comment #1

Midwest Doug says ...

I with the writers, but am ho-hum on the work stoppage. Time to finally delve into my DVD backlog!

comment #2

nola says ...

If this strike last as long as people think it might, there is nothing ho-hum about it. Many people will lose their jobs and the ripple effect on the local economy will be devestating.

I am with the writers on this. I don't think their demands are outrageous. The studios cannot boast to Wall Street about all their profits (including those from downloading) and then say to the people who create the content...sorry we are broke. Please.

comment #3

Rothchild says ...

I write for the moving pictures and I'm fucked. I'm making WGA minimum on everything at the moment, but that was about to change. I've suddenly, through hard work and coincidence, become as hot as a firecracker, but that won't mean anything after we've been on strike for 6-8 months. This is going to be epic and awkward. I've never wanted a strike and I've felt that many were too eager to resort to these dramatic measures, but Counter clearly wanted a strike. Either that or he didn't realize how he'd piss off the majority of us with his "downloads are synonymous with DVD sales" statement he made HOURS BEFORE THE DEADLINE. If that was a negotiation tactic ("You say 2.5% and we say less, let's find a number in the middle") we should figure out something in between immediately, but if it wasn't...viva la strike.

Damnit.

comment #4

MilkMan says ...

I'd like to be a scab. Any advice on how I can parlay the strike into some work for myself?

comment #5

MASON says ...

No writer I know wants to strike. What the WGA is asking for is far from outrageous -- and what they would accept in order to avoid a strike would probably be pretty pathetic. But the AMPTP won't even negotiate. It's insane.

comment #6

MilkMan says ...

Is there any way Bush can fire all of the screenwriters a la Reagan w/ the air traffic controllers? Hollywood needs and enema and it can start by flushing out all the dingleberrys who have gorged themselves on overrated 70's cinema. If this was a town full of Joseph Minions and Rudy Wurlitzers I would feel anxious about a strike, but it's not, so I don't. I doubt there will be any difference between the crap that's squeezed out during the strike and the crap that was squeezed out before the strike. The best screenwriter in Hollywood is PTA anyway, and I don't think he'll be going on strike. No strike can be bad if it stops Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci from working for a while.

comment #7

Andrew says ...

I like how you think Milkman, but I'd rather Bush fired all the studio execs, and start over from scratch. I mean, it's the studio heads that greenlight the movies by the "dingleberrys who have gorged themselves on overrated 70's cinema."

comment #8

George Prager says ...

Something tells me that MilkMan posted that from the same tollbooth where BurmaShave works.

comment #9

MilkMan says ...

Georgie P, I don't get the reference. I've never really met someone who works in a tollbooth. You sound like you live in Pennsylvania or Jersey. If you do I'm sorry. Although I like Pittsburgh. But you can keep the rest of it. Every guy I've ever met from Jersey looks like Criss Angel on permanent carbo-load mode.

comment #10

christian says ...

Yeah, boot those writers. Let the execs reign so we get more KID NATION and THE BACHELOR...

comment #11

christian says ...

"flushing out all the dingleberrys who have gorged themselves on overrated 70's cinema."

"The best screenwriter in Hollywood is PTA anyway"

Who clearly hates 70's cinema...

comment #12

Hickenlooper says ...

The WGA meeting last night was electric. It was like something out of a Clifford Odets play. The solidarity was moving. In an age of universal corporate globalization where workers are being more and more marginalized, I think it is important to keep a close eye on how this plays out. Next to the Teamsters the Hollywood unions are really the last viable unions left in the nation. It is important that not only Industry bloggers take note, but that the entire nation take note. The studios are clearly trying to bust the last powerful remaining unions in the nation.

comment #13

MilkMan says ...

PTA cherry picks from the good stuff. Most writers don't. Garbage in, garbage out.

comment #14

christian says ...

Hickenlooper, you old red radical! Go man go!

comment #15

Howlingman says ...

I'm not going to be too affected as I'm a non-union writer, and a Canadian living and working in the Great White North. The unfortunate thing is, like Rothchild, things had just started to move up to the next level for me too but that's seemingly kiboshed now.

comment #16

MilkMan says ...

