Hollywood Goes to War

Hollywood's going to war. Not in the good old fashioned Frank Capra "Why We Fight" agitprop kinda way. No, this war is a potential work stoppage as Hollywood gets into a gilded cage match of egos and dollars.

On one side is the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Basically the studios that bring you all your filmed entertainment. On the other side is the Writers Guild which is the union that represents movie and television writers.

A note of disclosure: I'm a member of the Guild.

A note of clarification: if you draw a paycheck in Hollywood you have zero freedom of choice when it comes to joining the Guild, so already Hollywood's war has some capitalism/communism parallels.

On Oct. 31st the current contract the Guild is working under expires, and its rank and file has already authorized the board to call a strike.

Like a lot of wars, this one comes down to territory. "New media." "The internet." The AMPTP wants to limit how much writers get paid when their work airs on your computers and iPods. The Guild not only wants to set residual fees for that work, but they want to force those who write internet entertainment to pledge allegiance to the union.

Should the strike happen -- the first writers strike in 18 years -- the writers will ultimately lose and lose badly. I'm talking Gulf War I, the Republican Guard were sissies badly. They (we) are going into battle wearing yesterday's armor -- the belief that well written words delivered on schedule matter. They do, but not nearly to their previous degree; before the rise of reality TV, prime time game shows and America figuring out that YouTube on an iPhone can be as entertaining as Two and a Half Men.

And if the writers can't win the battle on the field, they sure aren't going to capture many hearts and minds. Take a look at any strike-related message boards on the LA Times, or either of the Hollywood trade papers. Regularly you'll see the writers described as "selfish," "pompous" and "overpaid hacks."

Just for the record I'm far too accomplished a writer to be pompous.

The Guild's even managed to tick off some of its own by insisting that, should there be a strike, all writers would have to submit their unfinished work to the Guild. This "script validation program" would supposedly ensure no further work is surreptitiously done to unfinished scripts. While some writers groused about this totalitarian measure off the record to the New York Times, lemme just say on the record that the Guild can pry my intellectual property out of my cold, dead hand.

I imagine the assumption is that I am anti-strike. I am not. The strike must happen. Among other, lesser points of negotiation an equitable slice of the future pie is too valuable not to fight for.

But the Guild, much like Che in Bolivia, is more idealistic than capable. They believe too easily that their cause will inspire without understanding the true lay of the land. They aren't fighting stand-alone production companies. They are fighting deep-pocketed conglomerates that can long weather a hit to their bottom line.

Plus, the networks have a secret weapon: after this disastrous fall TV season -- Cavemen, Viva Laughlin, Bionic Woman to mention just a few of the shining turds -- the studios would be happy for an invading army to come do a slash and burn so they can pretend the fall never happened, then start again next year.

Just goes to show, writers can start an ill-conceived war as well as the next politician.

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

Comments

[dannyS]

Network TV shows have writers?!

[DanOregon]

I've got to think the looming strike has played a big part in networks witholding the ax for some underperforming shows. Good luck writers.

[nihilon x]

Many of you are reminding me why I don't want to play the Hollywood game, despite having gone to USC to study screenwriting and cinema.

Any positive things to relate -- there must be a few since so many of you have decided to make this your profession...

[devilyousay]

A lot of writers have great ideas, then a producer gets his/her hands on it. Producers and studios decide what you watch. Don't beat on the writers for that. That also means the flip side, when a producer gets it right, and helps develop a great concept witha talented writer, we should celebrate it.

[Yukon Jack]

When Hollywood went to war - and I mean WWII - it was for America. Hollywood was patriotic then. Those beautiful black and white classics still stir patriotism and pride whenever they are shown on TV.

Where are the movies supporting America's war effort nowadays?

We see nothing produced by Hollywood other than garbage, bashing America. Nothing more than movies siding with the enemy and making America the bad guy.

Seeing what these so-called writers produced, it would be infinitely better if these no-talent unionized nobodies would stay on strike forever, and let non-union REAL writers produce movies that America needs.

Too bad there is nobody to kick them in the ass the way Ronald Reagan kicked the air traffic controllers when they grew too big for their breeches.

[Madbandit]

Yukon Jack, why don't you take that American flag out of your butt, and see we're in an another Vietnam? President Spanky McDumbass has lied to guillible Americans, and the blood count is too high. This isn't a war we should be proud of.

[deckard70]

And don't rank on Bionic Woman. It sometimes has dialogue rivaling that of the great Joss Whedon himself. Shows like Bionic Woman and Journeyman have me watching broadcast television again, after years of just waiting for the DVDs.

[splashy]

I feel the same way. I like both of them.

