AP:
Negotiations between striking Hollywood writers and studios collapsed Friday, the culimination of a day in which the sides traded barbs and accusations.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced that the round of talks that started Tuesday had broken down, stalling efforts to end the five-week strike that has sidelined many prime-time and late-night TV shows.
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I've been reading, intermittently, about the writer's strike and I will say one thing: I DON'T CARE!! I don't even watch network television. These guys are whining about not bringing home paychecks in the six figures. Now, I'm sure that there are some (Yes, I was a writer's assistant on a show called "Bringing Up Jack" that lasted all of 6 episodes in the summer replacement season). Trust me, my salary was less, less than that. I did like my job but just when I was about to have enough hours to qualify me for a WGA union membership, the production coordinator hired her own son, eclipsing my time. So, yes, Hollywood did not leave a good taste in my mouth. Over the years, I've managed to forge a good career in another field and just look read, with mild interest, about this strike. I hope the strike continues because it will weed out all the stupid sitcoms, pseudo-reality shows (how many participants are part of the SAG?), and programming that is dumbed down to a third-grade level education with a learning disorder. I hope the studios win and replace all programming with filmed movies. HATE TV!!
if nothing gets done, then neither the writers or the "big guys at the top" will have jobs. i cannot speak for anyone BUT myself, but with the exception of a few programs i will not miss anything and in fact those few programs i do watch are already NOT worth the price i pay monthly.
some have suggested getting active in the community instead of tv, others suggest enrichment via books and music, walks in the park, on the beach, quiet family time, hobbies, crafts, classes at the local Com. College etc.
i think this is a great trend to move forward with.
plus, i will be saving a lot of money every month.
reality tv...phbbbbt its all around us in life everyday.....why pay someone for the edit?
writers strike and the big guys worrying about losing a bit of profit....oh well, greed = losers all around, imho.
"It's disheartening that a month into this, I'm not getting the overwhelming sense that we're getting any closer to a settlement," said Robert Port, a writer for the CBS series "Numb3rs." "I hope we can continue to negotiate and wrap this thing up."
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Therein lies the chink in the armor of the writers. They think that they put in their time, and they get something out of it. Typical case of underestimating your adversary. Those with the cards have the 'answers.' Unless you're prepared to go out of business as a writer, you should have voted to stay working, because my friends, the idea that you go ahead and bite the bullet for a few weeks in order to get something that will pay off in the long run is a flawed strategy. Lots of hope and pray, not a lot of plan and pay. Striking is expensive, as you're finding out, and unless you're willing to go belly-up for the cause, you're bargaining at a disadvantage.
As my posting history will confirm, I said this thing will be sabotaged by the producers many weeks ago, not because they want to, but because they can, and because they know they're in the position of power and they honestly believe that they're the ones who take all the risk. That combination spells doom for the writers. They also have much more money which gives them a much greater window for settlement.
If the writers don't settle, this thing will go into the summer of 2008. But the guild won't let that happen-- they'll turn tail and end this thing without most of what they wanted, if anything, and will have set back their bargaining power for the next 20 years if not more. They're on the run and the producers know it. It's just a matter of time....
The longer this goes on the more likely neighbors will begin to get away from their TVs and start talking with one another. That could literally start a revolution.
Stick to it, ladies and gentlemen writers, AS LONG AS IT TAKES.
Here's why...
"Cable television" delivers two things to my household. One of them is called "cable television." The other is called "internet."
Say, I want to see "a television show." I have two ways to request it -- and both of them will come to me on exactly the same piece of coaxial cable.
Five years from now, we all know, the first form of transmission ("cable TV") will probably be just as 'forgotten' as, say, Betamax. But it will be, forgotten or not, only "a form of transmission."
"The thing that is being transmitted," namely 'a television program' (say... or a movie...) will be the same. And THIS is the thing that YOU helped to produce. If a marvelous new technology existed that allowed me to receive it on the wings of a purple carrier-pigeon, IT WOULD BE THE SAME 'THING.'
So, stick it out as long as it takes. You are right. And you must not compromise now, or you will be forever scroo'd.
And I am... in saying this... "truly just an ordinary consumer of your product." Only through the magic of the Internet would you ever hear from 'me.'
It's sad but it's true. Unless you cut into enormous profits, nothing's going to change. How many people (studio heads, executive producers, agents etc.) are going to give up all that power and those perks? Would anybody start to take less money to actually try and improve the quality of the product they put out? Of course not. Instead, it's every person's back end gross deal for themselves. And the studios know that if one turns down Tom Cruise or Will Smith, everybody else will go after them. And then they'll have to explain to the boss why they f****d up.
There's more to this than just profit.
OK... You're a writer now. Here's your ball cap and sunglasses.
I heard the US version of the smart car has 20% less mpg (40 versus 50) than the european car. US protection of uncompetitive US car companies?
Let them stay out forever.Maybe we'll get some decent programming on televison.They are enough movies in the can to last several decades.No one cares.
I think all of them have nothing but contempt for the American people.
It's also a great pr campaign for cable and satellite tv too...
Old movies, old series, old 1960's cartoons, Rockford, Perry Mason (even the "New" old Perry Mason) and the list goes on and on and on:)
I guess they didn't hear the announcement or see the memo, we baby-boomers are getting older now and we miss our shows....
VCR's & DVD's....come on:)
Who needs new tv series...we've got re-runs too!
Hope these writing folks packed some serious tv dinners and lunches because we can wait it out til doomsday or longer!
Another sticking point for the studios is paying out residuals on gross over net profit. Studios want to pay out on net. Why? Extremely creative accounting by the studios means even when films make hundreds of millions, studios lie and claim they never made a profit; therefore, they owe nothing to the writers.
The moral to that story is get your money up front because you're for sure getting screwed on the back end.
Come on, you corporation, multi-zillion dollar big-wigs, just give them their money. On your report cards in grade school, your teachers checked off "Does not share with other students." They sat in silence for twenty years and now they have come out in force, and you get pi**ed off. Open your wallets and show some love for the foot soldiers. Give them double, triple of what they are asking for. Right, sure. You are a bunch of cheapskates.
You mean they write that shit on television?
I'm starting to think that the writers are either republicans or traitors. At the very least they could have waited till after the election to do this. The people that host the programs that are being impacted are the same ones that give the conservatives hell all the time. If Keith is effected by the NBC cut back it will have been a clean sweep to get rid of the loudest critics of the republicans. With all of the recent neocon and conservative hires in the msm we are seeing a big change. What if the other side refuses to employ these writers and fills the spots with their cronies? The only thing left will be the blogs and a lot of the run of the mill voting population don't do computers. So their only input will be conservative controlled. Could impact the primary year of the campaign season, wouldn't you say?
I have an idea for the writers:
hit youtube with a video-bomb of free political views, unencumbered with obligations to the Man.
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First Posted: 12- 7-07 11:25 PM | Updated: 03-28-08 02:45 AM