Right now, IATSE president Tom Short and WGA President Patric Verrone are swapping nasty letters and fighting in public. I would have posted the missives earlier today but I wanted to do some reporting first. (I've repeatedly pledged to stay in the middle on this strike, and I'm trying to keep my word.) So now I'll step back from the bitchslapping and look at the origins of this bad blood -- and, boy, is there ever bad blood -- between IATSE and WGA.
Of course, IATSE and WGA have been feuding over reality show and animation writers and who does, and should, represent them and many other issues for years, But, according to my sources, the pre-strike bickering between them began more than a year ago when Short had lunch with Verrone and top WGA negotiator Dave Young in September 2006. I'm told Short came away from the meal convinced that the two writers guild leaders wanted a strike "come hell or high water" and "nothing or nobody" was going to talk them out of it.
The next shoe to drop was when, in November 2006, the WGA backed off its own proposed date to begin negotiations with AMPTP on January 16th. This, needless to say, infuriated IATSE's Short, who phoned Verrone on November 28th, 2006, and tried to impress upon him that it was vital "this gets resolved" sooner rather than later and to set an early date for the bargaining to start. Verrone refused -- even though I'm told by a reliable source that Short warned him behind the scenes that "If you guys don't go into talks there will be a 'ramp up' -- increase in production, stockpiling of scripts -- it's going to be like 2001 all over again. At which point, Verrone said, 'Nonsense, that isn't going to happen.'"
IATSE then issued a very angry 2-page news release on December 13th, 2006, giving the media hard evidence contradicting Verrone's claim, which had then been made public, that there wouldn't be any ramp up and calling the threat a "Boogeyman". IATSE cited 2001 facts and figures when a ramp up occurred because of last-minute bargaining even though a strike was never called. "The numbers speak for themselves and show that the WGA leadership is totally out of touch with the impact of their foolhardy tactics," Short said in the December release. "Figures don't lie, liars figures."
A Short insider tells me: "There was a concern on the part of IATSE leadership that the lack of talks would be disastrous." I certainly don't think, given what's transpired since then, that Short was wrong. If anything, he was prophetic.
As Short says in his latest angry letter to Verrone sent Tuesday, "Ever since late last year when the WGAw announced withdrawal from its own proposed negotiating date in January 2007, I have warned you and predicted the devastation that would come from your actions. Those predictions have now come true," Short fumed. "When I phoned you on Nov. 28, 2006, to ask you to reconsider the timing of negotiations, you refused. It now seems that you were intending that there be a strike no matter what you were offered, or what conditions the industry faced when your contract expired at the end of October."
But I also must wonder why Short hasn't been nearly as hard on the AMPTP as he has been on the WGA. And my answer is that it may be a matter of clashing personalities.
Sources tells me that Short's furious letter sent on Tuesday was prompted by a Los Angeles Times profile on Dave Young that ran the day before and one quote in particular from the WGA chief negotiator -- "Much to his delight, the 48-year-old labor leader says he himself was treated like 'a rock star' last week at a host of rallies and pickets that he orchestrated all over Los Angeles and New York."
A source close to Short tells me he objected not just to Young's choice of words, but more to Young's seeming enjoyment of his new-found notoriety while IATSE members were thrown out of work. Young, for those not in the know, is not a Hollywood writer; he has been a union organizer of garment workers, carpenters and construction laborers.
Here is what Short says specifically about Young in his latest letter: "As the motion picture and television industry looks at the possible cost of over $1 billion and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, your executive director David Young is quoted in the Los Angeles Times as delighted he's being treated 'like a rock star' at rallies and says, 'I just lay back and look at the havoc I've wreaked... I'm not going to apologize for that.' This is hardly the point of view of a responsible labor leader, someone dedicated to the preservation of an industry that has supported the economies of several major cities for decades.
"The Times story continues: 'Young and his team spent months preparing for this moment.' Why hasn't this team instead spent months preparing to negotiate a contract that would ensure the health and future of the motion picture and television industry?
"The Times also points out that Mr. Young has never negotiated a contract in the motion picture industry. His incompetence and inexperience are causing irreeparable damage to the industry at a time when we can all ill afford to ignore the worsening national economy, the unstable international climate, and the crises in health care and the housing market that are affecting many of our working families."
Short ended his letter on a somewhat concilatory note -- "it's time to put egos aside and recognize how crucial it is to get everyone back to work, before there is irreversible damage from which this industry can never recover." But it still begs the question why Short isn't also bitchslapping the AMPTP which, after all, is the side now refusing to enter back into settlement negotiations with the WGA. (For details, see my LA Weekly column, Deals, Lies & Backchannels.)
"That's a good question, a really good question," a source close to Short told me today.
Also today, Verrone wrote the following missive in response to Short's letter: "As I’m sure you know, for every four cents writers receive in theatrical residuals, directors receive four cents, actors receive 12 cents,and the members of your union receive 20 cents in contributions to their health fund. To put it simply, our fight should be your fight. We’ve received support from the Teamsters, the actors, many IATSE members, and unions throughout the world.
"As we’ve stated clearly, we are willing to negotiate; we have wanted to negotiate; we are here to negotiate. Despite the fact that the AMPTP conceded progress was being made on November 4th, the last day of negotiations, they walked out and have not returned. So please help us by doing everything you can to get the AMPTP to come back to the table and settle this strike, which, as you say, is devastating to your members, to our members, and to the entire town."
I don’t know why anyone thinks this is debatable. The WGA was dreaming of a strike. They don’t give a crap about anyone else. Every pitch they make they make it about the 4 cents. They don’t point out that John August makes “only” four cents ON TOP of two million. That Stu Beattie makes four cents ON TOP of Two Million. That Shonda Rimes makes four cents ON TOP of Ten million a year. It is spin. Everyone blames Big Media. Point to the writers who think they have a RIGHT to write movies. They don’t.
Comment by Bouncing Castle — November 14, 2007 @ 10:09 pm
None of this would have mattered if the AMPTP had bargained fairly with the WGA over the past 20 years and with us presently.
WGA provided fair and resonable offers to the AMPTP over the past several months and until the moment talks had broken off, the AMPTP has still not responded to them. Why? You tell me…
Something else disturbing has cropped its ugly PR head in the past 10 days and that is the (all too obvious)orchestrated PR Campaign strike-breaking tactics waged against the WGA by the AMPTP, it Corporate shills in the trades, the local media and TV and the IATSE.. in short, they blaming the WGA for all the lost jobs Crews, etc have suffered.
I have seen it on the local News, here with the transparent “plant” comments, in the Print media. It is a Campaign designed to deflect the true facts…
Thank God EVERYONE, including 3rd graders, can see through this and side with the WGA against their Corporate Greed. Believe me, they don’t want anyone to know they are using the Strike as cover to slaughter the cattle, in this case, their Overall Deals under Force majeure. Don’t expect to see any movement on this strike untill all those cattle have been slaughtered at the expense of the IATSE and the local economy wehich stands to lose 8 Mill/per day. Yes, 8 Mil per day so the Studios can save a few more bucks.
So, they come up with this bullshit Campaign to blame Writers for the lost jobs and economic damage.
This latest tactic won’t work, because underlying all of it is the failure of AMPTP to bargain in good faith.
Okay, rant off. Plants, its your turn.
Comment by PJ - Writer — November 14, 2007 @ 10:12 pm
I would trust comments by IATSE’s leadership more if they hadn’t swooped in to unionize workers on America’s Top Model just as the WGA was trying to get them to join — thus killing the chances of the WGA getting reality show writers (yes, there’s writing being done) under it’s umbrella. So now reality show writers still get treated like crap by their employers– thanks IATSE! The WGA/IATSE current feud stems from this and all current IATSE comments should be taken with that in mind.
From a Variety article dated 10/23/07 by Dave McNary…
“…the WGA held dozens of rallies to support a dozen writers who walked off “America’s Next Top Model” over producers’ refusal to grant jurisdiction to the WGA. “Top Model” showrunner Ken Mok created a new system utilizing editors covered by the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and eliminated the writing slots.
IATSE wound up repping 60 employees on the show, with president Tom Short tweaking the WGA’s organizing efforts as being “mishandled due to zero experience at organizing in the entertainment industry” — a slap at WGA West exec director David Young, whose background is in organizing the construction and garment industries.
Young responded by accusing Short of being a shill for producers by having his union perform struck work.”
Comment by Non-Unionized "Reality" Show Writer — November 14, 2007 @ 10:17 pm
Right. The studios would never have upped production if there’d just been talks scheduled. They’ve never been known to negotiate in bad faith or anything… Heck, if Tom Short led the Guild, it’s writers might have as many great benefits as those reality show writers. Er, sorry, editors. Like no residuals at all, no health and pension. Sounds wonderful.
Comment by Jane Elspin — November 14, 2007 @ 10:20 pm
Question for Mr. Short, if the WGA was dead set on a strike come hell or high water–why did they agree to yank DVDs off the table? What the hell was that except an extreme, to the point of foolhardiness, demonstration of good faith and willingness to avert a strike?
