Myers fears Hollywood's end is near: Publicist worried strike will hasten erosion of biz

Variety ^ | Fri., Jan. 11, 2008, 1:16pm PT | TATIANA SIEGEL

[bahblahbah]

Longtime Hollywood publicist Julian Myers will turn 90 soon. And he worries the end may be near ... for Hollywood.

Myers frets that the WGA stalemate -- with all of its acrimony, vitriol and job losses -- is a harbinger of ill things for the industry.

"The strike impasse is speeding the end of Hollywood filmmaking and television production," says Myers, who has been working in the biz since 1939 and is still an IATSE member. "There are more union contracts coming up for renewal, and already unionists are crossing union lines. IATSE is urging its members to go right on through. Insults are being exchanged, faces will be bashed and fatalities are a possibility."

Myers, of course, remembers when such confrontations were more common. He recalls participating in a 1946 strike in which 900 unionists were arrested in front of Warner Bros. Studios and bussed off to a Burbank jail.

Now, with tensions again running high, Myers worries that the town might be consumed.

"Does a dying Hollywood need a civil war today to hasten its erosion?" he asks.

[massgopguy]

Hollywood is ready for its close-up Mr. DeMille.

[Jim Scott]

With all due deference to Julian Myers and while I cheer the erosion of the entertainment industry ('Hollywood'), I doubt the writers strike will destroy the business. Too many Americans are addicted to mindless entertainment and too much money is at stake for too many corporate entities as well as performers, writers, etc. for the 'biz' to simply dry up and disappear.

Movies have been a part of our lives for over 100 years and with DVD players available for less than $50., we can still enjoy them, in the comfort of our homes, for a few dollars rental fee or occasionally to purchase for under $20. Few people really want that to end, but I suspect many do want to see quality and respect for decency restored to commercial films. That probably won't happen but if the money gets tight, the kind of rubbish we see now will be harder to find in film as few studios will be able to afford anti-war junk or smarmy tripe aimed at hormone-overloaded teens and young adults.

TV is not going away and it is a repository for all kinds of entertainment. One hopes that some semblance of quality may return, but at least a tighter budget environment may have the effect of the networks and cable dropping the little-watched liberal favorites and running shows people actually like.

I have only minimal confidence that the American public will start demanding more quality movies and TV shows but it could happen. If the writer's strike weakens Hollywood finances (and it's arrogance) and people begin to realize that they can live without a lot of the junk they pay $10. a ticket to see in a theater or waste their evening on watching it on television, our society and our culture will be better off. In that case, let the writer's strike continue.

[Diplomat]

"Does a dying Hollywood need a civil war today to hasten its erosion?" he asks.

No, but we can all hope that still does happen.

[untrained skeptic]

Strong support from the public? You mean that there is a sizable group of people that not only noticed they strike is going on, and understand the union's grievances, and support their decision to strike?

I doubt there is one person in 10,000 that has a clue what the issues are that they are complaining about.

I doubt that very many people would care if the union crumbled and the writers were replaced by non-union writers.

I'm sure there are quite a few people who miss seeing new episodes of their favorite shows, but I highly doubt they care if the writers are union members or about the details of their contracts. They likely simply care that the media companies pay well enough to attract good writers, which in some cases they apparently do, and in a lot of cases they apparently don't.

[rockinqsranch]

It’s ironic that today we have available to purchase wonderful technology for our homes to receive beautiful High Definition picture presentations, and yet there isn’t sufficient quality produced by the entities acknowledged as the professionals to support justification for the purchase of such technology. Yet it’s to become law that we spend at least enough to upgrade our analog reception capabilities next year to accomodate HD.

There’s nothing but Liberal/Leftist/Socialist love your local homo, white men are stupid beer drinking morons, every other ethnicity is smarter, Corporations bad, four legs better than two Propaganda broadcast on the American airwaves and into our homes.

We don’t need these Leftists writing this crap so it can be pumped into our homes like so much septic waste.

It’s sad to think that even if every American turned off the television in protest for say a month, they’d continue pumping out crap...there is an agenda.

