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The DOJ has filed opposition to the defendant’s motion, saying it has ‘no obligation to investigate’ who the men in the videos are. . Recently released Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol Police security video shows a suspected FBI special agent clapping and cheering as crowds surged up steps to the Columbus Doors and another meeting with an FBI tactical team just before it entered the Capitol after the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt. The videos were first identified by defendant William Pope of Topeka, Kansas, in court filings in his own Jan. 6 criminal case. Exhibits Mr. Pope originally filed under...

...A recent open letter to the Writers Guild of America, written by a WGA member, is saying out loud what so many in the industry fear to say....... [T]he story has resulted in a flood of emails sent to Film Threat. These correspondences paint a picture of an industry where fear of speaking out could result in one being “blacklisted” as problematic... A phrase we heard over and over again is this: “male and pale is stale.”A Modern Black List I am a WGA member and wish to be anonymous.My email isn’t real as I don’t want to accidentally give...

The Writers Guild of America strike has been underway since May, but this July, SAG-AFTRA joined the chorus of Hollywood dissenters fed up with outmoded contracts with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Hollywood is now officially on strike, with production on nearly all AMPTP-associated film and television projects featuring SAG-AFTRA talent at a standstill — and actors are now taking to the picket lines in unity to voice their concerns over residuals, the threat of artificial intelligence, and challenging working conditions from meal breaks to long hours.

LOS ANGELES, CA — As writers and actors continue to strike against the insatiable greed of the studio executives who have oppressed them for years, The world is now in its third month of realizing they're just fine without Hollywood. "At first I was worried, but then I remembered that Hollywood doesn't really contribute anything of meaningful value to the world whatsoever," said one local woman. "Without Hollywood, I can still go outside, spend time with my kids, and catch up on decades worth of classic films that are much better than anything they make today!" "Thanks for helping me...

Former CNN host Reza Aslan joined several other verified Twitter accounts in threatening violence if Senate Republicans attempt to fill the Supreme Court seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. “Over our dead bodies. Literally,” Aslan wrote in response to a tweet saying Sen. Mitch McConnell intends to fill Ginsberg's seat, shortly after it was announced Friday that she had died at the age of 87. https://twitter.com/rezaaslan/status/1307133898154020864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1307133898154020864%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fnews%2Fover-our-dead-bodies-liberals-threatens-to-burn-it-all-down-if-gop-replace-ginsburg-before-election-day Aslan also tweeted, “If they even TRY to replace RBG we burn the entire f---ing thing down.” “If McConnell jams someone through, which he will, there will be riots,” Washington Post and...

The Writers Guild of America says it has instructed its 13,000 members to fire their talent agents at midnight on Saturday, unless their agents sign a new "Code of Conduct" agreement that promises they will do away with packaging fees and their stakes in production companies. The bottom line: Most of the Guild's writers agree with the Code of Conduct, but most of the agents who represent them don't. The hope was that the 2 sides would come up with a compromise before the current negotiations expired on Friday. Without a deal, Hollywood is stuck in a messy limbo that...

As the number of scripted series and TV writers surge, shorter orders stall the volume of produced episodes and staff writer earnings, while screenwriters' wages drop 21 percent. With scripted television booming — 455 series this season, more than double the number six years ago — it ought to be a great time to be a TV writer. And the ongoing Writers Guild negotiations should be a cakewalk, right? So you'd think, but it's actually not Easy Street at all, because, as previously unpublished data reveals, growth in the labor supply has outstripped growth in demand, while shorter series orders...

Yes, I'm logged in. Tanned, rested, ready, cheese, moose, sister.... I'm trying to help a senior citizen on a fixed income, in my neighborhood, with a computer issue. He bought an HP desktop back when Win 7 first was issued (I think Nov. 2009) and all was well until about a month ago. Now, whenever he boots up the PC, a message pops up saying his copy of Win7 isn't genuine. He's called both HP and Microsoft and each company blames the other. Most of the time, his phone calls go to India and he has a hard time understanding...

Microsoft sued in China for black screen of death WGA wins more enemies By John Oates • Get more from this author Posted in Software & Security, 22nd October 2008 11:42 GMT A Chinese lawyer has filed a legal complaint against Microsoft for installing Windows Genuine Advantage on his computer. He has asked the Ministry of Public Security to file criminal charges against Microsoft. Dong Zhengwei accused the company of hacking into people's computers. He said: "I respect the right of Microsoft to protect its intellectual property but it is taking on the wrong target with wrong measures. "They should...