Comment by Anon — November 14, 2007 @ 10:20 pm
Verrone of the WGA says, “I’m sure you know, for every four cents writers receive in theatrical residuals, directors receive four cents, actors receive 12 cents,and the members of your union receive 20 cents in contributions to their health fund.” Talk about misinformation….each individual writer and director recieves 4 cents on their respective projects as each individual actor recieves 12 cents but the IATSE as A WHOLE recieves 20 cents, that’s the ENTIRE MEMBERSHIP….50,000 plus members! Stop the B.S. on both sides and get back to the bargaining table before you lose all credibility and respect
Comment by OutofworkIAmember — November 14, 2007 @ 10:23 pm
Like most pro management-labor cooperation union bosses, Short gets frustrated when someone tries to bust up his attempts at looking like God’s gift to his rank and file. An example of how ridiculously pro-management he is, a local can’t even vote for its own strike until Short and the International “sanctions” it, in clear violation of the rank and files right (ethically, if not so much legally) to decide their own collective fate. It’s not surprising that Haskell Wexler, who attempted to win the presidency of IA 600, found himself on the receiving end of threats, trusteeship, and being thrown out after questioning the concessions Short gave away in the last round of bargaining.
I don’t know if Verrone or the rest of the higher ups at the WGA are any more coherent and sure of themselves than the people gazing on. But I know for damn sure that a “responsible” labor leader has never done anything but lead his and her’s rank and file to nothing but crappy contracts, eroded market share, and pulled out the power base from underneath them.
Comment by Sean S. — November 14, 2007 @ 10:28 pm
IATSE and WGA infighting is irrelevant
doesn’t matter when the WGA did or didn’t commence negotiations, the bottom line is AMPTP does not want to concede any money and nothing would have changed that fact
Comment by anonymous — November 14, 2007 @ 10:34 pm
I applaud you, Tom Short. I am glad that you are doing your best to give voice to the concerns of the actual “little guys” in this mess. Someone needs to.
Comment by katy — November 14, 2007 @ 10:57 pm
One thing I learned many years ago…. In order to win don’t play the game. This has turned into a pissing match…
I hope that Tom Short is also talking to the AMPTP. It looks like the AMPTP will be talking with the DGA very soon. Perhaps that will start the negotiating process.
We are all running scared. I not pointing any fingers. I just pray that we can get something settled soon.
Comment by get back to the table — November 14, 2007 @ 10:57 pm
In answer to your question “why isn’t Tommy Short bitchslapping the AMPTP”? The answer is simple. Tommy Short is profoundly corrupt. He is owned and operated by the studios. The membership of IATSE deserves better.
Comment by Dave — November 14, 2007 @ 11:00 pm
Might I add, to assume the WGA and all of us Writers would rather Strike than work under a fair deal is utter nonsense. It just won’t wash.
Comment by PJ - Writer — November 14, 2007 @ 11:03 pm
Thank you Nikki for being objective. I, however, cannot be. As an IATSE member I cannot express clearly enough how much Tom Short does not speak for its vast members. He has time and time again sold out his members for his own self interest and self-aggrandizement and this is clearly no exception. If you want to see what a great Union leader he is just go to: http://www.iatse.org/Vote_No_enough_is_enough.pdf and see the contract he helped negotiate for his members. Rollbacks, lost benefits and wages - that’s what he calls victory for his members. He has been and will forever be in the back pocket of the AMPTP and this going to the press to bash the WGA disgusts me. Unfortunately for my Union, Short has run unopposed for 4 terms but that is our cross to bear.
Although I agree that clearly Verrone and Young have antagonized this situation and should probably be replaced, the cause that the WGA is fighting for is just and reasonable and it is paramount to all creative workers in this industry (IATSE included) that they prevail.
WGA - Keep fighting to get back in the room. Stay united and let’s support each other in this.
Comment by LSher — November 14, 2007 @ 11:08 pm
I’m all for bitchslapping the AMPTP, but I’m also not in the least surprised that they are in no hurry to come back to the negotiating table.
While I totally support our demands for fair residuals from all future media, two things struck me tonight.
One was an anonymous email I received titled “Please Stop The Strike” - which could even be (disingenuously) from the AMPTP itself for all I know - but which proceeds to beg, for that is its tone, everyone involved to call both sides in this dispute, the WGA and the AMPTP, and tell them to, “End the strike, end the strike, end the strike” - until they hang up. Then call back and do it again.
The second thought which occurred - and I wasn’t at any of the Guild’s prestrike meetings, but I certainly saw no mention of this in any WGA emails or literature - was: shouldn’t the Guild have warned its members, particularly its younger members, about the “force majeure” aspect of the strike (allowing the studios to clean house of all the development and overhead deals they want to get rid of), which practically guarantees that the strike will last at least six to seven weeks (taking us slap into the holidays), and probably longer? Would that have affected the strike vote, and would it have affected the vote to strike at this particular time?
The timing of this strike - in the middle of an economic downturn particularly in the housing market, meaning those of us lucky enough to own houses have less chance to pull equity out of those houses to help survive the strike - has not struck me as ideal. I know you can argue that times are always tough when it comes to a strike, but the problem is that for “Big Media,” or whatever we wish to call them, they can survive pretty much a nuclear bomb and then cost-cut and lay people off and ultimately increase efficiency in some respects, possibly even massaging the figures to show savings to their shareholders.
We need to win this, don’t get me wrong. But couldn’t we have coordinated with IATSE, with SAG, with the Teamsters, with the DGA and whoever else, and really pummeled the AMPTP with one “short, sharp shock” - to use a phrase Margaret Thatcher’s heinous government was fond of - rather than risking a dispute which, worst case, could drag on into the probable SAG strike next June?
Picketing and lobbying in Washington are great, but can’t we take this fight directly to the shareholders of all the big media companies? Is there any way to get hold of actual phone numbers and addresses of the people who invest in those companies (does the SEC publish lists online?) and then do a MoveOn-type campaign, and send polite letters and/or emails, and perhaps even call them individually, to explain why we’re striking, that the cost of what we’re asking for isn’t huge by any means, and that the future performance of those companies - which rely on the Spiderman’s and Bourne’s to really shine on Wall Street - are at risk if this dispute over a few cents per download or DVD is allowed to continue?
Comment by Alexander Chow-Stuart — November 14, 2007 @ 11:10 pm
you may wanna try a little harder to stay ‘in the middle’
Comment by manny — November 14, 2007 @ 11:20 pm
Anyone with half a brain and two eyes can see that Patrick Verrone is having the time of his life during this strike. One year ago, he couldn’t get arrested — now he’s giving speeches with Jesse Jackson! I firmly believe that we in the WGA have been taken for a ride by this strike-happy leadership.
Ask yourselves this: if the strike ended today, with terms favorable to the WGA, can you really deny that Verrone and his crony’s would be bitterly disappointed that their time in the spotlight is over?
Comment by Sickofthis — November 14, 2007 @ 11:36 pm
What a completely irresponsible letter from Short. Besides completely misquoting Young, this is very poorly timed and quite unnecessary. What is the point of a letter attacking the WGA at this point? It will only create anger amongst writers toward Short.
And regardless of the November, January nonsense, the Guild met the studios in July. They did not come back to the table until Sept. They still will not address the guilds demands. There is zero proof that another 7 months would have made any difference at all. On the contrary, it appears negotiations could have started in 2003 and it wouldn’t have been enough time.
It just seems like Short is having a tantrum. This is my first time being introduced to him and I can’t say I have any respect for the man.
Comment by DA in LA — November 14, 2007 @ 11:39 pm
Hey OutofworkIAmember–
.each individual writer and director recieves 4 cents on their respective projects
It’s my understanding that this 4c goes to the credited writer OR WRITERS. A writing team would get 2c each. Two writing teams would get a penny each.
Comment by Writer — November 14, 2007 @ 11:42 pm
I know there is no love lost between IATSE and the WGA, but Tom Short’s letter cuts right to the quick. A lot could have been done much sooner– I mean, why even bother with a federal mediator if you’re going to pull him in two days before the contract deadline? Everyone points fingers at Nick Counter as the bogeyman here, but without him, Patric Verrone and Dave Young and their shared vitriol, I have a feeling this would have been wrapped up two weeks ago. A righteous strike has turned into a pissing contest.
Comment by average Joe — November 14, 2007 @ 11:47 pm
Nice troll, sickofthis.
4% of the full WGA membership cared enough to vote against the strike authorization. Strike-happy leadership? Yeah, right. Go walk the picket line. It’s not the leadership. It’s the membership. Everyone is crystal clear that New Media is *the* one issue- the single challenge for our generation of writers to get right… or go down trying.
Nice try spinning it into attention-whoring “cronies”. If the issue wasn’t so glaringly obvious to every writer, their children, and their pets, you mighta had a chance.
But there’s unity on this one.
Comment by Writer — November 14, 2007 @ 11:50 pm
I think Patrick would be ecstatic if a deal favorable to the WGA were put on the table and the strike could be called off. Just because he is passionate about the Guild’s issues hardly means he or anyone else in a leadership position is “strike happy.” Going on a strike was a dangerous risk, but one that had to be taken as the studios refused to negotiate (and still do) a fair deal. They are to blame, don’t forget that.
Comment by WGA Member — November 14, 2007 @ 11:53 pm
how DARE napoleon short speak for me. i am an IATSE member and support all my union brethren. president short has shown once again that he truly fails to see anything past the snout on the end of his face. if the WGA loses i will eventually lose too. i am cutting my union card in half and sending it to president short in tomorrow’s mail.
STAY STRONG MY WRITER COMRADES!
