Writers strike?, PLEASE don't tell me this is true! = ( Options

[DiscoDiva]

Does that I mean I could get a job at Late Night? lol

[haynie]

Does that I mean I could get a job at Late Night? lol

I guess we could try
you can't know if you don't try,
lol.

[DiscoDiva]

I'm too happy with my current job For me to poop on!!!!!

[haynie]

I'm too happy with my current job For me to poop on!!!!!

LOL!!

I love my current job..

(if only I got paid!) lol

[DiscoDiva]

LOL!!

I love my current job..

(if only I got paid!) lol

When is it considered slavery and not a job? Who needs money right?
I'm feeling badly for those employees at NBC who may lose their jobs over this writer's strike,
but I am also sympathetic for the writers. By next week, NBC may be asking everyone to bring in their own toilet paper....

[haynie]

When is it considered slavery and not a job? Who needs money right?

This is nothing new in the world of interning

I'm feeling badly for those employees at NBC who may lose their jobs over this writer's strike,
but I am also sympathetic for the writers. By next week, NBC may be asking everyone to bring in their own toilet paper....

Me too.

... but... I thought it was illegal to dismiss a worker on strike??

[DiscoDiva]

I completely forgot about internships. I did that a long time ago and yes, I agree. It is slave labor.
Its everything the employee does not want to do and they classify it as a learning experience. lol
Isn't that biggest load of crap you've ever heard? Yes, by working as my slave you are gaining so much knowledge.

This is nothing new in the world of interning
Me too.

... but... I thought it was illegal to dismiss a worker on strike??

[Conan_the_shooti...]

I am not sure where is the best place to post this reply, so I am posting it here too.

*From what I've read and have been told is that many writers spend many months, years even, working on and writing a great script and it either gets ripped off because a) they are unknown and or their work is unprotected or they are forced to sell it for practically nothing, because they have no means of support and hope after it is made they will get some residuals off of it. The problems is a lot of the scripts either gets pushed aside for years or never gets produced at all so their residual never kicks in or it gets produced and the movie makes millions or billions except the writer who was forced to sell it for a few hundred dollars. I hear this happens so much to the writers and they are sick of it. And that their ideas are constantly being stolen from them when they try to pitch their work to big companies. Many writers do work at odd jobs -anything they can do, while they write at night hoping to get a break somehow. Years ago, apparently the movie industry was not own by big corporations but private studios who used to have on their movie lot salary paid writers on staff year round whether they were in production or not. This way the writers were able to dedicate their lives to creative writing. Today the studios are owned by big conglomerates who have accountants and such running their business who do not like to buy/own anything such as movie equipment etc... big over head but rather rent them on a need to need basis as well as they would rather hire writers per assignment then let them go as soon as the work is completed. The only way they can actually make any money is by their residual. -I've been told.

With all that being said, this Writers Strike is very important to them BUT since in general most make money off of their residuals, so they can afford to picket for a long long long long time without hurting them financially. In fact the more reruns the networks are forced to air the more money the writers get in residuals... something like that.
I think however like the writers who write daily for Conan will feel the loss wages because they get paid per show, but I think once the reruns start they will get residuals from that? Not sure how that works...
My point is there needs to be a fair compensation to these outstanding writers, but they can't expect huge difference all at once, the market won't allow it, and share holders, and corps don't work that way--never have. They should take it step by step, ask for just this much and then when that contract expires ask for the rest... my opinion anyway.
I've read Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has a great plan on how to satisfy both sides to end the strike but neither side has asked him so he is staying out of it until then. Good grief! We don't have time on our side to wait. If Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has some good ideas I wish to God he would just give it.

We know this strike could hurt hundreds of thousands of the other people and get worst. For instance, the camera, costume, or prop person, the janitorial guy, housekeeping, cafeteria staffers who work for the studios or near them; when everything like that gets shut down, etc... these people will get NO paycheck as long as the strike continues. They are the ones who really will suffer and get hurt by the strike, unable to pay for their rent or buy food ect... so many lives will be affected if this strike does not end soon. Both sides must give in, fairly and soon or .... yikes.

