Cool News
UPDATED!! Another Clue The Strike Is Ending??
I am – Hercules!!
“The Late Show With David Letterman” bookers have contacted Howard Stern's agents about Stern making an appearance on the CBS talk show, according to comments made by Stern on his Sirius radio show Wednesday morning. "I don't know if it's for sure," said Stern. "I guess they have to work things out with the union."
Very knowledgeable sources inside “Late Show” tell Ain’t It Cool exclusively that “The Late Show” writers had not heard anything about about the overture to Stern prior to Stern's on-air disclosure. This suggests (to me at least) that “work things out with the union” means CBS CEO (and AMPTP principal) Les Moonves thinks the strike is close enough to being resolved to pay Letterman’s bookers to warm up the “Late Show” machine for an impending return.
An unnamed but “very reliable” source told entertainment journalist Nikki Finke Monday that a WGA/AMPTP deal was “done, basically.” That source (whose name, I’m guessing, could rhyme with “roomves”) said he didn’t expect the deal to be announced this week, but said the strike could be settled before Christmas.
UPDATE!!Reliable sources indicate that Dave's bookers (Dave has been paying his entire non-writing staff even though the show is dark) have been routinely booking -- and cancelling -- guests since the strike began in anticipation of a resolution. So the Stern booking apparently bespeaks nothing with regard to how well or poorly the negotiations are going and my suppositions were wholly in error!!
But you can still enjoy this exciting strike-related YouTube video from the "Late Show" writers:
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Born Standing Up
by Steve Martin
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+ Expand All
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At last... I really hope they have worked the issues out, and come to a resolve...
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...let this be true.
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you might want to listen to his show. b/c that isnt what he said this morning.
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Then maybe Leno won't spin up
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Finally....I mean come on, when NBC is touting the return of American Gladiators to prime time and Leno is showing 20 year old reruns it's the cloppity clop of the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse I think I'm hearing....
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Suppose the strike is over on Monday. What would be the delay time in getting new shows? I have to think sometime in late January early february.
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Baba Booey!!!
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Bababooie bababooie!!
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have you seen the incredible array of sweets and treats on display there? They even have marshmallow burgers and fries!
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According to Finke today, things are not looking as great as they did yesterday. Apparently the studios decided to walk into the room today with an attitude. We will see what happens, but you should update this.
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Stern is still the best. I can't see how people could listen to the news when Greg Fitzsimmons or Gilbert are sitting in and not laugh their asses off. To each their own I guess.
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and you'll get what you want. A true lesson from Hollywood.
Whatever. Everybody in the professional film & television writing business is still wealthy, and I get to see another season of my favorite shows. They'd just better not suck now, because they're getting even MORE money for their supposedly irreplaceable contributions to popular culture, and as a viewer I'm going to be a lot less forgiving of crap when it's presented to me. -
I don't know how you can be a lover of film and tv, and not respect the talent it takes to create. It makes me wonder why someone like you would care enough to read AICN..
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Bookers keep booking guests throughout the strike. They just cancel them when it's closer to the date if the strike is still on.
Also, Letterman's bookers often secure guests months in advance. -
Was the winner of the last Big Brother?
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Ha ha ha, if y'all had Sirius you'd know he's been joking about it all week. He really does not want to do The Late Show at all
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Ha ha ha, if y'all had Sirius you'd know he's been joking about it all week. He really does not want to do The Late Show at all
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All the talk shows have been booking guests since the strike began. Just last week Angela from "The Office" posted on her MySpace blog that she was going to appear on Craig Ferguson this week. But these guest bookings are just contingency plans in case the strike does in fact end. The networks want to be able to get the shows up and running as soon as possible without waiting to book guests. Stern will be contacted soon and told that his spot is cancelled.
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..really,I wouldn't b.s. you guys
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He was involved with the whole Anna Nicole Smith thing. How did he get a radio show on satellite?
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Nov 28, 2007 6:22:15 PM CST
Just let ABC know so LOST can continue. That is all I care about
by stormwatcher
As Dexter is under control and wrapped.
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It won't end before then. No one is solving anything until they get back from Aspen in January.
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Which would be a first in journalism, I think.
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The networks are pushing hard to get the late night guys to go back to work. There was another rumor maybe even a week ago that Letterman was been cajoled into coming back early, because of the newtorks pressuring him to do so.
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You follow?
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seriously, in every sense of the word.
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what the hell is a marshmallow burger? Come on RealSeveren. Please let me know.
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Here me out. Bonnie Hammer announces weeks ago that BSG was going to be split up over 2 years: April to around June 2008 then finish sometime in 2009. Well, with the strike, we are now getting reports that most shows will only do 12 episodes this year. No Feb. sweeps episodes and nothing for May sweeps. This means shows will not come back until Fall 2008. Did Hammer's decision expose the studios to allegations of negotiating in "bad faith?" They never intended to avoid a strike, and Hammer's announcement proves it? Because they have not even begun principle photography on the final 10 episodes. Factor in the post-production time, and the earliest Episode 11 of the Final Season could air is July 2008. Sci-Fi will not air those shows in the middle of the summer in an election year, so they will have no choice but to wait until January 2009. If there had not been a strike and the Final 20 were scheduled to start in January 2008, then the Series Finale would air in May 2008. Do you see what I'm saying?-----later-----m
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Not that I read it or anything else about that shitty Showtime program.
