The GG parties are kaput

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L.A. Times guy Rene Lynch is reporting that two significant Golden Globes parties -- HBO and Warner Bros./In Style -- have pulled the plug, and that the other big parties are expected to "follow suit." So the whole thing is kaputski. The '08 Globes will be a press conference, a one-day news cycle and that's all. Phffft.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 7, 2008 at 7:49 PM

comment #1

Jeffrey Kunze says ...

I don't really care about the Golden Globes. It always seemed like Oscar's annoying little brother (or sister?).

However, I really hope the Oscars still get televised this year. It was such a great year for film and I think the show would be really exciting.

Posted by Jeffrey Kunze at January 7, 2008 8:07 PM

comment #2

rocco says ...

Proving, in the end, that these awards are all pageantry and no art.

Posted by rocco at January 7, 2008 8:16 PM

comment #3

ltlewis3 says ...

I admit am a stupid red-stater who is naturally bent to distrust unions.

Someone please tell me exactly how the WGA gets closer to its stated monetary goals by dumping on the HFPA and any other awards show that it decides to have a grudge against?

Are the producers, studios, etc. so intrinsically related that pissing on the Globes and the Oscars likely to get them to the table to negotiate? Or is it that scorching the earth gives the WGA mucky-mucks some small sense of satisfaction given that they have completely failed at all else?

Posted by ltlewis3 at January 7, 2008 8:22 PM

comment #4

Balthazar says ...

Clearly it's the stratospheric price of gas -- NOT THE WGA -- that has scuttled these parties. Nobody can afford to drive anywhere, let alone sit in gridlock.

Posted by Balthazar at January 7, 2008 8:31 PM

comment #5

MadCrazyMovieHouse says ...

And the entire movie-going public shrugged and said, "Who cares?"

Posted by MadCrazyMovieHouse at January 7, 2008 8:40 PM

comment #6

christian says ...

The Bean Counters care. And the big boyz are losing big cash.

Posted by christian at January 7, 2008 8:57 PM

comment #7

Walter Sobchak says ...

No Bruce Villanche jokes?! Noooooooooo!!!
(jumps through plate glass window)

Posted by Walter Sobchak at January 7, 2008 9:21 PM

comment #8

Feathers McGraw says ...

The Golden Globes are a big moneymaker for NBC and a big promotional platform for the studios to squeeze more money out of their various films and TV series. Of course the WGA is going to use whatever power it has to monkeywrench that. Even a stupid red stater (your words, not mine) should be able to comprehend that a strike is about causing economic pain to your enemies until they give you what you want.

Posted by Feathers McGraw at January 7, 2008 9:30 PM

comment #9

ltlewis3 says ...

To Feathers:

Ok, NBC is cancelling the telecast, not pushing the producers and/or the studios to the bargaining table. (Are the networks even entities being struck?) It seems to me the HFPA and AMPAS are not the enemy but the collateral damage. The Globes will go dark and the Oscars get dimmer by the day, is the WGA even one inch closer to its goals as a result?

Posted by ltlewis3 at January 7, 2008 10:10 PM

comment #10

D.Z. says ...

WTF? First AMPAS denies Eddie Murphy an award because of Norbit, and now they're nominating it for Make-Up! http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117978572.html?nav=news&categoryid=1982&cs=1

Posted by D.Z. at January 7, 2008 10:12 PM

comment #11

MoroccoMole says ...

Has no one thought of poor Rumer Willis, Miss Golden Globe 2008? What is she to make of her life now?

Oh, the humanity!

Posted by MoroccoMole at January 7, 2008 10:54 PM

comment #12

fielding says ...

This is great news. Hopefully the Oscars are next.

Posted by fielding at January 8, 2008 12:28 AM

comment #13

BurmaShave says ...

Devastating quote in the TV Column in the Washington Post today from an anonymous Executive. Something along the lines of "All these people on the picket lines are giving us failed shows. Why would we keep spending money on them." The longer they strike the more cheap reality shows stake their place in the market. 2008 Pilot Season is already dead. I don't think the negotiators are quite thinking this through.

Posted by BurmaShave at January 8, 2008 12:52 AM

comment #14

Nate West says ...

Let them eat reality if they wish. They'll choke on it soon enough.

Posted by Nate West at January 8, 2008 3:13 AM

comment #15

Gordie Lachance says ...

To ltlewis3:

The Golden Globes are a 3 hour commercial for the nominated films, as well as an opportunity to target advertising (trailers) at a demographic of movie fans. An award win must translate into increased box office, since they immediately change the artwork and dvd packages after a win.

Much more importantly, these nationally televised awards shows are the only chance ego-maniac producers have to get their ugly mugs on tv, and taking that away from them actually hurts more than the financial loss.

If you don't see how cancelling the GG's hurts the studios then you're ignorant, and if you do know and are just playing dumb, then you clearly just have some sort of agenda.

The studios have already lost more money than it would have cost to just pay the writers. That speaks to just how much is at stake here.

And to Jeff's "writer-director" friend, who argued that writers don't have an equity stake in anything after they sign the contract and take the money: We're not signing the contracts anymore. And we're not taking the money. That's why they call it a strike.

Posted by Gordie Lachance at January 8, 2008 4:02 AM

comment #16

Gordie Lachance says ...

Oh, and Burma, I have a feeling the reason that "executive" in the Post is remaining anonymous is so that he doesn't get exposed as both a liar and a fool.

It's common knowledge that the studios make more money from television box sets than they do from motion pictures on dvd (which only comes from scripted series, not reality shows).

No one knows how much exactly, since the studios have decided to keep it private, but it's in the billions.

Poor studios.

Posted by Gordie Lachance at January 8, 2008 4:34 AM

comment #17

christian says ...

Burma, are you sure you're a Democrat? Just kidding. I think...

But why would you think a self-serving quote from some unknown pissed exec whose free lunches are in danger is "devastating"? These execs are the ones who greenlight all the reality shit already overflowing the TV toilet...

Posted by christian at January 8, 2008 8:00 AM

comment #18