I guess I should not post when I have the flu and if I made some typos, sorry or if I made a mistake in my statement above, please feel free to counter it.

[Conan_the_shooti...]

NBC to Lay Off Leno Staff Next Week; Guest Hosts Could Save Jobs

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/CA6499587.html

"NBC MIGHT HIRE GUEST HOSTS!!!! FOR THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO AND FOR LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN!!!!!! STARTING NOV 19? TO HELP SAVE THE NON WRITERS, ACCORDING TO...

NBC Tells Nonwriting Tonight Show Staffers They'll Be Laid Off at End of Next Week in Wake of WGA Strike, But Guest Hosts Could Bring Show Back Nov. 19 and Save Those Jobs -- Late Night with Conan O'Brien Staff in Same Situation
By Ben Grossman -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/9/2007 3:57:00 PM

NBC informed the nonwriting staff of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that it will be laid off at the end of next week in the wake of the show shutting down for the writers’ strike.
Jay Leno

And with Leno still refusing to cross the picket line, the show is looking at coming back on the air Nov. 19 with guest hosts so that it can save the jobs of the nonwriters.

“All sorts of things are being discussed, including guest hosts,� Tonight Show executive producer Debbie Vickers said. “Our preference is that we return to production of The Tonight Show with Jay as host as soon as possible.�

B&C also learned that the same timetable has been given to the staff of NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien. That show's nonwriters also face layoffs at the end of the week of Nov. 12.

But Vickers also wants to save the jobs of her nonwriting staffers.

“We want to protect the staff, who have been loyal to this show for decades, in the same way that Johnny Carson reluctantly returned without his writers in 1988,� she said.

Late-night shows have gone into repeats since the strike began Monday as the hosts walked out in solidarity with their writing staffs.

With the shows shut down, networks can cut costs by laying off most of the rest of the staff..." end quote.

I found this posted by my friend from the nbc board, Shenandoah. Thanks!

[MsFrankenstein]

There still seems to be people who don't understand this whole strike or are misinformed. On another message board somebody was saying they are affected because they are a nanny and the parents of the child are make up artist for Desperate Housewives- so now both the parents and SHE are out of a job, as is a lot of people because of it. But she was saying "I know they want the same pay as the producers..." OK, I'm thinking "um, no, they don't want the SAME pay- wow, that would be asking a lot!" But just a fair share, right? Those are completely different things. A lot of them are saying it's selfish and they're not really hurting for money. That's not really what's bothering me, but rather that misinformation that they think the writers want to get paid the SAME amount as the producers.

[latenightgoddess]

"Ask a Ninja: Writers Strike" video on youtube

I like his suggestion to "replace everyone on the picket lines with vikings."

[Conan_the_shooti...]

FROM CONANS CURTAIN CALL Nov 9 2007, 06:44 PM
: I've read Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has a great plan on how to satisfy both sides to end the strike but neither side has asked him so he is staying out of it until then. Good grief! We don't have time on our side to wait. If Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has some good ideas I wish to God he would just give it.

11/12/2007 - 07:59:42

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/entertainment/s...amp;p=y949zyy8x

UPDATE!! "Schwarzenegger tries to end writers strike
Actor-turned-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is using his political influence to try and terminate the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike.

Members of the Writers Guild Of America have been striking since Monday after talks between the union and studio representatives failed to resolve a dispute over royalties."

I am so relieved that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying...

[sexy_conan418]

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2007.../segments/88763

Here is an audio clip of Brian Stack!

[mintybluefoam]

Conan's on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. There's an article about the strike and it mentions Late Night a couple of times.

[MsFrankenstein]

Conan's on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. There's an article about the strike and it mentions Late Night a couple of times.

you mean like the FULL cover?!?! Or just a little bit in the corner somewhere?

Edit: I just went to ew.com and I see he's hiding behind Katherine Heigl (I think it's her, at least) and I think it was Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert (don't remember). Darn it's not just him on the cover. I'll still check out the magazine and read the article.