Nothing says solidarity to me like a room full of screenwriters. It must've been hard avoiding latte foam shrapnel with all of that fist raising. When Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital I'm sure he pictured a roomful of vintage sneakers quivering with righteous indignation. But seriously, it's nice to hear about all that camraderie. Maybe now you guys won't think about slitting each other's throats in order to receive credit for the one line of dialogue you wrote three years ago on a movie that was completely re-written by Steven Seagal's hairdresser.

comment #17

Craig Kennedy says ...

Hickenlooper has a point about the viability of the Hollywood unions. You can't exactly farm out movie talent to third world countries like you can every other industry...yet.

As a human being, I support the writers and I hope they get what they want fairly quickly.

As a movie viewer, I'm a little indifferent. If the strikes lasts any time at all, it seems the quality of mainstream product will drop since things will be rushed and they can't do rewrites. For your average summer blockbuster, I don't care. I'll read a book. I'll learn to play an intrument or speak a foreign language.

I worry about the more fringe mainstream stuff. Things like Zodiac or Jesse James. Stuff that would be made by PTA or The Coens.

What are the rules regarding writer/director types like that? They're members of the WGA and are bound by the same rules right?

Can someone who knows the ins and outs of guild membership enlighten me?

comment #18

Jay T. says ...

If the WGA has any balls, they can win big here... I don't buy for one second all of the talk about the network's being disappointed with the new TV season so they don't care. What about successful existing shows and the possibility of losing many millions of viewers? What a bunch of BS.

comment #19

MilkMan says ...

Mainstream product can't get any worse than it already is. The Game Plan. Saw IV. The Comebacks. Fred Claus. Martian Child. Dan in Real Life. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I'd rather watch The Real World Movie than have to sit through two hours of Vince Vaugh "riffing" while Paul Giamatti forces out another can-you-believe-how-funny-this-guy-is reaction shot.

And guess what? The rest of the world isn't on strike. There are other countries that have people in them and these people like to make movies and some of them are even pretty good.

comment #20

T. Holly says ...

Go aheah milkman, give up your security, your 401k and your mapped out life and go job to job, and along the way devour decades, if not centuries, of written thought to get one idea in your head big enough to sustain an entire script and peddle it to an agent, and then repeat enough times to live a reasonable life until the end. Look if you can't entice people to the life with the money, no one will try. It's about the future of content, and the participation in the ownership of it. Journalism wouldn't be this mess either, if it had been unionized. See what I'm saying?

comment #21

T. Holly says ...

Actually, they are unionized, but it hasn't meant much. When an article appears somewhere else in the conglomerate, there are no royalties.

milkman, the studios have to make that mass market garbage to support the stuff "you like." It's just like the book business.

comment #22

MilkMan says ...

The studios are run by crooks. The unions are run by crooks. This isn't about the struggling screenwriter being able to afford his rent. This is about Paul Haggis being able to buy a winter home in Squaw Valley. Most screenwriters have little or nothing to do with the finished product, so why should they reap the rewards? Because they took Michael Bay's notes to write some funny ethnic jokes about how black people are loud and silly? You know who deserves a bigger slice of the pie? The electricians, the carpenters, the drivers. Those people are the proletariat of the film industry, not the guy who got paid 250,000 dollars to write a remake of The Road Warrior for Zach Snyder.

comment #23

T. Holly says ...

The studios are run by crooks. The unions are run by crooks. It's not about them, it's about the screenwriter and their ownership of the underlying material, which is the basis for the finished product.

The writer can be trained to be an electrician, but the opposite isn't true.

comment #24

T. Holly says ...

"how many readers of MCN or Variety or HE or The Envelope are really on pins and needles about this thing?" Only the vast majority of readers of Variety, because nearly every office of every studio gets at least one copy covered by their employer. The rest, not so much, they're film nerds, err lovers, hashing out every scene and piece of dialog they stash away in their brain through repeated viewings.

comment #25

MilkMan says ...

T. Holly, you shouldn't underestimate the intelligence of people who perform manual labor, and, consequently, you shouldn't overestimate the intelligence of people who sit on their ass all day trying to remember something witty they heard at Koo Koo Roo.

comment #26

christian says ...

Last time I chcked laborers in the unions got pretty good cash -- when thy'e not being laid of by suits with MilkMan attitude.

And writing IS hard labor with no guarantee of any payment. Try telling that to the guy fixing your toilet. He'd laugh you out if the bathroom.

comment #27

christian says ...