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Bow before his mighty powers.
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"I'mhh agh Ghhghhommoorghhiangh Ghhuardghh." Those of you who know those two clips are my new best friendsies.
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They could tell us how many stations have dropped their show this week...
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or I'll make everyone in Hollywood suck beer-turds out of my asshole through a straw....somehow...I WILL make it happen!
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...was officially lame the moment Hilary Clinton seized on it. Now it's
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Writers, please go away. We don't need you. There is enough television in existence to last us forever.
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you should somehow change your name to Griffin Mill
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Just Letterman was working out a separate deal with the union to come back. Now that douchebag Daily is crossing the picket line, Letterman wants to do right by his staff. They may get a pass, because shows like Letterman are not repackaged on DVD or reposted on the Internet. Those are the main issues that the WGA is going after.
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that has been hashed out but won't be announced until around christmas then that is seriously FUCKED UP. There are thousands and thousands of people in LA and elsewhere (including myself) who are out of work because of this fucking strike. If it's all over but the announcement then make the fucking announcement already so that we can all have fucking jobs again.
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Sounds like a bunch of O&A trolls in here. HEY NOW!
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I'm just glad that I can listen to fresh Stern everyday while Jay Leno rots away offscreen.
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"Ahhhh Yeahhhhh, droppin loads all over your striiiike" Nick Manning, 2007
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Okay. Next talkback. BTW: Who's this Nikki chick everyone's saying has the inside scoop? It's like she just dropped onto the face of the Earth and screamed "THE STRIKE IS OVER!!"
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They should get together with Bob & Tom & Ron & Fez & JohnBoy & Billy and have a nice parade off a fucking cliff. So long, jerkwads! Honestly, is there anyone out there who would pay to hear that crap? I shell out my Sirius subscription every month and Howard is the sole reason. And I'm happy to do it. Hell, I'd pay more than the $13 a month just for his show. I feel sorry for the rubes stuck with boring old terrestrial radio. Poor souls. If all those other so-called "personalities" had a mass funeral tomorrow, I'd be right there with Crazy Alice screaming "ARRIVEDERCI COCKSUCKERS!!!" ... "Hi Fred."
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...because I live in England where there is no writers strike. So it doesn't -*Thinks about what he's watched over the last month*Shit. Everything I watch at the moment is American. LIFE, JOURNEYMAN, BSG, HEROES etc...End this strike now! Think of my Torrent list for christ's sake! It's going to be empty!
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MANDALORIAN SAGE IS AN UNFUNNY DOUCHE BAG. A
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MANDALORIAN SAGE IS AN UNFUNNY DOUCHE BAG. A
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MANDALORIAN SAGE IS AN UNFUNNY DOUCHE BAG. A
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MANDALORIAN SAGE IS AN UNFUNNY DOUCHE BAG. ALL HE DOES IS RANT WITH HIS CAPS LOCK KEY DOWN AND THEY AREN'T EVEN FUNNY RANTS. HE SHOULD PUT DOWN THE KEYBOARD AND HANG HIMSELF.
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Hmmmm.... Don't know how that happened, but it did bear repeating.
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You are 100% correct. She knew the studios were going to let the strike happen no matter what and she scheduled accordingly. It also shows,again, that she is an idiot(look at the train wreck the SciFi channel is). If she had half a brain and was planning around a potential strike she should have broken up the remaining episodes into seasons 4 & 5 (10-12 episodes each). Then Scifi looks like its supporting the show, fans feel rewarded, and Ron Moore saves face. But no. She showed the studios' collective hand by breaking up season 4 like this.
Bad faith? You bet!
The studios probably planned for the strike to happen so 1)the WGA caves and backs down on the digital rights issue and 2)they can execute the "force majeure" on shows that are not as profitable as they want (BSG being one of them in my opinion...notice I said profitable not high quality).
Bonnie Hammer is a suit (and a bad one at that). She is no fan/geek...which is what the SciFi channel needs desparately. -
"The strike is probably over because Stern speaks." Sourcing doesn't get much lamer than that. I hope the strike continues for months, so I can get caught up with my DVR.
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“Death Proof” was great.. “Southland Tales” sucks.. I think you're going to love “There Will be Blood” when you get to see it.. Those are opinions of people who love movies, which this is a site for.. If you’re a film/tv fan I find it hard to believe you wouldn't be supportive of the people who create what we come to AICN to appreciate. I find posts like the ones by Xiphos, ElScorcho, and yourself, suspect. Corporate shills? I gotta wonder.
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The real shocker is if this is true.
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it looks like it. show me that smile again!
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How can I be a lover of film and television-- and a creative artist, writer, composer, and actor to boot-- and not support this strike?
Simple. The people doing the whining here are just the writers. They get paid kingly sums each year to produce a season of one-liners for Letterman and Leno, and 12-15 episodes of television series. They are not poorly compensated for this minimum of work they do, and they usually do it as a whole team, i.e., it's not just one guy writing all of Leno's jokes or an episode of "The Office", but a whole room full of highly-paid people.