[trace85]

Dumb question alert: Did they Doctor the cover or did Conan, Steve, and Katherine really take the picture with Tape over their mouths?

[mintybluefoam]

I'm pretty sure it was doctored. They should have given Conan the full cover! Why did Katherine Heigl get to be in front??

[latenightgoddess]

Thanks for posting the Stack interview, Liz. It's nice to hear him again.

Some youtube videos worth watching:

- This is Our Moment: Screenwriter (Field of Dreams, Sneakers) and Writers Guild of America, West board member Phil Alden Robinson recounts the turning points in Guild history and explains why the strike of 2007 is this generation of writers' watershed moment.
- Voices of Uncertainty: A tribute to the heroes of the AMPTP, who continue to soldier on in the face of almost unimaginable financial confusion.
- The Office is Closed: "The Office" writers on the picket lines
-------

Interesting things I found over at unitedhollywood.blogspot.com:

Some of "David Letterman's writers (Eric Stangel, Justin Stangel, Bill Scheft, Steve Young, Matt Roberts, Tom Ruprecht, Jeremy Weiner, Lee Ellenberg, Joe Grossman and Bob Borden) are posting hilarious but heartfelt accounts from the picket lines" at lateshowwritersonstrike.com. They're also making themselves very available to contact about the strike, which makes me kind of tingly inside.

One entry there:

A message from Late Show writer Bill Scheft....
Sunday, November 11, 2007

This letter originally was posted on the late show newsgroup and the late show website.

I am the union rep for the show, and felt compelled to bring you up to date on the writers strike. Day Four on the picket line. Our guys have been so much better represented out there than all the other NY shows. I am really proud of them.

Quickly, lest you think we are a bunch of spoiled brats just looking for a raise, the big issue, money from original content shown on the Internet and other new media, is our way of replacing the money we are losing over the disappearing residuals. Residuals are not a bonus. They are the way writers live when they are between jobs. The standard writers contact is up for renewal every 13 weeks. You can have a five- year contract, but they can let you go every 13 weeks without paying you any more as long as they give you a month's notice. That is the deal we all enter into. There are 12,000 writers in the guild. You need to make $30,000 a year in guild earnings to keep your health insurance. Last year, 6000 didn't reach that figure. Half.

I have been lucky enough to have a job for 16 years. That simply does not happen. So this is what we are fighting for. Believe me, we would love to be in the office, writing fun facts, actives with Rupert, illegally doctoring footage or downloading porn, but this is the frontline fight for all the other union contracts that come after us. The late night writers are the first ones affected by a strike, and the ONLY ones who will never recoup the money we lose because we do 10 times as many new shows per year as any drama or sitcom. But we go out in support of our fellow union members and pray this thing ends soon.

One more thing. To a man, all of the writers are deeply concerned about the collateral damage if we stay out too long. We think of the 150 people who work at the Late Show whose fight this is not and believe they will be taken care of. They are all embarrassingly supportive of us. No one any more so than Dave. It is quite humbling.

Sorry to be so serious, but this is serious business. I wanted to write you people because this site has loyally and relentlessly followed the show since we came to CBS. I felt you were owed as much of an explanation as anyone outside the negotiation room can give.

Feel free to ask any questions and I will try to respond. Thanks.

Bill Scheft
---------

Strikewatch: Heartbreaking Office News
E! Online, Nov. 8, 2007 3:16 PM

Michael and Jan are supposed to have Jim and Pam over for dinner. That, my friends, is the hilariously genius Office episode that lies on the other side of the writers' strike, according to show runner Greg Daniels. And it makes my soul hurt. We fans deserve this funny!

Instead, after tonight's Michael-in-wilderness ep, we'll get only one more Office episode until the strike is over. Yep, you heard me. Next week could very well be the season finale of The Office if the dispute drags on. (Get the latest deets in our news story.)

