As far as the actors’ contracts are concerned, there is no difference between a strike and an invasion of the US by a foreign country. Anything outside of the control of the producers which stops their ability to produce or the networks’ ability to broadcast constitutes force majeure.

There is actually a clause in most series regular contracts that sets out how long the producers have to produce the full season. If that time period comes, then the producers have to pay the actor for the number of episodes in the actor’s contract (whether or not they were produced). By suspending the contract through force majeure, the clock is temporarily stopped on this period.

Once the producer decides to suspend the actors as a result of force majeure, their contracts will specify the exact terms under which the contract can be suspended without pay (which then puts the suspended actor in a position of being allowed to seek other work)or terminated.

I could go on, but it would be speculation on my part, and there’s already enough of that out there.

Why all the hysteria about how horrible this is and how it’s a conspiracy? As a few have said: this is business. Studios aren’t going to pay writers who don’t report to work. They’re not going to pay actors or crew members who can’t work b/c there are no scripts to film either. Are most striking writers digging into their own pockets and paying their now out of work assistants? I don’t think so. The writers hoped to shut down production and they did; surely they knew that meant layoffs for everyone else involved in production.

And of course the studios aren’t going outright fire the actors. Be real here. At some point the strike will be over and they’e going to need those actors to finish the season. If they fired those actors and the show couldn’t continue, then a lot of writers wouldn’t have jobs to come back to, would they?

I live in southern Mississippi and when Katrina happened and our power was out for three weeks, I kept wishing I could watch everything happening on tv, because then I would understand it - even though it was happening all around me.

When the strike first started, I kept hoping for the Daily Show to come back on the air, so Jon Stewart could explain it all to me.

We depend on you all to frame things, to break things down. Even though you often create fiction, so much of it is based on real world events. I never would have understood the enormity of Blackwater if I hadn’t seen federal contractors dramatized on Jericho. Law and Order, and it’s many spinoffs, make me really think about hard issues to tackle like the death penalty and racism. When I was much younger, Saved by the Bell showed me the dramatic effects of “caffeine pills” taken by studious teens. Poor Jessie.

Sure, I might sound like the mindless tv consumer. I know these are severly dramatized portrayals. I know it’s pure fiction and often very politically polarized. But it works. It feeds my mind and helps me understand the implications of things.

I don’t know how much clearer I can say it. I heart writers.

(As a complete aside, please don’t take what I’m saying as license to make overly “preachy” shows. No offense to the particular writers, but after watching the post 9/11 West Wing episode where the characters spent an hour writing on a chalkboard how we shouldn’t jump to conclusions and hate people, I never watched the show again. Our minds might be numb but we aren’t stupid. Inform, but do not preach)

So are the studios just changing the rules in the middle of the game as usual?

Second of all, the fact that the studios are suspending the actors without outright firing them (thus not allowing them to find work elsewhere for God knows how long) is NOT cool.

The big name actors might appreciate the hiatus but most actors (like most writers) don’t have that much money. Especially when they have their own strike coming up next year.

I’d expect that SAG will at least try to eliminate this clause from their next contract because, at this point, the only ones that benefit from this is the studio which is ditching overhead left and right while EVERYONE ELSE in town is out of a job.

Of course the studio bigwigs and network bigwigs will continue to make ten of millions of dollars each year like clockwork.

This is all very disgusting.

I’m beginning to thinnk that maybe it’s a good idea that Hollywood is wiping itself clean. Now the talent (i.e. not the suits) can figure out a way to make their own version of Hollywood where quality rules and people actually get paid for their work.

Let the studios die like the dinosaurs that they are.

Would you pay for carwashes while your car is in the shop? No, so why should they pay for actors while they cannot act? It’s force majeur, plain and simple.

Does any actor REALLY expect to be paid when they are not working? No, they are smarter than that(mostly). They will get the rest of their contracted money when they do the rest of their episodes.

Noone is fired, noone is cancelled, they’re just not getting paid for work they are not doing. As far as not allowing actors to do other projects, well theoretically the studios would make money off those projects too, so it probably is negotiable. If there is solidarity though, why would actors want to do anything else while the writers are on strike?

I don’t think it is as big a deal as anyone is making it.

When you lie with dogs, expect fleas.

1. There is no set standard of time for force majeure clauses. Though six weeks is a commom timeframe, it can and will vary depending on the type of contract.

2. The writers simply going back to work for one day would not reset the force majeure clock. It will require a settlement between the WGA and the AMPTP for the strike to be officially ended.

Also, don’t read too much into the force majeure letters being sent out. It’s standard business practice to put their stakes in the ground. Just as the WGA will continue to keep the pressure on the studios and networks in every way they can, the studios/networks will keep up the presure from their side.

Expect both sides to keep fighting with every weapon they’ve got until the strike is over. Let’s hope that happens quickly.

Sincerely,

Lawdawg76