Comment by IATSE Costume Designer — November 14, 2007 @ 11:56 pm
What the LA Times article (written by Richard Verrier and Claudia Eller, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers) said was:
“Much to his delight, the 48-year-old labor leader says he himself was treated like “a rock star” last week at a host of rallies and pickets that he orchestrated all over Los Angeles and New York. Young is not only the chief negotiator for the Writers Guild of America but the strategist behind the first major Hollywood strike in nearly two decades, making him perhaps the most revered and reviled man in the entertainment industry right now.
To many of the 10,000-plus members of the writers union seeking their share of future revenue, he’s a hero who galvanized a once-lethargic guild into a potent force with the will to take on the powerful media conglomerates.”
See, Young was delighted that he was well received a week into striking, as the reality of the hard road ahead had definitely set in and he could’ve been received with loud boos. But his delight came in the warm reception and solidarity of the union he works for. It wasn’t delight in getting pubilc attention. That’s just spin by an angry man who refuses to attack the AMPTP but loves to attack the WGA.
By the way, the article goes on to say…
“Dave Smith, a labor economist at Pepperdine University, gives Young high marks for his handling of the strike so far.
‘He’s done a good job of advancing his goals, just in terms of the number of shows that have stopped,” Smith said. “He’s put himself into a better position to gain leverage in negotiations.’”
Comment by Fact Checker — November 14, 2007 @ 11:59 pm
How is Verrone’s letter “nasty”? How is he fighting in public? His letter seemed designed to get past the strange tone of Short’s public calling out. Indeed, the WGA seems intent on getting back to the table and getting everyone back to work. They don’t want a prolonged strike — the AMPTP does. Whether for Force Majeur or for simple punishment.
Comment by Phinneus — November 15, 2007 @ 12:05 am
Is ther ever a good time to strike? Doubtful - it’s always going to be a sacrifice and hard.
As a younger member of the WGA, I’ve been FULLY AWARE OF 6 MONTHS out, but hopeful until the very last second that it would not happen at all.
But regardless of Verrone or Young (stupid statemet, though I think the context was aimed at the AMPTP; it’s easy tt interpret it the worst way), the facts of the AMPTP refusing to negotiate are the same.
Nothing on new media even when we took DVD’s off the table, and still the promotional free use clause that would negate all of the above. So, for me, it’s still a strikable issue.
Tom Short may have his criit, but trying to divide, rather than help, during a strike is disingenuious. Suspicious, really.
The WGA is not only Young and Verrone and richie rich writers - it’s real people like myself who make a living, but bust ass doing it and deserve a piece of the action when our ideas turn into monster hits. Because we want to be able to buy a house, afford having a kid too - the basics.
The union against union thing is the lamest, most self defeating thing ever. It doesn’t help IATSE, it doesn’t help the WGA.
It only helps the AMPTP. Let’s focus on getting them back to the table.
Comment by girl scribe still walking — November 15, 2007 @ 12:06 am
What “convinced” Short that Verrone and Young were hell bent on striking? The fact that they said they were willing to strike if they couldn’t get a decent contract any other way? Why did Short call David Young a liar? What, exactly, was the “lie?” Why is the AMPTP seen as not wanting a strike when all of N. Counter’s behavior made one inevitable? Saying that important issues were not even to be discussed and offering only rollbacks is a declaration of war. Am I missing something? Whether or not Short and Young don’t like each other, the WGA has made multiple attempts to negotiate with its counterparts. These have been rejected. The pattern of this “negotiation” convinced many of us that the only ones hell bent on striking were the moguls who want to break the union. My last question — what is Short getting that makes him think that if our union is destroyed, his will not be next?
Comment by Marjorie David — November 15, 2007 @ 12:13 am
Exactly right. Some of the whiners have likely never had to take a stand and fight for something before. Now is the time.
Comment by MrEguy — November 15, 2007 @ 12:30 am
“As an IATSE member I cannot express clearly enough how much Tom Short does not speak for its vast members. He has time and time again sold out his members for his own self interest and self-aggrandizement and this is clearly no exception. If you want to see what a great Union leader he is”
To be fair, though, Short is thought of at the greatest labor leader ever by Iger, Zucker, Moonves, and everybody who hates unions. Which just goes to show what a super dooper double terrific job he’s doing. Who needs rank and file support when the people you’re supposed to be negotiating against see you as one of their own?
Comment by Yeahwell — November 15, 2007 @ 12:37 am
OutofworkAImember says “….each individual writer and director recieves 4 cents on their respective projects as each individual actor recieves 12 cents but the IATSE as A WHOLE recieves 20 cents, that’s the ENTIRE MEMBERSHIP….50,000 plus members.”
The response from A Writer: “It’s my understanding that this 4c goes to the credited writer OR WRITERS. A writing team would get 2c each. Two writing teams would get a penny each.”
Clearly A Writer is not a mathematician. Don’t get me wrong….4 people dividing 4 cents would get 1 cent each. And 2 people diving 4 cents would get 2 cents. And 50,000 people dividing 4 cents would get .00024 cents. Yeah, that’s comparable.
Comment by not a writer — November 15, 2007 @ 12:40 am
You writers are a bunch of spoiled selfish jerks. Teamsters support the writers strike but none of the writers have ever supported any teamsters strike. Trucks should stop parking on the street blocking traffic and they should start pulling into the studio lots with their deliveries. It’s really sad to see all these hard working low paid blue collar workers supporting you white collar elite snobs just because the blue collars mistakenly believe “the writers are union folks just like us” that’s completely wrong. And you writers know it. To hell with all of you. Why should below the line workers have to suffer because of you? Let’s see you elites refuse to cross the next IATSE picket line. That will never happen. Ever. You don’t care about the teamsters so why should they care about you?
Comment by Proud Teamster — November 15, 2007 @ 2:48 am
not a writer–
I would point out, though, that I only get 4 cents (or 2 cents, or 1 cent) on a movie where I’m a credited writer. IATSE gets its 20 cents on every movie.
I don’t dispute that if you did that math, it would probably still work out to more money going to the average individual writer than to the average individual IATSE member. But it’s not nearly as stark a difference as you’re claiming.
(Also, for what it’s worth, the 12-cent figure is not the amount that gets paid to every actor; that 12 cents gets divided among all the eligible actors. Don’t know exactly how the formula works to determine who gets paid how much of it, but it’s far from the truth to claim that every actor gets paid 3 times as much as the writer(s) and director, and thousands of times as much as any member of the crew. If you’re going to unleash the “not a mathematician” snark on others, it wouldn’t hurt to try and get the details right yourself….)
Comment by Pseudonymouse — November 15, 2007 @ 4:18 am
“….each individual writer and director recieves 4 cents on their respective projects as each individual actor recieves 12 cents but the IATSE as A WHOLE recieves 20 cents, that’s the ENTIRE MEMBERSHIP….50,000 plus members.”
That 20 cents a pop is what keeps the whole health and welfare fund afloat for the IA membership (all 50,000+ members).
As broadcast residuals disappear, internet residuals will have to pick up the slack. And if the WGA doesn’t get ‘em, neither will the IA.
Which means all 50,000+ members of the IA will be SOL next time they get sick or injured and need to access a health plan that no longer exists.
IA, our fight really is your fight.
Patrick Meighan
Culver City, CA
Comment by Patrick Meighan — November 15, 2007 @ 4:33 am
Proud Teamster,
Unfortunately, writers do not have a clause in their contracts that allows them to refuse to cross a picket line without fear of retribution from the studios. Teamsters DO have that clause in their contract. It is actually one of the things that the WGA is trying to get incorporated into THIS contract, so that the next time the Teamsters, or IATSE, or SAG goes out we CAN honor their picket lines and refuse to cross.
Right now, we just don’t have that contractual right, and I believe that Teamsters are the only ones who do.
Comment by Erin — November 15, 2007 @ 5:13 am
As a long time (20+yrs) IATSE member, trust me, if Tom Short is against you the odds are your doing the right thing for you membership. Tom Short has driven IATSE working conditions lower and lower each year. Our pay increases each year are lower then the actual cost of living increases, IOW…we actually suffer a pay cut each year. Depending on which contract we work under our pay scale is anywhere from $12 pr hr up to $40. What the heck kind of Union is that when I can do the same exact job and the rate of pay is that different. IT’S THE SAME JOB!! Where else could working 14,16,18 hr days, with only 9 hrs off between shifts, be ok by your Union. What kind of Union would order their members to cross another Unions (WGA) picket lines, or lose their jobs.
Tom Short is a puppet for the producers, always was, always will be. He does not stand strong behind his members, he stands strong behind the producers.
Stand strong WGA members, your doing the right thing.
-IATSE MEMBER, 728
Comment by IATSE MEMBER 728 — November 15, 2007 @ 5:50 am
Sorry, “Writer”, I’m not a troll, but an actual, WORKING writer, who makes a lot of money from the profession on a regular basis (as opposed to 90% of the strikers, who haven’t sold a script since the pleistocene, hence have nothing to lose if the strike lasts until summer and beyond).
I’m absolutely sickened by the party atmosphere that pervades this strike… Celebrity Day, Children to the Picket Line Day, Gay Day, Singles Picket Lines… and on and on. Workers are losing their jobs by the hundreds, and the WGA is treating this action like a fucking moving writer’s salon. It’s embarrasing and revolting… and it’s clear that many of the writers — who as I mentioned aren’t regularly employed anyway — are having the times of their lives throughout this strike, and will be crushed when it ends. It means they’ll have to go back to their regular occupations of Not Making Income From Their Craft.