Anyway, The Office is in a very interesting and poignant position in this Writers Guild fight. We chatted up executive producer Greg Daniels to get the reason why, plus scoop on storylines and why he shut the show down earlier than most others...

Where does The Office stand in regard to the strike?
The Office is a perfect example of a show that has a vested interest in the issues on the table. We're one of the highest downloads on iTunes. We made a lot of money there, and the creative people didn't see any of it. And this is the future of the television business. People are going to sit in front of a box that has computer guts inside and watch their shows, and just because it's not called a TV, it doesn't apply to our contract. All we're saying is that it's the same thing. We're watching the same show from our couch or from our chair on a screen, and just 'cause it's delivered through the Internet, we're not [being compensated for it].

Today, we're surrounded by the people that run the shows and the majority of them are doing very fine, and it's not about money for us. It's about middle-class writers and actors -- our staffs are made up of those people, and they should get [what they're due].

So, if the strike lasts for 22 weeks or however long, you're not going to be worrying about paying your mortgage and your livelihood?
Well, I think what I'm most worried about is the next 20 years, when all the stuff that I've done goes on the Internet, whether or not my writers and I will get any money from that. That is what I'm more worried about. I think the writers have been kicking themselves for 20 years that we only get four cents for every $20 DVD that's sold.

How is the mood among the writers at this point?
The mood is fantastic. The reason why it's an intransigent strike is because the companies know how much money's at stake, and if they can reduce their costs here, it'll be huge for them, because the Internet's a big profitable thing. It's a very positive business model. It's not the auto industry. You know, there are no Chinese sitcoms coming in to compete with them. It's practically a monopoly. They have a very healthy business model.

Another thing I think is important for the public to know is that our government gives broadcast licenses to these big media companies to create the public culture. For them to just be only concerned with money, for them to say they don't mind taking The Office off the air, The Shield off the air, Grey's Anatomy off the air and replacing them with new reality shows like, you know, America's Loudest Voice and America's Prettiest Face, that's not fulfilling their obligation to create a good public culture.

How long will you hold out?
I'm here for the duration. I'll go teach school. I mean, that's it. I'm not going back until the strike's over.

You shut down production of The Office yesterday, the second day of the strike. Did that have anything to do with the fact that you have several writer-actors who would've been put in a tough position, required to report to work as actors?
Yes, we shut the show down yesterday with our pickets. One of the reasons we shut the show down was because we didn't want to do a half-baked episode of the show where the writers weren't present, and everybody on the creative team agreed that was the right thing to do. Steve Carell would not come in and cross the WGA picket. He's a Writers Guild member, and that's the end of the show.

But the main thing I think that's special about The Office, even more so than the writer-performers -- although that is what gets SAG and WGA working together --�is that we're very much aware of the future. You know, we had 7 million downloads on iTunes. We are the big draw on NBC.com. We did webisodes before anybody did webisodes. We won the Daytime Emmy for our webisodes. None of this stuff did we get paid for and, you know, this is the future of TV. We've seen the future because we've kind of lived it, and so we're very much aware that the business model is fantastic for the companies. The ad rates are much higher for Internet ads than they are for TV ads, because you can't skip 'em. You have to watch 'em, and they can tailor them to the consumers. So, they're very valuable ads.

It's obvious that all TV entertainment will come through the Internet soon. They're going to make a ton of money through it, and they know it, and that's what they're fighting for. They've made projections that if they have to give a few crumbs to the writers and actors, it'll reduce these gigantic profits from the Internet by a certain amount, and they're willing to try and keep that amount in their pockets and take the strike now.

Why aren't the studios making more of an effort to share Internet revenues?
Well, because it's so much money. If you're the company, and you make a projection that if you can avoid paying residuals to writers and actors, you can save a billion dollars over the next 10 years, then the strike has to do a billion dollars worth of damage to your company before you're gonna care. You know, it's just math. I don't feel like they're really taking into account that this is a town that works together. It's just right to allow the writers and actors to have the same deal on the Internet that they have on TV. There's really no difference. It's just a box that you watch your TV shows on.