And what they made prior to this strike was already vastly out of proportion with what all the *other* people involved with the production of these shows made. The gaffers, the makeup artists, the costumers, the camera crew, the editors, the janitors, the set construction crew, the extras, the crafts services people, and everybody else involved in the making of these shows. After this strike is settled, and the WGA get their residuals for digital distribution, are they going to get in a picket line and strike to make sure all the OTHER people behind the scenes get a piece of that pie? Are they going to make sure that the camera operators get some of that online distribution money? How about the costume designers? The makeup artists? The foley artists? Are they going to keep reaping the benefits of THEIR creative contributions?
Nope. They're all work-for-hire, and although they have their own unions, they will most likely never get anything beyond the smaller-than-the-writers salaries they earn for doing their primary creative job for the shows they're associated with. They get paid once, and they move on--- Like all of the rest of us in the world. We get paid for producing the fruits of our labor ONE TIME.
Why is it, then, that writers think they should keep getting paid for contributing less labor, less creativity, and less time to a show than a costumer or set designer? Shouldn't they be screaming for EVERYONE who makes a creative contribution to get some of those online distribution residuals?
To me, this seems pretty unbalanced. They're already have a job that millions of other talented people would kill to have. I'd take a 33% pay cut from what the lowest-paid writer on The Tonight Show makes to take his/her place, and I wouldn't give a damn if they used my material for the next hundred years on DVDs and digital downloads-- I got paid for my work, didn't I? A lot of other people feel the same way.
This is not about "creative rights" at all. This is about MORE MONEY, and they writers thinking they are somehow special and unique, and "better" and "more deserving" than the other creative contributors to TV and film. While the writers strike for their extra money, the people who make costumes, do makeup, design sets, make sounds, make music, and make other contributions to TV and film are OUT OF WORK. Will the WGA pay back Letterman for compensating these people while the studio's dark? Will the WGA fight to make sure that all these people get something out of their settlement?
I doubt it.
The fact is that the WGA is not comprised of special or unique people. A lot of other people could do their jobs, and would be willing to do them for less money and with less of a crybaby fuss about residuals. Some of us would just be happy to get a steady paycheck for writing.
Personally, I think that all it takes is a look at some of the crap on TV and in movies to see that a large number of WGA writers are already overpaid for their contributions to the final product. I mean, I'd say that the costumes, set, and sound effects on "Homeboys From Outer Space" were all fine, but the writing was gawdawful. Do the writers deserve to keep making money on the rotten fruits of their labor when the set designers don't? It hardly seems fair that the creative types who didn't insult my intelligence are paid once, but the creative types who spit out the garbage part of the show are going to make money on it for the rest of their lives.
Frankly, I think all writing for all shows should be freelance. If someone writes something better than you, they can simply stop buying your crap and start buying the other guy's work. I think that if you're part of a team, your contribution is not "more important" than the others, and that you should be paid in proportion to what the other contributors make (unless you're a manager, producer, or leader of some sort, then you deserve a bonus for the headache of making everyone work together).
For the record, I think a lot of actors are severely overpaid, too... But that's another topic for when the actors strike.
But why don't we see actor strikes? Could it be because actors know that they're replaceable and that people are fickle and will embrace a new celebrity and forget one that isn't on screen in a heartbeat?
The only thing that makes members of the writers guild "irreplaceable" is the union. There are lots of writers in the world who are chomping at the bit, waiting for the chance to just make a living doing what they love. The WGA not only empowers the writers who are in the business-- It keeps down the writers who haven't gotten in, yet, by giving the union members insurance against fair competition on a level playing field. I couldn't submit my writing to The Late Show and expect to replace anyone there who refuses to work, no matter how good I am, because the WGA would scream "SCAB!" and protest.
I say that if someone can do your job better than you, and for a fair wage, *and* isn't going to be such a prima donna about it, then they should probably be hired and you should be out on your ass until your attitude changes.
Unions are good things, but they can also be oppressive. All the WGA is doing right now is making it harder for fresh talent to enter the business, which is, of course, the whole intent of such a union. The WGA exists to make its members seem much more important, unique, and irreplaceable than they really are, and enforce that image with legal and social muscle.
There's a strike. Fine. You have a right to not work and demand more-- But the studios, producers, other crew members, and actors should have the right to hire other writers who are every bit as talented (or more so) to take your place so they can get back to doing their jobs. .
There are caterers and costume designers in the business RIGHT NOW who are going broke because of this strike. People are getting laid off and businesses are shutting down. Will the writers help those people? If the costume designers went on strike, would the writers hop in line with them, or would they insist the producers hire new costume designers?
The imbalance here is obvious. Writers are not "more special" than anybody else on a show, and this has gone far enough.