My keys are a little fucked, hence the typos.
But I swear, me write pretty one day.

comment #28

MilkMan says ...

Writing is hard labor. Tell that to the guy who's spraying armor-all on your tires at the car wash, who's making minimum wage while doing back-breaking work.

And if you think I side with the suits than you're not reading carefully. I can't stand either side. It's like two fat people fighting over a carrot stick.

comment #29

christian says ...

So every writer is a latte drinking spoiled brat but every dude in a car wash is Tom Joad.

Gotcha.

comment #30

Rothchild says ...

I spent two months writing a spec this year with no guarantee that I'd get any money from it. I have put together elaborate, detailed, and funny pitches for several huge movies that ended up going to another writer. I've written five drafts when I was only paid for one. I've even been paid three months after I was supposed to get a check.

Being a screenwriter is a pain in your ass 90% of the time and sheer bliss the other 10%. It's not easy, but it does beat digging ditches. It's only viewed as easy by jealous and bitter assholes.

comment #31

bluefugue says ...

Speaking as a freelance script reader, I'm anything but indifferent to this, since my livelihood is at stake.

Production companies have already slowed down their influx of material to a trickle. I've been able to stay afloat, but I'm not sure how much longer there will be a sufficient amount of work to do.

I hope the strike doesn't happen or, if it does, that it is resolved quickly. Writers deserve to have their distribution concerns dealt with, but I hope all involved maintain some consciousness of how this is trickling down through the industry economy.

Meanwhile, all my friends who got real jobs are making twice, three times, or five times, as much as I do. I should have realized years ago that "struggling screenwriter" is a lousy career choice. With any luck I will be in a completely different field by this time next year.

comment #32

MASON says ...

It doesn't matter if people think a movie or tv show sucks or if they think it is great. If a studio is making a fortune from from the show or movie because millions of people are paying to download it or streaming it and the studios are making money from advertising... well the WGA thinks the writer should be entitled to a very small percentage of that money. It's no different than writing a book, fiction or non-fiction. If it goes into paperback and sells a ton of copies, the author shares in the profits. Imagine if they didn't.

comment #33

christian says ...

Hey Mr. Auto Mechanic, I have this car that needs some work. But I don't have a lot of money. Could you fix my car on spec? Then let's go from there...

comment #34

T. Holly says ...

when i get back, i expect links to repulsion

comment #35

MilkMan says ...

Auto mechanics aren't that stupid, Christian. Only screenwriters.

And the guy who works at the magazine stand down the street is Tom Joad comapared to the average member of the WGA.

This is fun. I forgot how many aspiring screenwriters patronize this site. Sorry, guys. It's Friday and I'm feeling extra nasty.

comment #36

christian says ...

Define "average" and then tell the guy at the stand that he'll have to work for years without pay in the hope some cash bleeds his way.

He will indeed think you're stupid.

comment #37

George Prager says ...

"This is fun. I forgot how many aspiring screenwriters patronize this site. Sorry, guys. It's Friday and I'm feeling extra nasty."

Sounds like MilkMan's Community service is not working out the way he hoped.

comment #38

PastePotPete says ...

Isn't the contract being negotiated for the MINIMUM deal offered to screenwriters? People like Haggis already have better deals than that, so they don't really gain anything from a strike. It's like if SAG goes on strike, it's not benefiting Brad Pitt.

comment #39

MilkMan says ...

Georgie P, your comments are extra cryptic today. Did you go to yoga class this morning?

comment #40

nola says ...

Milkman what is your problem? This strike is not about Paul Haggis or the small percentage of well paid screenwriters. This is not a debate about the quality of the work. I have worked on a set. I don't know if you have. The crews of movies and TV shows don't want a strike either. If production shuts down who is going to be screwed? The rich studio exec, the well paid writer/director/actors no, it's the below the line crew, who might be out of work for months.

comment #41

MilkMan says ...

Boo-hoo, Nola. Go get another job. There are plenty of jobs out there. Get two or three if you have to. As someone who was born and raised in this city, I could care less about The Industry. Let it burn. It's not the only place where movies are made, just one particular type of movie. I could spend the rest of my life watching the movies made in other countries and never be nostalgic for the oatmeal that passes for art in Hollywood. I hope the strike lasts for years. I know it won't but I hope it will. I've got 387 movies on my Netflix queue. That should last me until I'm diagnosed with throat cancer or I die of a heart attack while playing with my daughter. And there's always the porn industry if you really need work. At least you'd be working with better actors.

comment #42

christian says ...

