Read more strike coverage on the Huffington Post's writers' strike page.
Dear Peter, Les, Barry, Bob, and your AMPTP cohorts,
We all see the strategy you guys have been playing: put the rollback of residuals on the table, then take them off and act like this is some great, magnanimous gesture. I suppose the hardliners among you enjoyed the move, but everyone knew it was just a negotiating ploy and not a viable position.
Then there was the way you didn't negotiate for the seven months leading up to the pending strike, then thought you could get a settlement done in seven hours. Right.
After the writers went on strike in New York while you were still negotiating in Los Angeles, your guys faked indignation and proclaimed that you can't negotiate with a union that has gone on strike. But many times autoworkers -- and other unions -- have gone on strike and the owners have continued to negotiate. You say you want a settlement but act like you are more interested in punishing the writers.
We all see the other leg of your strategy: make a deal with the Director's Guild in early December, then try and turn up the heat on the writers. Do you really think that by making a deal with the directors you are going to do anything other than utterly alienate the working members of the WGA? When you put rollbacks on the table, you lost the Ventura Blvd writers. This strategy of using a deal with the directors as leverage will lose you any support you might have among the more moderate working writers.
The writers have taken their big issue -- DVD residuals -- off the table. So can't you just step up and put a sensible, viable, and fair offer on the table that deals with the other key issues of jurisdiction and new media?
This should not become a contest over who has the best strategy. You want points for your plan to make a deal with the directors? Okay: kudos on a great tactic. Tell your hardliners we're impressed.
Now can the moderates on both sides please get back to talking?
Read more strike coverage on the Huffington Post's writers' strike page.
Nothing in life is 'perfect' and teaching people to 'aspire to be perfect' is the same as training people to 'aspire' to do humanly-impossible things -- therefore brainwashing to teach kids how to hate themselves and pessimistically tunnel-vision focus their entire existence in perceiving 'flaws' in others in the pathetic attempt at making themselves out to 'look' or 'feel' SUPERIOR -- proving zero self-esteem and zero integrity.
And that's exactly the 'quality' of Hollywood Writing.
Look at the 'late-night' so-called 'comics.' Their so-called 'humor' is saying mean, spiteful, scornful, hateful crap about others, peers in their same profession, adding canned-laughter and claiming it's 'normal.'
There is nothing 'normal' about it.
Kind Regards,
Clayton Winton
That is 'bully-mentality,' scorning others in the pathetic attempt at making one's self out to 'look' or 'feel' SUPERIOR, in defiance of all that we hold dear under our Constitution per Jefferson'sPROMISE.
The contradictions between what we all know is amusement and entertainment, verses what these writers promote as such, that all differences/uniqueness/alein are targets of scorn and ridicule and subtle-hatefulness, twists reality into the TwilightZone.
No other profession would pay for that warped product/service.
So, with that in mind, what type of 'negotiations' do you honestly think will result?
Kind Regards,
Clayton Winton
Priest River, ID
cwinton@priestriver.com
In light of today’s information and communication technology, writers and composers can turn out works in days and for this should they receive a lifetime of residuals? The prime example of this distortion is Merv Griffin, who in about 10 minutes, composed the theme song for the game show, “Jeopardy.” Every time that theme is played he received a royalty. Even he couldn’t keep a straight face when he related, during an interview, that 10 minutes of work resulted in several million dollars of income over the years. Another good example is Jerry Seinfeld and he makes Griffin look like a poor boy! No doubt he worked hard for 9 or 10 years, but should that entitle him to a lifetime of income for doing nothing. He did get paid a pretty good salary during the show-----ain’t that enough?
What’s wrong with this picture?! I may be old fashion, but I believe you get paid when you produce not stay at home.
Why don't more writers, especially the huge show runners and multi-multi millionaires and guys like Jon Baitz who post here all the time, why don't (didn't) they start demanding this clause as part of their own deals, have the precedent set and the rest of the union comes along? They could say, you like my hit show? No more until I get this clause. Why isn't that happening? Why are the better off members of the union not putting their foot down? And in fact, use the only leverage I see that they have - proven hits - My sense? Because none of those writers are too concerned. When this is over they'll still have their projects, but some of their lesser members will be pushed out. Now that's what I call solidarity.
They're betting that once the re-enrollment contracts from Crossroads, Windward and Marlborough and Harvard Westlakeare sent out the guild will cave.
I hope not. This is ugly and could and, if the writers have the stomach for it, will go on for a long, long time.