An e-mail has been send around to WGA members stating that a tentative deal has been reached that, I get the impression, is going to be satisfactory to all concerned. A meeting was held today at 2 PM which I was not able to attend, since Ariel's High School bowling team had their county-wide playoffs today. One has to have priorities (Ariel's team came in second, by the way, and Ariel herself did excellently, shooting four games over 200.
From the tone of the letter, it appears that there will be no further picketing (which of course means the Oscars will go forward with no impediment--a big relief for Jon Stewart, I should think.) I have to think that, short of some sort of egregious problem, the strike is done.
PAD
Posted by Peter David at February 9, 2008 04:30 PM | TrackBack | Other blogs commentingWhat's the status of the issue of unionizing reality and animation writers?
Might want to check the comments over at UnitedHollywood.com, especially at http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/2008/02/letter-from-presidents-with-deal.html . Some folks like the deal, some are resigned to it being the best they can get, and some are incensed about it. Just about everybody commenting is upset at the lack of time to analyze and discuss what will determine their income for the next three years (and longer, due to precedents set).
It was dropped. The WGA heads have said they still plan to seek union coverage for those shows, but it won't be a part of this contract.
Peter, make sure to come back here and give us the unvarnished truth about how good/bad this deal is. Frankly, you're the only one I trust to give us the full scoop with minimal spin and hyperbole...
Groovy.
Glad to hear of things looking up, Pete. Hope all is finally fair and equitable to all involved.
Possibility of...new tv and moves...returning...fear of ..increased reality shows...fading.
Congrats to Ariel too - I've been bowling before and not broken 200 total IN 4 games. :S
And yes, as Michael D. says, let us know what you REALLY think.
I wonder how this will work out for the various shows. I've heard that some will get new episodes for this season and others will just wait until the new season starts. That could cause complications.
Heroes, for example, is fine no matter what. They ended at a good place, so they could just take what they were planning for the rest of the second season and start the new season with it.
Scrubs is in a different place. This was their last season and they had some plot threads unresolved. There was more left to be told about what was going to happen to Bob Kelso. It's never been a highly rated show, so if they don't get new episodes, they might not get another season to finish everything up.
My sense of the United Hollywood "room" is that the Something Egregious has already happened, and a large chunk of people are waiting for the rest to admit to the fact.
I may be wrong, though, seeing as I'm currently an outside observer.
I am positively elated that the writers get to go back to work, and hopefully get most of what they want...But there is a large part of me that wanted the strike to go until 1 day past the Oscars. The Hollywood-glamor hating aspect of my soul would have loved to have seen that awards show reduced to what the Globes were reduced to. In that same regard, I'm annoyed the crapfest that is the Grammys will be on tomorrow :D
And what have we learned from this writer's strike business?
That most corporations are greedy bloodsucking entities?
That writers are constantly exploited and taken for granted?
That unions are needed?
That this whole situation is only a microcosm of what's going on in our society where the working class is exploited and must endure pecuniary and other hardships such as lack of universal healthcare or other benefits, crumbling mortgages or $9 trillion deficit while the rich profit at our expense with the countless tax breaks and corporate welfare? All of this very much akin to the seeds of the French Revolution?
No.
None of those things matter. The only thing that matters is that the Oscars go on as scheduled and that glorified vanity affair of a popularity contest known as the Academy Awards isn't interrupted under any circumstances and we should celebrate that.
After all, the show must go on.
I'm biased but I've got to think that people like Mark Evanier and other writers/bloggers are pretty honest. ME says that "it seems to me like an acceptable but not great offer." I'm glad that the strike is over and that writers at least made some progress. Looking forward to reading PAD's thoughts as well.
Right now I'm working my way through Doctor Who and Torchwood. I have to ask you a question. Do you guys like these shows in a "so bad it's good" way? Or do you really like these shows?
I haven't seen anything so awful since Andromeda.
Peter, thank you for your hard work during the strike, and for keeping us all appraised. Congratulations to you and all members of the WGA.
None of those things matter. The only thing that matters is that the Oscars go on as scheduled and that glorified vanity affair of a popularity contest known as the Academy Awards isn't interrupted under any circumstances and we should celebrate that.
To some, perhaps. Then again, to some, the only thing that matters is making stuff up purely to denigrate others.
