Official WGA Writers Strike thread.

[diamonddawg]

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Residuals are more important.

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Let me pass that ^^^^ on to everyone who has called/emailed me begging me to take them and/or their crews onto my show as they have bills to pay NOW.

[XXXNoahXXX]

I do think that it is a good point that of everyone, the behind the scenes assistants and set people are getting most screwed by this.

[edfurlong]

Haven't people seen this coming for a really long time?

[Nicholasp27]

how can u say pension is worth striking over but not residuals?

residuals can be worth SIGNIFICANTLY more than pension...

[Thug Bubbles]

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Residuals are more important.

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Let me pass that ^^^^ on to everyone who has called/emailed me begging me to take them and/or their crews onto my show as they have bills to pay NOW.

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How exactly are pensions worthy of striking but residuals aren't? Both are fundamentally the same concept, and important for the same reasons, with residuals being worth far more than any pension.

[Nicholasp27]

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Residuals are more important.

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Let me pass that ^^^^ on to everyone who has called/emailed me begging me to take them and/or their crews onto my show as they have bills to pay NOW.

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so let's get this straight:

fact one: u said pensions are worth striking over, but residuals are not

fact two: pensions aren't paid until u retire

fact three: residuals pay out before you retire

fact four: you said people are upset because they want to be paid NOW


does not compute

residuals are more important to now and the future; pensions are only about the future


and again, it is not the writers' responsibility to sign a [censored] contract because others will lose job opportunities...they should only sign a contract if it makes sense for them, not just to get any deal done

if anyone is the bad guys here, it is the studios...they are the ones offering a [censored] contract, leading to this strike...the strike ends as soon they decide to give a fair deal...they are just gonna try to extend it to get writers to cave in.

[KneeCo]

Gothamist: Interview w/ Daily Show scribe John Oliver
excerpts:
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Someone from the WGA, I think it was the president, said the strike could go on for nine months. I did not hear that. To be honest I find brinksmanship like that difficult to stomach and it makes both sides sound equally bad. They’re playing games with people’s lives at the moment, and I’m not even talking about the writers. On The Daily Show we have a staff who are very concerned at the moment about losing their jobs – researchers, P.A.s, etc. – and I find talk like that quite difficult to stomach. I understand they’re trying to play some kind of brinksmanship game but that doesn’t make it any less difficult to hear when friends of mine who live paycheck to paycheck are being seriously affected by this strike. And they don’t even stand to benefit from any of the negotiations!
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Has anyone not part of the Writers Guild done anything that’s been less than supportive? Not that I’m aware of. There has been criticism in the press of Ellen DeGeneres because she’s still working, but I would not join in with that because she’s protecting her staff who depend on her. It’s an untenable position for everyone.
[..]
The writers from The Office were talking about how they wrote some web-only “promotionals” for the show and there was ad revenue generated from those and the writers weren’t paid any residuals. That’s right. Or, like, all our Daily Show clips were pulled off YouTube by Viacom, who is suing them for a billion dollars. That was not at our instigation – we were happy for people to watch the clips. But instead they wanted to set up a website where they can sell advertising while the clip is buffering, although I thought we were at the point where clips don’t need to buffer anymore. So you have to watch a commercial for thirty seconds or whatever. So they’re clearly making money on that; they’re also clearly making money because they’re suing YouTube for a billion. So that seems quite strange when they’re saying, “Well, there’s no money to be made off the internet but we’re suing YouTube for a billion dollars.” That takes spectacular balls! There are so many areas of it that seem so desperately unfair.

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[Nicholasp27]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRHlpEmr0w

[pirateboy]

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Written by Dale Alexander, a key grip on NBC's "The Office":
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102 people fired from The Office
Our show was shut down and we were all laid off this week. I've been watching the news since the WGA strike was announced and I have yet to see any coverage dedicated to the effect that this strike will have on the below the line employees.


I respect the WGA's position. They probably do deserve a larger percentage of profit participation, but a lengthy strike will affect more than just the writers and studios. On my show we had 14 writers. There were also 2 cameramen, 2 camera assistants, 4 hair stylists, 4 makeup artists, 7 wardrobe people, 4 grips, 4 electricians, 2 craft service, 4 props people, 6 construction, 1 medic, 3 art department, 5 set dressers, 3 sound men, 3 stand-ins, 2 set PAs, 4 assistant directors, 1 DGA trainee, 1 unit manager, 6 production office personnel, 3 casting people, 4 writers assistants, 1 script supervisor, 2 editors, 2 editors assistants, 3 post production personnel, 1 facilities manager, 8 drivers, 2 location managers, 3 accountants, 4 caterers and a producer who's not a writer. All 102 of us are now out of work.


I have been in the motion picture business for 33 years and have survived three major strikes. None of which have been by any of the below the line unions. During the 1988 WGA strike many of my friends lost their homes, cars and even spouses. Many actors are publicly backing the writers, some have even said that they would find a way to help pay bills for the striking writers. When the networks run out of new shows and they air repeats the writers will be paid residuals. The lowest paid writer in television makes roughly twice the salary than the below the line crewmember makes. Everyone should be paid their fair share, but does it have to be at the expense of the other 90% of the crewmembers. Nobody ever recoups from a strike, lost wages are just that, lost.


"We all know that the strike will be resolved. Eventually both sides will return to the bargaining table and make a deal. The only uncertainty is how many of our houses, livelihoods, college educations and retirement funds will pay for it."

--Maria Elena Fernandez

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I just want to bump this particular quote because, all in all, the strike is asinine as, frankly, residuals are not an issue grave enough to cause a work stoppage. Pension issues, health care and rest period - those are worth striking over.

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You are 100% certified full of [censored].

[Jack Bando]

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Anybody know how many episodes of House there will be?

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12 total, so 5 more