This is a good thing.
Writers and Producers are talking. Writers have removed demands for Animation and Reality (which were, no offense to writers in those fields, obvious bluffs all along).
Both sides seem to be honoring a news blackout.
Dissection of the DGA deal continues, but the rhetoric seems to have fallen sharply.
Good luck to both sets of negotiators. Figure this thing out and let's all get back to work!
12 comments:
The removal of the points concerning animation and reality is a great step in the right direction. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.
The facts that hey both made it through a few days along with the WGA going in with concessions gives us hope.
I watched Colbert yesterday and he had U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young on who was a mediator for several strikes in the 60's and beyond. He made a comment that by now the strike is less about money and more about respect and saving face. He said that mOst strikes end when each side is given a way out that allows them to save face and keep the respect of the Union rank and file as well as the Companies. Very smart man, I wish he was in there!
I think that we will hear positive news soon. Tomorrow is my 52nd birthday and all I really want is good news!
Keep the faith Brothers and Sisters
BTL 399
Please let them make a deal so that we can go back to work. We were supposed to close on our first home in December. A one bedroom condo. Cute, great neighborhood, pretty small. After years of working and saving, we were finally going to have something to call our own. We are lucky that because the condos are still under development, we will still be able to get one and have pushed our close to April. Because of this strike, we are now faced with a choice. If we want to keep our good credit score (low debt to income ratio) and have the money that we need for the remaining closing costs, we have to be smart with the little bit of money that we have to work with now. Every day we discuss whether or not to vacate our rental and move out of state to live with family and save or money until this ends or will the strike end anyday and we'll go back to work. Each month, we are out not only the thousands of dollars that we would have earned, but we consume thousands of dollars in savings that we have worked so hard to accrue. What to do?
Both of these parties are to blame to some extent. Yes, I do think corporations are generally greedy. I have a business degree from a top university, so I know all about maximizing shareholder wealth. But I'll never be able to enjoy the writers work in the same way that I used to. I'll always be wondering if they were the hardline jackasses that supported the stupid strategy that enriched themselves while costing us practically everything. Since I won't know the good ones from the bad ones, I'll probably just hate all of them. With the exception of the few who have had the gonads to come out publicly with their dissent and concern for the rest of us.
I appreciate your blog and all of the people who post information here. I used to read the posts at United Hollywood to try to determine how the strike was going and how long it might last. But it got to where I honestly didn't have the stomach to read the posts anymore and I appreciate those of you who do read it and report your findings over here.
While I don't always agree with what Craig Mazin has to say on his site, I do enjoy his POV, and back when comments were enabled I appreciated that real debate was occurring.
His latest entry is one I applaud.
Well, I’m pretty busy right now, working on the movie. But also, given that leadership dropped their reality and animation (and presumably their sympathy strike) demands, and press blackout negotiations are underway, it seemed like a bit of an inopportune moment to offer my analysis of the deal. I’ll let everyone do their thing, and let’s see how it shakes out. I certainly have plenty of opinions about some of the arguments out there, a few of which are a bit misguided (Justine Bateman’s comes to mind).
I'm glad he's taking the step to NOT dissect the DGA deal and what it may or may not mean for the WGA. And, IMO, Justine Bateman is right up there with Nikki Finke on my 'batshit crazy' list.
Mazin is trying to follow the injunction from the WGA leadership to use restraint in their public comments. They were primarily referring to the hardliners who've been making the most noise throughout the situation, but they also meant John Wells and Mazin.
Mazin also took some hits, unfairly, due to the fact that his site allowed open comments and that many of the comments were not fully supportive of the strike. For the hardliners, this meant that his site was somehow pro-AMPTP or that he was fomenting dissent. I believe it was for this reason that he turned the comments off in the middle of December. Some hardliners, like Kay Reindl, expressed satisfaction that he had done so, as he had silenced some voices for a brief time. (Until they found other sites like the Variety Scribe Vibe or this one) Other hardliners became angry with Mazin even over this, as they wanted him to re-open the comments just for them to attack him. I believe that when this strike ends, Mazin will re-open the comments, but that with the return to normalcy, the traffic going to his website will be a lot lighter.
I'm trying to stay positive with the WGA going back in with the execs today. Yesterday's back and forth in the press didn't help. The WGA made a couple more side deals and couldn't resist announcing them for the press, and the AMPTP quickly responded that the side deals were meaningless. Why do that now? Why not just focus on getting a fair contract, particularly if one isn't that far off? I sincerely hope that both sides understand the delicacy of this situation, and the consequences for allowing it to disintegrate again.
Just an aside, but a Writers Panel was supposed to occur at the Santa Barbara Film Festival today (as it does every year), where 6-9 prominent screenwriters show up for a Q&A etc. Anyway, it had to be cancelled and all 400 some members of the audience had to be sent away at the last minute because they "all had the flu or had flu-like symptoms, and would not be attending the panel." hmmmm.......way to win over the public opinion, writers! I'm just an outsider, who used to admire and support the writers, but now realize they're pretty much over-paid divas. Now all I can do is support the poor crew people who the writers seem not to care about. (But I will still watch 'Lost' when it's back on tv!)
It is a done deal. Watch next week. Even David Young can't mess it up this time. I have a new place in my heart for the WGA - great job, writers. I will forward the bills.
While I'm cautiously trying to remain optimistic, I must remind everyone that we have not heard that the WGA talks have been made formal yet. I do not believe they continued over the weekend, but I could be wrong on that one. It does seem like both sides really do want to make a deal at this point.
But we're not there yet. Some people, like Nikki Finke and some hardliners posting at Variety and at UH, are really pushing for the strike to continue. For Finke, it continues her notoriety, and for the hardliners, it allows them to walk away from a deal that is considerably less than they were promised. Mark Evanier sounds convinced on his own blog that we're about to see another setback - which is interesting because he was convinced three weeks ago that the strike would somehow be settled by February 1. If I didn't know better, I'd say that he was trying to talk himself into pessimism to avoid any disappointment.
The one positive note I found yesterday is that the news blackout really does seem to be working. Even Nikki Finke was reduced to telling gossip about what someone at Fox said they heard Chernin say in the commissary.
"I'm just an outsider, who used to admire and support the writers, but now realize they're pretty much over-paid divas. Now all I can do is support the poor crew people who the writers seem not to care about."
It's nice to know that somebody cares about us. Thanks for seeing things the way that they are and for being supportive, "shill". Geez, it's hard to call you that! But I guess since that's what you call yourself, it's okay.
Jenna Fischer showed class by dedicating their award to the crew. It's nice to have our contributions (or even our existence) recognized.
Tina Fey, who I like less all the time, didn't breath a word about us, but did take time the thank the WGA.
Of course, the president of SAG took a moment to recognize WGA president Verrone.
These days I think that a great many actors are totally full of shit.
Just my 2 cents. New contract no matter - the writers will reap what they have sown in 3 years. They desire the new media (dotcom) money and their chance to ride the second dotcom bubble centered around digitalization of content. Overcome by greed, they quickened the pace of tech overhaul in Hollywood and ignored the good old 'if it ain't broken' rule.
The end of unions in Hollywood is near. Companies like Google, Yahoo, etc do pay well. They also treat their 'intellectual labor' employees as commodity. Hence periodic layoffs of thousands. You are expected to adapt or leave the industry. Those who fail to adapt and learn new tech are quickly replaced by young new hires. Go into Google caf and try to find a person over 50. You won't.
The writers complain about the studio execs being ruthless. They don't know what they're talking about. Wait until Silicon Valley execs show up to run the show. Watch for those 'strategic partnership' announcements later this year.
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