I think actors, writers, and athletes ALL deserve a huge pay cut. Things are getting ridiculous, and the illusion that these people are special and cannot be replaced is just that- An illusion. If we've learned anything from the Internet it's that anyone can be famous, and people will grasp on to them and love them in mere moments. It doesn't take much to replace the old guard, and the old guard would be wise to remember that. Hiding behind the skirts of the union is the only thing that makes the writers in the WGA any more hire-able than other writers. Union membership does not equal talent, and talent does not automatically grant union membership. I'm reminded of mobsters making producers offers they can't refuse. You either let Jimmy here write your show, and you pay him this much, and KEEP paying him, or bad things will happen to your little show.
. . .We call that extortion in the real world.
Things are already completely disproportionate between writers and ALL OTHER TALENT on a show, and now they want more. What's to stop them from adding more to their request in a few years? What's to stop them from holding the industry hostage every once in a while, just to underline the power granted to them by their union?
Hollywood is broken. Everyone is so fucking greedy that they've forgotten that they're supposed to be artists, not factory workers.
If you want to write something and earn residuals, royalties, and get merchandising deals, then WRITE A BOOK. That's ALL YOU, baby. The fact is that WGA writers would be fucking USELESS without the other creative types on a show-- Without the costumers, set designers, actors, camera crew, foley, composers, and everyone else, the writer would have to sink or swim based on the power of what's on the page, and a lot of what ends up on the screen would absolutely suck if it simply remained in written form. The writers owe everyone else on a show a HUGE debt of gratitude for making their little ideas into consumable entertainment.
When the writers INSIST that the other creative people get residuals too, I'll support them. Until then, this is a bunch of people who have seriously overestimated their value and have, in the process, backhandedly insulted everyone else who makes a show come to life by insinuating that nobody is as important as the writers themselves.
Fuck that. 1/4 of the people on AICN and in Talkback could produce a better Saturday Night Live, Heroes, or According to Jim (not hard to do) if given the chance and offered a fair paycheck to do it. Writers Guild members aren't uniquely talented-- They're lucky fucks who hit the artistic lottery and are now shaking down the industry for more.
If you fire them and hire new blood the shows will all be the same, or better. . . And the rest of the people in show business can get back to making a living. -
I realize I had a few typos in the above essay. All I can say is that I don't usually write in a 1"x3" square like on AICN Talkback, and that my fingers and eyes slipped.
Sometimes I can't type as fast as I think, and AICN isn't exactly the most up-to-date when it comes to posting tools... Like not giving us a "preview" option.
But I *am* a writer. Not a paid one (not recently, anyway) but a writer, nonetheless. I can spell and alliterate and everything! -
Zerocorpse sounds like every failed writer I've ever met. Listening to an unpaid writer who hasn't broken in spew about what it's like being a paid writer is kind of like letting your 7-year-old perform surgery on you because he watches a lot of "ER."
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Nov 29, 2007 1:45:53 PM CST
Zerocorpse's idea that writers don't deserve residuals...
by cisco bunny
Z, why do you think the corporations should get it all... why should they get 100% of DVD? If writers are intensely privileged, aren't billionaires even more privileged? Or are you one of those dumb Republicans that believes rich people are persecuted, and we need to provide them with even more money and power? And if so, why are you sucking on the ass of people who are even LESS like you than these writers you despise? Methinks you're just jealous that you didn't failed in the film industry.
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If a lot of other people could do the job the WGA writers do (and SAG actors, as SAG's strongly supporting the strike), as well as they've been doing it, the studios would have found enough scabs amongst this large number of other people and would be well on their way to permanently breaking all three major creative guilds.
The studios, to their credit, have developed an elaborate system for sifting through a lot of people and finding the very talented writers who play well with others. The playing well with others part is key. Life's too short to commit to 15 hours a day five days a week in a room with an intolerable asshole.
The fact is, the studios NEED the WGA writers. There's no way on God's green earth they'd be at the table negotiating otherwise. -
Nov 29, 2007 3:14:39 PM CST
If these writers are responsible for the dismal state of tv/film
by bong
then let them stay on strike...
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My apologies.. I am now convinced of the sincerity of your convictions..
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throw us a bone and give us a 30 Rock talkback. There should be one every week. The Office TB usually dissolves into a 30 Rock discussion anyway.
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They're going to have to go through a few more offers to discuss something decent. What they're offering right now, even though is is an improvement, is barely an improvement regarding new media residuals.
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i for one support the writers... for zerocorpse to say that anyone could do their job and do it better is insane. and to say he would take a pay cut to do it, and the PTB can take it, market it, exploit it, and make money for themselves...and thats ok with him? notice he only referenced writers for leno and letterman, what about major motion picture screenwriters ? and television series wtiters ? should they say "oh its ok, i got paid, i dont care if they play it forever on cable, making the networks and the studio money every time its played" "and i dont care that every DVD of my writing sold will deposit a residual into the pockets of the studio, let them keep all the money, i got paid once" now does it seem so simple ?? the writers deserve a new deal because im sure when they signed whatever agreement their working with now was before DVD and the internet took off, who knew about youtube or google or myspace...and no one knew that new media would be created specifically for web viewing...they deserve more and should get more.. if u really are a writer ZERO then u would never take that stance..unless ur really not a writer and just hoping that real writers may view this website for info and think the strike is not a good thing and go back to work so u can sit in front of your TV and watch TV for the rest of your life and critique it on this very website...maybe just scared u will actually have to do something other then read ur "essays" online....like get a GF , move out of moms basement, grow facial hair, etc
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You have to hand it to the lame radio guys like Opie & Anthony and the other shmoes, because they certainly give Howard a lot of great material. I love listening to him bust their balls.