I’m not the only one who feels this way, either. Almost every writer I know, from the most liberal on down, feel the same way I do — that the leadership wanted this strike come hell or high water, and damned if it put people out of work.
Don’t believe everything you read in the “Go WGA” sites, there’s a deepening resentment building against the pinheads who are running this thing, and it’s going to boil over very soon.
Comment by sickofthis — November 15, 2007 @ 7:16 am
We’re witnessing a perfect storm of personalities and egos. The wanna-be-a-rock-star mentality has permeated every aspect of this fiasco on all sides. Now, instead of negotiations, we have a public dick swinging contest that’s likely to go on for a year or more.
Comment by yetanotherwriter — November 15, 2007 @ 7:31 am
im with you sick of this
as a working writer in this town, its clear to me that all of these picketers are clearly embracing an excuse to why they haven’t worked in fifteen years or why they can’t move past a staff writing job on Lifetime.
David Young’s article was revolting and offensive to anyone who is concerned about the business in general.
I care about the product and the people that work because of the products we imagine.
Furthermore, when we all agreed to the god forsaken strike we were lead to believe tat Mr. Short was completely behind us, as well as the Teamsters.
Now you get a smattering of Teamsters and the IATSE writing scolding letters making us look like assholes because we are.
Get rid of guild management before we start looking like red state republicans backing a the Bush campaign.
Comment by not-so-proud-to-be-a-guild-member — November 15, 2007 @ 7:50 am
I support the strike 100 percent, but I’ve said from the beginning that Verrone and Young, while doing what’s necessary given the situation, seem to be enjoying their “revolutionary” moment in the sun. I find the actions and courage of my brothers and sisters on the pickets inspiring. My leadership, eh.
Comment by Sammy Glick — November 15, 2007 @ 8:12 am
Mr. Young needs to get his arrogance in check. He’s doing his membership a great disservice.
Comment by down to earth girl — November 15, 2007 @ 8:26 am
What it boils down to is that IATSE and WGA are just nonprofit versions of CAA and UTA. Really, the more the unions have to compete for workers, the better the chances are that workers will eventually get some kind of decent representation.
Comment by edit spouse — November 15, 2007 @ 8:27 am
There is a very simple solution to the strike. We should let the audience decide. When internet downloads happen, a small writers box should be added to the checkout cart. The customer will have the choice whether or not he wants to pay the $0.04 to the writer(s) by checking the box. The $0.04 will be added to the download purchase. (As an added bonus, the customer would also have the option to pay more than the $0.04.)
Radiohead has done this plan with great success with their latest cd album. They are averaging $6.00 a download and getting more profits than if they went through the normal distribution channels.
Such a measure would require a leap of faith, but it might be a bit better to try than to strike for six months.
Comment by Michael — November 15, 2007 @ 8:43 am
I’m in IATSE and I can tell you from my own lack of minimum guaranteed rate that Tom Short is more interested in glad handing the studio heads then he is properly representing his union members. He does not speak for me.
Comment by JB — November 15, 2007 @ 8:46 am
No matter ones position on this it is not a good thing that the WGA is fighting with 2 of it’s sister unions at this crucial juncture. These spats do not reflect well on the WGA leadership. It sounds like Shorts warnings to Verrone were indeed prophetic and perhaps we should pay attention to his concerns about Young.
Like their friends at Membership First, currently running SAG, the current leadership at the WGA wanted a “get tough” approach with this negotiation. I would have preferred a “get smart” approach. Membership First were the ones responsible for the SAG Commercial strike that dragged on for weeks but provided zero gain in the end. It’s interesting that both unions have brought in outsiders who have never worked or negotiated in this industry.
The WGA have played all their cards and now all the unemployed are left holding the bag walking in circles hoping for a resolution from the DGA. Who among us was not bouyed by the news that the DGA might be stepping in early? If you were then you have to accept that the WGA has thus far failed.
Why hasn’t the WGA provided a clear response to the ad placed by the AMPTP or the statement put out by Disney? Both missives clearly challenge the WGA’s basic reason for walking out.
IATSE struck Broadway last Saturday and will be back at the table next Saturday. Many believe that it will be over by Thanksgiving. Now that is a scenario I can deal with.
Tom
Comment by Tom — November 15, 2007 @ 8:47 am
sickofthis,
I’m also sickened by the party atmosphere. I’m embarassed by my fellow writers who insist on celebrating while thousands of BTLs lose their jobs. The lip service they pay the suffering IATSE members doesn’t ring true.
Many working writers that I have spoken to are privately expressing second thoughts about this strike, not only regarding their own loss of income; but also about the collateral damage that will heap misery on thousands of innocent lives.
Respectfully,
Sickofthistoo
Comment by sickofthistoo — November 15, 2007 @ 9:02 am
As a former IATSE member, I can attest to Mr. Short’s selling his own people short.
My former union had NO MINIMUM rate, which resulted in me working for less that $9/hour on a UNION show. There were also no limits on my hours, so, in addition to making less than a guy at IN-N-OUT burger, I also received NO OVERTIME. Thanks Mr. Short, you’re a great leader. Needless to say, I am no longer in the union that gave me nothing except a bill for my dues.
If only IATSE actually fought for something, they might be able to work with powerful unions like WGA, DGA and SAG rather than at cross-purposes.
Comment by Former IATSE member — November 15, 2007 @ 9:09 am
Here in the middle we have a name for the kind of guys called Tom Short…SCAB.
Comment by P. Lee — November 15, 2007 @ 9:10 am
Right on! You call this a strike? You call this Picketing?
Bring your child to strike day. Striking With The Stars, sounds like the next reality show slated to air right after Dancing with the Stars. Musicians performing!? Are you kidding? This is more like Woodstock than a labor dispute. When you see the writers on picket line they all seem so happy and jovial. But the topper, the absolute topper is that they only picket for 8 hours per day! 2 four hour shifts! Is that the limit of their commitment? 8 Hours? They are about to shut down a huge portion of this industry and purposefully sacrifice the livelyhoods of thousands of crew people and all they can be bothered for is 8 hours a day. Industry members will lose their jobs, and if this drags on long enough, they will have to steal from their own retirements savings, struggle to make the rent, disappoint their kids, fight with their spouses, some will even get divorced over this and all the writers can do is give up 2 four hour shifts? How important is this fight to you? You have made it very important to us! A picket line is supposed to stop people from crossing it. It is supposed to be disrusptive. That is the point. You are not supposed to politely step aside to let people pass unless you don’t believe in what you are fighting for. Stand in the street and stop traffic. Take the damn Jay-walking ticket and make us believe that this is important enough to you to cause us to lose our incomes! I hope this strike is settled quickly.
Comment by Frustrated — November 15, 2007 @ 9:18 am
Hey, Proud Teamster,
I would support other picket lines, but when I’m on a staff I usually am responsible for bringing the brie. And writers get SO angry when their brie isn’t there on time.
Hope that makes you understand just a bit better our plight.
Comment by DA in LA — November 15, 2007 @ 9:24 am
Hey Sickofthis -
Well, you are bitter and angry, so I believe you’re a writer.
But, mister you are so misinformed. What pickets are you on? What first hand walking in this strike have you experienced? Where I have been (Sunset and Gower/ CBS Radford for 9 days), I’ve spent nothing but time with really thoughtful writers who are united, but anxious to get back to work. (most make a full living from writing, some oscar winners, some not)
And yes, I too, make a living. I currently have 4 projects I’d love to keep working on and get paid on. Your sweeping generalizations are laughable.
So what if some pickets pull the media via use of celebrity - it gets the cameras out, lets mid america see what this is. And if some people want to bring their kids, dogs, have a gay gate - well, why the hell not? Writers, I’ve learned, are pretty indie thinkers - they will do things their own way.
Some chant, some hate to chant, some dance, some scowl, some stand - who cares. The point is we all believe fighting for the new media issue. But you might actually have to get out of your house to witness it for yourself.
Your research blows. Almost every writer I KNOW, from moderate to radical, feels the exact opposite as you suggest - that we were forced here by the AMPTP, not the guild.
Remember, guild membership voted for this. We are not Verrone’s robots.
Anyway, I invite you out to any of the pickets I’ve been on to see for yourself. Yeah - as if walking in a circle for four hours is anyone’s idea of a party.
Or maybe it’s just cozier to lob insults from behind the safety of your computer. thanks, brother or sister or whoever you are.
Comment by girl scrib still walking — November 15, 2007 @ 9:26 am
I love how when Finke presents any type of facts - ACTUAL numbers of what the studios are making off of DVDs or downloaded material - she is accused of not being in the “middle”. Just because someone speaks the truth doesn’t mean they are taking “sides” - because even if all the name-calling and bitterness and fear that is swirling around all this, the numbers speak for themselves and the WGA has every right to ask for more during a contract talk.
Comment by skoonix — November 15, 2007 @ 10:36 am
Good for you, sickofthis. I am getting pretty tired of the “Its my way or the highway” attitude. On this site, you either agree with the writers or you are clearly a corporate shill and/or troll. Nice. You people are so good at convincing us non-writers that you aren’t just as much a part of the problem as the studios. Honest. For reals.
