Quick Sketches from the Front

It's Ron Rifkin in solidarity.

9 am to 1 pm at Rockefeller Center. A giant inflatable rat is here, sort of like a false god of dirty mammon. He is the symbol of striking here in Gotham. He is available for rent. It might be fun to have the rat at some sort of post-ironic hipster party. It occurs to me that in Los Angeles, if the giant inflatable strike rat came out, there are certain people I know that would get down and pray to him. Like at Lourdes. I will desist from all further LA/NY comedy.

I run into many old friends from the theater. People who now run TV shows. Nobody has shaved (Of the men.) I did last night. I note with same pleasure that I am perhaps the only one here wearing a tie. I have a sense of ritual. Of the old timers. Of attention must be paid. I flirt with smart and unshaven-looking exhausted writers (of both sexes), most of them smile at me, not seeing this day as an opportunity to make cool new friends. But in fact, a very serious, perhaps deadly game of chicken. Which it actually is. I, however, am exhausted, and relieved to be with other writers, and not reading comments from disgusted dispensers of one line put downs on the HuffPo, dripping with unearned contempt for what I do for a living.

Last night, there was a comment on the good pages of the HuffPo from a gentleman who seems to be named Bill Seward, who accused me of engaging in "Nancy boy rhetoric", which makes me roar with laughter. I like the phrase. And am going to use it, and use it on-line, and never ever give him a cent. The "bent" of his comment is that I am too new at this to have earned the right to an opinion. (My first job was twenty years ago. ) It seems there's a sportscaster in Los Angeles with the same name. When you read his bio (if it's the same chap), his testimony seems redolent of booze and lost-chances, and Tom Buchanan from The Great Gatsby. In any case...

The age-range this morning is wide. An elderly woman, one of the great armies of tough broads in New York, in the tradition of Bella Abzug, et al, is marching -- like a peeved water bird -- chanting the cry of the day, which seems to be something about "no check, no pay, no write, no...stay"??? I can't follow the chants, and also, I must point out, the placards lack a certain style. It's true. We writers of the WGA East are not good at cheap quick jabs, sloganeering, and whatnot. But back to the old lady. New York -- smart, funny, angry New York -- was built on the chicken-noodle soup and rage that these gals dole out.

There are older men here too, patient, pacing their saunter, men and women who have been here before, a couple of times, in past years. Some of the faces show the lines that are particular to a writer's face. A combination of worry and humor, weariness and certitude that old pros carry with them. Some jackets bear the logos of TV shows or movies long forgotten, like badges of honor.

I am joined by Ron Rifkin at noon. He is on my show, "Brothers & Sisters", and is marching in solidarity with the Writers Guild members. All of whom know him. He is greeted warmly, and he and I do a little thing for the press, talking about the issues at hand, trying to explain how many writers earn very little, and how much this battle means in terms of whether you're gonna have a decent life as a writer or a hard-scrabble one.

So many people dislike writers, it seems. Odd. As though the job were a trick played on all the rest of the workers in America. (Now that I think of it, I can see how that opinion could be arrived at.) But still, looking around here at the March of the Schleppers at Rockefeller Plaza, it seems that for the most part, the motto of these people has been rather more like that of doctors. "First do no harm". "Then make them laugh." "Then make them think." "Then have a sandwich". Etc.
More old friends. So many talented people who have truly done things that add to the sum of what we have on TV that's not without merit.

Writers from The Sopranos.

Oz. Colbert.

30 Rock.

The man who wrote Ghost.

A playwright who wrote a seminal play of his generation.

A lot of very hard workers. No robber barons, no captains of industry, no empire builders. A few blocks away, Aaron Sorkin is in previews for a new play about the birth of television. I think about that, about Aaron, whom I used to see when his play A Few Good Men was on while my own Substance of Fire was playing a few blocks away. We used to stop and talk on the street about how stupid we were to even be playwrights. He too wore a tie to rehearsal in those days, and when I asked him why, way back then, he said "Because Mr. Abbott did." I smiled and went to my own show, shaking my head. (George C. Abbott.) A long time ago.

You can't earn a living as a playwright anymore. And if we lose this fight, being a TV writer is going to be harder too. So what is the value of narrative in our culture? Do the money guys value the worth of the story tellers in their marketplace enough to have an honest dialogue about paychecks and future income? I think about that. About how great West Wing was, and how Aaron encouraged me to try my hand at TV. Gave me my first network job, an episode of West Wing. It was his last season, and we had been friends for a long time, and he was tired. And he was embattled. But he was idealistic, and single minded, even while he was burning out from that show.

