Damning Evidence In Their Own Words

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

In the matter of the WGA v. AMPTP, or David v. Goliath, Part 1 billion -- here is a useful bit of video [via Deadline Hollywood Daily]. It was put together by UnitedHollywood.com.

If this were a trial, the clip you are about to see would be the sine qua non of smoking guns, the glove that fits that won't acquit, the alpha and omega and the silencing final word in the matter of "the Internet and downloads and online content are for promotion only."

But of course, it's Hollywood, and the gentlemen on the tape who have been caught blatantly contradicting themselves, swanning about and engaging in puffery of the first order, are shameless enough, and arrogant enough not to care.

I used to sort of have an odd respect for these brutalists, these guys who get stuff done. Now I am so deeply grateful not to be one of them. It must be awful to live with that much chaos in your head and that much rot in your heart. How do they look in the mirror, how do they look at their kids? (Well, Sumner doesn't bother, Lear-like, but without the ending; he simply goes on wreaking havoc.)

Will this make a difference? I don't know, a smarter man than me would give them room to find a dignified and graceful exit policy from their miscalculation. But I can't help it. Watch this clip and if you still do not understand why the WGA is striking -- with the full support of actors and teamsters, little old ladies and dogs all over the world -- then it is hopeless.

Because this gorgeous little Exhibit A is quite simply all you need. Behold, in all their glory, going boldly into the future, the men who gave you the strike:

So now the CEOs stand revealed, naked. Emperors without a stitch of Hermes, Prada, Etro or Purple Label.

I have a small theory about disconnectedness on that high a level: The rise in private jets, for CEO travel, and the subtle and vulgar contest they all have with one another to be the highest paid, the endless ease of access and egress, causes them to lose a sense of place. Of man and god, of the proportion and what Lacan would call "The Actual." Of the real world. It is why Warren Buffett, for example, seems so refreshing to so many, with his apparent personal sense of scale.

Now -- how do we move to reconciliation? How to end this strike? it would be great to find a way for the WGA and the studios to move into this future together. I would love to be less inflammatory in my writing on this struggle; the entire business of this fight is sickening. I have good relationships with the executives at ABC, and respect them, and enjoy them. Honestly. Brothers & Sisters, the TV show I helped create, would not have survived had it not been for their patience and understanding. On that level, the studio execs are well intentioned collaborators. Trust me, this is fact.

However, watching this bit of brilliantly-edited video, it is clear that at the highest level of the giant media corporations there exists a shockingly woeful arrogance and a volatile, viral moral adaptability. Very twentieth century, and terribly hard to sustain today when evidence is as readily available as the clip you just watched.

The writers are voicing the common sense insistence that if, after so many experiments in exclusion (say DVDs), the studios make money from these new media markets -- then so too, should we. Period.

I am sickened by the suffering of the crews. The lay-offs. The spreading collateral damage to actors and the domino effects on other professions dependent on movies and TV.

I am sickened by the posturing and penis-measuring, and I am sickened by the empty negotiation rooms as I write this. But when you see this video, it becomes very clear that the AMPTP position is riddled with sophistry, and insupportable. They had to walk away -- it is impossible to sit there, and with straight face argue that there is no money to be made when their bosses are saying the opposite.

A week and a half ago, one of my best friends, a young screenwriter and playwright of great talent and greater soul, reminded me that my first thoughts on this subject were clouded by my feelings about how the business works, and my place in it. (Without going into details, my urges as a playwright sometimes fly in the face of the realities of a top 20 network TV show like Brothers & Sisters. ) He reminded me that whatever I may go through personally, I had a responsibility and a forum. As I have said, hearing his anguish broke my heart. I took stock. As I have thought about the issue, my bitterness and sorrow over the limitations of my own abilities and even value as a TV writer have been replaced by the greater understanding that I care deeply about my colleagues -- from the crew, up to the executives -- because that is called citizenship. That is called continuity.

I realize, after watching this clip, that I am sentimental. Ever was it thus. That is a blessing as much as a curse. No such sentiments exist in the hearts of Moonves, Murdoch, Iger, Silverman. I do not envy them. They are sloppy dissemblers. Somehow having risen to power, they are soul-sick and awash in shameless double-speak and reflexive corporate arrogance. These are not enlightened positions from which to lead their businesses into a new age.

Perhaps the stockholders of Disney, Viacom, News Corp and Time Warner, etc, should insist that from now on, flying coach should be an iron-clad condition of their CEOs' contracts.

PS: This writer owes Nikki Finke a debt of gratitude for her tireless and fierce coverage of the issue. Anybody interested in breaking Hollywood news could not do better than to check with her site frequently.

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

Comments

[pmorlan]

Great video clip!

Unfortunately your struggle is going on in countless other corporations across the country and it has to stop. Is there anything that we the public can do to help?

[bronceye]

I have to say that this writer's strike is the funniest thing I've heard of. How many remakes and recycled jokes and situations do they "write". They write, they don't use unique insights, just redo that which has been. I envision the studios hiring "scabs" to write in their absences. Could you see the peril. Remember the coal miner's and Teamster strikes? Now, writers strikers and scabs fighting on the picket lines? Hair pulling, shirt tearing, mocking of inappropiate accesories and drowning in tears would become violent and deadly, I suppose. It would be fun and games until someone loses a lift or musses their hair.

[TOOO]

I'm not very good at predicting the future, but this is what I see happening:

The CEOs simply put out more reality shows or hire more non-union writers. The quality of writing goes down, taking most of the entertainment industry with it.