AS THE WRITERS' STRIKE CAUSED upheaval early this year, the average cost of a prime-time spot dropped 12%, while even "American Idol" couldn't prevent a notable slide at Fox. For the Big Four networks, the average spot in the first quarter--melding prices from the upfront and scatter markets--cost $125,634. That's compared to $142,824 a year ago, accounting for the 12% decrease, according to a new report. The research comes from independent media agency TargetCast tcm, which culled the data from NetCosts, a service run by SQAD that receives reports on spending from some 390 advertisers and agencies. (SQAD says NetCosts...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Times are tough in Beverly Hills. Well, tougher, anyway. As recession looms and Wall Street shivers, the Los Angeles area's richest are perhaps perspiring -- although they never actually sweat like other people. Just ask Tim O'Hara, general manager at O'Gara Coach Company, a Beverly Hills-based Rolls-Royce dealership that caters to rock stars, actors and Hollywood executives, many of whom live in the mansion-filled city adjoining Los Angeles. "Some clients would have bought (both) a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley every 12 months but now they've cut it down to buying two cars in an 18-month period,"...

This winter’s strike by television writers interrupted the TV-watching habits of millions of people worldwide. But why did it happen, and did the writers get what they want or need? With the uncertain direction of the “new media revolution,” no one seems quite sure..... On Tuesday, February 12, Hollywood’s TV studios and writers averted disaster. With only 12 days to go before the entertainment industry’s biggest TV extravaganza of the year, the Academy Awards, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the member studios of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached a tentative three-year agreement, which...

Saturday Night Live’s first show since the writer’s strike forced it from the air 16 weeks ago will feature Mike Huckabee in a guest appearance, the Republican candidate’s campaign announced Wednesday. The former Arkansas governor is not expected to host this weekend’s SNL — that job is reserved for “30 Rock” star and former cast cast member Tina Fey. But a spot on the NBC sketch comedy show will at least give him some extra time in the limelight as rival John McCain works to close him out in the GOP race. Democratic candidate Barack Obama appeared as himself during...

During the 1988 writers strike, TV viewers sick of watching reruns found themselves turning to Fox's raunchy new sitcom "Married With Children." The budding Fox network was struggling and, like its bigger rivals, had resorted to rerunning episodes when viewers discovered henpecked shoe salesman Al Bundy and his Spandex-clad wife, Peg. Their quirky appeal helped brand the "fourth" network as an iconoclast, able to take on ABC, CBS and NBC. snip "Since the 1980s, every time viewers leave the broadcast networks for a strike, summer reruns or any other cause, they never return in the same numbers, and over the...

From combined dispatches - LOS ANGELES — Striking Hollywood screenwriters said yesterday they had agreed on a deal to settle their three-month-old dispute and could be back at work tomorrow if it meets with union members' approval. Leaders of the 12,000-strong Writers Guild of America e-mailed members early yesterday to inform them an agreement with studio chiefs had been reached and would be discussed at meetings in New York and Los Angeles. "We have a tentative deal," said WGA leaders Patric Verrone and Michael Winship, adding the time had come to settle the dispute, which has forced the cancellation of...

... Primetime ratings for ABC, which aired low-rated repeats of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives," fell 26 percent among adults aged 18 to 49, a key category for advertisers. CBS, with reruns of "Two and a Half Men," "NCIS" and "CSI," dropped 30 percent in that same category, according to figures from Nielsen. A survey from ad-buying firm Carat found that just 16 percent of primetime viewers said they would continue to watch their favorite TV shows in repeats during the next three to six months. The other 84 percent said they either "would not" or "may not" watch shows...

LOS ANGELES, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The 12-week-old Hollywood writers strike is taking a heavy toll on prime-time viewership with television production largely stopped and the major networks airing more repeats, game shows and reality shows. The five top broadcast networks were down a collective 17 percent for the week ended Jan. 27 in ratings among viewers aged 18 to 49, the audience most prized by advertisers compared with the same week last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. That is a sharp drop from earlier this season, before networks' supply of original sitcom and drama episodes ran dry and...

American TV networks have lost almost a quarter of their audiences because of the Hollywood writers' strike, according to new figures, and executives fear that “orphaned” viewers may never return. The Nielsen ratings organisation found that US viewership for last week's opening of the 2008 TV season was down 21 per cent compared with the same week last year, when new episodes of hit shows such as Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy were aired. Because the strike has shut down production of all scripted shows, the networks are now almost completely out of fresh material to broadcast, instead relying on...

Why do we hear nothing on the writers strike? No mention of what they are really fighting over, nothing about negotiations, counter offers, nothing? It really shows in my opinion how much the media is Hollywoods pocket. Does anyone else thing this is strange, that there is no reporting on this whatsoever?

TV, film production losses could top $3 billion By CYNTHIA LITTLETON, CYNTHIA LITTLETON, JOSEF ADALIAN Now that the two sides are talking again, hope is rising that the writers strike will be settled sooner rather than later. If that doesn't happen, the showbiz community will face far more financial pain related to the strike -- just as the national economy appears to be skidding into a recession. If the 3-month-old strike were to persist for an additional 60-90 days, the direct amount of lost spending on TV and film production could reach $3 billion, according to an industry study conducted...