PAD
As someone who has (I just counted 'em) 44 serials of the original Doctor Who on DVD (and I think I have a few others on VHS kicking around somewhere), I'd have to say I think I'm in the "good" camp. (Well, okay, there's the occasional "bad in a good way" one... But I think they're the minority.) As for the new series and the spin-off Torchwood, I find those to be quite good as well. So good I can't even wait for them to air in the U.S. (The internet is a marvellous thing.) Don't have any of those on DVD yet, but they are definitely closer to the front end of my "one of these days" list.
Sorry, just had to defend the good Doctor there.
Now... On the main subject at hand, I am glad to see the strike ending and hope the writers got what they can consider a fair deal. It will be good that they can get back to work. I'd have hated the wait for the second half of season 4 of BSG to be too long (that show has long enough season breaks as it is!) and I have also quite missed The WØrd.
However... while I hate to say so there will be a small part of me that will almost be sorry to see Jon Stewart get his writers back. In some ways I've been liking A Daily Show a bit more then The Daily Show. Possibly because my favourite parts have always been Jon Stewart at the desk just talking about and reacting to current events, which has become a bigger part of the show without the writers to do other bits. Great recent example was his short and to the point response to the speech Mitt Romney gave when he dropped out of the race. "&%@$ you, Mitt!" Especially as a Massachusetts resident, classic! That being said, I’d still welcome those writers back as well.
I'm glad to hear that the strike is (hopefully) nearly over and that the WGA, while they certainly didn't get anywhere close to what they would have liked, at least moved forward in a few ways. If it was up to the moguls, they were reportedly trying to get a few rollbacks out of it and didn't, so that's certainly good news. That being said, I would be delighted if the writers (and by extension, the actors) still struck the Oscars anyway. All involved would still get their awards, but ABC would still suffer a hefty seven million dollar blow. It probably wouldn't teach them a lesson and the writers could get one last shot at saying 'Don't mess with us in 2011!)
I'm still not all that optimistic about seeing any new episodes soon, because I'm not sure the math works out, certainly not with the SAG contract coming up in June. What I'd rather see is the writers start work on the 'back 9' but instead of rushing a patchwork of episodes back to the screen, maybe we could get a mini-summer series leading into the fall.
And regarding the earlier posts about Doctor Who and Torchwood, here's something interesting I heard while I was back in the UK a few weeks back. Apparently one major company (who shall remain nameless here) had asked their London people to compile a list of UK sci-fi television writers for them, just in case the strike went on for too long. What they discovered is the British market has very few SF television writers, with the exception of Doctor Who and Torchwood, and even then, most of them hadn't written much SF outside of Doctor Who.
Anthony W: "Right now I'm working my way through Doctor Who and Torchwood. I have to ask you a question. Do you guys like these shows in a 'so bad it's good' way? Or do you really like these shows?"
I really like Doctor Who, without reservation. I haven't watched enough of "Torchwood" to form an opinion.
Also, I didn't think "Andromeda" was horrible. It wasn't great, but it had its moments.
It wasn't the Oscars. Sure it's nice to reduced the lives and work of others to a cynical, small, snarky comment. But it is also completely wrong.
From what I was reading, if the strike went on much longer the Producers would not only lose this season, but due to the need to make pilots and such, they were in danger of losing next season as well. The time for the networks was running out, so they compromised and offered a decent deal.
Anthony W, I have to place large swaths of the old "Who" firmly in the "so bad it's good" camp (and in many cases, I do indeed mean "camp"), but I do think the newer "Who", and "Torchwood", are quite good (although I am wondering what Gwen was doing as team lead between series one and two, if she's still thrown by seeing a "ghost").
Then again, I also liked the first three seasons of "Andromeda", so maybe my opinion isn't that important to you... :)
Or do you really like these shows?
Yes, we really like these shows.
Oh, I'm going to be at Gallifrey One in Los Angeles next weekend, in case anybody else is going.
It'll be my first time attending this con, as well as being my first Doctor Who convention.
To anyone interested below are a couple of links regarding the Writer's Strike situation:
those too blind or too ignorant to see that this
The first one was written by Joss Whedon earlier this week:
http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/2008/02/from-joss-whedon-do-not-adjust-your.html
The second one was penned by me late last year:
http://neo-prodigy.livejournal.com/460602.html
I also like Joe's idea about the writers sticking it to the Oscars as a warning for 2011.
To some it's all about the Oscars and they're more interested in seeing an awards show than a group of people get their just pay.
