A WGA member had this to say this morning about the looming WGA strike situation: “This whole thing started with the producers sitting around…I’m sure this actually happened…none of them respecting the writers, thinking little of them and saying ‘we have to change this residual formula thing. We’re just handing them all this money, and they don’t deserve it.’ They know a strike could happen, obviously, but also that eventually people just get worn down, the rank-and-file start losing their incomes and need to get back to work.

“Those residual checks are so welcome…getting those checks in the mail is so great. And once you’ve had this residual system in place for years, you can’t take the lollipop away from the kid.

“It’ll be disastrous if the [writers] go out now. The producers won’t negotiate a serious deal with the writers until they talk to the directors and the actors. They certainly won’t give a deal to one union without getting an idea from the other two how they stand. The Writers Guild is the weakest union. They don’t have the power that the actors have, or the directors have. Strategically the writers should probably hitch their wagon to the directors.

“The joke of it all is that most of the WGA rank-and-file aren’t working. A relatively small percentage of the writers are employed on a regular basis. A lot of these guys kind of enjoy going out on the picket line and meeting people. Let’s get some coffee, I know this producer who might like your script, we should kick this around. It’s a social network thing.”