It's January 1; a day that is supposed to be greeted with hope and optimism.
This year, however, is starting with fear, anger, sadness, anxiety. And failure.
Our industry is mired in a strike which has completely stalled.
In a time when we should be looking forward, we are forced first to look back. What were the architects of the walk-out thinking? Was this ever a course of action which was going to result in any greater gains for the Members than the alternative? Was there ever a chance it would lead to a shorter, less costly path to a contract than any of the other options? Did the Leadership, or Members, ever ponder for a moment that there were indeed other options?
This strike was born of hubris. Its life is therefore bound to be defined by pain, regret and remorse. We can only hope that its life will be short. But did today’s Doctors Frankenstein expect their monster to live so long and create so much devastation as it has already?
And what of the vision going forward? Where will the Guild take us now? What is the plan?
What, too, of the aloof, irresponsible Producers? Dare we hope that the Studios seize the opportunity to end the suffering and get back to the business of entertainment? Will they see that when you’re after getting the honey, then you don’t go killing all the bees?
Or will both sides stay the course of name-calling, finger-pointing, and digging in their heels?
New Year’s Day is a symbolic time for new beginnings, a bright start, renewed purpose and fresh resolutions. Writers and Producers both should take heed of the time, as it is your common enemy.
One may outlast the other, but by then both may find that time has passed you by and, in so doing, irrevocably damaged our once-fantastic dream factory and eroded the previously bountiful landscape of Hollywood into a sad, desolate wasteland.
It’s January 1. Hope survives. Optimism is gone...
But it could return.
8 comments:
Well Said BTL.........
Stay the course, reamin united, outlast the other....just so sick of it all. My home is now listed on a short sale to avoid foreclosure. Incredible bad luck how the strike coincided with a collapsing real estaTe market.
Now who of you wants my support, the AMPTP or WGA?
I'm also tired of hearing that we should have a rainy day fund or "there is no such thing as steady work in this business". Fuck off.
TB
Nikki Finke just started off the new year with an appropriate gesture: A cheap shot at Shonda Rhimes. Shonda sent off a Christmas card to both of the crews working on her shows, containing a note of concern and empathy for everyone. In fairness, the cards were mailed out on the 24th and arrived the day after Christmas. It should also be noted that both crews received gifts from the cast and from the producers.
Nikki's way of ringing in the new year was to publicly post Shonda's note and then add a comment at the bottom that "No money was included in the envelope." After taking the first few hits for that one, she edited her post to credit the crew member who leaked the card to her with that observation. Really classy move, that. Take the below the belt shot, and then hide behind someone else.
This is why I believe Nikki is a friend of nobody in this matter. Her posts have been biased against the AMPTP, to be certain. But her wish to embarass the moguls by posting all the "Why We Write" entries and all the "Speechless" videos doesn't make her pro-writer. She's already turning on Leno and the others for going back on the air, even after Leno and the bunch were paying their crew's salaries for the past two months out of their own pockets. Now she takes the shot at Shonda. And when the WGA is forced to capitulate in June, she'll turn on them for caving.
By the way, there is a response to those who wonder why Shonda didn't try to pay all of the btl crew on both shows through the strike while Leno and the late night guys did. The late night shows don't employ nearly as many people as a typical one hour episodic series. To maintain the payroll, Shonda would be paying upwards of 250 people per week out of her own pocket, which is far more than Leno, Conan or the others deal with. I certainly didn't expect her to pay us through the strike.
Under normal circumstances, Nikki Finke's postings are smug and noxious. This one crossed the line into downright nastiness.
I just go to her site to see the latest headline but I am getting increasingly irritated by her gossip column style. She love to stir the pot as much as the WGA team does and then sit back and watch the comments (moderated) roll in.
Should be renamed "Perez Finke's Deadline Hollywood"
Though I hate to insult Perez like that as I think he allows free speech in his comments.
Of course, her breathlessly rolling out the "big time screenwriters are going to band together" rumor wouldn't be part of the stirring
the pot idea, would it?
The part that she doesn't understand is that none of this is news. Leno & Letterman and the others going back on the air? Happened in 1988 after about 2 months, and had no effect on the strike. (Of course, that's when it was Carson, but you know...) Some writers banding together to pressure the guild? Happened in 88 with the Writers Coalition, only that time it was the TV showrunners who wanted to get their shows going. Same effect, though. The strike gets extended. This is not news. It is rumor-mongering, and at times, it is truly nasty stuff. And at times, she's completely wrong and just spreading vitriol. (But you have to watch for these moments because she edits her posts after the fact to remove the untruths, usually without noting it.)
And then, hilariously, her old newspaper, the New York Observer, awards her the Mensch of the Year. Yeesh.
What a terrible Letterman show tonight. I'm over twenty minutes in...so far no funny jokes. Just a lot of writers whining and pretending that they've been starving and freezing throughout this strike. It's disappointing and nauseating. Not only are the jokes not funny, but I doubt if very many people outside the industry even understand or care about these jokes/propaganda/talking points.
BTL guy, you may have already seen it, but someone responded on the UH website concerning your proposal. I'm busy writing a response.
Ahhh...Conan! Funny without writers!
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