When I sent my email to Nikki Finke, alerting her to the particular situation film school students face, in regards to the strike, my intention was to bring attention to the moral and ethical dilemma facing students before their careers have even officially started and I was curious how other film school teachers were handling the situation. This was a story the students and I were facing together and since I hadn’t seen it written about elsewhere, I thought Ms. Finke would like to investigate. Since their comments and mine have been taken out of context, I think it’s appropriate to provide some back story here.

Last week, a strike captain from the WGA was invited to my class to discuss the strike with my Emerson students (and any other interested faculty and students) so that the they could become familiar with the issues, negotiations, the strike and most importantly, what it means to for them and their futures.

Having never been faced with union issues before, many students had questions. Their queries reflected sympathy, curiosity and ettiquette, rather than opportunistic exploitation. Hence: “How do I cross a picket line for my internship when my sympathies lie with the strikers?” (Students must go to their internships in order to receive credit for their courses in LA.)

As the discussions became more intricate, it became evident to everyone that opportunities might come up for Emerson film school students, many of whom have terrific spec scripts, and that they might need to make moral and ethical decisions on how to proceed if they were approached by a producer, during this time period. Most of their questions reflected concerns about getting in trouble for writing while at the same time wanting to keep the momentum of their fledgling careers going.

Most students expressed their strong support for the Writers as well as their urge to join the union once they qualify. To my knowledge, none of them are working at jobs that union writers are striking against. (I suspect they are all busy writing term papers.) I suggested my students join the picket lines if they felt so inclined, so they could show support and the strike captain specifically told them to go to their internships and how they could show support when talking to the strikers.

Obviously, this is not the normal fodder of a writing class and our discussion gave both them and me “Food for thought”.

I was shocked and dismayed to see the virulent responses to Ms. Finke’s posting and to see my comments about this interesting situation liken to “E-Coli”. After all, it is appropriate, especially within a university setting, to ask questions, and and it is also reasonable that the students might be seeing opportunities for themselves as well. (And again, I emphasize, to my knowledge, no Emerson students have acted on this opportunity and NONE of them deserve the kind of nastiness that has been posted on this blog.)

When we ended class, I had the sense that the students were fully honoring the strike. Before they left, however, I told them that I was working on getting a representative from the AMPTP to come talk as well, so that both sides of the negotiations are represented. I can only imagine what the blog response to that class wil be.

I want to register my strong protest to Ms. Finke who has wrongfully characterized the Emerson LA students with a profanity. In fact, Emerson LA students and alums have earned an excellent reputation in the various fields of the entertainment industry in which they have chosen to intern and eventually work.

This statement was sent to all Emerson LA faculty and students and was sent last week prior to this blog entry. It was drafted by Emerson LA in communication with Patric Verrone, WGA-West President, and representatives from the USC and UCLA screenwriting programs.

**************************

As I hope everyone is aware, there is currently a WGA strike occurring in Los Angeles and New York City. While certainly none of you planned on participating in your L.A. internship during a Guild strike, you should be aware that labor/management issues are facts of life in the entertainment industry. We encourage you to study the issues and inform yourselves about the history that resulted in this current work action. Being informed about these issues will help you with your future plans especially if you hope to work in the entertainment industry after graduation.

For those students who have aspirations to be creative writers in the entertainment industry, I must ask you to pay special attention to the current strike. Some of you may have actual opportunities to submit written work for possible production during this time. While it may be an exciting opportunity for you, please consider the long-term consequences of this choice. The WGA has issued stern warnings to both its members and non-members about submitting written creative material during the work action. The WGA looks very negatively upon this choice and will make it virtually impossible for anyone who does this to join the Guild in the future. We here at Emerson LA do not want to stop you from pursuing your goals to be a writer. However, we do want you to make informed, wise choices that will not compromise your future career.

I want to thank the WGA writers, encourage them to stay strong, and offer my continued support. I appreciate it more than I can say, and will continue to volunteer my time out on the lines whenever I can.

But I have yet to hear ANY student discuss scabbing. In fact, the conversations immediately move towards how to support the strikers and how to avoid any action that could be interpreted as scab behavior.

If anything, Emerson students have been strong, strong supporters of the strike. The day after the strike, every member of my writing class was filled with questions about how to support their fellow writers.

We understand how this strike is ensuring our own careers as future writers and how important it is on a wider scale for the industry. I would just hate for the Emerson student body (or film students in general) to be characterized from a single quote from one misled student.

We are not planning to head down to the lines, we have been down on the lines. We are not bringing baked goods, we are carrying signs. We are not visiting, we are walking full shifts.

UCLA MFA Screenwriting students will be on those lines until this is resolved. This fight will have a profound impact on our lives and careers as well. That was made abundantly clear in our classrooms BEFORE the strike started.

Many of our Professors are strike captains. Some of our fellow students are WGA members. We are well informed and solely dedicated to the cause of working writers and a fair contract. There are no scabs in Westwood. Richard Walter and every Bruin Scribe to graduate North Campus wouldn’t stand for it; and we, the current students, wouldn’t either.

In fact, a MAJORITY of the MFA Screenwriters from the UCLA program have been marching on the picket lines DAILY to show that support! We know that the WGA is not only protecting current members–but the future members as well. Our collective futures are being negotiated and we FULLY SUPPORT the WGA’s efforts. You WILL see us walking the line with the WGA every week until this strike is over.

Let me make this 100% clear:

UCLA SCRIBES WILL NOT SCAB!

UCLA is very clear about what it expects of its students: no scabbing and are united on that front.

Solidarity!

But — ashley — to advocate some sort of tip line like that is absolutely horrendous. That’s akin to Nazi Germany or Stalinism. If someone scabs it will hurt them enough on their own. Besides, do you not see the potential for abuse, misuse, people could report anyone they want, regardless of the truth? It’s like the McCarthy era all over again.

I’m not calling my producer’s office for the next script assignment, but what do I do when the phone rings and it’s her asking me if I want to write the next project? Oh yeah… I’m supposed to say ‘no.’ I wonder what color my next parachute will be?

After the petty bickering and personality clashes I’ve been reading about from both sides in the negotiation rooms, I’m more pissed than ever that I can’t work while you folks sort your contracts out. Get someone into that negotiating room who knows what they’re doing. The men you’ve chosen to do the talking suck at it. Replace them with someone better fit to deal with the producers. Shave your demands on DVD residual increases by one % point. Ask for the same amount in downloads. If it was up to me, I’d say forget about the online ‘promo’ issue. Personally, I don’t think it’s crucial at this moment. Take the producers nonsensical three year examination of the new media potential, with some kind of stipulation that a new residual formula must be established at the conclusion of the study.

The producers are greedy assholes. They are bloated and corrupt. They lie repeatedly. They have no argument. I’ve yet to hear anything from their side that sounds makes sense. So why can’t the WGA’s best minds come up with a way to drag them into a non-partial setting and turn their own contradictory words against them?

Bring in the AGENTS to deal with this fiasco, please! I still don’t have one yet but hope to one day, once you guys fix your business out. I hear they’re supposed to be good at talking things out and making deals.

Now go ahead and point out all the grammar errors and mistakes I’ve made that render my opinion meaningless. I could use the laughs while I’m on forced vacation.

For those who may be listening: You do not report to your internships if you hope to have a career that includes the Writers Guild. You do not try to steal our jobs. You wipe the saliva of desire off your lips with the back of your hand and spend a minute wondering what you’ll do when you are a working writer and the right time to lay down your pencil has arrived.
Roger S. H. Schulman
http://scriptwriting.blogspot.com