Comment by katy — November 15, 2007 @ 10:58 am
Sick of This,
I couldn’t agree more.
Are there any other writers out there who are absolutely disgusted by “Kids’ Day” and “Celebrity Day” and “Gay Day”?
Is this a strike or a social event?
How can we possibly be taken seriously as a union when our leadership is orchestrating these ridiculous side shows?
Do strikers in other industries have “Kids Days” or “Celebrity Days” or “Gay Days”?
I’m struggling to pay a mortgage and support my family and every other day I get some new mass e-mail from the WGA about what “fun”, themed strike event is coming up. It’s a fuckin’ insult.
We look exactly like the spoiled, over-paid, prima donnas that Nick Counter portrays us as.
If we want to be taken seriously, we need to take this seriously.
We deserve better than this from our leadership.
Comment by PowerRanger — November 15, 2007 @ 10:59 am
Great story…and it underscores what happens when union leaders get full of themselves. We, the members, pay.
SAG members: take a lesson here. Doug Allen wants a war just as badly as did anyone at WGA.
Still - it’s not WGA but the producers who are the real bad guys here. And one can’t help but wonder when the producers are going to figure out that they’re being manipulated by Murdoch and Fox, which have reality rather than scripted shows as their biggest product.
While Fox plays hardball and tries to convince the rest of the companies which use scripted entertainment that it would ruin the world if a few pennies of the companies’ billions in internet revenue went to writers and actors…Fox is off loading up on reality shows.
Hello, Les Moonves? How long are you going to let Rupert Murdoch run you into the ground?
Comment by Other Coast — November 15, 2007 @ 11:08 am
Nikki, do you really believe that you’re in the middle? It’s hard to believe you’re serious about that. Almost everything you post is from the union’s perspective (including what subsets are meeting where and when - one could be forgiven for mistaking your site for the WGA’s own). Your criticism of the trades and the NY Times for being in the pockets of studios and networks would be more credible if you weren’t so blatantly dedicated to championing the WGA.
I am sympathetic to the writers’ demands and believe that they will eventually get a stake in internet revenues. I’m not sure however that either side realizes how destructive this strike will be, especially to television, a medium at the cusp of a major transformation.
When shows start disappearing or become available only in repeats, viewers will abandon both network and cable television in droves and some won’t ever return. This will likely accelarate what’s bound to happen anyway, but the reckless refusal to resolve their differences that both AMPTP and WGA are engaged in is only risking the obsolescence of both.
Comment by E — November 15, 2007 @ 11:11 am
Why is it that the WGA is the only hollywood union to get consistently bad deals? Every other union in town negotiates, makes some gains and takes some loses. I’m a member of WGA and DGA (20 years in both) and IMHO the WGA has never put together s decent team of smart negotiaters… and they don’t have one now. Let the DGA get in there, negotiate a deal and we can all move on.
Comment by anon — November 15, 2007 @ 11:18 am
Hey sickofthis,
Who are you, if you’re a writer? Who/what do you work for?
My name is Patrick Meighan, and I work for “Family Guy.”
I support the strike. So does the entire writing staff, all of whom (of course) are working writers.
Am I *enjoying* the strike?
No way.
Speaking for myself, I picketed for 5 hours outside Fox Studios this morning, choking on diesel fumes, for no money… and rolled outta bed at 4am to do so. Eff that ess. I’d *much* rather skip into the “Family Guy” production office at 10:45 each morning, eat a bagel, and get to work dreaming of new ways to abuse Meg (ah, Meg). So, no, it’s not like striking is how writers get their jollies. But this is a fight the studios forced on us, and it’s a fight the writers will take to the finish. Seriously, to the last effing breath.
Patrick Meighan
Culver City, CA
Comment by Patrick Meighan — November 15, 2007 @ 11:20 am
We are supposed to be surprised that a preening “rock star” more or less screwed over the roadies?
That cajoling big-named actors who don’t happen to be on set this week, to walk for 60 minutes and sample pizze and doughnuts and more or less do a junket, is somehow helping writers?
WGA members elected this guy, and naively gave him strike authority, not realizing that his interest was in being a “rock star” and star-f*cking on the picket line. Pretty good for a guy whose last gig was telling mexican immigrant garment workers that he could get them an extra 7 cents per hour.
The studios and networks cannot believe their good fortune.
WGA members, I’m sorry for what you are being made to endure, for this preener.
BD
Comment by BD — November 15, 2007 @ 11:27 am
sickofthis, you’re simply lying about 90 percent of the strikers not having worked in ages. The vast majority of the people on the picket lines I’ve met are either from various TV staffs or working feature writers, including bona fide A-listers. And not a single person I’ve seen is enjoying giving up his or her income– if people are trying to organize themes and have a little bit of fun, it’s because it’s damned boring on the picket line, and smart, creative people are going to look for a way to make the hours pass a little more quickly– and maybe get a little media attention to boot. Strikes suck. Putting crews and assistants and other people you care about out of work sucks. But bending over and getting reamed on a bad contract that will doom the next two generations of writers to financial insecurity sucks even worse.
Comment by Zack — November 15, 2007 @ 11:29 am
Not to change the subject here to something irrelevant, but that picture of Verrone at the podium in his red shirt is not the most flattering. He looks like a shaved-stache Hitler. OK, back to bashing on the baddies.
Comment by Papa — November 15, 2007 @ 11:43 am
While I may be an exec (quaking in my boots) I think the writer who is commenting on the kids, stars, et… has a point. Being from the Midwest I am used to seeing strikes where the people are out there rain/sleet/snow. This looks more like a party and I think it dilutes the seriousness of the issues and makes one question the seriousness. Also feature writers that I know are thinking that this a TV strike and some are getting a bit annoyed by this and have begun to work on their assignments (some actually never stopped).
Comment by fearful exec — November 15, 2007 @ 11:46 am
I got Thomas Short’s letter via email and I think he has a right to be pissed at the WGA leadership. He’s right to be pissed at the AMPTP as well. If you want to fault him for not taking on both sides at once, fine. But his jabs at the WGA do ring true.
Another thing, for those complaining about the IA’s contracts- a little dose of reality. The IA’s wages and working conditions were very, very good over the decades, particularly into the ’70s and ’80s. A part of that was because Hollywood was something of a closed shop. Thanks to the very specialized nature of film work, and the geographical concentration of talent, studios simply couldn’t just pack up and move to Iowa or Mexico or wherever labor was cheaper. The point isn’t what people deserve to get:the point is that IA workers were in a greater position to get and keep it.
However, starting in the ’80s, through today, other regions with pools of labor showed up. Some in other states, some in other countries, but all of them cheaper than the NY or LA IA (in some cases aided by rebates or exchange rates). Over this time the IA’s primary purpose, it seems to me (an IA member), has been to create contracts that compete with these labor pools. Yes the rates have gone way down and the conditions are ‘worse’, but the primary thing is that IA people keep working, and keep getting their PH & W. And that has been the case. I have worked on movies that have only stayed in town (LA) due to these “bargin” contracts.
So shake your fist at Tom Short and the IA if you like, but while you’re at it, shake it at state rebates, foreign rebates, currency exchanges, and the fact that there are a lot more people working in this business in a lot more places than was the case in the ’60s and ’70s. This isn’t 1977, with just 3 major TV networks, anymore.
Comment by PG — November 15, 2007 @ 11:59 am
To Sickofthis,
As an IATSE member and out of work crew person. I thank you for your comments. It is hard to want to support the WGA while they are out partying on the picket lines. Hundreds of us have been laid off and by next week hundreds more. I have not read any comments posted by the WGA showing any concern or compassion for us. We have had to make the ultimate sacrifice for you writers and we didnt get a voice in it.
Comment by laid offIAmember — November 15, 2007 @ 12:19 pm
I second Mr EGuy’s comments. The AMPTP wanted this strike as well. The fall season is a failure, and a strike gives them cover to wipe the slate clean. If the producers were serious, there would be a deal. Look at what happened Sunday night before the strike. Look at what’s happened since then. They haven’t come back to the table. They don’t want to.. at least for six weeks. That’s when the studios can LEGALLY kill expensive production deals. Wiping the slate clean.
Nikki overlooked one thing in her reporting: Short and and Verrone were at odds over America’s Next Top Model” because Short went back on a promise. They met, and Short agreed to honor the WGA’s campaign to have the writers in the union. Where Verrone and Young stumbled was in adding editors to the mix. This pissed off Short. He fired his salvo (with the help of Ken Mok and the CW) and got the editors under IATSE and the writers fired. It was a misstep by Verrone and Young to trust a man like Short. They should’ve known that a man with a history of selling out his own union would easily sell out another.
But there’s another clog in the machine: AFTRA. My sources tell me that AFTRA reached out to Verrone and Young when they were elected and were rebuffed. When AFTRA’s new president was elected, every union president called to congratulate… except the WGA. When the “America’s Top Model” fiasco was brewing, Verrone and Young wanted AFTRA to force Tyra Banks to come out in favor of the WGA’s fight. AFTRA, in not so many words, told the WGA to fuck off. This scenario is now being played out with the Ellen Degeneres affair. AFTRA is backing Ellen while trying not to railroad the WGA like IATSE is doing… even though the WGA is acting less than gentlemanly.
