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On F-Bombs, Conspiracy Theories, and "Rock Star" Negotiators: Why the Strike is Dragging On
Read more strike coverage on the Huffington Post's writers' strike page.
My kids are making a killing on the writers' strike. Y'see, I have a deal with them where I have to pay them five dollars any time I slip up and curse in front of them. They are now making more money than any of my clients.
The reason I'm dropping so many F-bombs these days is the endless rhetoric being tossed around by both sides in the strike.
Instead of talking to my clients about TV deals and movie deals, I'm talking to studio heads, and network execs, and negotiators on both sides about the strike. And I'm hearing lots of rants and speeches and arguments and posturing.
The writers are fuming about how they have taken DVDs "off the table" and still can't get a meaningful deal on New Media royalties from the producers. I'm also hearing more than a few off-the-wall conspiracy theories from the writers' side.
A number of people on the studios' side have told me that if they had remained at the negotiating table, they could have had a deal in 12 hours. If that's true, and they were that close to an agreement, then they need to get their butts back in that room and make a deal. This is a marriage where there can be no divorce; neither side can go on without the other.
From where I sit, this strike has become more of a political campaign than a labor negotiation.
WGA president Patrick Verrone is now listening to poll numbers about how the strike is being viewed by the public. Verrone is an animation writer who has never been a show runner. Show runners are the ones who actually pull everything together and get shows up on their feet. Patrick, this is your chance to really run the show. Prove you've got it in you by getting us back to the table and making a deal.
And Dave Young, the writers' chief negotiator, seems to be basking in the limelight, telling the LA Times that he was treated like "a rock star" at rallies and pickets all over town. Must be heady for a union organizer who came out of the schmata business. Yes, Hollywood is intoxicating. But Dave, you need to remember that people are hurting -- and that this is not about you, and it's not about being a rock star. In any case, rock stars don't get the cheers and the adulation and the groupies and the money by not recording records and not going out on tour. They get in the studio, they hit the road, they make deals.
The bottom line is that a lot of people in this town are already suffering, and many more will join them if this strike continues on unnecessarily. So it's time to stop the posturing, tone down the angry rhetoric, save the conspiracy theories for the next season of Heroes, and get back to the table and make a deal.
Read more strike coverage on the Huffington Post's writers' strike page.
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This strike will last many many months, just like the last. The writers will not really have any power until the studios are up against the wall which won't be really real until spring. They will have to weather public opinion turning against them, and humiliation by studios who can afford to wait them out - for a while. The big question is: if this union is more unified than in the last strike, and it is, can they keep that solidarity and passion up for four-plus more months?
Three rousing rahs and a few hussahs
And a hip-hip-hip hooray
What’s good for General Bullmoose
Is good for the U.S.A.
The rest are fools
He makes the rules
And he keeps it thataway
What’s good for General Bullmoose
Is good for the U.S.A.
As someone who's endured three strikes before, this one seems like the only one with an issue we can all get behind. I've been impressed with the guild leadership so far but then I read the LA Times article where Exec Director David Young said he felt like a "rock star" at the rally. From what moment on, I knew we were in trouble. Like every wannabee celeb, we now have leaders who are more concerned with their sound bites and 15 minutes of fame than getting back to the table. Ari, get this guy a reality show so a new leader can be hired who will get back to the table.
Every time James Carville takes the air we loose the south. Jame Carville cannot represent what the Democratic Party of the 2000's has become because he is a hippie of the 70's.
Vietnam is over and a new breed of American is at hand. Everytime James Carville opens his mouth the south becomes Republican. Replace him with someone who know where he's at and what day it is. Sit James Carville's ass down.
Darryl Mast
The Golden Rule. The guy with the gold makes the rules.
Except when it affects the stock market. Eventually it will and the studios and the corporations behind them will
come back to the table. The investors get surly when they start losing their gold.
I feel sorry for the people who are being hurt by this strike, but otherwise - WHO CARES?
TURN OFF YOUR TELEVISION! Here's an f-bomb - READ A FRICKIN' BOOK! OR A BLOG! OR A MAGAZINE!
GET A LIFE!