But then these are the same people who refuse to see the sad state of the world when it's staring them in the face.
When people are more concerned about the state of the Oscars than they are reaching a fair settlement, then something is wrong.
And let's not forget, the studios are ultimately responsible for this strike.
Oh and case and point:
http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/2008/02/from-joss-whedon-do-not-adjust-your.html
Posted by PAD
None of those things matter. The only thing that matters is that the Oscars go on as scheduled and that glorified vanity affair of a popularity contest known as the Academy Awards isn't interrupted under any circumstances and we should celebrate that.
To some, perhaps. Then again, to some, the only thing that matters is making stuff up purely to denigrate others.
Sounds to me that the OP was basically describing the mentality that seems to be reflected in general media coverage of the strike for the last couple months; the same mentality that keeps prying for new things to be scandalised over in Britney Spears' ongoing meltdown, that still rakes up Anna Nicole Smith's death.
That mentality has been presenting the strike to the poublic almost solely in the light of "Will those silly writer and producers manage to settle their picayune arguments in time for the Terribly Important Academy Awards to be broadcast?"
Posted by: Denny
When people are more concerned about the state of the Oscars than they are reaching a fair settlement, then something is wrong.
Bingo.
I would agree with Mike Weber. Denny's point was very clear and needed no deep analysis to decode. Of course, PAD is correct that "to some, the only thing that matters is making stuff up purely to denigrate others" - he may just be mistaken as to whom he is referring. When one is oneself a snarky bastard (I've noticed this myself) it can be awfully easy to see snarky bastards everywhere one looks.
Regarding the Oscars, I'm glad that the ceremonies can go on without the complications of picket lines, but cannot remember any instance in the past 40-some years when any of the writing on the broadcasts has been more than passable. Whether great prose was mangled by inadequate presenters or it ever existed at all is hard to tell.
It's not that the Oscars can go on without picket lines, it's that it can go on at all. If the strike had continued, the stars wouldn't have attended and it would have been a press conference like the Golden Globes.
Denny,
In the words of Emily Latella;
"Oh, well that's different, nevermind."
Jeffrey S. Frawley:
"When one is oneself a snarky bastard (I've noticed this myself) it can be awfully easy to see snarky bastards everywhere one looks."
In your parenthetical aside, did you mean to say "I've noticed this IN myself", or are you calling the gracious host of this site a snarky bastard?
Just seeking clarity.
The Internet provisions look like a big bait and switch compared to what was reported in the news. I say you guys call BS on the producers.
Posted by: Alan Coil
Jeffrey S. Frawley:"When one is oneself a snarky bastard (I've noticed this myself) it can be awfully easy to see snarky bastards everywhere one looks."
In your parenthetical aside, did you mean to say "I've noticed this IN myself", or are you calling the gracious host of this site a snarky bastard?
Just seeking clarity.
I suspect the answer to that may very well be "Yes."
That should of course be:
In your parenthetical aside, did you mean to say "I've noticed this IN myself", or are you calling the gracious host of this site a snarky bastard?
*yawn*
No offense but on a purely selfish level, I couldn't care less. I didn't like getting the one season of TV I actually watched a handful of shows in the last 7 years get interrupted but I got over it.
More time for reading, working out, bowling.
On the other hand, I should be glad it's getting worked out for those whom it affected.
For the strike possibly ending, all I can say is this: Thank the gods it happened before WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO? got aired on the major networks!
As for DOCTOR WHO, I like both the origial show (still the longest-running consecutive sci-fi series ever) and the new version (better special effects, same goofy fun). For a nice humorous swipe at the original, check out DOCTOR WHO AND THE FINAL DEATH, a charity-inspired comedy bit that pokes fun at everything from the cheap locations to the continual "I'll explain it later" lapses in logic or plot. And it starts with Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor!
Glad it's over with, and glad there seems to be an overall positive outcome!
Actually, it was "Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death." You can find the whole thing on youtube.
James, I think one of the reasons that Curse of the Fatal Death worked so well is because it was written by Steven Moffat, who is not only a very talented writer, but has also written some of the best Doctor Who episodes ever. Small wonder that he won two Hugo Awards in a row, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if 'Blink' makes it a hat trick.
Is there any reason the writers don’t get fans involved in the strike? For guys like PAD and Joss Whedon it would be easy to get a large group of us to picket and chant “Fair deal for writers or our TVs stays OFF!!!”.
