Writers Guild of America

WGA Strike Primer: Alec Baldwin Swings and Misses

Robert J. Elisberg | Posted 12.27.2007 | Entertainment


Robert J. Elisberg

Whether Mr. Baldwin is playing the dupe, buying into the AMPTP corporations' character assassinations, is not for me to say. Perhaps he is simply misguided. But he clearly doesn't have a clue how the negotiations are handled.

In Our Business, You Start a Strike Knowing How to End It

Alec Baldwin | Posted 12.26.2007 | Entertainment


Alec Baldwin

Having the wisdom and guts and talent to get a strike over with expeditiously is a necessary thing. The current WGA negotiators do not represent the best hope the WGA has right now.

WGA Strike Primer: Correcting One Minor John Ridley Mistake

Robert J. Elisberg | Posted 12.26.2007 | Entertainment


Robert J. Elisberg

John Ridley was patting a writer on the back for his good sense. Kudos! That writer was himself, and he was 100 percent wrong in what he was saying, but it's a start.

Dumb Clucks and Greedy Bastards: the Writers' Strike in Three Easy Sentences.

Geoff Rodkey | Posted 12.25.2007 | Entertainment


Geoff Rodkey

I was able to sum up all the salient issues in three easy sentences for my mom, which I thought I'd post for the benefit of anyone following the current labor action.

WGA Strike: How Things Have Changed

Alec Baldwin | Posted 12.24.2007 | Entertainment


Alec Baldwin

When Bruce Willis was paid $5 million for a movie, things began to change. We entered a period wherein everyone wanted, and got, more. You knew that things were distorted when agents started getting rich.

The AMPTP Is Probably Winning. Now They Should Shut Up.

Ron Galloway | Posted 12.23.2007 | Entertainment


Ron Galloway

The AMPTP has the upper hand not because they are so good, but because the WGA's leadership is so bad. You don't conduct a p.r. war when there is no "public" to "relate" to.

No Dice: Meeting Between Letterman And Writers Ends With No Deal

AP | Posted 12.21.2007 | Media


David Letterman doesn't even need writers to have fun with this one. The late-night comic's representatives met with striking writers on Friday in an...

Letterman To Meet With Writers Today

AP | Posted 12.21.2007 | Media


Leaders of striking television writers plan to meet Friday with David Letterman's production company in an attempt to reach a separate deal that could...

The Guilds Will Survive

Jonathan Handel | Posted 12.20.2007 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

Kevin Morris and Glenn C. Altschuler have an Op-Ed piece in today's Los Angeles Times in which they predict the demise of the Hollywood guilds. This doomsday scenario could happen. But will it?

WGA Strike: A More Optimistic Scenario

Jonathan Handel | Posted 12.19.2007 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

This scenario allows everyone to claim victory and save face: the DGA gets to make the deal, the WGA gets to improve on it, SAG gets to help close the new media deal and the AMPTP gets significant concessions.

This Just In: Leno and Letterman Will Be Using Scabs To Write Their Shows!

Steve Young | Posted 12.19.2007 | Entertainment


Steve Young

Not only the late nighters, Bill O'Reilly said, but that also "dramas," like "Desperate Housewives" would be using material faxed to them by "scabs."

The Impact of the Writers' Strike

Janet Ritz | Posted 12.18.2007 | Entertainment


Janet Ritz

The only thing that is happening while negotiations are stalled is that people who are not on strike are losing jobs, while many of those who are on strike (and not as rich as some would like us to believe) could lose everything.

Revolutionary Street Cred

Ron Galloway | Posted 12.18.2007 | Entertainment


Ron Galloway

It's probable the future for WGA members lies in becoming big, bad producers, instead of passing time proving their revolutionary street cred.

Why the World Owes the WGA a Thank You For (Potentially) Eradicating the Awards Shows

John Ridley | Posted 12.18.2007 | Entertainment


John Ridley

If nothing else comes out of this god awfully mismanaged strike, it will have all have been worth it if even for just one season we can rid the airwaves of the endless, meaningless Hollywood awards shows.

Jimmy Kimmel To Return On Jan. 2 With Leno, Conan

AP | David Bauder | Posted 12.18.2007 | Media


Jimmy Kimmel will join NBC's late-night hosts in returning with new shows Jan. 2 in the midst of the Hollywood writers strike, ABC said Tuesday. Kimm...

Writers' Strike Diary: Embracing the Virtues of Selfishness

John Ridley | Posted 12.18.2007 | Entertainment


John Ridley

I hope that like-minded writers will continue to find ways to break free of the cycle of bargaining and deal making, and embrace the virtues of ownership.

Pie in the Sky

Amy Ephron | Posted 12.18.2007 | Entertainment


Amy Ephron

Does the airline pay the studio a flat fee for the movie or is there, in fact, a digital download pie in the sky?

WGA: No Waivers For Golden Globes, Oscars

AP | Lynn Elber | Posted 12.18.2007 | Media


Two of Hollywood's most glamorous events are now caught up in the entertainment industry's ugliest labor dispute in two decades. The Writers Guild o...

Wedge Issue in the Hollywood Strike: New Media Residuals

Jonathan Handel | Posted 12.18.2007 | Media


Jonathan Handel

The Director's Guild of America will need to balance its members' on-paper financial interest with the real-world scenario of one or even both of its sister guilds on strike.

WGA Strike: How to Restart the Talks, And Why

Jonathan Handel | Posted 12.17.2007 | Entertainment


Jonathan Handel

There may still be time -- a small window at best -- to negotiate a solution to the WGA strike before the DGA does its deal.

Leno, Conan To Come Back (Without Writers) Jan. 2

AP | David Bauder | Posted 12.17.2007 | Media


Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien's late-night shows will return to the air with fresh episodes on January 2 after two months of repeats due to the writers'...

NBC Expected To Announce Late Night's January Return

Wall Street Journal | Rebecca Dana and Sam Schechner | Posted 12.17.2007 | Media


In moves that are likely to complicate the writers' strike as it enters its seventh week, most late-night shows are plotting to return to the airwaves...

Hollywood Growing Worried That Strike Will Cancel Awards Season

New York Times | David Carr | Posted 12.17.2007 | Media


The Golden Globe nominations were announced on Thursday, glimmering tributes to the likes of Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington and Cate Blanchett. But on t...

Striking Writers Team Up With Venture Capitalists For Web Video Startups

Los Angeles Times | Joseph Menn | Posted 12.17.2007 | Media


Dozens of striking film and TV writers are negotiating with venture capitalists to set up companies that would bypass the Hollywood studio system and ...

WGA Strike Primer: Understanding Misunderstanding

Robert J. Elisberg | Posted 12.16.2007 | Entertainment


Robert J. Elisberg

Writers at their center are driven to "pass it on" to the next group of writers, and proud to do so. And this is something the AMPTP corporations misunderstand critically.