It's like if we made pots, and we delivered them in a green truck, and our contract said, "This is what you get for pots delivered in a green truck," and then they bought red trucks and gave us nothing for the same pots, just because they were delivered in the red trucks.

And speaking of the Internet, The Office has a huge online fan base that logs on to just talk about the shows, too.
Yes. If they want to talk, they should maybe consider writing letters to the head of NBC or, you know, doing something, because we only have two more episodes. This Thursday's episode was written by Steve Carell, and then we have the following week's episode, and then that's it.

And you were quoted as saying that the episode you shut down this week was one of the funniest to date.
I mean, I think they're all great. But in terms of the table reading, it was the most raucously successful, laughter-filled table reading that we have ever had so far. So, it hurts to shut it down. But you know...

Can you tell me anything about that episode?
Well, you have to understand that it takes place after the next two episodes. This week's is Michael Scott going into the wilderness like Survivor Man. The following week's episode is Jan suing Dunder-Mifflin for wrongful termination, because of her breast job, and Michael getting caught in the middle and having to testify at a deposition.

The one that we shut down was Jan and Michael inviting Pam and Jim over for dinner and fighting like crazy because of the issues that were brought up in the deposition. It's a superfunny episode, and I hope that we'll one day shoot it.

--Reporting by Korbi Ghosh
----------

"Why I Fight": A Writer's Assistant's Perspective
(From Writer's Assistant, Ed Fowler)
Monday, November 12, 2007

Saturday I went to my mailbox and discovered a very plain envelope with the return address of NBC Universal. Inside it held a simple, single page letter. At the very top, centered in some kind of Helvetica or Ariel font (at least it wasn't Comic Sans) was the very business like heading of:

Memorandum
What followed after the "To" heading contained the name to which I am so often referred:
To: Whom It May Concern
The "From" abeling was a tad more specific:
From: Jerry DiCanio, Executive Vice President, Production
Luckily for someone as slow witted as I can be, the "Regarding"� section left no head scratching:
Re: Services No Longer Needed
The body of the letter was nothing shocking or surprising, simply stating that due to the uncertainty that the recent WGA strike has created my "services are no longer needed, effective immediately." Okay, so I guess if you're working as a Writer's Assistant and the only way you're able to assist the writers is by standing alongside them in a picket line, this really comes as no surprise.
My point in this email is simply to give yet another example of who we are dealing with. These are people who don't have the decency to create a dismissal form letter that, at the very least, pretends to know who exactly they are dismissing. We are at war with people who take no time to personalize those they employ, they take no consideration of the lives they are affecting each and every day. Maybe it's a defense mechanism, maybe it's big business or maybe they didn't get enough hugs as children, but we should not be surprised nor shocked at the pompous, self-centered and delusional lies they spread about writers and this strike. Don't mistake me, I'm not the least offended by the methods they've employed to release me. What I am, is reminded (by their own hand) why this battle is one worth fighting. It is time they understood the power and value of the writer. Fair enough, I'm not in the guild, I'm not yet a working writer -- I'm easy to forget and easy to replace.
I get that.
Trust me.
What I really want, the reason "Why I fight", is for all of my friends who are working writers, or are soon to be, to get a fair deal and to not be taken advantage of by corporate goons who can't write an effective form letter more or less a screenplay. Ultimately, what I hope is that when the sun rises on a new, better contract for all writers I can look each one of you square in the eyes and quote the great Jack Burton at the end of Big Trouble In Little China and say, "We really shook the pillars of heaven, didn't we?"
See you on the battlefield.


Ed Fowler
Writer's Assistant
Eureka
---------

News Flash: The CEOs Aren't Playing Fair
Tuesday, November 13, 2007

We shouldn't get all misty-eyed at the revelation that the studios are happy the strike has happened.

Jeff Zucker picks up an easy $40 million by terminating overall deals. Peter Chernin is the face of reality when he boasts, "We save more money in..., you know, story costs and probably the lack of making pilots than we lose in potential advertising."

