WGA Writers' Strike
POSTED BY: Raycheetah
UPDATED: Thursday, February 28, 2008 16:10
VIEWED: 18272
PAGE 9 of 10
Update:
http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/2008/02/from-joss-whedon-do-not-ad
just-your.html
"Wednesday, February 6, 2008
From Joss Whedon: Do Not Adjust Your Mindset
This was submitted by WGA and DGA member Joss Whedon.
Dear Writers,
I have good news. I have lots of good news. In fact, I have way too much good news.
The strike is almost over. A resolution is days away. Weeks. Friday. Valentine's day. Two weeks exactly from whenever my manager/agent/lawyer told me. Yes, after talking to writers and actors all over town, I'm happy to report that the strike is going to end every single day until March. Huzzah! All of this entirely reliable information means that at last the dream of the writing community has been realized: the Oscars will be saved.
Let's step back.
The Oscars seem to be the point of focus for a lot of this speculation. That either they must be preserved, or that the studios feel they must be preserved, and therefore this terrible struggle will end. There is an argument to be made for wanting the show to go on: it showcases the artists with whom we are bonded (there's no award for Best Hiding of Net Profits), and it provides employment and revenue for thousands in the community that has been hit so hard by this action. Having said that, it's a f%$#ing awards show. It's a vanity fair. It's a blip. We're fighting (fighting, remember?) for the future of our union, our profession, our art. If that fight carries us through the Holy Night when Oscar was born, that's just too bad.
And the studios? Well, the Oscars provide advertising revenue and a boost for the films that win. But the studios have shown impressive resolve in ignoring short-term losses in order to destroy us. I don't hear any knees knocking in the Ivory Towers over that night of programming. Hey, I wish I did. I wish, like a lot of people, I could hear anything from in there besides that weird clicking sound Predator makes.
I ask you all to remember: the studios caused an industry-wide shutdown. They made a childishly amateurish show of pretending to negotiate, then retreated into their lairs (yes, they have lairs) to starve us out. They emerged just before Christmas to raise our hopes, then left in a premeditated huff. They Force Majoured with gay abandon, cutting deals and 'trimming the fat' (I've met a couple of 'the fat' on the picket lines. Nice guys.) and made every selfish, counter-intuitively destructive move in the Bully's Bible. They met with the DGA and resolved quickly, as expected.
We have been advised to tone down the anti-studio rhetoric now that a deal might be progressing. Our negotiators have the specific task of forgetting the past and dealing only with the numbers before them. Their ability to do that impresses me greatly, but I maintain that it's their job to treat the studios like business partners and it's our job to remember who they really are. The studios are inefficient, power-hungry, thieving corporate giants who have made the life of the working writer harder from decade to decade. They are run by men so out of touch with basic humanity that they would see Rome burn before they would think about the concept of fair compensation. I maintain that they have never revealed their true agenda in the causing and handling of this strike, and to expect them to now is cock-eyed optimism of the most dangerous kind.
I have heard people both in and out of the industry say, "But that's enough now, right?" I have seen the thing I fear most: that whatever their agenda, they are beating us down. With hope. With rumors. With Time. The mindset seems to be shifting to one of relief and even unspoken gratitude for their return, instead of flaming indignation that they ever (illegally, do you recall?) left the table in the first place. It's the mindset of the victim. The lethargy of limb that strikes the fighter as he unconsciously lets himself lose. The studio strategists have worked this scenario as carefully as they have everything else. It is so crucial that we outside of the talks remember that, and
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IMPORTANT NEWS!
Assuming things don't go south at the last minute, it looks like there is an agreement, still to be ratified by the WGA rank-and-file:
http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/
"Saturday, February 9, 2008
Letter From The Presidents With Deal Summary
This was sent early this morning to membership. The delay in publishing the deal points, we've learned, was because the companies dragged their feet enshrining some of the final details in an attempt to renege on some of what they had promised. The last-minute fight to keep that from happening took until late last night.
To Our Fellow Members,
We have a tentative deal.
It is an agreement that protects a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery. It creates formulas for revenue-based residuals in new media, provides access to deals and financial data to help us evaluate and enforce those formulas, and establishes the principle that, "When they get paid, we get paid."
Specific terms of the agreement are described in the summary at the following link - http://mail.citrustudio.com/ct/1843160:2030523191:m:1:92379114:20BFF2A
A6AD09D5016D8531C64503D7B- and will be further discussed at our Saturday membership meetings on both coasts. At those meetings we will also discuss how we will proceed regarding ratification of this agreement and lifting the restraining order that ends the strike. Details of the Los Angeles meeting can be found at http://mail.citrustudio.com/ct/1843161:2030523191:m:1:92379114:20BFF2A
A6AD09D5016D8531C64503D7B.