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Not that I have any hopes of ever becoming much of anything, but I do have the dream of writing. As an amateur, I would never...ever...EVER side with the ones who don't want to give honest pay for someone's work. If the writers go back to work without getting what they want/need, then that sets a pretty scary precident for the future. And it's not about the rich writers, it's more about the little guy making about the same as I do at my job now. I'm comfortable, my bills get paid, and I do OK...but I have job security and live in a place where rent is no big deal. These writers go from job to job, and hey, sometimes there ISN'T a job. Why shouldn't they get some scratch for the product that *they provided* which is now lining the pockets of the already rich. It's bad news and they are really doing the right thing. And I don't want to hear about how the writers are keeping other people (grips, catering, cameramen, etc) from working. It's the producers' who are keeping these people out of work every day that they don't do what is right. Some lighting guy's family is probably having a pretty rough Christmas this year just because the producers won't give their creative backbone a little more change. It's sad.
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A "secret" source (multiple radio & TV broadcasts) have "revealed" nothing has been resolved. Carson Daly--you rock!
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re: "Carson Daly--you rock!"...That is the first time anyone has ever typed, read, spoken, heard, or thought those words. And the last time as well.
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damn.
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The Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Thursday presented a "New Economic Partnership" to the WGA, which according to a statement from the AMPTP "includes groundbreaking moves in several areas of new media, including streaming, content made for new media and programming delivered over digital broadcast channels." Dollars- and cents-wise, the AMPTP says, "The entire value of the [deal] will deliver more than $130 million in additional compensation above and beyond the more than $1.3 billion writers already receive each year."
The WGA has asked for time to study the proposals, and talks are scheduled to resume on Tuesday, December 4.
Says the AMPTP, "We continue to believe that there is common ground to be found between the two sides, and that our proposal for a New Economic Partnership offers the best chance to find it." -
I've never made any attempt to write for film or television. I have been in entertainment in many different roles, and I have seen people who input FAR MORE than writers getting bupkis.
None of you can answer the question: If the writer's creative contribution to a finished show deserves residuals, then why doesn't the costume designer's contribution deserve the same kind of back-end deals?
I'm all for writers getting paid what they deserve--- I just think this whole thing is SEVERELY lopsided, in that it's all about a group of people who are but one tiny cog in a great big machine.
Without the writers, you don't have a show. Fine. But without the other contributors to a show, you don't have a show, either. If all foley artists decided to go on strike for Internet residuals, and it was forbidden to put ANY sound effects in a show without them, would you support them, too?
This isn't about me, but thanks for trying to make me the central figure in the logic of my position. This is about one group of creative people being treated with kid gloves because they have a powerful union, and it's about this group of creative people expecting better treatment than all the other creative people with whom they work.
Call me when the set designers get Internet residuals when the shows they work on end up on iTunes, or when the makeup artists collect a royalty for the work they do to make all the actors look passable on TV. Until then, my position stands: If you're not going to share with the class, then you shouldn't expect a special snack yourself.
Basic grade school lesson. I'm shocked that so few care about things like equality and balance.
Do I want the studios to keep the cash? Nope. But since they're the ones paying the writers in the first place, I see nothing sinister about it, either. They pay writers to do a job, just like any other member of the team. If a writer wants to get continued payment for a job they've done, they can produce it themselves and pay actors to act it out, set designers to make it seem real, and foley artists to make all the sounds required to bring their script to life.
I also must say I think Carson Daily is an untalented douchenozzle, but I respect his decision to get back to doing what he's paid to do.
Think about it: If you asked YOUR boss for residuals on your work after you'd already gotten a salary, wouldn't you expect to be laughed out of his office?
You want intellectual rights, royalties, and residuals? Produce it yourself. Writers' work gets to OUR ears and eyes through the grace of the rest of the team they work with, and the producers they work for, and they shouldn't forget that. -
That's just my guess, of course. It appears what the producers/studios are doing is laying the groundwork for negotiations they will have to deal with next year with the directors and actors. (Both parties could strike next year as well.) What they give now to the writers is what they will be asked to give by the actors and directors next year. If this is resolved by New Year's, and both sides are happy, then it could be a sign that negotiations wiith the Screen Actor's Guild and Director's Guild of America will go smoothly (and without work stoppage or coverage in the news media) next year. In other words, the writers are taking one for the team.
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As I said, I'm a different kind of writer, but if I did write for TV, I don't think any contribution I'd make to a meat grinder television show would be the "creative backbone" of the show. I don't think the stuff we see on TV has a "creative backbone".
It's the effort of a lot of creative people working together. For one group to be considered "more important" than the others is an insult. -
How do you feel about the possibility that the SAG and DGA could strike over these very same issues that the WGA is striking? The SAG is VERY strict over the issue of its members taking unpaid acting roles in Internet videos, for example. Between the two unions, the WGA is far more open and liberal toward its members skirting the rules. The SAG is far more likely to bar its member actors for scabbng or breaking the rules.
