have agents inserting greater percentages into their contracts) or us, the people, expecting to be paid. Just wait. When writers, actors, and directors want so much don't be complaining with you have fifteen minutes worth of commercials for a half hour program and movie tickets reach $20. Sorry, if writers were "talented" they would have steady work rather than relying on past work to help them survive till the next gig. By the by, if they were smart, writers would copyright their material, invest in it themselves, and keep all the profits. That's if what they wanted was fair compensation.
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When I typed we, the people expecting to be paid I meant we, the people expecting to be paid with great programming in exchange for our hard earned cash. I need sleep!
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who needs writers.
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Dammit, I need 20 episodes for 2008!
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Writers in the business don't usually get long term contracts in the business. When a show ends the writer moves on. Or do you believe that one 5-year gig is enough to feed your family for 50 years?
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Dude, I posted this exact same stories like six hours before you in just about every TB being read...I KNOW I was the first person you heard this from.
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when the real reason for Trent Lott's resignation surfaces in the mainstream media. "Happy" holidays!!
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Then Pt.III The DGA, this time it's personal. I'm not sure there'll be labor peace for a while.
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Well purely as a LOST fan I'm glad TPTB are talking.I may not have to suffer through half a season.It'd be like knowing you were going out with the prom queen but only getting to 2nd base.Like a fool you still go and then leave all frustrated.That said I'm done with SNL.MAD TV has been funnier.After the Thanksgiving clip show where the SethRogan twins skit was shown for the 3rd time in 2months I've lost all respect for those guys.Whats the big idea of putting the Belushi/Radner/Ackroyd/Murray sketch at the end of the show?!!
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What Razorback said. Oh, and the real residuals issue is getting paid for viewings over the Internet. NBC has skirted paying its Office staff, claiming that work is "promotional". And they're running ads during their promotions (they're calling entire episodes "promotional") to make money off their "promotional" material. This strike is really about the survival of the guilds - WGA, SAG, and whether they think they're above all this or not, the DGA.
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to pay the mortgage between gigs while they're dreaming up - on spec - all the cool shit we talk about here.
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I can smell it... or is that my own failure.
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Sure, there's a chance they could do something interesting to erase the total shittiness of the last three seasons, but I seriously doubt that will happen. But anything that keeps additional shitty episodes from being made can only be seen as a good thing...
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If he went on writing strike, I'd support his time off until 2098.
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So basically, it's not done.
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Methinks there are too many non-clued-up people in here assuming that all writers get paid like Joe Ezsterhas. Wouldn't THAT be fucking grand. But the fact is they're not, and the studios are trying to con and blindside writers into accepting a measly amount on TV and film rights if they also sign up (unknowingly unless they REALLY read the small print) to having no residuals on their work going on the internet. If this goes through and gets agreed, the studios will then do everything they can to get people interested in viewing stuff on the internet, because at that point the studio will get ALL the profit and the writer will get NONE because they didn't get the deal for the residuals on their work being viewed on the internet.
You seem to have grapsed this simple point. Why the fuck are there so many dumbasses on here who fucking don't? -
All tv shows should be written here on AICN TalkBacks. Each TBer could take one line at a time and then we could only blame each other when things suck.
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You work in Store A. You get commission - let's say 0.4% - on every gas-guzzling Hummer you sell from Store A. Every time that Hummer does 10,000 miles, the store gives you 0.4% of the total cost of that Hummer. And you get paid a one-off amount of money for working at Store A over a predetermined amount of time. This amount won't get you by for more than a couple of months.
Now imagine Store B opens. Still selling Hummers, only this time you get a fraction more money for being there a predetermined amount of time, but it last you maybe 10 weeks in stead of 8 - that kind of difference. But there's NO 0.4% commission every 10,000 miles. In fact, every time the Hummer does 2,000 miles, the store gets back ALL the commissions - and it's more than 0.4%.
If YOU are the salesman, would YOU really want to be forced into Store B because the owners, who want a LOT more profits and don't want to pay the silly bastards who INVENT those Hummers they're selling, decide to open Store B, invent these new UNFAIR rules, and then close Store A so you HAVE to work to the Store B rules? Wouldn't that PISS YOU OFF???