Now, five years later, I know what it means to get a show on the air. You have to grow up fast, and in order to keep it running, you have to grow up faster. It takes the child out of you. To have a machine that big, which employs so many people. And it can be fun, but it can be ugly, and dirty and saturated with fear. And now, frankly, the medium is changing so fast -- the youth culture moves with such ruthless abandon -- that the moguls can barely keep up with the next big thing. What's to become of the older generation of writers who are not a part of the gaping maw of "the now"? Who live on residuals and on the shots they get from the rare producer that remembers the value of what came before?

On the face of it, it is easy to laugh about the writers going on strike, and I've read enough of the comments here to stop caring to change the minds of those who think all writers are over-paid hacks who deserve to stave to death.

I am asked by a reporter 'what I think is going to happen?'. I say "I am optimistic that once the studios understand how serious we all are, this will end. I don't know how long that will take. " What I don't say is this: I know there are forces that would like to break the union, and would love to write-off a dubious TV season, and kill some lucrative deals, and a long strike is just the way to do it. But it's not just the writers. In a few weeks, my own show, Brothers & Sisters will run out of pages, like a train running out of track, and all the crew people are going to go home. Until this is settled. It's not a game at all. Not for a second. No matter the mood today. No more words = No more jobs. Simple math. Horrible.

At one PM, Ron Rifkin and I walk away, and have some lunch. But not before he explains to a French journalist, in perfect French, that he is here "because without the word, what is there?...There is nothing..." It is capped by a perfect Gallic shrug, as good as any Parisian who knows the truth is the truth is the truth. C'est la guerre.

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

Comments

[swkidder]

And there are those of us who really do understant that any film, television show, music video, etc. that begins without a good story, and proceeds without a good script ... ends poorly. There are those of us who recognize and celebrate fabulous storytellers and those who write with elegance and wit. Hang in there - beat the suits - we love yah.

[miamibabe]

I'm not a real smart person, just your ordinary TV watcher who realizes without the writers there is no show.....The dialog on your show is incredible every single week. It was the same on the West Wing. I am 100% behind the writers, even if it means re-runs.

From one big TV (Brothers & Sisters) fan..we are behind you!

[eddiestardust]

Other than the network news now and again, I don't watch the new season.

Sorry but I could care less.

Put some good programs on and I might begin to
care a little bit.

[rst2536]

THE WRITER"S STRIKE (REDUX )
1
Here"s to the men and women writers
Are fighting for the Writers Guild
Against the network mogul blighters
Whose coffers they have always filled.
They are the ones who, contemplative,
Are first and foremost most creative.
As Leno said with piercing dread
"Without these guys I"m really dead."
An actor might give language meaning
And take you off to make believe;
But with no writers to conceive
Which way a character is leaning
The actor"s in an awful bind
Till s/he"s told to shit or go blind.
2
The networks certainly"ve been able
To make it seem the writers block
Talk at the very conference table
Where they"d be willing round-the-clock
To suffer through negotiations
About their shows reincarnations,
As if it were an act of God"s
That TV shows play on ipods.
They claim they"ll study on-liine streaming
But it will take them years and years.
No doubt they"re led by financiers
Who all the while are really scheming
To transfer what plays on TVs
And not pay writers writer"s fees.
3
So here"s a thought in solidarity:
We"ll stand with you; go toe-to-toe
Against the networks" insincerity
Until you get your quid pro quo.
As other workers, it"s our duty
To help you out; and not get snooty
About how much a writer earns
(When working). They have our concerns-
To make ends meet the cost of living;
To see their kids hit long line drives;
To pay their bill; ex-husbands, wives.
If you"ll hang tough and unforgiving
However long it takes to win,
We"ll gladly help you do them in.

[provgrays]

The writers desrve more money and respect, but don't call it a "front" when there are thousands being shot and blown up for no damned reason in Iraq, Afghanistan and elswhere.

As a writer myself, (not the WGA variety), scribes have to cultivate a kind of gallows humor to endure the dismissive scorn that the bosses hand down along with the cold office coffee.

The WGA strike is the same battle that every profession must embrace. Otherwise, the corporate dinks who cry poverty on the way to the country club will take even more. It's not only your fight.