What this boils down to is that neither side knows how to size up the other the right way. This could’ve been settled in the first week, but both sides let ego and delusions of grandeur get in the way. Both sides have a motive for a strike… it’s just not being discussed in the press. We won’t know the whole story until much later… after all that blood on the street has been cleaned up.
Comment by DawgSki — November 15, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
sickofthis, I’m sorry you’re so angry. But your assertion that “90% of the strikers” are essentially not working writers indicates to me that either you’ve not actually walked the picket lines, or are just astroturfing. My experience is that your number isn’t just hyberbole, it’s flat incorrect. I have talked with many, many people on the lines over the last two weeks of trudging, at three different locations, and at least 90% of the writers I’ve met were working regularly (as I was) before the strike. Now obviously, plenty of WGA members don’t work all the time, or work infrequently, or even haven’t sold something “since the Pleistocene” — but that’s not who’s out on the lines for the most part. And “Party atmosphere”? Perhaps you need to go to better parties. I’ve walked the lines every day. I hate it. Every single person I’ve walked with hates it. I have met not one person who’s having the time of their life. Just because we chat with people and try to do what we can to pass the time as pleasantly as possible doesn’t mean this is fun. Nobody is happy about people losing jobs, nobody wants to shuffle in slow ovals in driveways. We want the two sides to talk. We want a fair contract. That’s all.
Comment by ratherbeworking — November 15, 2007 @ 12:26 pm
I have to say that the blatant showboating of the WGA leaders (plus the fact that both sides weren’t FORCED to negotiate at the beginning of the year as opposed to waiting until the day before the strike is called) is seriously turning me off ever joining the guild. Not to mention their equally blatant mafioso tactics. I’ll go fi-core thanks.
Comment by Sherilyn — November 15, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
It’s fascinating to me how many writers have a hard time believing that a WGA member disagrees with the decision to strike. If you don’t get misty-eyed at the sight of Verrone standing on a podium screaming “We’re kicking corporate ass!” well, you must be a corporate shill or a plant or a scab or whatever… Well, there are a lot of us who think Verrone and his chief negotiator are a pair of reckless fucking idiots, and our numbers are growing every day.
For the person who asked if I’ve walked the line: I picketed in front of Fox all last week, four hours a day — except for Friday. I’m glad I missed Friday. I saw the video of Jesse Jackson and the Rage Against the Machine guy and almost threw up on my keyboard.
When I did picket, I spoke to a lot of writers… many were for the WGA’s actions, but I was surprised how many writers I found who were APPALLED by the leadership’s decision to go on strike while in the midst of the negotiation. One of my friends (who’s an A-list writer with an Oscar sitting on his desk) likened WGAE’s 11th hour refusal to put off the strike to a drunk uncle who has taken the keys to the car. Everyone’s shouting — Don’t drive off! Stop him! But the Uncle hits the gas and says… No way, dude I’m going!
And that’s just what the WGAE did… launched a strike while negotiations were under way. Don’t anyone tell me the leadership wasn’t just ITCHING and DREAMING for this, their moment in the sun. And don’t tell me, like I heard from some of the negotiators at the session, that the Producers were being disrespectful, and therefore we had to strike. I don’t care if Nick Counter had his pants down and was mooning our negotiators from across the table… YOU DON’T START A STRIKE — WHICH WILL THROW HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE OUT OF WORK — UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE NO CHOICE.
I believe that, before this is over, the WGA leadership needs to get down on their knees and deliver a tear-filled apology to every single working person in this town.
One last comment, if you want to see who’s driving the strike, go find that Youtube video of the strike captains sanctimoniously pontificating on their reasons for volunteering and Google their credits.
Very revealing, and good for a laugh.
Comment by sickofthis — November 15, 2007 @ 1:29 pm
After reading Mr. Short”s comments, it confirms my thoughts about this strike. It was going to happen, and at any cost. That cost being the loss of income to the innocent people working in and business supporting the industry. Yes, it may be the writers who create the product, but if it was not for the crews that work their collective butts off, there would still be no product. Thank you for forcing these people to dig deep into their savings to make ends meet.
Talk about negotiating in bad faith, try no faith. I know some very talented writers, and I supported them in their cause. I can no longer support them. I can’t wait to hear who they blame for losing their homes or jobs because they put their trust in two power starved idiots.
Comment by o — November 15, 2007 @ 1:33 pm
HAVING FUN YET,
I THINK THE TEAMSTERS HAD A SAY IN THE LAST IA CONTRACT.
TOM SHORT WALKED AWAY LETTING THE TEAMSTERS HANDLE IT.
DO YOU WRITERS STILL GET RESIDAULS WHILE ON STRIKE I THINK SO.
SO WHAT DOES THE BELOW THE LINE GET????????
SEE YA IN JULY 08
OUT OF WORK
Comment by gmanddGdddddDDD — November 15, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
wow, IATSE members that are SO pissed off about being out of work? You have every right to be mad and scared, but armchair quarterbacking isn’t gonna do anything. Either get out there and help the writers on the picket line make a big enough noise that the producers sit up and take notice that EVERYONE is being affected, or go volunteer the producers (ugh). If my livelihood was on the line I’d sure as hell pick a side and ACTIVELY work to get this resolved.
And as far as the criticisms on creative picketing? Well, this town has a lot of apathetic people…if calling a day “Gay Day” (I admit, it seems a little silly-how about “Blond Day”?) gets people off their asses and out there, I guess the WGA thinks that is more important than being construed as frivolous. Striking sucks. But you have to be miserable on the picket line to prove a point? I give props to the people out there who are trying to make it bearable. It’s good practice if this thing drags on for a while.
Comment by tordue — November 15, 2007 @ 1:48 pm
I wonder if sickofthis or anybody else sickened by all the “fun” we’re having on the picket lines is actually out there walking. It’s a boring drag. But 3,000 plus writers are out there every, single day. And the “90% haven’t worked…” number is just ridiculous. Many of the core groups at the gates come from TV shows, with others added on who are screenwriters or between shows. As far as the “special days” go — they get the press out. Attractive actors can often say things and get them heard — SAG and WGA are together on this. If somebody laughs while trudging around on a four hour shift, why is that offensive? Breaking down and crying or looking miserable isn’t going to get us a good contract.
Comment by Another Hyphenate — November 15, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
Amen to sick of this,
Coming from one who is a co-producer and production manager, I am heartsick looking at the faces of my crew who know they have only a week or two left to work. Believe me when I say there is little to no sympathy for the WGA that I have seen. While I may not disagree with the fundamental issues at hand (I admit freely I am not an expert on the residual system), I am annoyed by the path the WGA is taking. Dave Young’s comments highlight what we all know-he is NOT experienced in this business and is not the right man to negotiate with the studios. Most of the folks I know believe this strike could have been averted and lay the blame on Verrone and Young. To add insult to injury, we are watching party day on the picket lines every day. Give us an effing break. I love reading how striker’s feet hurt after being on them 4 hours walking the picket line. PLEASE! Most crew members are on their feet 12+ hours EVERY DAY.
Whether the issues behind strike are righteous or not-the strike itself is a circus.
I really hope this is over soon-before all my friends, including writers, lose everything they have.
Comment by annoyed by the whole thing — November 15, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
I’m another one of those “unemployed writers” that sickofthis went after. I’m actually unemployed because we finished a pilot the week before the strike. And yet I voted for it, even though it could kill my pilot. Because this is important.
As far as film writers still working, Mr. Executive, I actually don’t believe anything “executives” say. I began that a long, long time ago. I’m sure there are scabs working. I’m sure a few of them will go down for it. The Guild already has several names they are investigating. They are making their beds and they can lie in it. If they actually think that internet content will at some point not include films, then they are pretty stupid.
I am also a member of SAG and AFTRA. AFTRA is a joke and undermines SAG constantly. It is a useless union that should not be taken seriously and I have no problem with Verrone ignoring them. AFTRA is a part of the problem, not the solution.
Comment by DA in LA — November 15, 2007 @ 2:23 pm
A harmless digression, but I have to: check out the comment informing us that we need to take the strike “seriously” and not like a “ridiculous side-show” and then keep reading until you discover it was penned by … Power Ranger!
Gave me the first big laugh in ten days. But the point is…
I think people outside LA get that writers are a little wacky sometimes. To breath some humor and humanity into a dire situation is, you know, kind of what we DO. Hard day at work, go home, flip on Family Guy or Earl or Samantha Who?
The pain is felt AND acknowledged on the picket line, and more so, it really does reach people seeing us on TV. I know because I asked my sister.
There’s no rulebook for this kind of thing. It shouldn’t be a surprise that now that we’re in it, we’re still exercising our inherent addiction to make shit up (Gay Day, Kid Day, Star Day) as we go along.
Comment by Concerned — November 15, 2007 @ 2:34 pm
Patrick Meighan - why don’t you let everyone know how much you get paid? Then we’ll see how much pity you get.
