WGA Strike Primer: The Wrap-up

Final and various thoughts about the strike.

1. For all that was horrible about the strike, it was a good period for prognostication. A month before it began, I wrote the first "WGA Strike Primer" and stated as my very first prediction: "The studios' chief negotiator will say, "No!" and walk away." Okay, so he walked away twice, sue me.

2. In that same first "Primer" four months ago, a final prediction was - "Members of the Writers Guild negotiating committee will meet in private with powerhouse producers who have actual authority to force a "Yes!," and the basis of a fair deal for both sides will begin to at last be discussed." Gee, go figure. And it only took them three months to show up.

3. And let's go for the trifecta. In mid-January, I wrote a Huffery and outlined the specific reasons that the strike would be settled in (hold on, let me check my notes...) February! I was immediately taken to task elsewhere by the most vocal, high-level opponent of Guild leadership, who explained how the strike would last forever and ever, and Armageddon would be upon us. And then I believe he exploded. By the way, he was incorrect.

4. One of the more impressive sights on the picket lines and at the Guild was the involvement of the legendary, veteran writers. Ken Levine wonderfully expressed his admiration on his blog. These are people who likely will never see much of a benefit of the strike - or, for some, any - yet showed up with their remarkable support. Walking slowly, some with canes, some in wheelchairs, some helping out at Guild offices. They were the honored embodiment of the writer tradition of "passing it on." Tossing out a few names doesn't do justice to them all, but the few will have to serve as honorary captains. Ray Bradbury came to picket (Ray freaking Bradbury). Larry Gelbart helped out at Guild offices. (As if his life isn't full enough.) Alan Burns walked and walked and walked at Fox nearly every day.

5. The moment that made me certain the WGA was in good hands was during an early mass rally at Fox Studios. Executive Director David Young was making a rousing, thoughtful, impassioned speech - and I thought to myself, "Oh, my God. We actually have a labor leader at the head of our labor union." I couldn't imagine his two predecessors making that speech. I couldn't imagine his immediate predecessor even thinking it. The result was saving the Writers Guild with important inroads in New Media, taking 3-1/2 months. Twenty years earlier, the Guild got bleakly-mixed results striking for a far-lesser issue, pretty much just foreign residuals, and it took almost half a year.

Side Note: At this rally, what David Young did not say was, "I feel like a rock star," despite the press repeating the AMPTP false-claim. What he said to the roaring crowd was, "You make me feel like a rock star." Major difference.

6. It will be a treasured memory for writers to be able to tell their grandchildren that they actually saw Patric Verrone in a t-shirt. The best thing for the newly-beloved Verrone about the strike ending is that he can go back to wearing suits. Giving the smears, lies and pounding he took from the other side, he'd be forgiven if instead he now insisted on wearing body armor.

7. It's impossible not to mention John Ridley again. (You can never get enough of a good thing...) The issue was never that he had a different opinion, but rather than he was continually, factually wrong. And it isn't that he went Financial Core and stabbed his fellow-Guild members in the back while reaping the benefits of their suffering, all for just one month before the strike ended, but rather that he's supposed to be a crackerjack analyst of everything, and he couldn't even get his own profession right. What does that say about his supposed crackerjack analytical eye?

8. Also impressive was how wrong Ronald Groves was in his regular coverage for BusinessWeek. (No jokes now about their name being "BusinessWeak.") I only mention this here because when I tried to point out on their website that his predictions of how the strike would play out were shockingly inept, the site wouldn't post any new comments.

9. My favorite moment in the picket line was when Emily Deschanel joined us at Fox, and each time her line did a u-turn and circled back, she would pass under the massive, 100-foot billboard promoting her show, "Bones." It was hilarious and wonderful, and proved that there is a God. Not just for His sense of irony, though, but also for creating Emily Deschanel.

10. And I'd like to send out a shout out to the DGA leadership. Thanks, guys, you did a great job leaping over the backs of writers, using the efforts of their striking to get a better deal than you ever would have otherwise, yet a worse deal than you would have if you'd just waited and not created a pattern for bargaining which the WGA was somehow remarkably able to improve on only weeks later. Kudos.