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When I think of the WGA strike, my mind doesn't jump straight to the television writers. I generally think more of the ones who do film work. We can agree that all of the writers jammed in a room to create an episode of "According to Chimp" probably don't deserve the money I could dig out of my couch. I'm thinking more along the lines of the scribes who do actual good, creative work, even the good, creative work you can find on your lowly television. And yeah, there is some good stuff there.
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Back in 1988, during the last writer's strike, the producers of the daytime soaps tried their hand at writing the scripts. The audience reaction toward their efforts was generally critical and dismal. In fact, some TV media journalists at the time speculated that it helped to hasten the end of the strike. This season, I've wondered if most of the episodes of certain series (*cough* HEROES *cough*) were in fact finished by the producers, who started with hastily written first drafts assigned to writers. It would explain a lot of the varying, schizophrenic writing quality we've been seeing this season (*cough* BIONIC WOMAN *cough*).
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This is taken fron unitedhollywood[dot]com:
The companies put out a press release today, thus ending the media blackout to which they and the WGA agreed. So this is what we no know:
That big, amazing proposal that the companies hinted to Nikki Finke was coming? Well, it came.
Turns out their exciting, groundbreaking proposal is... a residual rollback. And not just any rollback, one of the biggest in the history of the Guild. Then, stunningly, the companies have the balls to say their plan gives us more compensation. Well, I'm sorry, but If you take away a dollar and give me a nickel, the nickel ain't a raise. Somewhere, Nick Counter's first-grade math teacher is embarrassed.
So we decided to do some math of our own: We broke out the cost of the WGA's current proposal to the conglomerates into yearly figures. We found that the TOTAL payment yearly -- the total that ALL the companies would make under our proposals -- is $50.54 million. And that, we realized, is about one-third the budget of TRANSFORMERS. We are asking IN TOTAL, for the equivalent of the cost overrun on a summer event movie.
Instead of agreeing that that is a fair and just offer, they've proposed this:
When an hourlong episode of television is streamed on the Internet, writers would get a flat $250 payment for one year of reuse. That's $250 as opposed to, for example, $20,000 per episode when it's reused on network television. They proposed nothing new on downloads, it's still the DVD formula for those (ie. two-thirds of a penny for an iTunes download). For theatrical movies, they're offering exactly $0.00 on streaming. Oh, and they want to be able to define any content they like as "promotional" -- for which they would pay zero dollars. Even if they stream an entire film or tv episode, and even if they sell ads on it, they can call that promotional and pay us nothing.
THE AMPTP claims their deal is worth $130 million over three years. But what they don't mention is how much we'd lose under their proposal. As all media distribution transitions to the Internet before our eyes, their proposal takes away far, far more revenue than it provides.
A bold, new relationship? Sure, an abusive one.
Patric Verrone sent this letter to membership a few minutes ago:
To My Fellow Members,
After four days of bargaining with the AMPTP, I am writing to let you know that, though we are still at the table, the press blackout has been lifted.
Our inability to communicate with our members has left a vacuum of information that has been filled with rumors, both well intentioned and deceptive.
Among the rumors was the assertion that the AMPTP had a groundbreaking proposal that would make this negotiation a "done deal." In fact, for the first three days of this week, the companies presented in essence their November 4 package with not an iota of movement on any of the issues that matter to writers.
Thursday morning, the first new proposal was finally presented to us. It dealt only with streaming and made-for-Internet jurisdiction, and it amounts to a massive rollback.
From streaming television episodes, the companies proposed a residual structure of a single fixed payment of less than $250 for a year's reuse of an hour-long program (compared to over $20,000 payable for a network rerun). For theatrical product they are offering no residuals whatsoever for streaming.
For made-for-Internet material, they offered minimums that would allow a studio to produce up to a 15 minute episode of network-derived web content for a script fee of $1300. They continued to refuse to grant jurisdiction over original content for the Internet.
In their new proposal, they made absolutely no move on the download formula (which they propose to pay at the DVD rate), and continue to assert that they can deem any reuse "promotional," and pay no residual (even if they replay the entire film or TV episode and even if they make money).
The AMPTP says it will have additional proposals to make but, as of Thursday evening, they have not been presented to us. We are scheduled to meet with them again on Tuesday.
In the meantime, I felt it was essential to update you accurately on where negotiations stood. On Wednesday we presented a comprehensive economic justification for our proposals. Our entire package would cost this industry $151 million over three years. That's a little over a 3% increase in writer earnings each year, while company revenues are projected to grow at a rate of 10%. We are falling behind.
For Sony, this entire deal would cost $1.68 million per year. For Disney $6.25 million. Paramount and CBS would each pay about $4.66 million, Warner about $11.2 million, Fox $6.04 million, and NBC/Universal $7.44 million. MGM would pay $320,000 and the entire universe of remaining companies would assume the remainder of about $8.3 million per year. As we've stated repeatedly, our proposals are more than reasonable and the companies have no excuse for denying it.