Less than six months ago, the AMPTP wanted to enact profit-based residuals, defer all Internet compensation in favor of a study, forever eliminate "distributor's gross" valuations, and enforce 39 pages of rollbacks to compensation, pension and health benefits, reacquisition, and separated rights. Today, thanks to three months of physical resolve, determination, and perseverance, we have a contract that includes WGA jurisdiction and separated rights in new media, residuals for Internet reuse, enforcement and auditing tools, expansion of fair market value and distributor's gross language, improvements to other traditional elements of the MBA, and no rollbacks.
Over these three difficult months, we shut down production of nearly all scripted content in TV and film and had a serious impact on the business of our employers in ways they did not expect and were hard pressed to deflect. Nevertheless, an ongoing struggle against seven, multinational media conglomerates, no matter how successful, is exhausting, taking an enormous personal toll on our members and countless others. As such, we believe that continuing to strike now will not bring sufficient gains to outweigh the potential risks and that the time has come to accept this contract and settle the strike.
Much has been achieved, and while this agreement is neither perfect nor perhaps all that we deserve for the countless hours of hard work and sacrifice, our strike has been a success. We activated, engaged, and involved the membership of our Guilds with a solidarity that has never before occurred. We developed a captains system and a communications structure that used the Internet to build bonds within our membership and beyond. We earned the backing of other unions and their members worldwide, the respect of elected leaders and politicians throughout the nation, and the overwhelming support of fans and the general public. Our thanks to all of them, and to the staffs at both Guilds who have worked so long and patiently to help us all.
There is much yet to be done and we intend to use all the techniques and relationships we've developed in this strike to make it happen. We must support our brothers and sisters in SAG who, as their contract expires in less than five months, will be facing many of the same challenges we have just endured. We must further pursue new relationships we have established in Washington and in state and local governments so that we can maintain leverage against the consolidated mul
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This is good news Ray! Thank you for all your updates. :-)
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(Looks like I /might/ have been wrong about the Oscars... =^[.]~=)
Breaking news:
http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/
"Wait -- What Are We Voting For Again?
For clarity -- and because not everyone could get to one of the meetings last night in NY or LA -- here's a handy little FAQ for some of the questions we're hearing.
What's the 48 hour vote for again?
It's a vote on whether or not to lift the strike (which in the Constitution is called "the restraining order".) If the vote passes, writers can go back to work.
It's not a vote on the contract, that vote is completely separate, and will be a 10-days' notice vote.
When does the 48 hours start?
It should start today, when we get notified. The notification is the trigger of the 48 hours. The Guild staff are all working like crazy today to make that happen by early this afternoon.
How will we be notified of the 48 hour vote?
By email and robocall. Also, the vote will be publicized on the WGA website, and obviously we'll be talking about it here at UH as well.
When will the vote itself take place?
The goal is Tuesday afternoon/evening. A meeting will be called for sometime Tuesday (48 hours from the time of notification) and will probably be at the WGA Theater.
But it won't be an informational meeting; it's just a time window to come and vote, like a polling place.
Do I have to vote in person?
You can vote in person or by proxy. (Proxy voting is usually by fax.) Because of the time limitations, you won't be able to vote by mail ballot.
If the vote passes, when's the earliest we could be back at work?
Wednesday. And if it doesn't pass, we'll continue striking until the contract vote is done (10 days.)
And what about the contract vote?
It's a separate vote. Voting on the contract will be 10 days' notice.
There will be pro and con statements on the proposed contract, mail-in ballots, and then a meeting for casting ballots in person or by proxy.
What if we vote the contract down?
It goes back to negotiation. As a practical matter, it's a gamble.
It could mean that we get movement on the streaming window (the area of most concern to most people.) It could also mean that the CEO's sweep everything off the table and demand to start over.
But these are considerations for the 10 day period, when we debate and discuss the deal and whether we want to ratify it.
So the most important thing: VOTE.
Posted by United Hollywood at 11:00 AM"
This is what comes next, a vote first to determine if the Strike will go on while the contract is ratified, or, to return to work on the assumption that it will go through.
We'll see in a couple of days.
-Raycheetah =^[.]^=
The enjoyment of any good thing is only enhanced by sharing it with others.
http://fans4writers.com/ support the WGA writers strike
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=30176
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Yeah, thanks Raycheetah. Your updates are much appreciated. Good to hear this may end at least somewhat positive for the writers. And sooner than I imagined as well. Well, I hope anyway. Keep'n my fingers crossed.