11. Throughout the strike, there regularly were news stories about dissension in the Writers Guild. Writers dissent for breakfast. Finding dissent in the WGA is like finding sand at the beach. As part of their job, writers create imaginary arguments in their head. The reality is that over 1,500 sedentary, independent, indoor writers picketed for up to three hours every workday for three months. Note to journalists: there are around 350 companies in the AMPTP. Next time, if you want to find dissension and furious anger at leadership, talk to them.

12. The hardship to others caused by the strike was unacceptable and never out of writers' minds. Never. When writers were without income for three months, it was impossible not to care about anyone's inability to spend what little you have. When writers went home, it was impossible not to know the suffering of friends in all fields. Yes, writers went on strike. But the one time writers actually get credit in the title, it's deserved by someone else. It happened because multinational corporations made offers of zero that would have destroyed the Writers Guild. Then destroyed SAG. And ultimately would have caused a far more shuddering devastation to Los Angeles. And then corporations cavalierly walked away. And negotiated with a union that wasn't on strike. Let the record forever show. During the strike and even after, writers have held continuous fundraisers for non-writers hurt by the strike. The multinational corporations? Zippo.

13. I believe that the biggest, yet little-perceived gain by the strike will be the 2-percent distributor's gross from Day One for all TV shows made after 1977. Given that it makes sense for networks to ultimately put all their material online, including thousands of series that would otherwise never see the light of day, this essentially makes available every network library, to the major financial benefit of writers (and others involved, in fact). In marketing terms, this is known as "the long tail," selling few units of huge amounts of products. It's what made Amazon.com as successful as it is.

14. Perhaps the biggest concern some writers had with the settlement was the 17-day, free window for streaming shows. I argued earlier that this may not be as big a problem as people think, since first-run viewing habits have changed with Tivo. Well, now comes the news yesterday that ABC is creating an on-demand service whereby viewers can rerun a show on their TV anytime for up to four weeks. So, ABC will be heavily competing with itself, far-overlapping that 17-day Internet window. This service is specifically to fight Tivo, and also to protect their TV ad base against the Internet. As such, on-demand is their focus for current series, offering Internet streaming as a first-run convenience, not a brief haven to get around reruns. If successful, it could eliminate the argument (and even need) for a free, 17-day window in three years.

15. The strike is over, but the door was left wide open for writers to take control of their lives in New Media. This includes any work that any company - anyone with money and a website - takes on with professional writers. Writers have entered a new world, and one that in many regards includes owning copyright. The actions of the studio focused attention on that. The strike is over. The future has begun.

16. At the Big Membership Meeting to discuss the deal offer, I lost my iPod. And a writer - are you ready? - actually turned it in. That, my friend, is high moral worth and good fellowship well met. Talk about honesty and decency. It warms your heart and soul down to the tootsies. I would stand up to be counted, go on strike and walk a picket line for such noble, deserving peop...oh, wait, right, never mind.

17. During the strike, many generous businesses gave discounts to writers. Two notable offers were made anonymously for the Swingers restaurant by one of its owners, and Bob's Big Boy, made by the same person. It was a huge 50% discount, but then a couple weeks later, the un-named good Samaritan upped the discount to (are you ready?) 100%. That's right: you just showed your Writers Guild card, and your meal was free. For over two months. To everyone in the WGA. With a little detective work, people were able to put together the puzzle, and that person responsible was - Drew Carey. It's impossible not to use the obvious, yet appropriate pun for thanks of this remarkable gesture of kind-hearted decency: the price was right. There is a power table now on hold for him in heaven.

18. A final word about something I would love to see changed in the Guild one day. The Writers Guild has an uncommon, two-tiered make-up for unions - if not unique - of current and post-current members, the latter being those who haven't been employed for a small number of years and are therefore ineligible to vote in Guild elections, among other things. Given how much selfless support the WGA got during the strike from post-current members, it would be nice to see that second-class citizenship eliminated and, like pretty much every other union, have members be members.

And it's not just "nice," but in the WGA's self-interest, because if a writer feels disenfranchised during a strike, he or she could be the first to leave the Guild and help break a strike. Yet these people not only stayed - but pounded the picket line and volunteered in every way imaginable.

