The recent Writers Guild of America strike started two days ago on November 5th. The strike is against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) which represents the interests of American film and television producers.
Here is the Wikipedia link for more information:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Write … ica_strike
Any thoughts on this, guys ?
Just one question , does this include the Pixr writers , and if so , are they on strike as well ??
John Lasster answered that question in an interview, he said none of the writers at Pixar arepart of the Writer’s Guild, so there’s no problem over in (as Jim Hill would say) the Emeryville based studio.
Interesting. I’ve heard tidbits of this flying around, but didn’t really know what it meant.
Thanks, Bill.
Yeah - that’s the beauty of Pixar, everything is in house and no one belongs to a union or even has a contract thus we have no need to fear such outside forces reaching our beloved animation studio.
Now, as for the strike itself I say let them walk out and bring in the second string. I’d be careful if I were them, they aren’t exactly the driving force behind Hollywood right now. I think we all agree that the reason the TV shows and movies aren’t as good as what you get from Pixar is because of story, story, and story. Frankly I think most of these shows would be better off to have new writers that come out of their fanbase because I’ve seen plent of fanfiction writers on the net capable of producing story lines at least as good and probly better than these unionized, half-wit writers.
Interesting point you raise there Dash. Do you think that maybe, if the strike doesn’t end very quickly that is, that studios might put out the offer for good fan-based writers to write scripts etc for their TV Shows.
I know that they are filming/have filmed, an alternate ending for Episode 12 of Heroes in the event of the Writer’s strike, so they can end the season there. This is most upsetting to me. Maybe Tim Kring can get some good fan-based writers in on the project to keep it going. It would be a plus for the show, because then you can’t have the fans complaining that the story isn’t good (and let’s face it, Season 2 only just got interesting as of the latest episode), because they are the ones writing it.
I think it’s within reason as the execs become increasingly innovative. I’m not sure that shows as complex as Heroes, 24, etc would do it (and they were smart to film alternate endings just in case) because there’s a level of continuous omnicience about where the show has been, is, and is going in order to write it. But I could cetainly see them looking at it for series that stand on an episode to episode basis like CSI, Numb3rs, Cold Case, etc. Now, if the Writer’s Strike went very long, as in the last episode aired and there was still no end in sight to the strike, then it’s possible even they could start looking.
With Heroes and such you have to know what’s happened up to the present to write it so a person could not write a script until they saw the last episode.
[spoil]For example - Who could have forseen before this week that Adam and Kensai were the same or any of the other more minor items.[/spoil]
So allowing about a month of writing time to enter the competition, a selection process, and filming time you’re looking to at least 3-4 months after the last episode aires to get a new set going. Even then though you also risk losing the plot lines that are being worked on but haven’t been revealed yet as you shift between sets of writers.
So yes - it is within reason - but it’s more reasonable for some shows than others.
This was on the news today. 24 is effected by this strike. Thank god Stargate Atlantis was not effected by this.
Late night talk shows have begun airing repeats immediately. These include The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , Late Night with Conan O’Brien , Late Show with David Letterman , and Saturday Night Live.
Sitcoms on FOX have stopped production as well. These include Back to You , and 'Til Death . Now , I admit that I am a strong supporter of Back to You . I see a promising series and while it’s true that the ratings have been decreasing every week (The last new episode before it goes on hiatus next week was " Gracie’s Bully" , which had the lowest ratings to date : 6. 38 million) , but FOX is known to do bad on Wednesdays . I would suggest bringing in some of the Everybody Loves Raymond writers if they have not been affected by the strike.
I really cant take this anymore. This must be one of those layers of hell Dante was talking about. I’ve watched too much TV and now I’m doomed to watch constant reruns. What’s making me the most mad is it seems no one’s even trying to negotiate. I’m not sure if i agree with the writers or not. But I do think it’s probably hurting more people than it’s helping. I just read an article in the paper this morning about that. I also heard on Regis & Kelly that the non-writing staff (aka, cameramen, sound operators, etc) are in danger of being laid off. Plus they’re not earning any money during this so it’s hurting them finanically. (although Dave Letterman is nice enough to pay his staff out of his own pocket through the end of the year) Also, most Broadway shows are not performing right now for the same reason. Here’s the article from this morning’s paper if you want to read it.
Some of the writers have started blogs about what’s going on and I hear tvbarn.com is a good place to look for the latest updates.
lennonluvr9 : That’s actually a different strike for the stage hands … still as bad , though it’s predicted that strike will be done a little after the holidays …
I support the writers! Contrary to a previous statement, I think the writers are a driving force in Hollywood. I know that there are movie writers and directors and actors, etc. that are equally as important or even more important, these TV writers contribute to a lot. Basically all of the shows are affected and production has stopped on most of them over the selfishness of the producers. I agree that a lot of TV shows do not have the same emphasis on story as say like, Pixar, but TV is a hard medium to tell a fully developed yet concise story.
Without the writers, there is not script. Without the script there is no production. There are a ton of workers affected by this lay off. Think of all the people who provide the food, sets, etc. for TV production.
I did hear, however, that there has been a meeting set for Monday to renegotiate. Hopefully the writers will get a fairer payment.
Just one more reason I don’t support unions and believe they should be illegal.
Wait a minute. It says they’re going to resume negotiations on November 26th regarless of the continuation of the strike action. Now I’m really confused.
if they were illegal , my family wouldn’t have the money for me to go to NYC … and when you think about it … if there weren’t legal , the actors and actresses would have a lot less money than we do …
so , sure , stuff like this stinks , but it has to happen for people to get better wages and be able to pay for their bills …
… that’s what happens when your in Musical Theater and learn all the historical things (yes i know this is the writers strike) …
But what you don’t realize though is that it works both ways. If there were no unions then companies would have to hire workers on an individual basis. Then Darwin’s laws of natural selection take over. Companies that don’t offer good job deals don’t get good employees. Subsequently they put out substandard products and fewer people consume it causing the business to flounder or even fail until they up their standards. It’s a principle of Lazais Faire and leads to much better.
Now. where problems arise is when companies form a sort of cartel to get around that. They used to do that a lot to fix prices, where companies would agree on a set amount and none of the companies would deviate from it. They would also do similar things with the employees, agree to a standard contract so there was no such thing as a “better job.” This is why unions were formed but this, like cartels, are also illegal now.
So yeah… I’m a capitalist all the way. =)
… i’m confuzzled …
you win … though the only reasons i’m with the unions is because my dad’s the head of one for his job …
Which is a darn good reason to be for it! While there are many reasons not to believe in unions, there are also good reasons to do so. One thing you have to learn early is that the on;y person who will look out for you is you - I had to learn that recently in a very hard way. So, if something is benefitting you, even if it’s not the best thing for the world, as long as it’s not causing significant harm to others then you have every right to be in favor of it and should do so with all your heart. Just remember to reevaluate your position in a few years when you find out it’s no longer helping you out.
The AMPTP stopped negotiations three days ago (December 7th, 2007) , with no further word on if negotiations will continue. So, the strike continues. What I’m wondering at this point is when they will start negotiations again.
Were DOOMED!