Dread & Certitude - Notes from the Writers' Strike
In Robert Stone's majestic, Conradian novel about Americans screwing around with Central America in 1980, A Flag for Sunrise, there is an hallucinatory riff about dread. It popped into my head this morning, after a bad night's sleep. In the passage, the protagonist, an American anthropologist finds himself over his head, way south of the border. He goes diving some 120 feet off a coral reef, and down there, in the dark, he becomes preternaturally frightened, struck by an unnamed dread, and feels himself to be close to an abyss, and closer still to something terrible. A "Shadow within a shadow, a silence within a silence." In Stone's utterly black inoculation, the solitary diver ponders what it was; shark, bottomless bottom, the end of all light, desolation.
Today, I feel that we writers are on the edge of just such an abyss; a sudden drop-off that can not be seen but can sure be felt. I have only my gut and my instincts to guide me, and I pray I am wrong. However, if indeed, 'character is fate', then the actions of the studios' negotiators are very telling. They want more than just this strike. They want to break the guild. To entirely dictate the terms of remuneration to artists in all the emerging electronic and new media markets.
If that is the case, the fight and the strike is going to be long and bloody, and at the end, the CEOs of the big media companies will be left with no way to justify their hallucinatory pay-packages. Or will they? Yes. Because the write-offs in deals they can trash, in a lackluster TV season will probably more than make up for the losses from the strike. The lawyers will pick up the pieces, and maybe the collateral damage for them will be some jobless creative executives, sacrificed by over-paid bosses, whose hubris has gored an entire industry.
The studios want the strike. They are clear-eyed and mercenary about it. The hard-core realpolitik equation in the boardrooms has got to be that the numbers will work out. So what if the industry is shut down for four or six or nine weeks. Or more.
And the guild members who are striking -- we have got to insist and pray that our leaders negotiate responsibly, wisely, and bravely. And insist that they do so without blinking, now that the trigger has been pulled. And insist on cunning and resourcefulness and stamina. (Not having been in the room, I cannot account for the DVD fracas of this weekend, which seems, on the face of it, to have possibly left the writers slightly less well armed for the siege I am worried we're headed into).
The studios probably have already noted the less than sympathetic reactions from the viewers. In fact, you would not be wrong to guess that the studio folk are enjoying the spectacle of watching the writers dance around to sell the idea of unfair wages to an unimpressed populace. An unimpressed populace who are only too happy, at this point, to say "who cares" to the writers responsible for the nightly, woozy miasma of lame jokes and mewling, sentimental crap that makes up a percentage of prime-time. (By this logic, the studios are simply blameless lending libraries that innocently stock porn on the shelves of the kiddie section.)
This fight with giant corporatism is the canary-in-the-coal mine of how labor deal with big business in this country. And with each day that passes, the actors and the directors and all other interested parties are getting closer to their own show-down over the same issues with the same negotiators for the same studios and networks. Careers are about to suffer. For those of us who are not rich -- the majority of guild members, that is -- the strains will be cruel and maybe even tragic, if the thing goes on and on and on. The ripples will get bigger, and other boats will get swamped. Crews and their families. The economy that depends on the industry. And frankly, it in this hubris-laden equation that the cold-eyed calculations of the studio heads begins to corrode.
And it begins to backfire. A smart strategy can turn into a bitter mistake very quickly. As the generals will remind you, once a war starts, the only thing you can count on is being surprised by what happens next. Wars get expensive and when people lose their livelihoods, you lose their hearts and minds. An industry is shut down not by the writers (the workers), but by the men who own it and run it. Why? Because it is in their interest to clear the slate of bad and costly bets.
That decision results in people who have nothing to do with the movies and TV, other than the fact that they live in LA, to lose what they have worked a lifetime for. People who are already trying to keep ahead of a faltering economy and sub-prime lenders (more corporate greed and hubris at work). Because the studios' negotiator would not discuss a deal over paying for downloads and on-line viewings with the people who created their product.
As the days pass, the indifference on the part of the public starts to shift. The attitudes about the fat-cat rich writers starts to shift. Because the message gets through. No matter how much the Reagan revolution transformed Americans into accepting the notion that "greed is good", and that unions can be broken without consequences, there will come a point at which the worm will turn. This thing will end. The writers will be weakened, but standing. They will be more unified than ever. They will get a piece of the pie they are asking for. Some piece. Something.
And somewhere, some CEO of one of these huge companies will start to wonder if it was all worth it. All the destruction. The rancor. The mistrust. The ill-will that will develop. The lost viewers, the lost audience. All of it. The ruined relationships with the people who create the product they need. Is it worth it? Was it worth it? Did we put our best man, and our best strategy in play?
May that epiphany happen sooner rather than later. It is my sense that in this stand-off the writers are not going to budge. Too much is at stake. The writers will not budge. How can you when you are being offered nothing, not even words? Even as we head towards a shadow within a shadow and silence within a silence, circled by sharks. The writers will prevail.
Read more thoughts about the strike on the Huffington Post's writers' strike page.
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I am one hard working american who does not support the writers.
Yep, Ronald Reagan made greed acceptable.
Sorry, but your righteous indigation doesn't win any support with me.
I wish all of you the best of luck during this strike. Last night when I turned the channel to watch The Daily Show I got my first reminder of the writers strike. Yea, my energy took a dive. Still, I support you all, so hang tough.
Two things come to mind about what is happening. Never forget that many unions (and a lot of organizations for that matter) are taken over by the opposition from within. I hope you trust your union representatives. These types who control and own everything plan confrontation and conflict years in advance so that the outcome is of their design. With the kind of money at stake, this did not happen over night. You even said it, the studios probably wanted this strike.
