Greetings from the Lower Echelon!

The AP's Sandy Cohen offers a much-needed corrective about the economic status of Writers Guild members: Hollywood writers lead far-from-glamorous lives.

I found this quote from actor William H. Macy, who walked the picket lines in solidarity with the writers this week, particularly fascinating:

"The difference between the upper echelon in our business and the lower echelon is so striking. It's tough for me when I'm on set. It makes me feel bad when (the studios) are being so stingy with craft services (catering) people and writers, when they're trying to cut costs on that level."

I can only hope Mr. Filliam H. Muffman was making a funny which didn't quite translate to the typewritten word. Because if even an actor of his caliber, who has been blessed in his career to bring to life the words of David Mamet and the Coen brothers, casually lumps writers in the "lower echelon" of the Hollywood food chain, at parity with the caterers, we are well and truly screwed.

Read more about the strike on the Huffington Post's writers' strike page.

Comments

[JudyGee]

Too bad you don't want to be lumped in with caterers, but if they were on strike i wouldn't cross that picket line, either. William Macy, was simply conveying that cuts are everywhere, simply because they can, while corporate executives are stuffing their fat pockets. The WGA strike and the Broadway strike are crucial, because now every strike is a good one. If these strikes are lost, we all lose, and more than we already have, which is plenty. Workers are treated like shit and underpaid in every sector of the economy. The corporations know just what is at stake here. We had better know it, too.

[trevor01]

Writers would be fortunate indeed to be linked with people who are actually doing something useful.