What purpose would it serve? The AMPTP already knows people are watching less because of they know the ratings they're getting. More importantly, they know that no new products are being made, which means no money from ads now, plus no money from syndication and DVD sales later.
Looking over some of the terms, it's both good and bad for the writers. It's good in that some of the rollbacks didn't implemented. It's bad in that some of the gains were pretty miniscule. The income for internet income is capped at a rather low level; there's no way that popular shows on the 'net will be worth just $80K. Even with figures from distributors' grosses, it'll be hard for the writers to get the studio to budge from that (on the other hand, with those figures in hand, it'd be easier to get public support for a strike and to organize public boycotts).
On the other hand, some of the concerns seem overblown. The 17-day window for promotional use with no fees paid to the writers seems bad, but all the research I've seen is that most viewings on the web following initial broadcast are within 24 hours or so--in other words they're viewers that just missed the initial broadcast and are catching up online. The real gain for writers is when a show has good buzz and viewers go online to get caught up---that's usually outside the 17 day window, and gets the writers something.
All in all...not a great deal, not even a good deal. But it seems to be something a lot of writers will accept.
Mike Weber and Alan Coil: Yes, of course I did mean that. I know I'm a snarky bastard, and certainly do not feel in the minority around here.
The Oscars: I'm glad the strike has a tentative settlement, mostly because it is fair play to pay the writers what they deserve. The contribution the end of the strike makes to the Oscars is much more the removal of the strike lines than the production of brilliant scripting. Even if the Oscars show is well written, the underrehearsed and nervous presenters (many of whom offer ill-considered ad libs) obscure that fact.
I always wondered why the WGA didn't call the AMPTP's bluff when the moguls kept insisting their was no money being made on internet transmission and so forth. It would have been interesting if the writers had said, 'Okay, in that case, we're prepared to take most of our demands off the table, but you can give us 50% of the one medium you say you're not making money from. If that's true, 50% of nothing is still nothing, so you're not losing a dime!' It would have been interesting to see how quickly the AMPTP negotiators had to, ahem, change their tack, and very quickly.
Is there any reason the writers don’t get fans involved in the strike?
To be fair, there was quite a bit of fan activity in support of the WGA, whether it was the mailing-pencils-to-movie-producers stunt, or general organization of food deliveries to picketing writers, or whatever else. That sort of fan activity certainly doesn't hurt, can gain a bit of publicity, and are surely morale-boosters for those on strike, but as Jason M. Bryant points out above, those sorts of consumer/fan actions are also unlikely to have a major effect on the resolution of what is at heart a labor/management negotiation.
I always wondered why the WGA didn't call the AMPTP's bluff when the moguls kept insisting their was no money being made on internet transmission and so forth. It would have been interesting if the writers had said, 'Okay, in that case, we're prepared to take most of our demands off the table, but you can give us 50% of the one medium you say you're not making money from.
Though I'm (of course) not privy to the negotiations, I like to think that at some meeting, at some point, WGA negotiators did exactly this, turning producers posturing around on themselves. It's a sorta obvious point, so I like to think that everyone in that room recognized that somewhere in the process.
Outside of the negotiations, the writers have been making the "percentage of nothing" argument since before the strike started. Go onto youtube and look for "not the daily show" to see the writers talking about exactly that point.
The AMPTP basically ignored that point the whole time.
I guess it's not suprising that they ignored it, since the claim was rubbish anyway. Unless of course they were giving away all that advertising space on their websites for free.
Jason M. Bryant: "You can find the whole thing on youtube."
Which would be a violation of the copyright holder's legal rights. Also, if the writer is entitled to any royalties or residuals, he too would be getting screwed by anyone watching "Fatal Death" on YouTube for free.
I just double-checked my Curse of Fatal Death video that I bought in the UK a few years ago, and it is noted on the jacket that 'At least £2.00 from the sales of this video will go to Comic Relief to help fund briiliant projects in the UK and Africa.' I assume everybody who decides to watch it on You Tube will be making a four-buck donation to Comic Relief? No, I didn't think so either.
If the vote goes well tomorrow, and the members approve the new terms, I'll be happy. Not because it means that TV shows and films I'm looking forward to can continue, but because it means all those people who aren't writers or big name stars can get back to doing the things that puts food on their tables and funds into their kids' education funds. I also hope that the WGA members overall feel they got something of value for all this.