The AMPTP's intractability is dispiriting news but it must also be motivating. Any movement on the part of these multinational conglomerates has been the result of the collective action of our membership, with the support of SAG, other unions, supportive politicians, and the general public. We must fight on, returning to the lines on Monday in force to make it clear that we will not back down, that we will not accept a bad deal, and that we are all in this together.
Best,
Patric M. Verrone
President, WGAW
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oh no 3% raise thats what normal working class people get
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In regards to Prof.'s question regarding - a VERY good one at that - the SAG & DGA's stand on the same issues, I have another question re: your statement, "You want intellectual rights, royalties, and residuals? Produce it yourself." Do you include songwriters, novelists, playwrights and the like in your statement as well?
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I don't know where you work, but if my boss offered me a 3% raise at my annual review I would be pretty pissed off. I would probably turn into the Hulk and start thrashing around the office.
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Egads, what a way to run a railroad, AMPTP...
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This has been out for a few days but I haven't seen it posted anywhere yet (sorry if I missed it). Just a response from the Screen Actors Guild in support of the strike with some high & low profile actors in various vids.
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First, SAG has a better in deal in place already, compared to what the WGA has. For example, if you are an actor who appears in a network series, and you say just a few lines, you would most likely earn more residuals over the years for your appearance than the writer who actually wrote the episode. But SAG wants to negotiate a better deal for their members next year. Second point: The rumor is that Fox Studios and Disney are the good guys -- both are pretty much willing to give most of what the WGA wants, and these studios are thinking next year with the SAG negotiations. This is not surprising when you consider that Fox and Disney have had fellowship and other special programs to seek out new writers, and both studios help writers to become producers, thus, in effect, turning them into members of the AMPTP. And a lot of their money comes from their international operations. The studios who are holding things up the most -- the douchbags -- are CBS/Viacom, NBC Universal. These studio operations have not been doing so well for the past few years, and they do not have the international reach and revenue that Disney, Fox and Sony have.
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"I write for CAVEMEN. Gimme more money!" Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all weekend. (cue canned applause)
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I'm paying for 20 hours a week uncensored of Howard's show uncensored, plus the numerous other programming on the two channels branded with Stern's name- Bubba, Ferrel, Miserable Men, etc. The weeks that Howard's on vacation feature programming specials like 30 to 40 hours of live music by the various musical acts that have played on his show over the years. Sure there's some repeats, but it helps me catch up on parts of the show I may have missed otherwise. I don't see O&A getting rerun all day. Perhaps it is because hardly anyone wants to listen to them once.
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Taken from unitedhollywood[dot]com:
(Mallory!!)
Attention all SAG Actors:
I believe it's appropriate at this time to call all actors into action in support of the Writer's Guild on strike.
I know many of us have been walking the picket lines and attending the rallies, but I want to challenge ALL SAG members to see if they can commit an HOUR-A-DAY to walking the picket lines.
The AMPTP has been jerking the Writer's Guild around.
1. They offered nothing but insulting Roll-Backs to the WGA in the negotiations that caused the strike.
2. They have planted "trolls" to post on the industry internet sites(corporate-paid people who troll the internet for places to pretend they are writers, crew members, and fans and post AMPTP propaganda).
3. They called WGA back to the table on Monday with no intention of settling as they AGAIN presented that rejected Roll-Back proposal. Their purpose in getting in the room again looks only like a weak PR move to get the public and the fans to change their tunes about calling a Christmas Boycott of DVD and downloads. I believe the fans will NOT call those Boycotts off now.
4. They tried to discredit Nikki Finke and deadlinehollywooddaily.com by planting mis-information about this weeks talks in an attempt to crush the spirits of the writers.
Ultimately, this is OUR strike. If the WGA had not called this strike, we would all be participating in MASSIVE stockpiling. Then, in June when our contract expires, the AMPTP would have offered US the no-gains-play-your-work-for-free-and-how-bout-some-rollbacks offer we're now familiar with.
And SAG would have to go on strike, but because of the stockpiling, we would have NO leverage. The AMPTP would have said to us, "Strike all you want. We have enough material stockpiled for 6 moths, maybe more."
And we would have been on strike for months and months and months.
So I urge you, get out there on the lines. Go to www.wga.org and look at the list of picketing locations. There's a studio near you. Pick a gate, become their SAG mascot. Maybe there's a studio that is on the way to a meeting or near the school you drop your kids off at or on the way to where you need to run errands. Just park the car and pick up a picket sign for an HOUR-A-DAY.
These guys need us. We're 120,000 strong. Let's get out there and let them know we're WITH them.
Let them know we are Fighting For The Future, too.
Here are some links. Send any videos you think are important to your friends and family.
www.unitedhollywood.com
www.speechlesswithoutwriters.com
www.wga.org
www.sag.org
Best,
Justine Bateman
SAG Member
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Again, taken fron unitedhollywood[dot]com: (I actually think the...er...math is a bit overreaching but he make a few good points re; health care/pensions.)
Last night was a literary evening at my house. After "Go, Dog, Go!" and "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" we continued the Ingalls' family saga with a chapter of "Little Town on the Prairie." After my kids fell asleep I settled down to look at the AMPTP's latest proposal to the WGA.