Failed aspiring screenwriter, eh, MilkMan?

comment #43

MilkMan says ...

Yes, Christian, you've got me pegged. I have given up on my dreams. You would feel the same way too if you spent many an afternoon locked in a condemned airport terminal/production office with Carl Colpaert.I used to be represented by Marty Bowen of UTA. He was dating a girl that was friends with my dad and my dad gave him ten thousand dollars if he would pretend to be interested in me and my work. But that was before I got the psoriasis on my face and neck. After that I wouldn't leave the house and my relationship with Marty went in the tank. Yes, I wrote a script about a young man who joins a cult in order to find out what happened to his mother. I got paid nothing for it. They made me make changes I didn't agree with and that's when I started fisting myself. You're very perceptive.

comment #44

nola says ...

Milkman, just so you know I am not a fan of most of the crap Hollywood pumps out. I do watch films from other countries and I am moving overseas next year. That said I still would not wish a long strike on anyone because it really impacts those who can least afford to be out of work the most. All the showrunners and big screenwriters can be out of work for 5 months. The electrician who works on those shows can't. To say, "whatever" shows such a lack of caring for other people I don't even know what to say.

comment #45

MilkMan says ...

Compassion is overrated. Misanthropy is underrated. I barely can muster up enough energy to care about my own well-being, so what would make me give a shit about the girl who does Wilmer Valderrama's hair and make-up? And out of work for a whole five months? I can do that standing on my head. Call a relative. Borrow some money. Polish your thumb and hitch a ride across this great big beautiful land we all live in. It's 1933 motherfuckers.

comment #46

George Prager says ...

This is posting Bukkake.

comment #47

MilkMan says ...

No, Georgie P, this is what posting bukkake sounds like:

Banzai! Ohhhhhh...
Banzai! Ohhhhhh...
Banzai! Ohhhhhh...
Banzai! Ohhhhhh...
Banzai! Ohhhhhh...
Banzai! Ohhhhhh...
Banzai! Ohhhhhh...
Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........
Banzai! Ohhhhhh...
Banzai! Cha! Banzai! Cha! Banzaiiiiiiii.....!!!!!!! Ohhhhhhhhhh...................

comment #48

T. Holly says ...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TTLAlBnoRlA

I've replace the tick-tick-tick in my life with a white noise machine, whir-whir-whir, and I don't think about rapists, but once I had the incomprehensible compulsion to open the door of a neighbor, who lived directly below me, only to find it unlocked and a man standing inside, equally as freaked and staring back at me. A few nights later, I dreampt of a heavy presence, which pressed so hard on me that I woke up at the last moments someone was trying to open the door to my apartment, just before giving up and retreating. My fault and terrifying to this day.

comment #49

christian says ...

"and that's when I started fisting myself."

And all of us.

comment #50

MilkMan says ...

I'd love to fist all of you. Hey, everyone, let's do one of those flash mob things where we all meet at the same location at the same time, except in this case everyone should wear some kind of long skirt with no underwear so I can have easy access. Let's meet outside of Amoeba at around 83OPM. The code word is: Mike Binder. Just come up to me and say Mike Binder and then lift your skirt and bend over and lets make this happen.

comment #51

T. Holly says ...

Hit the road Jackhammer, it's time for you to get into traffic and head home to the wife and kid. P.S., they'll never know you were here.

comment #52

TKC says ...

MilkMan --
One quick point: You say it's not about the working stiffs, it's about Paul Haggis buying his winter home. That's exactly wrong. Paul Haggis doesn't need the Guild negotiating for him -- he can demand a high price and gross points, which dwarf whatever he'd get out of the current negotiation. The WGA is trying to set a minimum standard by which entry-level writers will be paid -- the document they're negotiating is titled the "Minimum Basic Agreement" for a reason. The strike's not about the handful of Paul Haggises. It's not even just about screenwriters. It's about the large number of people with paycheck clustered toward the Guild minimum end of the scale -- the ones writing soap operas, cable shows, children's programming and every other corner of the business -- and there are a lot more of them than there are millionaire A-list screenwriters.