<------<<< ~~~~~~~~~~~~~(*)~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >>>------>
"When you can't do something smart, do something right." -Jayne quoting Book
2% of teens have not smoked pot, if you are(or were) one of the 98% that have, copy this into your signature.
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Quote:It's my pleasure! ...Especially when the news is on the "good-ish" side. But, until the contract is ratified, even if the Writers go back to work Wednesday, it's not over. Ink on paper will tell the story, and, that's the most important script in this show.
Originally posted by Strangebird:
Yeah, thanks Raycheetah. Your updates are much appreciated. Good to hear this may end at least somewhat positive for the writers. And sooner than I imagined as well. Well, I hope anyway. Keep'n my fingers crossed.
Make it a shiny day!
-Raycheetah =^[.]^=
The enjoyment of any good thing is only enhanced by sharing it with others.
http://fans4writers.com/ support the WGA writers strike
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=30176
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The Strike is over!
http://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=2775
"Writers Guild Members Vote to End Strike
LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK -- The membership of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) today voted overwhelmingly in favor of lifting the restraining order and ending their 100-day strike that began on Nov. 5. 3,775 writers turned out in Los Angeles and New York to cast ballots or fax in proxies, with 92.5% voting in favor of ending the work stoppage.
“The strike is over. Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work,” said Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West. “This was not a strike we wanted, but one we had to conduct in order to win jurisdiction and establish appropriate residuals for writing in new media and on the Internet. Those advances now give us a foothold in the digital age. Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as TV migrates to the Internet and platforms for new media are developed.”
“The success of this strike is a significant achievement not only for ourselves but the entire creative community, now and in the future,” said Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East. “The commitment and solidarity of our members made it happen and have been an inspiration not only to us but the entire organized labor movement. We will build on that energy and unity to make our two unions stronger than ever.”
WGAW and WGAE members will next vote to ratify the tentative three-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The membership ratification vote will be conducted by mail and also at membership meetings on February 25, 2008.
The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) represent writers in the motion picture, broadcast, cable, and new media industries in both entertainment and news. For more information about the Writers Guild of America, West, please visit www.wga.org. For more information about the Writers Guild of America, East, please visit: www.wgaeast.org."
The actual contract remains to be ratified, but, things look good. The Writers got a better deal, and, we (the fans) helped!
-Raycheetah =^[.]^=
The enjoyment of any good thing is only enhanced by sharing it with others.
http://fans4writers.com/ support the WGA writers strike
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=30176
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Here's an additional resource, an audio interview done with United Hollywood Blogger John Aboud by the New Zealand press:
http://95bfm.com/assets/sm/186302/3/JohnAboud.mp3
It has the same sort of questions (and answers!) we'd all like to ask.
Well worth a listen to.
-Raycheetah =^[.]^=
The enjoyment of any good thing is only enhanced by sharing it with others.
http://fans4writers.com/ support the WGA writers strike
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=30176
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More news on breakaway creative efforts:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0222/p01s02-ussc.html
"More Hollywood writers do end-run around studio system
The strike is over, but some top writers are still exploring ways to turn the Internet into a new business model.
By Daniel B. Woodand Gloria Goodale | Staff writers of The Christian Science Monitor
from the February 22, 2008 edition
Los Angeles - The searchlights, red-carpet couture, and teary-eyed thank-yous will be back in place this Sunday for ABC's worldwide Oscar telecast. That's because the striking Hollywood writers came back to work just in the nick of time.
But behind the appearance of business-as-usual in the world of movies and TV is a shifting entertainment universe that is anything but. While the striking writers had their pens down and union hackles up, many were seeking creative new ways to rewrite the rules of engagement with the industry.
That means scores of adventurous, often-angry film and TV scribes reaching out to find new partners – venture capitalists, equity firms, advertisers – who can promise greater ownership, control, and independence within the new media world. The trend includes various ways to skirt studio bosses to reach consumers directly on the Web.
The trend was already percolating before the strike but exploded with new life during what became a contentious, three-month work stoppage. Now it is continuing with vigor as the 10,500-member-strong union returns to a dwindling number of studio jobs.
"A growing number of writers are trying to navigate from the prestrike world to the poststrike world by asking the question, 'How do we become smart and entrepreneurial on our own?' " says Tom Smuts, cofounder of the Berkman Center for the Internet and Society at Harvard Law School and a Writers Guild member. "They're asking how we can proceed with new models, new ideas, in a way that doesn't recreate the studio system we all complain about."
