Writers Strike In Hollywood

[DudeAsInCool]

The primary reason for the strike has all to do with distribution on the web - historically speaking, the writers got screwed by the producers when cable first started, and they aren't going to let that happen with new technologies. I predict a short long strike, but will update this thread with a behind the scenes report as new developments unfold.

"Hollywood’s two decades of labor peace shattered Thursday night, as movie and television writers declared that they would embark on an industrywide strike for the first time since 1988, when both writers and Teamsters walked out," acccording to a report in today's New York Times.

The strike would pit union writers, whose position has been eroded by reality television and galloping technological change, against studios and networks that are backed by big corporate owners like General Electric and News Corp., but are also unsure of the future."

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[DudeAsInCool]

Ars Technica weighs in on the critical issue behind the writer's strike:

"Writers get paid "residuals" whenever a show they've worked on or a movie they've helped write gets sold on DVD or aired in syndication, and these residuals can make up a healthy part of a working scriptwriter's income. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) insists that the residual rate for new media uses be fixed at the current DVD rate. The writers want the DVD formula—and the new media rate along with it—to be increased.

That's not going to happen, says Nick Counter of the AMPTP. In a statement, Counter said that "movement is possible on other issues, but [producers] cannot make any movement when confronted with your continuing efforts to increase the DVD formula, including the formula for electronic sell-through."

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[DudeAsInCool]

Well it's on, the Screenwriters Strike!

The NY Times reports that "Screenwriters moved to the picket lines this morning, as last-minute negotiations between the writers’ unions and producers failed to avert a strike over payments from producers for so-called new media, among other issues.

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[DudeAsInCool]

Things are heating up in Tinseltown in the war between the studio bosses and the writers. The writers guild has begun to picket tv shows in production like Desperate Housewives:

The Empire has struck back and it's more than a war of 'words', according to today's LA Times: "The major studios are hitting back with plans to suspend scores of long-term deals with television production companies, jeopardizing the jobs of hundreds of rank-and-file employees whose names never appear in the credits.

Assistants, development executives and production managers will soon be out of work, joining their better-paid bosses who opted to sacrifice paychecks as members of the Writers Guild of America. At some studios, the first wave of letters are going out today, hitting writer-producers whose companies don't currently have shows in production."

It's pathetic - the studios take it out on the little guys who have nothing to gain or lose by the strike.

[DudeAsInCool]

Niki Finke reports that a backchannel deal which could have averted the strike was rebuffed at the last minute in an underhand way by the producers. This should not be a surprise as the studios are not pillars of honesty:

"Top guild sources tell me they were “deliberately duped” by the moguls in a backchannel deal to bring the guild back to the bargaining table Sunday. They say the lure was a promise by two Big Media CEOs -- Peter Chernin and Les Moonves -- that, if the writers gave up their DVD residual demands, then the producers would respond by improving the formula on the central sticking issue of Internet downloads for movies and television. My producer sources confirmed to me such a deal was indeed made. In other words, it could have been possible that a settlement might be only days or a week away, with enough progress to induce the writers side to suspend the Monday start of the strike.

The writers say they kept up their end by dropping their DVD demands – a huge concession which later puzzled the WGA membership because it seemed to come out of nowhere and had to be explained by WGA president Patric Verrone without revealing the whole backstory. Why didn’t he? Because the WGA says it was abiding by the “mutual pledge of confidentiality” with AMPTP that, for the first time in all the negotiations, applied to Sunday’s session. Today, sources there decided to spill to me because the writers’ side of the 11th hour talks story has gone untold. The WGA accuses the producers of not delivering on the all-important electronic sell-through issue all day Sunday. And the producers confirm to me that, no, their negotiators did not offer anything on "EST". So, according to guild sources, that’s the real reason the 12:01 AM strike wasn’t averted, and their dropped DVDs demands put back on the table."

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[DudeAsInCool]

Looks like the writers have amped up the war:

Television's Showrunners Join The Picket Line

"Television's top writer-producers threw their collective weight behind the striking Writers Guild of America on Wednesday in a move that could accelerate the disappearance of some of the nation's most popular prime-time shows, including "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "The Office," reports the LA Times.

"In staging a very public rally in front of Walt Disney Co. in Burbank, about 100 writer-producers of some of TV's highest-rated programs ratcheted up the pressure on the studios and producers who only a day before had threatened to withdraw scores of lucrative contracts with writers.

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[DudeAsInCool]

Nikkie Finki at the LA Weekly is covering the action on the streets and behind the scenes in her blog - interesting reading for those who are interested.

[DudeAsInCool]

Source

[method77]

clever

[DudeAsInCool]

This Hollywood writers strike cracks me up

Hollywood writers are due to go on strike unless a last-minute move saves the day. It's either sad or funny, I can't decide. The overpaid spoiled morons who write all the shit that gets blasted out onto the TV networks want even more money for their piles of shit. What makes it beautiful is that the guys on the other side of the fight are even more overpaid and more moronic and more full of crap than the writers. It's like watching two guys you really despise get into a barfight, and you don't know which one you want to win and ultimately you just hope they both beat the daylights out of each other.