Secondly, if I may, I find most of the writing for movies, and definitely for TV, to be of low quality. Only a handful of movies even remotely show any kind of brilliance. All I can think is that it must be extremely hard to write a great script. As far as TV, I can almost understand why it is written for 8th grade level because of the wide diversity of the potential audience. Not that this is the reason for the studio's not wanting to pay better salaries.
I read Jamie Lee Curtis's post and I completely agree with her. Nothing works without a good script. Being the creative minds behind the visual manesfestation should illicit some financial respect. But capital vs. labor is a battle that has been going on for centuries. Best of luck to you.
Mexgulf
Yup... life can suck in the new global market economy... leaving people with common skills at risk of declining income & standard of living!
The days of employer/employee loyalty & longevity has been replaced by a system that must emphasis the bottom dollar... thanks to the slow slide into socialism!
Inorder to survive in this new order one must become intellectually flexible and have proximity!
We writers just have to prepare ourselves for a long, grueling strike.
The only way we will win is if we hold our resolve and stick it out on the picket lines.
STAY STRONG, WRITERS!
SUPPORT US, FRIENDS!
The emerging power of the internet as a visual entertainment medium has the capability to rewrite the control of the industry. Imagine the ability to deliver content directly from your independent studio to anyones TV or home theater system in full quality?
Without the studio budgets and starpower, strong writers along with talented, but unknown, producers, directors and actors could become the centerpiece of an entertainment revolution.
Unfortunately the status quo is just too entrenched and seductive.
Having lived in Hollywood and in the film industry, I have watched other strikes succeed and end. Perhaps you should have a brighter vision and greater belief in your future.
It may be possible to outsource our pet food and toys to China with toxic and disastrous results and even possible to train new air traffic controllers -- but they will not find new writers quickly enough to save their deals with advertisers. If they drive a restless and bored audience to find new toys they have a great deal to lose.
I may be wrong but I think this is a negotiation not a termination.
I am trully saddened that so many people think this is really about writers and a lackluster fall TV season. The bigger picture includes all of us whether widget-makers or screenwriters. The average worker is losing finacial ground at an alarming rate while a small percentage of elite are gaining financial ground at an alarming rate at the expense of the average worker. The core issues in this battle are happening all over our economic landscape. This is everybody's battle.
Who that are familir with the David vs Giliath story did not cheer for David? Go-Go writers. You represent all oppressed workers
Well, if I were evaluating your script as a potential property of mine, I would question your repetitive usage of the word hubris; perhaps you could substitute "arrogance", or "pride" or "lustful ambition" or "pride and ambition that falls dynasties and kingdoms". If you are writing to me about "writers" then please write like a "writer". My personal thoughts about this; if we can take out the writers and the journalists and any person or institution that does not cooperate with the fuehrer, then we have what the Emporer appears to want and what ultimately has destroyed many a successful society. Without writers and independent journalists and media people, he can then control the television and news media and annihilate the middle and lower class. Who will do the work? Obviously, the people we are sending it to, offshore, now! Fight with all your might for what is decent and right; when you are clear about that, please let me know!
BooYah ezzackly!
Maybe it took that sonofabitch in the Whitehouse to grind things down to the point where where both cultural ends of the mix... automakers and dream makers finally decide to make their move. I'm just glad to see all unions pulling the trigger again for a change.
I just participated in a successful local election helped along by organized firefighters and PBA- Unions are standing up again, and people are turning to unions.
The rest of the country is taking notice at a time when too many people must work two jobs to make ends meet while CEO's are raking in hundred million dollar bonuses.
I just want to say that I do not care if writers are on strike. It can't make contemporary entertainment (TV and motion picture)any worse than it already is. Most productions are merely an industry formula of content with minimal redeeming value, either social or artistic. Generally, it's all trash. In taking sides on this strike, one is either with the creators of the trash or the purveyors of the trash. Either way, it's still trash and should be discarded. Maybe viewers should go on strike and demand quality rather than meekly swallowing whatever comes on the glowing screen.
A big deal was made of Eva Longoria bringing pizza to the strikers yesterday. She stood in front of the camera, made a passionate speech of solidarity then quietly walked back in to the studio to continue shooting her tv show. I am sure she is sympathetic but sympathy goes much further than pizza for lunch. If she were really in solidarity she should have walk out and refused to do any more tv shows until the strike is over. I for myself will not watch tv until this is over. I will look in to what other actions I can take to be of help.
As a long standing member of the DGA, I find it amusing that once again the WGA wants to "unite" over its latest unilateral work shutdown. After years of a concerted WGA effort to minimize and marginalize the creative input of Directors, particularly in television, some writer/producers now want to "buddy up" with the rest of the creative community.
Remember the last strike? Scorched earth! Carnage! Who is able to write at home "banking" scripts while the rest of New York and Hollywood look for alternative work? While above the line people like myself won't be saying "Welcome to Wal Mart" anytime soon, many people who don't get anything like residuals or percentages of anything will be suffering.
Make as good a deal as you can, WGA, but puhleeze
save the "workers unite" speech for the screen.
All of you haters sound like Reds. There is nothing we can do the MAN controls everything. Go read some russian fatalism and let the big boys play.
It is easy for those who never enter the arena to judge those that choose to fight. They are simply out of their league and need to lower the terms of competition so they don't always lose.
Go Writers. Remember many executives will lose their jobs when the studio loses money. Unlike you, they are
expendable.
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