There's a perception within the Guild of how post-current members would vote on strike
issues, but there's never been a study to verify the perception. And if this strike did anything, it showed their support for the Guild. The phrase once-used to justify this disenfranchisement was to make the Guild "lean and mean." I always thought it merely made it mean.

Anyway, I make my suggestion as a current member who was once a post-current member. And hated it. Was embarrassed by it, embarrassed that my Guild put me in that position. Put a little badge on me that said, "Not successful." Being honest, I can't swear I'd have written as much Huffington Posts if I was post-current. (Which to some may have been a good thing...) I'd like to think I would have, but if I felt in any way embarrassed by my status, I truly don't know. May changing this miscarriage be one of the many benefits to come from this strike.

Comments

[mrsgarrett]

Seriously? Item #16? You are heaping praise for a writer for not stealing your lost Ipod?? Yikes. That's a reach.

[DrBuzz]

Hiya Bob. Me.

All Others - you don"t know me, except possibly through some Kevin Bacon thing (if you know Bob, you"re there). Last January, I tried to post a response to some comments made by Alec Baldwin about something Bob had written in appreciation to the actors, who had foregone the Golden Globes ceremony in support of the Writers Guild. Mr. Baldwin, unfortunately, did not take kindly to everything Bob had written. Understatement. So I wanted to salve some of the irritation with the following. For some reason, the HuffPost not only held up issuing the comments for over a week, but then closed down the post for further comments, sans mine. While I am relieved that the salvos subsided (it really wasn"t helping anything, am I right?), I do feel it fitting to post this on Bob"s wrap-up. Why? Because BOB WAS RIGHT.

Dear Mr. Baldwin,

First, since this is the first and probably the last time I am likely to write anything to your attention, let me say that I have thoroughly enjoyed your acting through the decades (ouch, can that be?), and your work just seems to get better over time. There is no Jack Ryan after you (I enjoyed Harrison Ford, but that was Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan). Your performance was Sean Connery's James Bond -- there will be good, even very good successors, but there was one performance that was Jack Ryan. That said, in the years since, you seem to be getting more comfortable in your skin, and the self-deprecating sense of humor and fun emanates. Schweddy Balls " simply classic. Keep up the great work, your fans admire and adore your work. Enough coddling -- just thought you should know.

Now, as an aside and in the interest of full disclosure, let me say that I have known Mr. Robert Elisberg for about 30 years now, and I wish you could know him as I do. I am supremely confident that you would change your viewpoint of him... it may take 25 years to do so, but trust me, it'll come.

Back to you, sir. Your posts on the Huffington Post have shown humor, insight, and depth of consideration that one would not experience of most people (let alone an actor!). That said, I have regarded the exchanges between yourself and Bob with an unsettled discomfort, not unlike that which John Irving referred to as The Under Toad in "The World According to Garp." This does not end well for any party -- as entertaining as it may be just to read the level of discourse, the only people likely to relish the next installment of your feud are the principals of the AMPTP. How I wish, when everything is settled -- and it will be settled eventually -- that you and Bob reveal to the world that this has all been a set-up to distract the moguls. Highly unlikely.

To the outside reader, this feud seems to be reaching the ardency of combining matter and anti-matter. Ironic. I would bet a significant portion of my house that you two agree on at least 95% of earthly topics, including your respective viewpoints on the President, the war, and even on Hollywood moguls and their greed (isn't that a big portion of why talents such as yourselves set up their own production companies?).

Just FYI, Bob is nothing if not stubborn. When you look up the word passion in the dictionary, they should have his picture alongside the definition. On second thought, maybe they should have both of your heads, side-by-side (you would definitely raise the curve...). The point is, there is room for disagreement, even for passionate disagreement, but I implore you both to keep this disagreement in perspective. See prior point.