Without writers, you don't have ANYTHING to make or produce. These caterers, grips, runners, and everyone else that the dumbasses on here keep on referring to, DON'T HAVE JOBS WITHOUT THE WRITERS - because without the fucking writers, what exactly ARE THEY GOING TO BE MAKING?
Yep. I'm a Celebrity Jungle Twat Get Me Out Of Here And Into The Celebrity Big Brother Beauty And The Geek Next Top Model Joe Millionaire House. It is that bad. Do you REALLY want to watch Z-list slebs in shitty made-up situations for the rest of your worthless lives?
Right. So stop throwing toys out of prams and SUPPORT THE FUCKING WRITERS. -
Having posted I SUPPORT... in every TB for the last few weeks, he's going to have to find a new catchphrase!I SUPPORT POUND SAND'S NEW CATCHPHRASE!
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You said it, my friends. Fuck all those who walk on top of others to make their bucks. Treat your fellow man with fucking respect, and you will get it back. Fucking studios suits have no clue how to be human any more. Fuck them all.
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As a sympathetic Brit, I fervently hope the dollar down turn doesn't get any worse for you guys. Maybe if someone in Congress or the Democrat party can actually find their nuts, they could maybe get an IMPEACH BUSH camapaign going that ACTUALLY FUCKING WORKS. The sooner the Smirking Chimp is doing time for war crimes, the sooner you guys can get a sane Prez in that Big White House and you can get back to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Because those documents are the foundation of a fucking great democracy, and should be treated as such - not just a "goddamned piece of paper" (copyright Dubya, 200whenever).
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"All tv shows should be written here on AICN TalkBacks. Each TBer could take one line at a time and then we could only blame each other when things suck."
Don't we do that already?!?!? ;p -
I vaguely recall the word being bandied about in YOUNG GUNS II - but what in hell is a Pinkerton?!?!?
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Makes domestic goods cheaper which results in more jobs in the US. We're good with it, but thanks for your concern.
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Hurts Europe a lot more than the US; fewer American tourists go to Europe, preferring to spend their money in the US (still has the same value there). California wine becomes cheaper than French wine, American goods become cheaper than European goods so they'll be sold more in both the US AND Europe, while European imports plummet. So unemployment will go up in Europe while going down in the US, and since we already have no unemployment issue, this is a good thing.
Well, for the US anyway. -
is a kick ass album by weezer. Pink Triangle: story of my life.
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now make sure I get Lost and the shield this spring.
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Nov 27, 2007 10:28:08 AM CST
while i support the writers and think they deserve residuals
by blwiseass
on new media, I hate the argument that "without writers, we wouldn't have the shows you watch etc" because without the studios investing (gambling) their money & "suits" to oversee everything, there wouldn't be enough people producing anything of quality, and we'd all be stuck with crappy home made you tube shows. And nobody wants that.
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Are any of the writers using their time off to drink beer, and cheat on their wives with sexy tomboy beanpoles? Hey...if "gotta eat!" is back...
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MMm...Summer Remake II: Raping your childhood! Asian Horror Movie "Re-invisioning": Staring some ditzy broad! And we pay people for this shit? Yeah, they should get more money, when they're not being paid to write utter crap. Remakes, old cartoons into movies, turning foreign cinema into american movies, and pretty much churning out utter crap, does not deserve extra money. But hey, keep rewarding that shit and maybe one day you'll have maybe TWO good movies out in one summer!
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God damn I wish I didn't see this until something more concrete came through. Now if it doesn't happen I'll be super fucking disappointed, and I have this itching feeling it won't happen.
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What about the model for webisodes shown here in this recent NYT article? This would be a good start for negotiators, if it isn't already.
“Lost: Missing Pieces” paid the writers of each short episode approximately $800. For that the studio received the right to run the episodes on Verizon cellphones for 13 weeks. After that period, repeats of the episodes or their transmissions on other media — like the Internet — would generate residuals for the writers of 1.2 percent to 2 percent of the fee the studio received to license the material.