Read More @The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs

[DudeAsInCool]

As you can see from the following interviews, the studios arent making any money yet off of the digital revolution:

[DudeAsInCool]

The Small Things, Stupid Packages music blog has put together a mixtape in honor of the writer's strike :) Go to his page to download the mix:

Fool Me Once- George W. Bush, Moron-In-Chief

Know Your Rights- The Clash (buy it at Amazon)

2+2=5 (The Lukewarm)- Radiohead (buy it at Amazon)

Here's Your Future- The Thermals (buy it at Amazon)

Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe- Okkervil River (buy it at Amazon)

Rebellion (Lies)- Arcade Fire (buy it at Amazon)

The Big Payback- Bruce Springsteen (buy it at Amazon)

Sixteen Tons- Bo Diddley (buy it at Amazon)

Gimme Some Truth- Pearl Jam (buy it at Amazon)

21st Century Rip Off- The Soundtrack Of Our Lives (buy it at Amazon)

I Won't Back Down- Johnny Cash (buy it at Amazon)

Kicking Television- Wilco (buy it at Amazon)

The Revolution Starts....- Steve Earle (buy it at Amazon)

I Will Survive- Cake (buy it at Amazon)

The Underdog- Spoon (buy it at Amazon)

Even A Dog Can Shake Hands- Warren Zevon (buy it at Amazon)

Mr. November- The National (buy it at Amazon)

The Star Spangled Banner- Jimi Hendrix (buy it at Amazon)

[DudeAsInCool]

[vernarial]

That last one was pretty funny. It's all just more evidence of how screwed up the media industry is.

[DudeAsInCool]

[DudeAsInCool]

In her Deadline Hollywood column at the LA Weekly, Nicki Finke updates us on the ongoing statlement between producers and writers in her article, "Talks Day #8: Moguls Walk From Talks After Issuing An Ultimatum To Writers; Both Sides Accuse Each Other Of Lying":

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My assessment is that the producers are using the strike as an excuse to streamline their payrolls of what they consider deadwood, and therefore are not really serious about negotiating at the time being.

[DudeAsInCool]

ABC Studios terminates nearly 30 overall deals

ABC Studios on Friday afternoon became the first TV studio to terminate overall deals under the force majeure provision in its producers' deals.

In a major house-cleaning sweep, close to 30 writing and nonwriting producers -- most of them well-known -- who don't have active projects have been axed. The list includes the writing duos of Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia, as well as Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah, director Larry Charles, producer Sean Bailey, the producing team of Nina Wass and Gene Stein, writers Jack Kenney and Bill Callahan and actor-producer Taye Diggs, who landed a producing deal a year ago when he signed on to star on the ABC/ABC Studios drama "Private Practice."

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The strike is likely to go on for several months. As noted above, a few posts back, the studios are using the strike as an excuse to clear their rosters.

[Jamez]

I saw on the news YouTube traffic is up 18% since the writers went on strike.

[DudeAsInCool]

Jamesz, you are correct. The networks are playing with fire - audiences can and will find other ways to get their entertainment.

Speaking of which, as I predicted above:

Black Monday At TV Studios

"The force majeure ax swung wide Monday as four TV studios -- CBS Paramount Network TV, Universal Media Studios, 20th Century Fox Television and Warner Bros. TV -- tore up dozens of overall deals.

All four issued similarly worded statements blaming the writers strike for the terminations, which are expected to save the studios tens of millions of dollars. But none came close to the nearly 30 overall deals axed at ABC Studios on Friday. CBS Par and 20th TV each dropped half that number. UMS and WBTV stayed in the single digits, with WBTV's termination tally said to be less than five deals. Like ABC Studios, CBS Par, UMS, 20th TV and WBTV mostly went after writers, producers and directors with no active projects."

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[vernarial]

Eventually they are going to have to have writers. I wonder if they are gonna be second rate writers because the original writers refuse to return to old bosses that fired them for the strike, or if the field of writers is full enough that they can plug in new writers with the same level of talent. To me this is just another sign of how fudged up the media industries are. Greed runs rampant in my country.

[DudeAsInCool]

The Writer's Guild has been slowly making deals with a series of entertainment companies. Some day they won't need the majors.

Lionsgate reaches deal with WGA

Lionsgate and Marvel Studios are the latest film companies to reach an interim work agreement with the WGA.

The Lionsgate agreement is similar to the deals the WGA recently made with United Artists, Worldwide Pants, Spyglass Entertainment, MRC, Jackson Bites, Mandate Films and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, the WGA said. The terms for Marvel Entertainment subsidiary Marvel Studios were not disclosed.

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[DudeAsInCool]

Video by Seth McFarlane

[DudeAsInCool]

Deal to End Writers’ Strike May Be Near

" Informal talks between representatives of Hollywood’s striking writers and production companies have eliminated the major roadblocks to a new contract, which could lead to a tentative agreement as early as next week, according to people who were briefed on the situation but requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak," according to a report in today's New York Times.

"The agreement may come without renewed formal negotiations between the television and movie writers and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, though both sides still need to agree on specific language of key provisions. If that process goes smoothly, an agreement may be presented to the governing boards of the striking Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East by the end of next week, the people said."

Read More @ The NY Times

Here is another report (and photo) from The LA Times

[DudeAsInCool]

Writer's Strike Is Over...According to Ex-Disney Chief Michael Eisner

"It's over," Eisner said. "They made the deal, they shook hands on the deal. It's going on Saturday to the writers in general."

Eisner, speaking live on CNBC's "Fast Money," seemed to hesitate initially about whether it was possible that the writers could still reject the agreement, but finally suggested the deal's acceptance was inevitable.

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Eh...not really. The writers will meet this weekend at the Shrine Auditorium in LA to review the agreement and vote... Stay tuned.

[DudeAsInCool]

Writers Reach Tentative Deal With Producers

On Sunday, the two guilds’ governing bodies will meet to formally recommend the deal. And union leaders have decided to put the issue to a rapid-fire, 48-hour vote of the membership about whether to end the strike before formal ratification, guild officials said. That means the film and television writers could be back to work on Wednesday.

Read More @ The NY Times