Comment by Lotsa Money — November 15, 2007 @ 2:44 pm
This bad blood between Tommy Short & the WGA started LONG before the America’s Next Top Model strike. Short is a management man… a gladhandler who sells out his union members to help out the big corporations. His IATSE Local 839, aka “The Animator’s Guild” sells itself to corporations as a “prophylactic” against the WGA — as in “sign a deal with out weak, ineffectual, toothless union and you can lock out the stronger, more expensive WGA forever.” His own organizers eagerly brag about this “prophylactic” sales pitch! For the last 20 years, we animation writers have been the victims of Tommy Short and his syndicate union… getting paid a fifth of what our live-action compatriots make for the same work, watching our real-world income drop over the last 20 years, earning no residuals for our work, and getting clipped for IATSE’s lousy pension, all while watching as our union cooperates with these greedy corporations as they outsource more and more of our jobs to Canada, China & Korea. Just to be clear, these are the same AMPTP studios who are making more money than ever before off of animation… record amounts, increasing yearly… and yet Tom Short’s local 839 walks away from every negotiation with inflation-adjusted pay cuts, coverage losses and pension & health cuts, all while smiling big and claiming that once again a “disastrous” strike has been avoided. Great! With “friends” like Tommy Short, who needs enemies? I hope that no one in the WGA is stupid enough to fall for Short’s slimy propaganda… if they ever start to, then they should recall the story of Linda Woolverton, one of the three writers of “The Lion King” — paid $30,000 to write the film, and who has never earned another penny off of that film which has grossed over $2 Billion to date.
Comment by Animation Writer — November 15, 2007 @ 2:49 pm
The writers have been getting screwed by the studios/networks for years. They never seem to learn that if you want to win on the business battlefield you have to be as accomplished at business strategy as the corporate CEOs.
The WGA could have waited to strike with SAG/DGA next year, but the WGA leadership believed that if they didn’t strike now the AMPTP would do an end-around and go to the DGA first (and the DGA would sell out the WGA). As it turns out, that’s exectly what the AMPTP is going to do anyway. As an added bonus, the studios/networks get to invoke force majeure and jettison $1 billion in costs and overhead (5-year impact) at exactly the right time to offset lost revenues. The studio/network CFOs are smiling ear-to-ear like they just won the lottery.
There will be no talks with the WGA until the DGA and SAG are at the table. How DGA and SAG will react remains to be seen, but it doesn’t change the fact that there will be no WGA negotiations for the next six months. This strike will accomplish nothing that waiting to strike with SAG/DGA wouldn’t have accomplished. Thousands of people are going to lose their jobs for no justifiable strategic reason. I’m deeply saddened to see it.
Comment by exstudioguywholoveswriters — November 15, 2007 @ 3:10 pm
Thomas Short is not a real union leader — he’s a shill for the AMPTP. That statement could have been written by Nick Counter. (Hey, maybe Short and Dave McNary should compare notes on how it feels to be Nick Counter’s sock puppet.) And he’s betrayed his own membership by threatening them if they honor the writers’ picket lines. What a tool.
Comment by ashley — November 15, 2007 @ 3:15 pm
For some history on how Tommy Short attacks fellow unions and sells out his own:
http://sagwatchdog.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi/read/598
The latter article is mind-boggling - Tommy even short-changed his own mother.
Comment by collaterally damaged — November 15, 2007 @ 3:22 pm
To the Writers’ Guild members -
Please ignore the psychotic ravings of that asshole Tom Short.
Short does not speak for his IATSE members, only for his friends the Producers.
The vast majority of rank-and-file IATSE members support you in your strike, because YOUR issues are OUR issues, too.
Short has sold us out in every contract negotiations since he stole the Presidency without an election, and he will continue to do so.
Short has never worked in this industry, and has no idea what a labor union is all about. Fortunately there are REAL Labor Unions in this industry - WGA, SAG, DGA.
We IATSE members support your strike efforts and we wish we had leadership with some balls.
Instead, we got Short.
Fraternally,
Douglas C. Hart
IATSE Local 600, 33 years, First Camera Assistant
IATSE Local 52, 36 years, Grip
Member, Local 600 National Executive Board, and High on Short’s “Enemies List,” as he is on mine.
Comment by Douglas C. Hart — November 15, 2007 @ 3:22 pm
folks, if studios aren’t concerned about public opinion, why bother taking out specious full page ads bashing WGA, or issuing bogus press releases that likewise and typically twist facts, or planting such transparently obvious trolls online to virally demoralize strikers.
pathetic
WGA stands strong, for real people.
Comment by fromtheinside — November 15, 2007 @ 3:38 pm
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… I support what the WGA is fighting for. I have picketed. But there is absolutely no excuse for the way the majority of writers cheered in glee– and when I mean glee I mean cheers, whoops, hollars, screams of delight, I was there and I heard them– when the WGA leadership announced the strike at that fateful meeting at the Convention Center. A majority of the WGA’s membership is culpable for the “rock star” adulation that Young is receiving. It was clear to me from the get go that “strike happy” was not far off the mark… again, I support the cause and I will be a footsoldier because I believe it is necessary, but I will always be ashamed of that reaction in the meeting that just echoes the feeling so many BTLers feel on every set in Hollywood: talented, hard-working above the line people can really be clueless as hell sometimes.
Comment by Tony S — November 15, 2007 @ 3:45 pm
My question is this: is the purpose of management not to effectively negotiate a deal? If neither of the parties are capable of doing that (much less talking at all) then haven’t they failed in their management and leadership roles?
I’m all for us writers getting our fair shake of the internet, but the more pressing matter (as far as I’m concerned) was the DVD residuals; w/ TV and film being increasingly profitable via the Home Video market and DVDs costing peanuts to produce, a bigger share of the pie is completely owed. When our heads at the WGA proceeded to pull this contract point in favor of getting a deal done, I was completely flabbergasted. Now Verrone vacillates between saying the DVD issue is back on the table to the proposal being the same as it was when negotiations broke down once and for all. Resolution on the DVD issue is every bit as vital as the internet residual issue.
Someone mentioned the personal effect this would have on thousands of industry workers, and unfortunately this is being completely overlooked in favor of Stamos waving a poster board around or “we’re fabulous so let’s strike together” quasi-celebrations.
Replace Counter, replace Verrone and Young and get people in the room who actually want to see resolution to this issue before it does irreparable damage to an already tenuous industry. (Or at the least someone buy the 3 each a copy of Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People).
The gathering cloud on the horizon is a once prosperous but now rapidly marginalizing industry expediting its demise through self-cannibalization that’s failure to see the actuality of the Emperor’s New Clothes makes the Emperor look rational.
As a frustrated and increasingly disillusioned writer, I find fault w/ all parties involved for failing at the one thing they’re supposedly in position to do: be effective. Quit the theatrics, (Jesse Jackson? Seriously?), drop the arrogance (i.e. anything Nick Counter has said in any interview) and realize that there is more at stake than the bottom line and that’s people’s lives which, w/ every passing day, are pushed irrevocably closer to the brink.
Comment by Thomas Paine — November 15, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
The 12 cents SAG gets is divided among the entire cast ………… usually 25-175 people. I’m not even sure it is 12 cents.
Comment by WGA supporter — November 15, 2007 @ 4:04 pm
If Tom Short Is suggesting that only self-aggrandizing idiots lead their membership to strike, hasn’t he noticed that his own members (the Local One Broadway Stagehands) are on strike in NYC?! Why isn’t anyone mentioning this?
Comment by JC — November 15, 2007 @ 4:41 pm
Did anyone else find this as funny as me?
From Patrick Meighan: “I picketed for 5 hours outside Fox Studios this morning, choking on diesel fumes, for no money… and rolled outta bed at 4am to do so. …… I’d *much* rather skip to the “Family Guy” production office at 10:45 each morning, eat a bagel, and get to work dreaming of new ways to abuse Meg.”
So you presumably voted for the strike and now you’re complaining that you had to spend 5 whole hours in a day picketing? I bet all the crew folks who are out of work feel your pain. That’s almost half as long as they work in a typical day, when they’re not laid off due to a strike. It must be tough for someone who’s used to rolling into work after 10:30 to wake up early and walk around chanting for 5 hours. I bet they don’t even have craft services. Thank god for the have celebrities and fans delivering food!
Comment by not a writer — November 15, 2007 @ 5:24 pm
Back around 2000, a huge group of prominent “Animation Writers” working on the plethora of shows covered not by the WGA, but by the craptacular ANIMATION GUILD banded together to ask 839 to let us go, so that our work could rightfully be covered by WGA deals. The WGA was behind us, and Short came out to meet with us. He arrived late, flanked by a pair of thuggish associates (some would say “goons”, but I’m not saying that, cuz I don’t want them to kill me) and after impatiently listening to several impassioned statements by veteran writers, cut us off and basically said we could F*** our fancy ideas, and that IATSE would never let us go. He went on to tell one of the writers, who was rightly upset, “Don’t have a heart attack!” Class act, that guy.
Comment by Another Writer from the Animation Trenches — November 15, 2007 @ 5:28 pm
Say what you will about Mr. Short, he’s been right about every aspect of this strike, beginning with his predictions made almost a year ago that Verrone and Young had set their sights on a strike and nothing was going to stop them.
Comment by figlatin — November 15, 2007 @ 7:06 pm
Dear Patrick — “to the effin death”,
You are the very definition of a drama queen. I was also picketing at Fox. No one was choking on diesel fumes. It was actually quite pleasant, if maybe a little warm. But there was bottled water. Cookies. Power bars. Lots of friends chatting with friends. A lovely time. If that’s hard work for you, then you need a real wake up call.
Maybe you should get a wittle oxygen bottle to walk the line tomorrow. We wouldn’t want you to hurt your wittle lungs, breathing all that nasty air!
You want to see people working hard, get out of your air conditioned office and visit a set some day. Or a location shoot.
