If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
I ran into a director friend of mine before heading to the line and he pretty much confirmed what everybody knows and I've been saying since the writers strike started: the DGA is going to make the deal that ends the strike.
Barring any imminent settlement of the WGA strike, the 2007 Golden Globe Awards will be held at my apartment on the Westside of Manhattan this year. The HFPA makes only one simple request.
This is what the AMPTP most underestimates about us: despite how some nattering nabobs of negativity might carp, the writers I've talked to are grimly determined to fight this fight.
Only one thingi s certain: the longer the AMPTP corporations drag their feet, the more accelerated the Writers Guild's efforts to sign up major technology companies to produce TV series and movies for the Internet.
All the lousy deals the WGA has accepted in the past must not have prepared the producers for the defiance and solidarity they're encountering this time around.
I'm not a screenwriter. Or a studio bigwig. But as an expert in innovation, I can say with authority that Hollywood is desperate for a little innovation.
It seems to me that the bump in Bush's popularity began right around the time the television writers decided to strike.
Among the things I've learned from my three-legged dog: When sleeping with a human, sometimes it's fun to lick them in the middle of the night for no reason, or get really, really, really close, especially in winter.
"Collective bargaining" speaks to why this strike and every writers' strike will fail: the guild uses collectivism to seek a bargain. Why should we get a bargain when we can buy the store?
Throw a dart in this town and you'll hit a male comedy writer. But the issues are the same for all of us.
This strike sucks for everyone. I think most of the voices out there have been male comedy writers because there are just so MANY of them.
At this point the well is so poisoned both sides should probably bring in at least one new face just to get things moving again, as the battle has clearly become personal.
SEIU Local 99 in LA yesterday fired former Clinton spokesman Chris Lehane from a consulting contract in support of the WGA . The decision came after Lehane began consulting for the AMPTP.
Negotiations have broken off for the time being at least, but it's still important to understand what's at issue. There are now several recent proposals that have been publicly disclosed, as I had hoped would be the case.
When the CEOs of the AMPTP dub their cash and power grab a New Economic Partnership, doesn't it sound like "Operation Enduring Freedom" or the "Clear Skies Initiative"?
The AMPTP corporations will now be putting out how wonderful and decent and put-upon they are, and how grubbing the sniveling writers are. And how evil WGA leaders are. Watch.