Nice pick up on Bob's story about the movie star and the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer; it makes his story even that more poignant knowing the players (not having known the story, I didn't see it coming). It is no accident, as I'm sure you appreciate, that Bob would use such a reference. He has a bazillion stories, and knows how to tell each one with a surprising punchline. He LOVES to give the punchline, and watch people's reactions (wouldn't we all, but he can deliver the goods). However, that punchline was uncharacteristically veiled to 99.999+% of the reading public. That he did not reveal the identities to the reading public says a lot about him personally, and his use of that anecdote (not really a quip) -- that he did not choose, or perhaps even want to publicly embarrass you, your ex-wife, or anyone else. He wanted to make a point (and by the way, had a dandy) to the public that actors and actresses should not tell famous comedy writers their business (do we really not believe that frickin' Neil Simon would not be able to tell that a script was not working, and have done anything in his capabilities to fix it?).

Above all, it seems to me that Bob wanted to make a point to you -- that he knows what he is talking about, and that you should know that he knows what he is talking about.

Some of the other replies to Bob's post that day border on bizarre. Could they not sense that his nudges at actors and cameras were like politicians and microphones? It was FUN! AND, it was meant to make the MUCH larger point that despite this predilection, that he was blown away by the graciousness of the actors, who would not cross a picket line to pick up an award (hell, I would have been torn, but then again, no one is likely to award me a humanitarian award anytime soon). How could anyone miss his outpouring of thanks?

Perhaps, they had missed the fact that Bob saves the sharpest barbs for writers themselves -- their pallid complexions for lack of exposure to sunlight, their lack of exercise, their generally hermitic lifestyles and quirky eccentricities, etc.? And above all, how could anyone miss how blown away the writers -- and Bob especially -- seem to be at sharing the same oxygen with the noble actors, who had come out to support them?

Having read both sides of most of the posts, I find myself in the vast majority (63:4, I believe Bob quotes) who support the writers, believing that they richly deserve their share of the Internet or any other media outlet. As do actors, and even directors. As should any key people who get their act together to unionize (Key Grips and Best Boys, wherefore art thou?), especially those who are paid not for work as-you-go, but based on delayed compensation.

I also believe that the WGA negotiators are bound by the orders of the negotiating committee, and if there is argument to be had, it should be with those orders, not with the negotiators. Everyone is frustrated with how things have gone, and there is rarely a black-and-white story anymore (how I miss my naive youth), but I have come to believe that the tactics of the AMPTP come as close to Ronald Reagan's union busting as anything I have seen since The Gipper's time. I am very sure I know your position on the annihilation of PATCO in 1981 -- those in charge (be it Ronnie or AMPTP) do not want to deal with unions, and will vilify their leaders.

Please, look past frustration, and seek central truths. They deserve the pay, and they should fight for it. It is AMPTP that is throwing the stomping-out-of-the-room hissy fits. It is AMPTP that is saying they won't return until topics X, Y, and Z are forfeited. Anyone who reads about Principles of Negotiation knows about the concept of a BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement). AMPTPs BATNA is a middle finger -- and as it turns out, not to just the writers, but to the actors, directors, and even the general public. Reagan must be looking up (not down) at the entire process... and having himself one hell of a laugh.

Lastly, Bob is not only very, very funny, he is also very, very smart. I've seen you in interviews, and you, too appear to be very funny and very smart. I even like to think of myself as rather funny and smart as laypeople go. Trust me on this -- I've tried. You are not going to outsmart or out-funny Bob Elisberg. It will end up driving you to distraction, trying to one-up him. My recommendation: sit back and read, and start to smile. Laughter will follow. Trust me.

*****

That was it. Homage à Robert. I hope now that all is said and done (for the next three years), that Messieurs Baldwin, Ridley, and any other nay-sayers will drop Bob an e-mail, if nothing else but to say, "You were right. At least more than I was. Good calls. No need to do lunch, right?"

[bubba584]

Thank you. For everything. I nominate you for a seat at the power table.

I also nominate Tom Fontana. The titan showrunner was omnipresent on the lines back here in New York and was as humble and gracious as could be. He always had time to talk with young writers and continually pushed the WGAE members by email to get active and get out to the picket lines. Snow, sleet, hail, rain-- Fontana was walking circles no matter what the weather.

[shortgirl]

As always, a most insightful post. Please excuse me for borrowing a phrase from United Hollywood Live broadcasts but it's just so right and so deserved. All Hail Robert Eilsberg!! All Hail Drew Carey!! All Hail Mighty Writers!!