You want to see REAL picketers, watch the teamsters go at it some day. Those guys know how to throw a strike. I had the unfortunate bad luck to be helming a low budget production many years ago that was struck by the teamsters… buddy, that’s a union line you don’t want to cross. The writers… with their lattes and power bar and Che T-shirts (I kid you not, some 45 year old woman was wearing one on the first day of the pickets) not only do you want to cross it, you want to run them down with a truck.
Comment by sickofthis — November 15, 2007 @ 8:04 pm
“I was surprised how many writers I found who were APPALLED by the leadership’s decision to go on strike while in the midst of the negotiation.”
Yeah, me too. Every writer I’ve talked to thought we should have gone on negotiating. Now, of course, that would have given the studios the opportunity to finish stockpiling enough scripts to finish out the TV season and shoot movies for 5 years, and would have been an idiotic and suicidal move, but that’s okay, because endless strike? Endless party! Damn, we shot ourselves in the foot there.
“Don’t anyone tell me the leadership wasn’t just ITCHING and DREAMING for this, their moment in the sun”
Yeah! Remember when the AMPTP offered the WGA a deal thorough back channels? Did teh WGA leap at it, even though they had to give up one of THE major issues involved here? Oh, hell no. They told the AMPTP to screw right off. Now, if the WGA had agreed to pull DVDs off the table, you’d have to be a complete #@$%^&* moron to believe that they hadn’t done everything they possibly could to avoid a strike, including taking a major major hit on concessions. But, since the WGA said screw off….Oh, wait? They didn’t say screw off? They immediately capitulated? Well, okay, but….I got it! They didn’t propose either repealing the 13th amendment or working for free and having Guild members pay the networks and studios for allowing us to work. If that doesn’t prove bad faith and being strike happy beyond all reason, I don’t know what does. They wanted this strike no matter what, and agreeing to concede so much actually proves that! Uh, somehow, in a parallel universe, or after the lobotomy.
Comment by Yeahwell — November 15, 2007 @ 9:44 pm
Uh, huh, sick of this. First the strikers weren’t working, now they’re not working hard enough. You’ll find something to whine about no matter what. Weren’t you just whining about how much you want to get back to work and make all the big money? But Patrick says he wants to as well, and somehow that makes him a big baby. And if the WGA had a hardline picketing style, you’d be the first to whine and cry about blacklising and mafia tactics and likewise bullshit (which, of course, was undoubtedly exactly what you said when confronted with the Teamsters’ picket you’re now disingenuously praising). We get it.
yeah, figlatin, Short’s right about everything, especially about how the members of AMPTP have deep, beautiful, soulful eyes he just gets lost in. Which explains why they can do no wrong in his eyes. He gets such a sweet, longing sensation in his nether regions when he sells out his own members, and it’s appalling, simply appalling that the WGA don’t feel that same passion for toadying and being a stooge and a sell-out.
Comment by Anon — November 15, 2007 @ 10:02 pm
Patrick Meighan should be Patrick Moron. You’re complaining about having to work a 5 hour day on the picket line. Wow! You easily make $400,000/year for the 25 weeks/year you work and you have the nerve to come on here asking for pity. You are a sick greedy bastard!
Comment by Sad :( — November 16, 2007 @ 12:06 am
The people in the video game industry are laughing at the fools on both sides of this strike, the advertising revenue, and the production of new shows won’t carry on at the previous scale once this is all said and done.
The primary audience (18 to 35) will have migrated even further away from scripted entertainment by the time this is all over.
All you’re doing is increasing out collective bottom lines.
Comment by Vic Gomez — November 16, 2007 @ 3:35 am
Anon,
I never said that Short was a good guy or that he was right about everything. I simply stated what has now been proven to be an irrefutable fact: Short was right about Verrone’s and Young’s ambitions regarding the strike.
Comment by figlatin — November 16, 2007 @ 6:34 am
Patrick Meighan from Family Guy, glad you posted. I have a question for you.
Family Guy is the most bootlegged pirated show on the internet. There are around 20 24 HOUR FAMILY GUY stations on the internet, that you or FOX don’t get a dime from, and never will. I would post them here, but this board doesn’t take urls or something.
One of them is featured periodically on the TVU player you can download from China. It’s a freakin’ all day Family Guy station.
I guess my point is, Family Guy writers and The Office writers maybe, at this moment, have the most to benefit from this strike from the internet and downloads, and there isn’t even a significant amount of revenue for either of you, because I would say the vast, vast majority of people steal it, and the majority of them don’t even know or care that they are stealing anything.
This whole Us and against Them thing seems so stupid to me, if the US is the WGA and the THEM is AMPTP. The Us is the industry, and the THEM is the internet itself. The internet is like the wild wild west, and THEY (I’ve heard alot about “THEY” too) are never going to regulate it.
We need to look at new business models for our work, and perhaps the business model for “The Family Guy” isn’t the same model that should be used for “Cavemen.”
They probably have different revenue streams. I think this is why the AMPTP is trying to break the residual system, so they can have a little flexibility in terms of a more dynamic market.
Oh, and they’ll screw us in the process, but I think the primary reason for this is they need to create different business models for the future. Every one get this in your head… THEY WANTED THE STRIKE.
Comment by annoyed — November 16, 2007 @ 7:23 am
Sickofthis –
You are a coward to name call people who have the balls to use their own names (Patrick) while you hide behind your silly handle.
Go fi-core. See ya. Whiner.
Comment by girl scribe still walking — November 16, 2007 @ 8:50 am
Annoyed wrote: “Every one get this in your head… THEY WANTED THE STRIKE.”
Annoyed, you are right — but it takes two to Tango. It was the WGA that called the strike and now Verrone and young are running around pointing fingers at the AMPTP screaming, “The devil made me do it!”
Veronne and Young were typcast for the roles of playing right into the AMPTP’s hand. Nick Counter is in his office right now doing cartwheels across the room squealing, “I told you I could get them to go on strike! I told you! I told you!”
Comment by WGAwriterwhowantedtowaitandstrikewithSAGin'08 — November 16, 2007 @ 1:58 pm
Look, clearly Tom Short knows what he’s doing, how else was he able to clear up the IATSE Stage Hands’ strike so quickly … oh, uh, never mind.
It’s really nice that there’s a scab union leader, not only willing to cross another union’s line, but to also go public with bs criticism - yet somehow happy to take the residual money in the Pension and Health. Yeah, WGA really wanted to strike. That’s why we took DVD increase off the table, just to force them to turn us down.
Tom Short is in the Studio’s bag. And for some reason IATSE puts up with his act.
Scott Kraft
Comment by Scott Kraft — November 19, 2007 @ 10:42 am
As an IATSE member, I stand behind the WGA and their efforts. Tom Short has betrayed us time and time again. Collectively, our members are the real backbone of the industry and if IATSE walked out. . . Then you’d see the industry, nationally and internationally, REALLY grind to a halt - No movies, no TV, no internet. We are the people who put it on the air, online and in theaters and that would stop the minute we picked up our signs. The studios and producers are fully aware of this and that is why Short has made sure that we never have. Instead, we see our livelihoods chipped away at, our benefits dwindling and our protections ignored. We’ve even lost members who’ve been worked 16 hours a day for weeks and then fall asleep at the wheel. Even that has no effect on Tom Short.
IATSE needs the kind of leadership the WGA is blessed with - a leadership with balls. Instead, we are stuck with the studio’s eunuch.
Go WGA!
PS - Maybe you guys could help us.
Comment by Sylvie — November 20, 2007 @ 2:14 pm
Tom Short may be right that the WGA was been dreaming of a strike for over a year and that David Young has no idea how to negotiate an industry contract, but Tom Short is no genius of a labor leader or a good negotiator. In fact, thanks to Short and his arcane approach to labor relations, 728 members are stuck with no less than five different contracts, several of them paying lamp operators and riggers from $11.00 to $16.00 an hour, straight time for 14 hours. Does Short think that by organizing every sleaze-ball low budget show in Hollywood he can improve working conditions? Never has an IA leader been more wrong or more of an embarrassment to the membership.
Comment by WGAw & IA LOCAL 728 MEMBER — November 20, 2007 @ 7:08 pm
Short is right…the incompetents posing as a negotiating committee for the WGA (and I’m a member for 25 years+) took us into this strike promising the studios would cave overnight…’trust us’ they said and look at the unfolding catastrophe their ineptness has caused…when can we have a general meeting for them to report back to us directly so that we can sling Verrone, Young and Bowman out and get people there who have our best interests at heart, not their own misguided, bumbling zealotry?…and let’s hope when we have it that Verrone can actually make it and won’t be posing for the cameras somewhere else…not that I expect this to be printed because it dares suggest that not all WGA members think the same way about the disaster we’re facing as an industry and as individuals…
Comment by skeptic — December 11, 2007 @ 9:59 pm
Can’t we all just get along?
Comment by Stevo — December 12, 2007 @ 9:52 am
Tom Short has some nerve pointing fingers at the WGA. Look how well IATZE took care of the many animators and vfx artists that fell under the IATZE umbrella. We are now losing all of our work to with kids in Canada, UK, and China. No benefits, no job scurity. Now Mr Short dares to point fingers??? Who are you in bed with anyways Mr Short???
Comment by Chris C — December 13, 2007 @ 2:55 pm