The public ends up buying DVDs of "golden oldies" - movies and TV shows made 30 years (or older) ago.

Television sinks like a stone, completely replaced by the Internet - and the CEOs scramble like mad trying to find decent writers that will work for nothing.

They fail.

[Purple Girl]

Workers rights are not only being being ignored, but in some markets actively being taken away (retirement,health benny's). They not only want to keep you poor, work you til you are dead,control your after hours activities, your personal habits and preferences, but also your decendants.
What truely is pushed around on Wall Street is human labor and It's Futures.

[davy]

These men are the ugly face America has become. An X Pat

[Metacortex]

Writing is an artform going far beyond the ability to spell and use proper punctuation. a true writer feels pleasure, pain, sorrow and ecstasy, but most of all pulls those emotions out of the reader. The success behind any Hollywood production or Broadway play is owed most dearly to writers.

[Robert59]

Your theory is valid and relates to the 2008 race for president. All those CEOs (even Rupert) are giving money to who? Why, Hillary of course. One more example of Edwards speaking truth to power (and no trial lawyers aren't power. Some of them are even rich, but powerful, not just no, but hell no).

If she's on their payroll doing their bidding there is absolutely zero difference between her and Republicans like Bush and Cheney who are corporatists. ZERO DIFFERENCE.

The end result of her presidency will be the same, more globalization, a decline in the standard of living of many Americans, and greater wealth and more power in the hands of corporations, companies that have no allegiance to this nation.

People need to quit worrying about medical care, education, defense, crime, abortion, capital punishment, guns, or anything else but ECONOMICS.

A corporate Democrat is no different than a corporate Republican.

And the media is narrowing our choices and shaping the results (it really is the fifth estate). Gravel gets the boot not because he's polling too low, but because he's pointing out the flaws of the other candidates, especially Hillary.

Six are left, but what I noticed is Richardson and Dodd are aligning themselves with Hillary and who are they bashing, Obama and Edwards the only competition she has.

If you follow the trail who is beholden to the Clintons? Richardson, who even thought about not running. And Biden and Dodds, as current senators, see Hillary as one of their own, professional respect. And she is closer to them in age.

Which leaves Kucinich, Edwards, and Obama as the odd men out. Congressmen aren't quite blue blood enough, not patrician enough. Obama is too green, and Edwards too Southern, a one term meaning one shot wonder, and while rich, not an east coast elite.

Remember the S.S. Dean, sunk by the likes of CNN. The new warship, chosen by the MSM, the S.S. Kerry looked strong, had the right pedigree, and a paper thin hull, and no guns.

[massimo1]

Simple and brilliant video. Only one comment, though. You are laboring (pun intended) under the idea that in a capitalist system, the capitalists give a shit about those who do the work. They do, but only to the extent that they extract production and profits from their efforts. Beyond that, it's a fond "fuck you".

[poindexter007]

I agree with you CAMBEL!...

[margesimpson]

The sad thing is that, as with the recording industry, people will just want to download what they want to watch and listen to and will not give a thought to the artists who create and how they will pay for their food.

[rgblue]

Sad as the content is, what a beautiful writer you are. It's so refreshing to read this type of writing; i hope you don't got he way of the great knowledgeable vinyl spinning radio personalities and artists of yore.

[yaysayer]

beautiful...thank you.

[sa]

i'm sick of the line -
writers don't deserve much money
because their work is enjoyable.
um...they have...um...talent.
not everyone does.
when it comes around it deserves compensation.

picasso enjoyed his "work" - does that
mean he didn't deserve much money?
that gallery owners should have given him
a hun a canvas because it wasn't really "work"?

also the line that writers churn out
lowest common denominator shiite -
it's the suits that destroy original work -
another reason to root for the writers.

wake up america -
your smallness in mass
got w. elected.
stupid people, get big countries
in big trouble.

like bukowski said:
the mediocres have
a perfect hatred.

or as harry crews said:
don't let the bastards get to you.

[swkidder]

Your posts continue to remind any of us that might need reminding of why writers, and good writing, matter. You use language with such elegance. You remain righteously angry for all the reasons that matter, and you direct this towards those that deserve your anger and away from those who do not. You teach us "consumers" enough about your industry's inner workings to understand what's at stake here - and who's wearing the white hats.
There are many of us out here in "consumer land" who support you 100% - any thoughts on what we could do to apply aggregated leverage where it might do some good? As the CEO's you profile have genitals that are directly connected to both their egos and their wallets ... give us some potential marching instructions?

[what0now0toons]

Yessssssssssssssssssssssss the WGA strike is a fight that must be won. The Media consilatition is the real issue that has given the studios their power. Since the relaxing of FCC and anti trust rules, and the tele communications act of 1996, the studios were able to buy out and shut down their competetion. As a result they call the shots for writers, artists and creators, it has become their way or the highway. With only six companies controling media, thousands of independent studios and production companies have dissapeared. As a result they are controlling all that we see and hear ( like the control voice from the Outer Limits ). That's why the writers strike is so important. The Media companies want to have all the profits and drive down labor's income to third world levels. As well as ship jobs to third world and other markets. I've seen it first hand in animation, companies like Hana Barbera and others were bought up and shut down. I and hundreds of other animation artists found our work pool shrinking and becoming more coporate, and the trend continues in all walks of the American job market.
That's why I chose the writers strike as my latest cartoon I call "The writers Strike Back."
it's up at my website now.
Cartoons with a progressive edge
www.whatnowtoons.com