It's everyone.

[jesselee]

by far my favorite of your recent posts. with you all the way. spent some time and money and the better part of my twenties pursuing playwriting. until you've walked a mile in those shoes, you can't understand the truly desperate struggle that is a writer's life. even a writer who toughts it out to become legit and established. that's the thing, so many of glib comments on your recent posts are obviously from people who have no idea how the business works or what it entails. and don't seem to care that marginalizing writers now, when artistry is this close from the edge of the cliff are likely to have much more to complain about in the coming years. they all write comments, and therefore consider themselves as much a writer as yourself. which is laughable, and i'm glad you see, worthy of disregard.

and thanks for the not-so-subtle jab at la. not that they don't deserve the same respect and support... but thanks for that jab, anyway.

[sabocat]

I would be most interested in learning some of the details about how your business works and more specifics on your demands. I understand the conflict is over residual payments for new media. How much are you guys asking for? What is the corporate profit margin currently, and how much or little will your demands impact on that margin? I suspect very little, but of course it is your duty as a union to extract as much surplus labor value out of the boss as possible. It seems to me if you present the public with detailed information you are bound to win support.

BTW, glad to read the giant rat showed. It's always present at wobbly picket lines in the city.

[rst2536]

THE WRITER"S STRIKE

Here"s to the men and women writers
Are fighting for the Writers Guild
Against the network mogul blighters
Whose coffers they have always filled.
They are the ones who, contemplative,
Are first and foremost most creative
Who Leno said with piercing dread
"Without these guys I"m really dead."
An actor might give language meaning
And take you off to make believe;
But with no writers to conceive
Which way a character is leaning
The actor"s in an awful bind
Can hardly tell: shit or go blind.

( to be continued )

[NoPCZone]

JRB
Love your posts here on HuffPo & turning me on to Mad Men a while back. It's good to hear a seasoned and reasonable voice among all the chatter.

It certainly takes lots of talented and dedicated people to pull off a great play, movie or episode of TV, but it all starts with the written word. The mark of every great movie or show has been the quality of the writing. If the world were a truly just place the writers would be much better paid

I'm not in the business and live a long way from either coast out in Red-State America, but I'm pulling for the writers.

[cinemaven]

I hope you win this fight. Nothing can replace a well written show.

It's sad that it will possibly take months of reruns before the powers that be acknowledge the value of writing and writers.

My son is in his second year of "paying his dues" on the stand up comedy scene and it baffles me to see the clubs he plays use his skills with no remuneration other than a burger and beer. The Canadian version of MTV also uses his skills on shows where he writes his material and acts and is paid $100 for his time. They'll replay the shows 20 times in a week and his fan base is rising but his bank account is stagnant. He's being hailed in the clubs as a rising star and beginning to be paid (very little) for the gigs he does on Fridays and Saturdays but it will be a long time before his profession pays enough to live on without a fulltime job on the side. If only he had a union to stand up for and with him.

[nemo1043]

Thanks. A thoroughly enjoyable piece. Lovely to come home to after a long afternoon of picketing the Fox gate in LA. Spirits were high today, I am happy to report. No bricks were hurled. No epithets either. We were fueled by idealism, fellowship, and donated Snickers bars. Cars crawled past, honking in noisy sympathy. Old acquaintanceships were rekindled, new ones sparked. My arches ache, but I am excited to return tomorrow and the day after....

We must remember that facing us across the bargaining table are not human beings, but an alliance of corporations, whose legal mandate, whose reason for being, is to make as much money as possible for their stockholders. When prolonging the strike is more expensive than giving in to our demands, the strike will end, and not a day sooner.

Allison Burnett

[BillSeward]

spare the sportscaster. I'm not him. bill is short for william. william seward was lincoln's secretary of state.

I posted this earlier, but it seems to have been rejected.

nancy boy rhetoric:

baitz (in his first operatic post): "duality is everything. so is shifting your weight."

mr. conglomerate death negotiator: "would you like another glass of white wine before I throw you out the window?"

please. THAT'S nancy boy rhetoric. and, of course you have a right to your opinion. as do all the people who have responded by telling you what THEY think.

if you jump up on your soapbox, expect to hear a response. otherwise, go write another play. it will win a soho and literally hundreds of people will see it.

[nickyboy1]

Please unsubscribe me and delete my posts now.