Joe and Bill, you make fair points. When I find a DVD of Curse of Fatal Death, I will buy it.
To update. I was at the Shrine Auditorium, which is magnificent, by the way. I'd been to the other side of the Shrine for the monthly comic convention but not the big auditorium. Interestingly and perhaps ironically, the meeting where they talked whether the strike would end in time for the Oscars to proceed is the very same auditorium that, up until a few years ago, was one of the two homes for the Oscars.
On is website Mark Evanier pretty much explained what happened. Mark left before I did so I was there when the one real voice of dissension spoke up. He had a solid point to make, but then went Howard Beale on the audience and was somewhat silenced after speaking forever. But he was the only real negative. I'd say 99% of the people there were very positive about what has been going on. I'd been to the WGA 2001 strike meetings and the 1988 ones and there were always lines of people wanting to speak out against whatever was being said. You could have said it was 8PM and you would have found folk to argue that. This time there was pretty much unanimous solidarity which I credit to WGA prez Patric Verrone. I had been on the animation writing caucus with Patric for many years before I finally left and he's a quiet but fiercely intelligent ex-lawyer and brilliant comedy writer who I think was able to keep all the disparate writers together the way no one else has since I became a WGA member.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) a vote is being taken as whether or not to end the strike. I'm pretty sure the vote will be yes. At which point the writers will be back on the job by Wednesday.
There's an interesting, and what looks to be a pretty thorough analysis of the deal at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-handel/writers-deal-analysis_b_85867.html
As an interested onlooker, there appear to be some very encouraging developments, particularly as they pertain to transparency, i.e. getting complete and honest records from the powers-that-be; and also the fact that certain formulae are based on distributor grosses as opposed to studio grosses (translation: we didn't make a dime, so go away). Less encouraging is the fact that a 'favored nation' clause with the upcoming SAG negotiations appears to be based on a handshake deal, as opposed to being set down in writing. Expecting the moguls to stick to a deal made with a handshake ain't gonna happen as far as I'm concerned.
I'll admit that I've got a downloaded version of The Curse of Fatal Death. Much like Jason M. said, though, the moment it gets an R1 DVD release, I'm there! (Same thing goes for K9 and Company... Which oddly enough, just after downloading it I read it may get an R2 release. Here's hoping R1 won't be too far behind.)
Anyway... Curse of Fatal Death was awesome. I love Tennant and hope he stays on for a run that gives good ol' Tom Baker a run for the money, but I would love seeing Rowan Atkinson as an actual Doctor (rather then just a spoof)!
I loved The Curse of Fatal Death. I got the VHS years ago and have written it into the "what DVD would you like to see next" line in every survey card that I've gotten in a Doctor Who DVD. It's worth tracking the VHS down for the extra Who spoofs on there from French and Saunders, Victoria Wood On TV, and The Lenny Henry Show. Funny stuff.
Mike Weber: On re-reading your post asking about my parenthetical aside, I see you were asking whether I was accusing "our gracious host" of being or admitting myself to be a snarky bastard. You should realize it is not an either/or situation. In this one case, I was willing to admit a point of similarity to PAD. Where I would not admit any similarity is in comprehending Denny's post. PAD took a sarcastic comment not particularly different from his own style as "making stuff up purely to denigrate others." I think he should think twice about dismissing such stuff, as it makes up a large part of the his own OPs and has made him a fair number of friends on this site.
Posted by: Jeffrey S. Frawley
Mike Weber: On re-reading your post asking about my parenthetical aside...
Actually, if you look a little more closely, soemone had asked whtheer you meant PAD or yporself.
The sole "original content" on my part was a deliberately ambiguous "yes".
(Also, please note that the correct spelliong of my name is "mike weber".)
As I am fearful of capital punishment, I will accede to mike weber's preferred orthography. Your interposition of "yes" was accurate, but perhaps unnecessary: My confession of snarky bastardy had been fairly overt and perhaps also unnecessary, if I take the response to some of my posts seriously.
Does anyone know what happened with DVD residuals? I thought that before the strike, writers got around 4 cents per DVD sold. Did that change with the new deal?
Hello I am doing a school project and I was wondering how many charcaters you have created. Which comic stripe (that you have made) is your favorite? What Character is your favorite. I heard about the writers srtike and wondered if that took affect on you, your job and your pay. I am a fan of your work and hope you post back or email me back at betts.kayla@cmjhs.com