Ahhh America, we even outsource the results to our own film award programs.

And also, if most actors, as has happened often, feel it is more important for them to empty their bladders after imbibing those 10 Vodka Tonics, instead of being available to accept their award, doesn't that tell us something about the Globes themselves? That actors would rather take a shit, than win one of those pieces of trash.

Let the union writers starve or get real jobs like everyone else.

The music is also equally irritating. The movie does have good spirit and all that, good morals, the second half is much better and Michael Cera rocks. Thank You For Smoking was superior in my opinion, and Juno is just not as super god damn spectacular as everyone around me kept saying it was. So pretty much, I told ya so.

In one sense lecter is absolutely right. I'm sure that, if you added up the numbers, the "crew" portion of Hollywood outnumbers the "talent" portion that will benefit from the strike. I don't fault the writers for fighting for what they think they deserve, but, like Leno said, 160 people almost lost their jobs because of the demands of 19 writers and the studios refusal to acquiesce. Sooner or later one of the sides will begin to hammer that point home, and I get the feeling that the writers are a bit too arrogant to take that advantage.

stopped all the people that lecter was referring to from working.

Not that I give a shit, but I just wanted you to get off your soapbox- even though it is obvious that the writers and all supporting credited crew get shafted by the producers- you're making it sound like it is some righteous battle against "The Man". It isn't- it's a labout dispute. Nothing more.

That's why I'm not a writer

"and on the fifth day, He unleashed upon the world a great strike that will clense the airwaves of shitty scripted television programs."

"and then, on the sixth day, He unleashed unto the world the scourge of 'reality television'"

"then, on the seventh day, he rested, and realized there was nothing good on TV, so he took a nap and went to see a sneak preview of Cloverfield"

If the writers get what they want, good for them. If this strike averts a strike by the DGA or SAG, even better. But just once I would like the WGA to admit that their decision to strike has had a devastating financial effect on the majority of workers in the television industry, workers who will in no way benefit from a better deal for the writers, and be honestly contrite about it (without placing the blame solely on the studios).

This is a business negotiation. I'm fairly certain the producers had no such qualms or second-guessing of their own tactics but the negotiators of the Guilds should?? What kind of logic is that?

The WGA went to the last LA city council meeting in regards to the damaging affect the strike was having on the city. The Producers sent NO ONE, not even a rep; they couldn't be bothered.

The WGA *has* filed a legal motion with the Labor Board regarding the Producers decision to stop negotations, collusion and other unfair business practices.

Writers who are back at work on the Letterman & Feragson show are donating money to the strike fund - which happen to be varied and numerous. I made a donation even though I can not really afford it to the MPTV fund, that supports below-the-line workers. What have the Producers donated? What have you?

Obviously the producers don't give a crap about anyone but themselves. But my point was the WGA members chose this course of action and do bear some responsibility for the shutdown and the effect it is having. They are not victims of the strike but rather participants in it. That being said, I hope the writers get everything they are demanding, and soon, so they, and everyone else, can get back to work.

If they had granted a interim waiver, you could have had 20+ million people watching next Monday as presenter after presenter, winner after winner do their level best to explain why things are at such an impasse right now. Explain the issues directly to us, the viewers. It would have been one hell of a bully pulpit. But that's been lost. Fortunately, the People's Choice, of all shows, are seeing one actor after another - Joachim Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Katherine Heigl, Chandra Wilson (so far) give shoutouts to the writers and voicing their support of the strike. The PCA's are turning out to be what the Golden Globes *could* have been. A forum for the WGA.

But it's not too late to get the word out to an 8-figures audience.

The WGA, IMO, needs to relent and grant a waiver to the Oscars; the audience for that is always ABC's largest of any given year. If there are no picket lines, everybody who presents, who wins, who's interviewed on the red carpet can explain why this strike is happening and embarrass the producers into going back to the bargaining table. What's ABC gonna do, have a 7-billion second delay so the comments can't get through on the telecast? Not likely.

I think that some people really don't understand the concepts that led up to the strike in the first place. The writer's contract was expired. Then when they wanted to renew, and asked for a fair increase in regards to revenue already being generated and they were denied by the Studios. And they weren't denied because the Studios couldn't afford it but because they want them to accept the worst deal possible, so it is more lucrative for their own bottom line.

The MPTF is a WGA approved fund but there are others as well. fans4writers[dot]com has links on their page for donations and fundraisers.,

My question is, Buffywrestling, in music when an artist signs a contract he receives a royalty based on sales in all media forever- why isn't this applied in film? sure the writer may take an advance rather than a fee up front, but then his residuals would pay more at the back end. Or has this been vetoed by the studios?

http://tinyurl.com/3c3kc7

And the second, explaining a bit more about why they get residuals.

http://tinyurl.com/37vfgh

There is more info on the FAQ guides at fans4writers[dot]com - this one is pretty indepth, seems like they scanned all the info from as many sites as they could- , holllywoodunited[dot]com and both WGA sites (east & west). *

gad-nabbit, I'm a sick fuck.

Why is it not like the music industry where the songwriter receives royaties on his song in all media- as they all come from masters? I am just amazed that Film does not work the same way.

