Intersting WGA Strike Article

[weaktwos]

WGA Strike Primer from the HuffPo. What do y'all think? This article comes out about the same time that Letterman is pushing negotiations with the WGA to do new shows in January. Leno is coming back without writers. This article doesn't sound very optimistic for the WGA.

Comments

[reannon.livejournal.com]

I don't know, I think Letterman negotiating on his own is good for the WGA. It shows that the AMPTP is way out of touch with reality, showrunners know it and he'll likely be the first of many to break ranks. CBS, of course, is freaking out, and I can't imagine the conversation between Letterman and the studio honcho tasked with yelling at him for this. :)

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the Letterman deal does sound like good news, and the Huffpo article was a good explanation, which seems consistent with what I've read in the past, I just don't quite know why the Amptp is taking so long.

[reannon.livejournal.com]

They think America's love affair with reality and game shows will sustain their coffers long enough for the writers to give up. I am hoping (praying) that they're seriously wrong.

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

Well, they will not subsist on my contribution. I'm about to curb back my cable, too. Hell, I might cancel the whole thing until the strike is resolved.

[serenity-valley.livejournal.com]

I think you're right to think they're wrong (heh). :) I read an article last week when the canceled the big advertisers' convention because of the strike that the advertisers are very unhappy with the AMPTP and this plan of theirs. Advertisers DON'T like reality/unscripted TV...it doesn't sustain for long term and doesn't hold a branding identity like well-written and popular scripted shows do.

Then again, I suspect that greed's got a whole lot to do with the AMPTP's refusal to bargain in good faith, greed could push them to drive everyone over the cliff, even if it means they go over the edge, too. :(

[namfle.livejournal.com]

I think that's their HOPE. The fact is, though, that we were watching fiction LONG before we even conceived of the notion of overglorified came shows. Besides which, if we go back to the money issue, you can earn more cash from a good fictional property than you EVER will with a game show. What're you going to get? Home versions? Maybe reruns on the Game Show network? You won't ever see "The Price is Right" on DVD, or in the movies. Bob Barker retired, how many action figures did they make of him?

No, I think the AMPTP is trying to muscle the WGA, because they know whatever contract they sign with them will become a precedent upon which all their other union contracts will be based, and, to be frank, what's "fair" to us writers is a great deal of lost cash to the AMPTP, and we're living in a time where the people with the Rolls Royces and Bentleys in this country have WAY more power than they should. Given the outrageously immoral nature of the AMPTP's actions, I think tthey HAVE to believe they can't lose, or they never would have undertaken this venture.

-elfman-

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

Well, I hope they continue to fight the power. :-) I know my money is going wherever the good writers go. :-)

[namfle.livejournal.com]

It's funny you should feature those two particular articles, back to back. The second is a GRAND example of the sort of mis-information that the first was talking about.

Fact: Many members of the WGA are also in the DGA and/or are show-runners. Joss Whedon is the best example I can think of, and he's certainly not alone. Under the umbrella offered by that ONE piece of information, you can see that the possibility of the DGA striking a deal with the AMPTP that would in large way undermine the efforts of the WGA strike is really, really slim.

Secondly, DGA, WGA and SAG all represent one important aspect of entertainment; they are the PRODUCTION. As the article does state, often the contracts with one union looks awfully similar with another union. And, let's face it, how many people do you know (perhaps even personally) that might be a member of more than one of those guilds? I hope to be in two by the time I die, and the third is just as likely. That is why they showed solidarity so quickly and so strongly, why the Speechless Hollywood movement has some of the biggest names and faces in Hollywood in it's short films.

To be frank, I don't think Vanessa Arrington knows a damn about what she's talking about.

-elf-

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

I sure as hell hope so.