[deckard70]

Fans could probably step in and write a few episodes if the professionals are tied up.

I doubt it will come to that, but, if a producer made an online appeal for fans to write a particular episode, they'd probably have the pages by the end of the day.

[longislandlol]

Let's be sure that any anti-war actors, writers, directors, etc.. don't get blacklisted.

[Agosto]

What planet do you live on dude?

You say, "if you draw a paycheck in Hollywood you have zero freedom of choice when it comes to joining the Guild."

I have news for you: most production people who work in this town have ZERO FREEDOM OF CHOICE to JOIN a guild.

We also have no job security, health benefits, 401K, set payscale - no nothing.

We work for hundreds of productions companies, cable channels, internet companies and the like. These companies have no agreements whatsover with ANY guild. And that is deliberate.

They don't want to pay a fair dollar, they don't want to give benefits, they don't want to pay unemployment. Their only objective is to keep costs down.

If you want to work, you play by their rules - and if you don't there are 50 other people who will - everybody's got to eat.

We are writers, producers, directors, coordinators, pa's, editors, make-up, costume and on and on. We too deserve the benefits, resources, and protections of the Guilds - don't we?

I'm not not going to slam the strike - it will be more work for the rest of us. But what would really be worth fighting for is to get us all on board - not just the rarefied few.

[gallonjug]

Hey Agosto,
you might not realize it, but you are talking like a "scab". "more work for the rest of us" is undermining to a strike. If you want the benefits that are guaranteed to union workers for yourself, you should be fighting for a stronger guild and fighting to unionize the shops you work for. Believe me, the corporations would not provide writers with health insurance and pensions if it wasnt for the union. Labor must stand together in this against the corporate machine.

[mick3]

The content of television is abominable. Essentially, we get tripe interspersed generously with a slew of commercials. Why anyone watches TV, except for Stewart/Colbert and C-Span, is beyond me. I have asked acquaintances why they spent $$$ on huge screens to view garbage, and every one has cited NetFlix. Apparently, their dens or whatever have become movie theaters where video films are the fare. One friend says that he has never watched network "news" on his huge screen. Way to go, buddy!

[Johnz52]

Boo Hoo, over paid scribblers are stomping their feet like the petulant children they are and threatening not to work. Fine let these no talent scrawlers strike. When was the last time commercial TV had anything worthwhile or even approaching the level of a Rod Serling or Paddy Chayefsky script? Outside of a couple of series on HBO ("The Wire", "Rome") TV is a WASTELAND. Most professional writers earn thousands less a year than the pampered scribes in Hollywood and must actually labor at their craft. Let these so-called writers try drafting trade magazine articles, white papers for some bureaucracy or web copy and see what it really takes to eek out a living as a professional writer. Gotta run, my latte is getting cold and my assistant hasn't returned with my dry cleaning.

[Richter]

Johnz52, Serling and Chayefsky were both members of the Writers Guild and wouldn't have thought much of your anti-union, anti-writer ravings (the Guild even gives out a writing award named for Chayefsky).

[deminmo]

Please don't use the reference of "war" when
you talk about an entertainment industry. If
working in Hollywood is restricting the
creative talents, then find something else.
Maybe press secreatry for Bush?

[deminmo]

or possibly secretary would be better.

[kobe8lal]

Usually I like Ridley. He's got good politics and lots of smarts. But he's way off base this time. The analogy to communism/capitalism is tired anti-union bullshit. Try that on the Teamsters, DGA, or SAG.

'We won't/can't win a strike' is the same whine I've heard since I joined the Guild 35 years ago. If the Guild didn't strike I wouldn't be getting residuals, have a health plan, keep my producer's name off my writing credit, and a have a pension! The problem with the Guild of late is that we haven't been militant enough. The 'labor peace' administrations of the past twenty years have been a disaster for us, and I'm glad we finally have leaders with balls.

[Paul]

I think the Internet and YouTube are more of a threat to the writers than are the producers and conglomerates. You are fighting over control of legacy media.

Not very 21st century...

[Richter]

Wrong, Paul -- this fight is very much over the future of writers in the New Media, with a great deal of emphasis on potential Internet revenues.

[Haricotvert]

What gets me is people who blame the writers for dumb tv. What's on TV is what the producers BUY. Believe me, there's plenty of great TV being written, but very little of it sees the light of day.
As for the issues, it seems pretty obvious that within five years or so we'll all be downloading films and TV shows directly to our HDTVs. Unless your position is that the writers should be cut out of any profits from the success of their creations, I don't see how you can be on the other side of this issue. Profit participation in new media is simply not negotiable, and the reasons for that seem obvious to me.