Therefore, the episodes now running on ABC.com, each preceded by an advertisement, are generating for the writers a 2 percent residual. In its contract negotiations, the Writers Guild is seeking 2.5 percent for similar work in the future.
http://tinyurl.com/2xh2yf -
Nov 27, 2007 3:03:32 PM CST
You assume that writers paid more must equal more cost to us?
by eyegore
And you would blame the writers? It's not mandatory that management passes on the cost to customers. It's a choice. Granted, one that's pretty well ingrained in american business, but at the core it's bullshit greed. The studios are already maing obscene profits. They can eat the loss from that and don't need to pass it on. If they do, don't blame the writers. Blame the studio heads and bean counters. They make the decision on how much profit should be made and how much to keep as 'pure profit'. They could easily turn the profit meter down a notch and believe me, none of them will go hungry over it.
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I did a google search and got this frigging talkback. English? Do you speak it??
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Pinkerton was the domestic Blackwater of the late 1800s and early 1900s across the pond here in the colonies. Paid goons who broke up picket lines with clubs, fists, even guns. They also did what we would euphemistically call "private security contracting" for the railroads.
I appreciate your support for the writers.
Another way to look at residuals is it's an A/V version of book royalties. Stephen King gets a cut on every book he sells. In like manner, each viewing of a film or TV show is a sale. The audience is paying either by ticket at theater, DVD sale or rental, pay-per-view, monthly premium cable fees (Showtime, HBO), or by watching advertisements.
Actors and directors are entitled to residuals as well for their contribution to the creative process. Film and TV are collaborative arts.
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Just wanted to point that out.
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I don't buy the "it's done, but it'll take another four weeks to finish." This is clearly a bogus tip. If they got past their disagreements, then they'd spend every waking moment to finish up any paperwork in days. It may be over by Christmas, but I doubt this guy really knows one way or the other.
As for the whole support the writers / don't support the writers argument, why is it so hard for some to realize that nobody is forcing these people to take these jobs? Real people make the necessary compromises to put food on their table. Either you accept what the job is offering, or you move on. I can't believe how many of you have used the word "entitled" when describing the writers. The only people who are entitled to profits are those who've put their own money on the line. You know, like the shareholders (and even then, there are no guarantees). I'm no fan of the studio suits, but they're clearly free to run their business however they want. You're not entitled to take things from other people just because you want them. That's the problem most of the country has with California. Like it or not, you come off as a bunch of communists and most of the world has moved past that failed, absurd "philosophy." If the studios want to cough up the money, so be it, but don't act like it's rightfully yours. -
Writers are the reason the rest of us have jobs in this business? I am totally for what the writers are striking for. That being said, they are just a cog in the machine. A creative cog, but a cog nonetheless. The whole "without the writers..." argument doesn't hold any water. Take out one department and any production falls apart. Accounting, no one gets paid. Grips, nothing gets set up. Electrics, nothing gets lit. Locations, I hope you like green screens cuz you're not shooting anywhere that's not a stage or a backlot. Production, nothing gets DONE. I could go on and on. I completely support the writers, but those of us in the business know that if anyone of the departments just mentioned (and ones I didn't) went on strike, everything would grind to a halt. Not in a month or even a week. That second. I'll put it to you this way: I've been working on a studio feature where we were without a script for a month and a half. Granted we're in preproduction, but it was business as usual. Just wanted to end the ridiculous "no one in this business would have job without writers" line of thinking. That can be said of everyone. Hope the studios cave soon, I've got some hungry friends out there.
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if the movie sucks, NOBODY ever blames the grips. Why? Writers are the originators in the collaborative creative process.
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Okay. So if you invent something, and someone else puts their money in, but figures out a way to make money off it FOREVER, you should be happy with your measly one-time payout? 'Cos THAT'S what this is all about: studios wanting the writers, eventually, to just not get paid at all. Ask Ron Moore about the RAZOR Webisodes for an informed opinion.
Oh, and if there were no writers.. WHAT exactly would studios be putting their money on the line to sell to people?
Like it or not, everything in the realms of fiction TV and film BEGINS WITH THE WRITER. They are the procreators of these projects. They fucking DESERVE more money. -
You're right, of course. I don't want to come off like the writers don't count (I hope to join their ranks one day soon), it was just someone a ways up said (loosely paraphrasing here) we wouldn't have jobs without them. That just bugged me. I'll go back to just reading posts and throwing things at the screen now.
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this strike ain't over yet.
the producers are only now beginning to realize the writers are serious.
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