The Capitalist law of supply and demand is at work. There are few studios and many writers.
Writers might want to consider starting their own production companies and market content by downloading on the internet. Viewers can then watch movies on their computers. At some point in the near future computers and TVs will merge into one product. Steve Jobs might be the guy to do it.
I respect writers and what they bring to the table is incomparably important. Of course, they need to be compensated fairly for that they do. This is not about rhetorical heroics but rather the fundamental wellbeing of working folk. Best of luck to the writers. Thanks, Ari.
I agree that people should be paid decently for their work. It doesn't matter if the work is manual labour, writing, art, or sales clerking. Having thousands of people waiting for those writing jobs doesn't result in good pay - it results in lower pay, as employers can fire all the strikers and hire new ones for considerably less money. Quality programming doesn't count to network execs anyway - look at the crap that we as Americans watch!
I must also point out that it probably wouldn't kill anyone to turn off the television. I admit that I miss Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but I seem to be living fine even though they're off the air during this strike.
I live on a farm out in the middle of nowhere. Many years ago, our power went out for more than a week due to an ice storm. We discovered that we could read books and play cards by candlelight. We could talk to each other. We could take walks, as long as we stayed out from under trees and their falling icy branches. In short, we could be nicely entertained without having a television turned on.
Non-television entertainment is unusual in this country, but it still exists. So although television writers do deserve to be well paid for their work, and their work certainly does have some value, how badly do we really need it? Have we all forgotten how to keep things in perspective?
aaaah, the amazing trickle-down. Writers get more, so management boosts up their there share, too. Advertising becomes more expensive ~ or at least, more frequent. The product being sold by the advertiser becomes more expensive. The consumer shells out more for the product, but doesn't earn anymore for doing his job. So the consumer demands more from his/her own management via his/her union representation. And the beat goes on...and on...and on...and on.
I've been an entertainment lawyer for 33 years and have been involved in labor discussions with unions at the beginning of pay TV and home video (we called them Beta and VHS in those days). Word to Writers: DON'T.
Don't take DVDs off the table. Home video is evolving...morphing, a writer might write. If you take DVDs off the table for the elusive 'new media' plum you are going to lose out as technology evolves. Follow the copyright. When it generates revenues, you get a share. Don't diddle over limitations, work out the flat percentage and go with the flow -- of ALL revenues the copyright owner derives. Make a one year deal during which the union and industry appoint a joint commission to study the model. Then after a year you can go to arbitration if the deal needs changing. You'll thank me.
Suffering? Extremely highly paid studio executives (who green light insipid, lowest common denominator movies and TV shows) are fighting with fairly well paid writers (who happily write aforementioned insipid crap) over royalties. It's not exactly the Norma Rae story, is it?
The bottom line is the studios and media companies can make MORE money by ending this strike, even if they gave the writers TWICE what they were asking for, than by allowing it to continue.
They seem to think this is a war and by winning, they will change the game...forever. And not have to share the profits with anyone.
They are cutting off their noses to spite their faces over the miniscule requests made by the writers.
Why would a studio do that other than unbridled greed and hubris I don't know.
"Writing, perhaps more that other manual labor jobs, is like giving a part of yourself away every day."
Oh give me a break. You don't think a Roadway crate loader leaves a part of himself at work everyday? Should below the line people get residuals or do THEY not leave enough of themselvs at work? Plus Hollywood writers ARE lucky to have a job, hate to break it to you, and mgt knows it. There are 1000 people behind every PAID writer willing to kill for that job...is that the same for a job with a forklift, being a maid, or truck driver? I keep asking but never get an answer...What do writers WHO ARE WORKING get paid? Not the average guild member. If you work on a prime time show you have a pretty good life and it's insulting to other unions to compare yourself with them. A show-runner on a top 20 sit-com probably makes 50,000 an ep and if it goes into syndication picks up 15-100 million. The WGA rank and file are fools letting themselves get caught up in this...MOST OF YOU WILL NEVER BE IN A POSITION TO GET NEW MEDIA RESIDUALS ANYWAY!
Thanks Ari - whatever the posturing and macho chest-thumping - get to the table and make a deal. Both sides need to earn their pay checks.
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