We shouldn't be surprised that a cable network told a tv-writer last week that her movie will go into production, but before they green light her project, they need the tiniest of rewrites before they green light. They know the WGA doesn't want her to do the work, but maybe she could 'supervise' someone else who could. Wink, wink.

And we shouldn't be shocked that the studios have backed themselves into a corner by paying too much for high profile deals. Whose problem is that? Theirs? No, they tell us, it's our problem. As Nick Counter says with condescension, "Don't ask for more money. The movie business is unprofitable."
Was anyone surprised by the AMPTP's full page ad in Variety and the LA Times claiming that writers were already being paid for their work on the internet? Since when are the studios the source of accurate accounting?

Ok, so nobody's surprised by any of that. We all know that the CEOs aren't nice guys. But there's too much talk about the strike being over in a couple of weeks.

We have to be realists. Sure 90.1 % of the membership voted for the strike authorization. 4,000 rallied in front of Fox Plaza last Friday. But consensus isn't enough.

We need determination.

The strike will last at least 60 days, because, as Peter Chernin happily says, the short-term bottom line is so good. There has to be time for CEOs, like Jeff Zucker, to bend over and pick up the loose change dropped from terminated deals.

Sooner or later, reality will catch up with the CEOs. Although they don't like it, they need product and that means they need writers.

What will bring the AMPTP back to the bargaining table in the near future? Continued pressure from our picket lines. Increasing public support for the strike. Political influence. Back channel phone calls.

Yes. All of that and more.

We are negotiating for meaningful issues. The AMPTP is a difficult adversary. It's essential to pace ourselves. We have to be prepared for the long haul. And we will win. We absolutely will win!

[latenightgoddess]

I meant to post this before.
Some stuff Brian Stack wrote on AST on 11/10/07 & 11/11/07:

"That story about non-writers being hurt by this strike is very sad, obviously, and it's beyond awful how many non-writers could potentially be hurt by this strike. Our non-writing staff at 'Conan' could begin facing lay-offs soon, too, [see "TV shows quickly going dark", Variety] and it makes me sick to even think about that. The bottom line, however, is that the other side actually FORCED this to happen. In fact, many of them NEEDED the strike to happen so they could cancel production deals with certain writer-producers, lay off all their employees, cut their overhead, and blame the writers for it. Some of them did it first thing Monday (November 5) morning as soon as they possibly could.

The fact that the writers were given absolutely no choice in this matter is not something that generally comes up in the press, or in corporate memos sent out to (TV show) employees like Ms. Fernandez. She has every right to be angry and worried. I just wish it were more clear to her that the WGA did everything possible to keep this from happening, and were forced into this strike by moguls who don't give a crap about people like her, or about people like us, if we interfere even slightly in their pursuit of profit. As one caring AMPTP exec was just quoted as saying, 'We aren't the ones who'll be losing our houses.' You don't see quotes like that in the Los Angeles Times, do you?

The AMPTP moguls understand how awful the writers and writer-producers feel about people like Ms. Fernandez possibly losing their jobs. In fact, they're COUNTING on that as a way to get them to fold. The AMPTP also knows how stories like Ms. Fernandez's play in the press. I find them as sad and infuriating as everyone else. The fact that the AMPTP is USING people like her to weaken the resolve of the WGA and make them look heartless in the press doesn't make her story, or the stories of countless other non-writers caught up in all this, any less heartbreaking.

I just hope that this can all be resolved very soon so that no one has to lose their jobs. The AMPTP could make that happen if they just agreed to actually negotiate with us instead of giving us the finger at every turn and then making us look like WE'RE the cold, heartless ones in all this."


I really hate that Brian Stack -- one of the nicest, most awesome people ever and my metaphysical friend -- is facing such totally unacceptable circumstances and being treated so carelessly & unkindly.

[trace85]

I'm pretty sure it was doctored. They should have given Conan the full cover! Why did Katherine Heigl get to be in front??

That's what I'm sayin'! Give Conan the full cover! Steve is cool tho.