Posted on 11/05/2007 1:23:49 AM PST by abb
Hollywood's film and television writers went on strike early this morning after last-ditch efforts to negotiate a deal with the major studios failed Sunday.
Despite the aid of a federal mediator and back-channel talks between top writers and studio executives, the sides were ultimately too far apart to bridge the massive divide between them and avert the first writers strike in nearly two decades.
After three months of contentious negotiations, talks broke down Wednesday night when the writers' three-year contract expired. Although they made minimal headway on some issues Sunday, the parties could not come to terms on such key issues as how much writers are paid when their shows are sold online.
The question now is no longer whether or when they will strike, but how long a walkout will last and how much pain it will inflict.
Both sides are girding for what many believe will be a long and debilitating strike, potentially more disruptive than the 22-week walkout by writers in 1988, which cost the entertainment industry an estimated $500 million.
"Once it starts, it's going to get ugly," said one of the guild's strike captains Sunday.
snip
"It is unfortunate that they choose to take this irresponsible action," alliance President Nick Counter said.
The guild said that although the union had agreed to withdraw its proposal to double DVD pay, which had been a stumbling block in negotiations, producers refused to make concessions in other key areas. Among other things, producers refused to grant the union jurisdiction for most new-media writing, the guild said. They also insisted on a proposal that would allow them to reuse movies or TV shows on any platform for promotional purposes with no residual payment.
snip
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Just wondering.
okey-dokey
The bastards are commies when it comes to kissing each other’s asses but when it’s their wealth that they’ve earned they expose their hypocrisy.
“Can someone tell me why there is such a long credit list at the end of movies. I don’t really care who the bathroom attendant was.”
There were a few shows I worked on and did not receive billing and I WAS PI**ED. If I’m going to work 12-14 hours/day for not a lot of pay, I better get billing.
Picket line updates from Nikki Finke.
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/
On The Line, Part II: More Strike News
(...refresh for latest posting) Part I is here.
The WGAE strikers have such a wildly different experience walking the picket lines than do the WGAW’ers mostly because there’s sidewalk action in NYC. That’s right, they actually come into contact with pedestrians who often talk back. I think John Robin Baitz posts a very evocative account of the picketing back East here on The Huffington Post. And I like his terminology for the WGAE walkers: March of the Schleppers.
Stories coming in to me of strikers moonwalking, doing mime, and performing cheerleader routines on the picket line for the benefit of the cars passing by. Are we certain these walkers are writers and not carnies?
The above photo is from picketing at Fox. I was told that strikers were “enjoying” how they were able to tie up lines of cars trying to get in and out of one of the studio’s garages there, especially around lunchtime. Then again, the picketers also realized that the folks who park there aren’t the studio CEOs and top execs who all come in the Pico entrance.
Picketing at Universal today was boisterous not to mention noisy: trucks and cars loudly honked in support. Several members of SAG joined WGA lines including Frances Fisher, Justine Bateman and Marg Helgenberger and walked for many hours. Showrunners like Desperate Housewives’s Marc Cherry, Frasier creator Peter Casey, Drew Carey creator Bruce Helford and CSI’s Carol Mendelsohn were out there, too. Ahmet Zappa drove by and dropped off dozens of coffee drinks. Gifts of dozens of pizzas came from Joss Whedon fans and CSI production offices. Also, Patric Verrone and David Young made stops on the Uni picket lines giving strikers updates on the negotiations.
snip
What a stupid remark. No one is making you sit thru the end credits.
Your idea of “Stupid” is different than mine. I don’t have to put my name up in lights to feel good about myself. So, I need to pay for my TV, pay the cable and the electric bill just so you can see your name. Why should I be happy seeing who the janitor was?.
You don’t have to sit through it, you can get up and leave. The credits list has grown to be what it should be, credit to everybody. It takes a lot of people to make a movie, as long as they’re giving credit to some they might as well include everybody.
So, Why don’t the production workers that build the things you use get to put their names on them. You are telling me to get up and leave if I don’t want to see the credits. I guess some special people are a little better than the rest of us. Get over yourself.
Probably because the things they help build don’t come with credit lists. I regularly get up and leave early in the credits of a movie, and at home I’ll skip the credits in various ways. It’s not that big a deal, there’s really no reason for you to be running around insulting people. Some of us work in anonymous industries, some don’t. There’s no reason why people working in non-anonymous industries like cinema shouldn’t ALL get credit. Me, I’m in software, unless we decide to stick an easter egg in there I’m anonymous, and even when there is an easter egg most people never find them,but I don’t have a problem with other people getting credit in their industries. So maybe you’re the one that needs to get over yourself, pissing an moaning about people’s names being on the credits list is a sad petty pathetic complaint.
You’re an ass. Take your anger somewhere else.
By the way, I am not the least bit angry about this mess. I wrote about one thing that irked me. I decided to see what other people thought about it. You jumped on it like a chicken on a grass hopper.
I am not an ass. It is rather nice of you to start the name calling.
What’s wrong with leaving if you don’t want to see the credits? That’s what 99% of movie attendees do, that’s why they bring up the house lights as soon as the credits start to roll. They realized decades ago that almost nobody outside the industry actually cares about the credits, but the people inside the industry do, and there’s no reason why the Kraft service guy shouldn’t get a credit just like thug #3.
So Who Cares? My favorite programs are long off the air but are now coming back in DVD sets everywhere that I can enjoy once again anytime I want.
TV was ohhhhhh so much better in the 1960’ and 1970’s when we only had six channels. Cable may have given us more choices, but the choices got worse.
Why don’t the people who manufacture our products have their names put on them?. What if I am in MY house watching MY own TV. Am I supposed to get up and leave so I won’t have to see a list of credits for caterers, hair dressers and and other things like that.?
Like I already said, not every industry includes a credits list. Maybe they should but they don’t, as long as an industry does include a credits list said list should be complete. If you’re at home watching it on your TV then you can still ignore the credits, get up and go to the can, remove the DVD from the player, fast forward, change channels, there’s nothing that says you have to sit there like a lump watching every last undulation of every last pixel.
How would you like it if, You get in your car and start to drive, the windshield lights up and the credits start to roll showing everybody that had a part in the manufacture of the car. You could shut the car down and take a walk till the credits end. Then you are able to drive for a while longer until another list of credits start rolling showing the list of mechanics that have worked on it. Then you shut your car down and take another walk until the credits end.
I am not mad however, I am starting to get a kick out of your answers. I guess some people are a little more special than others and just love to see their names up in lights.
Well now you know why car manufacturing is an industry that doesn’t show the credits. The movie industry isn’t like that. Of course the big credits in movies come at the end so your example really doesn’t hold, if the car industry was like that all the credits would roll when I turned the thing off, and I could ignore it and go inside.
You sure are acting like your mad, you’ve insulted people in every single post on this thread, don’t want to be accused of being mad don’t insult people. Some people do like seeing their name in lights, or in program books, it’s what gets them in entertainment industries in the first place. Most Kraft service guys could be making more money working shorter hours catering to a less annoying clientele by going to the more “normal” parts of food service like restaurants. And of course Hollywood isn’t stupid, they know half the reason they get to pay these guys less by putting their name in the final credits. But really they deserve it, Kraft service guy put in a lot more hours on that movie than Man in Hat, either they should both be in the credits or neither.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.