Wga Strike

The New Economic Partnership

Howard A. Rodman | Posted 11.30.2007 | Entertainment


Howard A. Rodman

Yesterday, the AMPTP remembered that they actually had a proposal. But it becomes increasingly clear that to the conglomerates, "partnership," like "collaboration," is a term of art.

Writers Reject Producers' Proposal, Calling It A "Massive Rollback"

AP | Gary Gentile | Posted 11.30.2007 | Media


Film and TV writers who've been on strike for nearly a month are mulling a new contract offer from Hollywood studios. Producers said the offer they pr...

Making Chicken Salad Out of the AMPTP's New Proposal

Ken Levine | Posted 11.30.2007 | Entertainment


Ken Levine

Among the very few good things to come out of the strike so far: YouTube videos have gotten much funnier now that Letterman's writers have joined the junior high nerds from Lancaster, Pennsylvania who normally contribute these comedy classics.

Writers' Strike: Why They're Talking

Jonathan Handel | Posted 11.29.2007 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

The studios and networks were unprepared for the PR onslaught -- blogging, YouTube videos, international demonstrations, rallies, statements of support from politicians and from other unions.

Conan To Pay Staffers Out Of Pocket

AP | FRAZIER MOORE | Posted 11.29.2007 | Media


With his nonstriking "Late Night" staffers facing layoffs after Friday, Conan O'Brien has promised to cover their salaries next week, an NBC spokeswom...

Writers' Strike Diary: November 29

John Ridley | Posted 11.29.2007 | Entertainment


John Ridley

With no end in sight and personal debt mounting by the day, those funny YouTube videos might be the only thing the writers have to show for all their high-minded collectivism.

I Gave It A Shot

Albertina Rizzo | Posted 11.27.2007 | Entertainment


Albertina Rizzo

A shot at Tila Tequila comes with many requisites: the first being a pulse, the second being genitalia and the third being the first two plus vodka. This girl is picky!

The Negotiator: "Do You Like the Internet? That Was Me"

Karen Dalton-Beninato | Posted 11.27.2007 | Entertainment


Karen Dalton-Beninato

With both sides back to the table over internet royalties, how about getting Nobel Prize winner Al Gore in there to oversee negotiations.

The Writers Guild Strike Primer: Part 6, Journalism 101

Robert J. Elisberg | Posted 11.27.2007 | Entertainment


Robert J. Elisberg

Both participants have agreed to a news blackout. With news limited, therefore, an ever greater need exists to understand the various information sources.

Exclusive: The AMPTP YouTube Video the Writers Don't Want You to See

Jonathan Handel | Posted 11.27.2007 | Media


Jonathan Handel

The AMPTP has created no YouTube videos of its own, opting instead for the old-media alternative of occasional paid advertising in the papers and trades.

Online Powers the Picket Line: The First Wired WGA Strike

Amy Spies | Posted 11.27.2007 | Entertainment


Amy Spies

Our current strike is not just about new technology, it's also our first one being waged and fueled by new media.

Who Is John Galt? Writers Strike The Nerve That Counts: Public Opinion

Huffington Post | Rachel Sklar | Posted 11.26.2007 | Media


There's something innocent and pure, too, about the writers here: Sure, they're striking for money, but that's not why they write -- that they do for love.

Studios Facing $3 Billion Tab For New Union Deal

Silicon Valley Insider | Michael Learmonth | Posted 11.26.2007 | Business


Hollywood's writers and producers return this week for a three-day negotiating session. Who's got the upper hand? Depends on who's handicapping the fi...

Song: "We are the Writers"

Jill Sobule | Posted 11.26.2007 | Entertainment


Jill Sobule

Here is a song about the writers' strike. I was trying to get serious union with it -- in the lower part of my vocal range and in E minor (the angriest of all keys).

How Big Media Breaks The Law On "Survivor" Island

Jonathan Tasini | Posted 11.26.2007 | Business


Jonathan Tasini

It now appears that Big Media has been routinely breaking wage-and-hour laws, pocketing piles of money it should have been paying to writers who work in reality television.

Watch Project "Speechless" Video Featuring Felicity Huffman and Bill Macy

Deadline Hollywood Daily | Nikki Finke | Posted 11.24.2007 | Media


This is the eighth of the Writers Guild Of America member-conceived Internet videos for Project "Speechless" featuring A-list Screen Actors Guild tale...

Running Out Of Recent Shows To Repeat, NBC Will Begin Airing Vintage Leno Episodes

Reuters | Posted 11.23.2007 | Media


CBS' and NBC's late-night shows will continue to air repeats the week after Thanksgiving as the Writers Guild of America and studio negotiators return...

Reflections on Residuals: Go Forth and Multiply

Jonathan Handel | Posted 11.23.2007 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

The numbers are complex, but the conclusion is simple: the producers can afford to increase the residual payments, and it's time for them to do so.

Writers' Strike May Create Opportunities For Smaller Networks: "It's Not A Rerun If You've Never Watched The Show In The First Place"

Variety | MICHAEL SCHNEIDER, JOSEF ADALIAN | Posted 11.23.2007 | Media


In 1988, a writers strike helped steer viewers to the fledgling Fox network. Now, the 2007 scribe shutdown could give another upstart, the CW, a neede...

What to Say to Your Annoying Relatives About the Strike

Aaron Shure | Posted 11.21.2007 | Entertainment


Aaron Shure

Now that you're on strike, your fluffy lark of a profession has become political. Here are some talking points for the Thanksgiving table press conference.

Writers' Strike Update with Extra Turkey for Thanksgiving

John Ridley | Posted 11.21.2007 | Entertainment


John Ridley

I talked to two people close to the negotiations, and... Both sides blinked. Really. "Everybody's feeling more pain more quickly than they thought," one of my sources told me.

Sam Stein

Top Three Dems Now Refuse To Cross Picket Line For Debate

HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 11.21.2007 | Politics


The Democratic frontrunners for the presidential nomination have all announced that they will forgo CBS News' upcoming presidential debate unless the ...

Hollywood Rallies As Strike Drags On

New York Times | Michael Cieply and Brooks Barnes | Posted 11.21.2007 | Media


un Tzu, the Chinese sage, warned of the danger in prolonged conflict. "Let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns," he wrote in "The Art ...

Strike Carries Hefty $21.3M/Day Price Tag

Los Angeles Times | Richard Verrier and Andrea Chang | Posted 11.21.2007 | Media


As thousands of TV and film writers marched along Hollywood Boulevard in the third week of their strike, film officials put a price tag on the potenti...

Can The "Daily Show" And "Colbert Report" Survive The Strike?

New York Times | Brian Stelter | Posted 11.20.2007 | Media


The tentpoles of Comedy Central have recorded ratings declines in the first two weeks of the writers' strike. Both "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" ...