[Argus]

With all due respect, I think you are wrong. The corporate owners of the entertainment companies are not going to open wide the sluice gates to profit participation in the internet for the writers, actors and directors. They will make a deal with the DGA that works for them, then impose the same terms on the other guilds. If the leadership of the WGA are smart, they’ll declare that a victory and end the strike at that point. But I fear that they’re not smart, and that David Young and his cadres think they’re storming the Winter Palace instead of engaging in a negotiation for better wages and benefits.

[nunya bidness]

The WGA will prevail in this strike. The union is right in its stand, unified in its membership, strong in support from the public, and has already begun making interim deals with individual companies.

They may prevail but the bad blood will last for a long time between the writers and all below-the-line crew members. As a card carrying Local 80 grip I can tell you that every co-worker I know is fuming at the timing of the work stoppage. They scheduled it for maximum impact during the height of the TV production schedule and right before the holidays.

And the fact that they've been planning this for a year (and avoiding the traditional early negotiations) and easily could have waited until the spring and have SAG bolster their case when that guild's contract was up for renewal and after TV wrapped for the season only deepens the contempt of the thousands of craft folk who are the engine of the industry.

F the writers. We won't forget this. Ever.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Whatever, Julian.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Whatever, Julian.

[Cicero]

Actually, Hollywood has been historically good for America. It has spread American ideas and culture abroad, and it has been a huge money maker for our country.

But I sympathize with those who would like to see Hollywood die. Instead of spreading ideas like freedom and the American way all around the world, or American style humor and romance, it is spreading sexual license, perversion, and hatred of America. It still is making a lot of money for our country, improving our balance of payments, and providing a lot of jobs, but the people who are running the industry today are mostly a bunch of sick, self-hating, sorry excuses for human beings.

I don’t know what it would take to bring Hollywood back to its senses, but that would certainly be preferable to watching it destroy itself as it tries to bring down the country with it.

[Cicero]

Actually, Hollywood has been historically good for America. It has spread American ideas and culture abroad, and it has been a huge money maker for our country.

But I sympathize with those who would like to see Hollywood die. Instead of spreading ideas like freedom and the American way all around the world, or American style humor and romance, it is spreading sexual license, perversion, and hatred of America. It still is making a lot of money for our country, improving our balance of payments, and providing a lot of jobs, but the people who are running the industry today are mostly a bunch of sick, self-hating, sorry excuses for human beings.

I don’t know what it would take to bring Hollywood back to its senses, but that would certainly be preferable to watching it destroy itself as it tries to bring down the country with it.

[Crawdad]

No ‘I Love New York III’?

[kempo]

When was the last time they made a movie without a political theme that tries to put down America? Fk-um. I’ve been to my last movie.

[toddlintown]

90 years old? Yep, the end is near.

[discostu]

The film industry hauled in almost 10 billion dollars domestically last year, God only knows how much TV hauled in. The impending demise of Hollywood is their greatest fiction.

[discostu]

The change isn’t to accommodate HD, it’s to switch to digital broadcast which is more efficient and will cause the sale of more licenses. Actually HD is one of the things that’s helped push the change to digital, you can’t do HD without digital (the analog broadcast standard just isn’t up to sending that much data) but you can do SD in digital. The digital change over has been put off multiple times because it would adversely effect too many people, now finally less than 10 percent of the population isn’t already capable (through new TVs, satellite or cable) of handling digital signal.

If every American turned off their TV for a month the industry would be dead. Their job is delivering eyeballs to commercials, if the eyeballs all went away for a month they’d be doomed. Whatever agenda they have is secondary to the simple concept of delivering eyeballs, it’s the eyeballs that pay the bills.

[Calvin Locke]

What strike? /sarc

I didn't know what the IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Union) was, but a search said they were the union that struck Broadway before Christmas.

Now they being told to cross the picket line?

[Gorzaloon]

I’d be happy to see it close down. There hasn’t been anything to interest me in years.

I thought Star Wars was pretty good. Of course I was..thirty years? younger at the time.

Have they made anything since then? How was it?

[CASchack]

I forgot about Star Wars. I was thinking back to The Godfather.

[Borges]

There are plenty of good movies every year. You just have to seek them out. Last year was unusually strong actually.