I really should have stuck with P.D. Eastman & Dr. Seuss. A big dog party up there in the tree is something I can believe in. But $250.00 in residuals? For a whole year? Really?
I couldn't resist grabbing a paper towel and pen to try and figure out what this proposal means for those of us below the line.
In 2006 the AMPTP member companies contributed $339,000,000 in residuals to our P&H funds and made another $277,000,000 in direct contributions. That's a total employer contribution of $616,000,000.00 We employees contributed $0.00, and there was a surplus when it was all said and done.
Now the AMPTP is proposing to give writers a residual payment of $250.00 for an entire year of streaming reruns instead of the TV standard of $20,000.00 for the first rerun. What does that have to do with us? In terms of Dr. Seuss, is it a big fish or a little fish? It turns out it's almost all the fish. There are shows that already have no network rerun ("Lost" and "24" for example). They only stream on the Internet. Not only do the writers get nothing, our pension and health funds get nothing.
So what will this mean? I estimate $250.00 dollars to be one eightieth of $20,000.00. Now of course our P&H funds get several times 20,000.00, but the ratio of one eightieth is the one the AMPTP is offering, so that's what we're looking at. And one eightieth of $339,000,000.00 is $4,237,500.00. For the sake of my paper towel I have to assume all residuals payments to the plan are from content made for television. I also have to do that because the AMPTP is offering $0.00 for theatrical content streamed on the internet.
My paper towel got a little messy around here, as it's been a while since I've done long division and I frankly got a little fascinated by all the zeroes. But I wanted to know the worst case scenario, the one my kids will face if they disregard my advice and go into the industry. The one I will face before I retire. The one guys with 25 years and 48,000 hours will face when they're 72 and have their hip go out a 2nd time.
So here's where I ended up once I added the direct contributions and the reduced residual payments: $281,237,500.00. That's a lot less than $616,000,000.00 In fact, it's a shortfall of $8,000.00 for each and every one of the roughly 42,000 members of the health plan. I don't know how long it will be until all content is delivered over the internet vs. broadcast, but with savings like that I bet the process is going to speed up pretty quickly.
Now admittedly these are very rough numbers- Of course there will still be DVD sales and, if the companies get their way, downloads at the DVD rate, and we'll continue to get a few pennies for airplane and hotel movies. There will still be reruns on the airwaves, but they will become a smaller and smaller piece of the pie. People will still watch things on their TV screens, but those screens will be fed through the Internet.
The numbers paint a pretty bleak picture for the future of our pension and health funds. Retirees can pretty much kiss 13th and 14th checks goodbye, and we'll all be looking at large increases in deductibles, co-pays and yet unheard of ways to pay more for healthcare.
On a brighter note, Laura Ingalls and her family finally managed to raise enough money to send her sister Mary to a college for the blind. Of course scarlet fever wouldn't have made her blind if she'd had healthcare. But I digress.
John Jabaley
Location Manager
IBT Local 399
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Hello? The floor is yours, man. You have been indepth and intelligent so far; I'm looking to debate further, if you have the time.
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Anyone that can give me anything other than "You make too much money anyway! " whinging bitch toss? I'd like to give a flat fee of $250 to that Einstein guy for coming up with that creative idea , E=Mc something something because I am *WAY* smarter than that guy..
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http://tinyurl.com/2gpzss
This is after Letterman and Conan pay their staff. I guess Leno figures he isn't in it for the long haul anymore so he can let his true asshole self show through once again. I wonder if he'll bring back Hellen too. -
This is good reading.. He brings up the idea of writers taking their toys to a new playground.
http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/2007/12/joss-whedon-looks-into-crystal-ball.html
No one took satellite radio seriously till Howard Stern signed on.. Ratings of radio stations across the country, that previously had Howard, plummeted.. Moonves has been through this before. Don't respect talent, talent moves on, audience follows. I look forward to Joss's next project, wherever it may be.. -
I agree...in part. You have to admit there are some shows out there that are well-written, though I'm pretty sure they're all on HBO. And anyone affected that badly by a writer's strike probably needs to reevaluate their life anyway.... you know - like find some sort of meaning beyond the boob-tube. And if you're going to waste your time in front of the idiot box, at least do yourself the favor of watching an independent or classic film... OR (gasp) try to learn something. History Channel rocks. So... Attention All So-Called Writers: stay on stike forever as far as I care... I'm pretty sure everyone will benefit from the lack of mindless dribble spewn forth into their respective homes on a nightly basis.
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If it is crap, then there will be no continuing demand for the product and the crap won't generate any more money for the bad writers so they'll be making a percentage of nothing. Also why are you watching something that you know is crap?
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How is it that "O&A are rerun all day on their channel" when that channel also airs ron and fez and the thrilling kevin smith podcast show? Maybe if they had two channels like Howard they could get all day replays. That'll never happen though. After the merger maybe they'll be lucky enough to get an overnight spot on sirius' gay channel. Oh, and since 0.0 shit the bed in Philly, I recommend all terrestrial listeners tune into WYSP to hear Kidd Chris weekday mornings.
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