There's a scene where frank has to pose as a guy in a locksmith shop. He goes to grind a key and it zips out of his hand and up out of view, presumably stuck on the roof. Later, the guys he's tailing stop by and he gets them to reveal something important to him. As they leave, the door slams, and about 500 keys fall from the root on Frank's head. That cracks me up everytime.

Oh and the tall detective who is so big they only show him from shoulders to his knees in the frame. Frank looks up and says, "yo u got some food on your cheek." The guy wipes (above the view) and a whole unpeeled banana falls to the desk. "yeah you got it."

But I can't watch the movies anymore. Everytime I see OJ, I just picture him cutting off a woman's head, and then murdering the young man who tried to step in and save her.

Honestly, if both sides really are this far apart I don't see this ending anytime soon. If the prospect of the Oscars being cancelled, along with the threat of the networks having nothing for the upfronts in May, doesn't bring the AMPTP back to the table, then I fear nothing will. Or maybe all this needs to get settled is for Schwarzanegger to head over to the the studios and start knocking some heads together.

However, there is such a thing called "Fi-core", standing for Finacial Core Status (This term is used in all labor negotiations). In effect, if a writer (showrunner, what-have-you) decides to fi-core, they keep the WGA health & pension plan; in fact, they get to keep everything that WGA memebers get except to say that they are WGA members.

So why don't more people go this route? It's probably better for them finaically and they get to start working again immediatly. One response I've heard is that if the studios won't deal fairly with the collective, what makes you think they will treat one lone person favorably? This seems a bit like peer pressure to me but I'm still reading up on it.

http://tinyurl.com/3x6blq

So basically, as I understand it- the reason it doesn't work like music/ publishing is that the writers are coerced by the studios into selling the copyright when they sell the script? That's wrong, and a serious abuse of a position of strength,

They are coerced. Because that is how business in Hollywood is dealt. It used to be worse. People who wrote "The Honeymooners" and "I Love Lucy" get fucking DICK. Because the writer's strike in 1960 caved to studios (We will start residuals.....Now!. Wait. I mean, now!!) And again with the strike1988, the writers have a deal for VHS that covers todays DVDs.

I mean, just think about that. The proliferation of DVDs in this day and age and they still get the same pay as VHS. It's like not getting a raise for 20 *fucking* years. Considering how lucrative DVDs are and have been for the last five years...

It's like cumming in your hair and calling it "styling mousse".

(Maybe that only happened to me though.)

Cheers!@

You are a mark.

Your second set of comments quite lost me. This is a labor dispute about money between factions - nothing more, nothing less - yet you try to dissimulate issues such as packaging and Walmart? If I was some sort of logical person, I might suspect that you had bigger problem about not liking your job stocking shelves at Walmart.

Re: comment 5:53am - I believe your beef is with the studios for hiring Will Smith and the adapters to butcher Mathesion's story. And yes, GOD DAMN those fuck tards for doing what they were hired to do. Pretty soon, I'll be expecting those fuckers I hired to mow my lawn to actually mow my fucking lawn. If they think I'm going to pay them for doing what I tell them to do, they have another thing coming....

I guess I should have just hired an illiterate hobo. Not only would I have a good script but my lawn would have been nice and tidy..

The reason that they can't not sell the script is that writing is a highly desirable profession and if they pass up their chance then the studio will just go and get someone else. The fact that they are being co-erced into signing an unfair deal is not the point.

I do agree that it should be like music and sorted out in the contract, but you can't do that if the side with the power is unwilling to negotiate.

the other point is that your packaging analogy is totally off the mark- say a designer designed the better doorhandle for cars. He could patent it, and then would receive a payment for every time the doorhandle was used. The fact that it is only 1 part of the whole process doesn't devalue the contribution to the car that he has made. And the fact that he is not physically assembling the car every time does not detract from the fact that he deserves some small payment for every time his idea is used.

I do agree that the vast amount of writing on TV is fucking dire- and writers in themselves are not a draw, but a bad writer can spoil a film- see the continuing mystifying career of Akiva Goldsman.

When it started there were writers popping up stating obvious bullshit ike: "your average WGA member only earns $4,000 per year" which is complete horseshit- that effectively means that their hobby pays 4 grand, not to mention the various attempts to paint a pay dispute as a battle with "the man"- and on the other side there has been the stupidity of "I don't pay my plumber every time the toilet flushes".

It's really quite irritating.

But I agree it can be irritating. I hate math :/

But there is no way in fuck that the average WGA member makes either $4K or $200k. Both sides are, frankly, lying in a pathetic and transparent attempt to alter public opinion.

Load of horseshit in every way- if the argument is kept simple then it is VERY resolvable in a manner that leaves no side fucked-

All the studios should be doing is asking themselves: "Should the writer's get their residual". If the answer to that is Yes, then they should ask "What percentage are they asking for". If it isn't a lot, they should fucking GIVE IT TO THEM- if it is too much then they should negotiate.

It really isn't that hard.

Three days.

It would only take three days if they both came together in good faith. I wish they would. But - true story - the CEOs are at a spa in Colorado this weekend. Maybe when they get back...

