Thank you for taking the time to respond.
I have been a member of the WGA longer than both of you.
karnage wrote "Politics is the art of the possible"
Yes, and ethics is the art of the principled.
Surely the protagonists of your screenplays choose ethics over expediency when faced with a moral dilemma.
You both wrote: I am not a Marxian slave.
Respectfully, I disagree and here is why.
We all know the history of the WGA. It was founded in a jurisdictional dispute between the Screenwriters Guild (today's WGA) and the ScreenPlaywriters Guild.
At the time, the USA and Hollywood was enthralled with Marxist ideology (The Blue Eagle National Recovery Act...the Harry Bridges-Herb Sorrell CSO, etc.)
Cut to the chase. The FDR administration (Department of Marxian Labor) and the Supreme Court (NLRB vs Jones and Laughlin 1937) settled in favor of the Screenwriters model.
The ScreenPlaywriters lost. And with that loss, you and I lost the ability to negotiate as freemen for the copyright of our intellectual property.
That was 1937. Stalin was killing zeks by the millions in the gulag.
70 years later, the only Marxian writers union left in the world is the WGA in Hollywood.
What's up with that?
I can prove it to you.
I dare you to attempt to negotiate as a freeman for the copyright ownership of your next screenplay.
I dare you to even attempt to get a contract where you retain ownership of your intellectual property.
Just try it, boys.
Both the MPAA (the studios) and the WGA will crush you like a wasp.
You will be expelled from the WGA, lose your P & H, and put on a list at the studios never to do business in this town again as a screenwriter.
By the way, that's called a "black list".
You will be mocked, roughed up, belittled, and dehumanized.
Like a zek in the gulag.
You will be called terrible names, socially ostracized, your children will cry; finally your steadfast wife will get depressed and threaten to leave you.
Sounds like Marxian thug politics to me.
What would your protagonist do at this point in your narrative?
CLOSE ON PROTAGONIST: His hands clasped tightly around his head (Brando in Streetcar)
This is why Hollywood scripts suck.
Screenwriters who write these stores are Marxian slaves.
When a writer cowers in real life, his fictional life becomes crap.
I am a Freeper, too. But more than that, I am a Freeman
I have lived through this horror-show many times before.
Do I have to worry about my livelihood now that I have written freely on Free Republic?
The Berlin Wall came down 18 years ago.
Why do some of us still fear for the well being of our families?
What the hell was the Cold War all about, brothers?
Marxism repeats itself, firstly as tragedy, secondly as farce.
On the picket line next week, speak the 3 taboo words of Hollywood and see what happens next:
Right To Work.
God bless you both. Show courage.
Respectfully, "beachcomber"
P.S. Do I have to worry now about my livelihood?
Do I?
Of course I won’t try to negotiate as a freeman, out there on my own. I’d be crazy to, when I have a waaaay better chance of getting a good deal if I negotiate with Shawn Ryan (The Shield) and J.J. Abrams (Lost) and John Wells (E.R.) and Joel Surnow (24) on my side of the table sharing their clout with me. It’s just business, and with the showing we’ve made this week, it stands a good chance of being good business too. But of course there’s a risk that it won’t be good business—just like there’s always risk in the free market. If it were Marxian the outcome would be set by the state and guaranteed, and in this strike there is no guarantee whatsoever. Because it’s not Marxian. It’s the free market.
"Hollywood scripts suck" today because (1) TV series, drama or comedy, are written in boring, soul-crushing formats and (2) movie screenplays are written by 22 year old MBAs (the current trend is teams) from Yale.
The next time I have to go into the WGA office, I'm going to slap everyone in there wearing a baseball cap. Enough is enough for the love of GOD!
When I write on spec, I own the material and can dictate my own terms within the parameters of what the market will bear.
When I write for hire, that’s what it is: a job for hire.
I take it, from your description of attempting to negotiate ownership of the copyright, that you tried it - and was kicked out of the WGA. If so, I’m sory to hear about it.
As a conservative Catholic in Hollywood, I have been “called terrible names” and “socially ostracized” for many years. But, like Popeye, “I yam what I yam.”
Do you have to worry about your livelihood because you’ve spoken your mind on FreeRepublic? I dunno. Do I? I’ve been posting since the Clinton years, and have somehow managed to survive.
We all do what our consciences dictate...