Suspicious of studios
In recent years, as studios and networks explored ways to make money from TV shows and movies on the Internet, their reluctance to pay writers led to the strike. Terms of the new agreement now include a percentage of the profits for writers from the emerging digital platforms.
But the possibilities that many writers explored while off work have led them to believe it's time for a more fundamental change.
"The strike has caused skepticism and acrimony toward the studio system. Because of that, a lot of writers are doing their own website and creating content so that they don't need the studios' help," says Dyan Traynor, a WGA writer who has penned several pilots for Fox and A&E.
Premium content from established writers is already finding a place and audience online. Top comedy writer Seth MacFarlane ("Family Guy") has inked a deal for an animated series directly for the Internet. Award-winning dramatic writers Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick ("thirtysomething," "Once and Again") are other prime examples of writers who set up shop on the Internet.
This past fall, the writing duo took their new drama "quarterlife" directly to the Internet instead of shopping a traditional pilot to a broadcast network. More important, they funded it themselves and then turned around and licensed it to NBC, who will begin airing it next week, thus reversing a decades-old pattern of being writers for hire.
Smuts and others say enough writers will be launching their own programs – some licensed to a single website, some available across the Web, and some available by subscription – that the practice is likely to be considered mainstream in two years. The expansion of broadband access, which makes the streaming of digital content practical, is also driving the trend: As of October, more than 50 percent of US adults had broadband, up from 9 percent in 2001.
"I believe by the end of this decade, it will be commonplace to find content on the Web produced specifically for the Web by A-list Hollywood talent," says Gus Tai, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist.
Don'
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And, now, calling shenanigans on the Studios:
http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/
"2/25/2008
The End of Hollywood Accounting?
Will 1+1 someday = 2?
The WGA, the Teamsters and California State Senator Sheila Kuehl have just announced the introduction of the "Fair Market Value Bill." The bill seeks to prevent studios from selling programming to sister companies for below market value. This particular strain of Hollywood accounting is designed to shift profits away from the studios (where they must be shared with talent and producers and serve as a basis for pension and health contributions) to networks, where they may be enjoyed without the pesky need to pay one's "partners."
Press release below. We'll have more soon on the bill in particular and Hollywood skulduggery in general.
And if you're a studio accountant or lawyer looking to go all Michael Clayton on the Big Six, send us a tip or a post.
NEW BILL TAKES AIM AT HOLLYWOOD ACCOUNTING
California State Senator Sheila Kuehl Introduces Bill to End the Practice of Selling Television Series and Films for Less Than Fair Market Value
Los Angeles and Sacramento – California State Senator Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles) has introduced Senate Bill 1765, the "Fair Market Value Bill," to end the practice by some major studios and networks of “underselling” television series or movies.
Since the major media networks in the United States have come to own many cable channels, the practice of selling TV series or movies for less than the fair market value of the content has become more and more prevalent. In many cases, the product is sold or licensed from one entity to another entity within the same parent company. This creates a problem for actors, writers, and performers who rely on the amount of a sale of material for their residuals – payments made to the creators or performers of a work for showings or screenings after an initial use. Other union members in the entertainment industry, including the Teamsters, also rely on the amount of a sale price to determine contributions to their health and pension funds.
"As a SAG member I care deeply that creative talent is treated fairly and that all workers in the entertainment industry receive the compensation they deserve," said State Senator Sheila
Kuehl (D- Los Angeles). "Many of my constituents work within the entertainment industry, and I have recently heard more and more about the growing practice of selling entertainment content, such as television series or films, for less than their fair market value. This practice has a deeply detrimental effect on the amount of compensation for creative talent like writers and actors. But the damage goes further because so-called below-the-line staff, like the Teamsters, rely on the proceeds from such a sale of content to fund their health and pension plans. This bill simply ensures that workers in the entertainment industry have the protection they need."
"The WGA West wholeheartedly supports this bill and we applaud Senator Kuehl for authoring it," said Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West. "This important piece of legislation will help ensure reliable accounting among the major Hollywood studios so that creative talent and all entertainment employees that rely on residuals will be fairly compensated for the contributions they make to the industry. The WGA is excited about the bill, and we look forward to involving our members in the process of educating elected leaders about the need for it."
In the last few years, there have been many high profile court cases on this issue. Creative talent from TV series, such as The X-Files, Will & Grace, and Home Improvement, among others, have filed suit to prevent the practice of selling television programs from one network to another for less than fair market value.
The bill is coauthored by State Senators Darrell Steinberg and Carole Migden and Assembly Members Fiona Ma and Sandre Swanson. The bill is supported by International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Writers Guild of A
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