The level of hysteria from the studios leads me to believe that they don't think they are being fair, and are obsessed with crushing the union not resolving the issue

Once that works out for me, then I'll understand the Writer's Union on this one. Until then, DUR?

There is currently no contract in place, nothing legally stopping the studios from using material submitted by non-WGA writers. If they're so concerned with A) the jobs of "innocent people" and B) losing millions of dollars in ad revenue, why don't they step outside the guild?

My own background is music (on the label side) so I was curious as to whether film writers were paid in a similar fashion to songwriters. According to the reading I did, it seemed they were getting shafted by the system. If that is not the case then, fair enough.

Tourist- re supply and demand. In all media there is a massive supply inbalance- this has given the buying party far too much power for an equitable result for all parties. Generally, supply and demand does work and correct inbalances like this, but this is an artificial situation- and is therefore never going to naturally fix itself. When this happens it is only fair to intervene to correct it. I personally think that they should be paid in exactly the same way as songwriters- a small fee and then a small royalty from "dealer price" (which is not the amount paid at the box office)- but they get to keep copyright. If the film is a success then they make the money in all forms of their creative work forever. If it dies on it's arse then they should be thankful that they picked up a small fee up front. If it is successful then they can look forward to never having to work again. That would be fair.

Zombie on salaries, the point I was trying to make is that both sides are lying. I doubt very much that the average WGA member pulls in 200K per year, but sure as fuck they don't make 4K. I'm positive that most of them do well, or they wouldn't do it. Simple as that.

On control- this is the root of every fucking strike in the history of strikes, and frankly the WGA have absolutely no business at all trying to extend their influence into things like reality TV. That's fucking appaling and they should get a slapped wrist for it. Finally, unions striking in concert is a sad depressing reality of organised labour. They really should not be able to hold the lives of people not interested in their pay dispute to ransom, and it is galling when they act like the wounded party.

As I said, I understand both sides, I think their current pay scale is unfair, but I don't like the way they are going about correcting it.

For Sony, this entire deal would cost $1.68 million per year. For Disney it would cost $6.25 million per year. Paramount and CBS would each pay only $4.66 million per year. Warners would pay about $11.2 million per year. Fox would pay about $6.04 million per year. NBC/Universal would pay $7.44 million per year. MGM would pay only $320,000 per year. All the other companies would assume the remaining cost of about $8.3 million per year.

Here is what some of the companies made (2006):

GE- 163.4 Billion. Time Warner-44.2 Billion. Walt Disney-34.3 Billion. News Corp-25.3 Billion. CBS-14.3 BIllion. Viacom- 11.5 Billion. Rupert Murdoch take home salary was 9 billion; Sumner Redstone's was 8 billion.

By the way, the pay I cited is accurate and comes from the WGA contract of minimums. Four grand a week, minimum. On top of that, 30 grand for contributing to one episode of 60 minutes or less. That’s PER EPISODE. Eight grand for rewrites. Two grand to rework dialogue on set. All of that is in their current contracts and That’s the minimum. And that is for each and every writer on a show. Next time you watch the Simpsons, check out how many writers they have.

Writers never make the minimum unless they are just hired. There are only 12,000 members of the WGA, by the WGA own admission the average wage is over 200,000 a year. And over half of its members earned (not on average, but actually) over 100,000 a year. I used to think cast members of Saturday Night Live didnt make a lot of money, until I found out that on top of the pay they make, they also get everything I mentioned above. . . and that show still sucks.

John Ridley, a WGA member has already come out and said the strike is stupid and causing more harm to writers then anyone else. Barry Adelman a WGA member tried to work out an agreement to get the Golden Globes on TV, but said the rebuff came not from the studios, but by WGA members. Matt O’Neil, another WGA member has come out and said he did support the methods of the strike, until he saw a e-mail circulated by the WGA intending to intimidate any WGA that spoke out against the strike. Soap writers have already said the strike was horse crap and went back to work. Todays new York Times wrote;

“Still uncertain is whether doubts about the conduct of the strikers will provoke organized resistance. Writers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution by other members, said last week that at least 50 prominent writers have formed a network of dissent.”

Trust me. No average WGA member gives a damned about 4 cents per DVD. They hardly care about animation and reality being added to their Union. That’s why the strike is crumbling as writers do their best to strike deals or cite “Financial core” status to do work for some studios, or ignore the strike altogether and now are speaking out. It’s because Union bosses just want to make their little empire even bigger.

http://tinyurl.com/3x4bqn

No where on the WGA site does it have the number $200,000 . That the WGA has admitted to this number is a complete falsehood. The $200,000 average was in a press release from the AMPTP. The WGA has a breakdown of their average numbers here:

http://tinyurl.com/2rjwqp

In regards to the "network of dissent", while this shadowed group was never proven to exist and was thought to be blown out of proportion, I did hear that Jeffery Katzenberg made his own inquires towards the AMPTP and was just as stonewalled as WGA negotiators.#

The Weinstein Company has made a deal with the WGA, that is the exact same as the deal for Worldwide Pants and United Artists (The same deal presented to the Studios). The WGA says that there are more deals in the works and will be announced when finalized.