Writer/director C. Jay Cox and Michael Medico (who heads up the blog Hot in Hollywood) are hosting "Gay Gate" at the main gate of Raleigh Studios Hollywood at 5300 Melrose Avenue today from 10 AM until 2 PM Los Angeles Times . Invited are gay and lesbian writers and actors to join at a central location for one day. They said they decided on Raleigh since the gayest show on television, Ugly Betty, is filmed there. As the invitation reads, "Let's picket because we're right. Let's picket together because we're fabulous!"
On Monday, assistants are organizing a central picket between 12 Noon until 2 PM at the Main Gate (Pico & Motor) of the Fox lot. Invited are assistants and other “below-the-line” employees ("particularly those who have been laid-off by the media conglomerates") who support the WGA and would like to picket in unity with the writers. "For writers, this is a chance for us to celebrate the assistants and “below-the-line” employees, and to recognize them for the sacrifices they’re being forced to make as we fight for a fair deal."
Why not bring the gay protest to Raleigh Manhattan Beach tomorrow? As a gay writer who works in the South Bay, I can tell you that walking the picket line on Rosecrans ina skirt is hard work, and I could sure use some moral support.
Comment by M.. Kelly. — November 15, 2007 @ 7:41 am
What about the gay assistants?
Comment by Mike S — November 15, 2007 @ 7:44 am
Themed strikes? WGA-Only happy hour? Bring-A-Celebrity-To-Strike Day? Strike dancing (Paramount entrance)? Strike-Happy dogs and babies? It starts to give the impression that maybe not everyone is taking this as seriously is they ought to be.
If I were the the AMPTP, this sort of stuff would only embolden me - I’m willing to bet a lot of writers will begin to lose their resolve when the strike stops being a fun get-together and wacky shenanigans and actually becomes a serious labor movement.
Like most everyone, I am fully supporting the writers ideology, but it worries me when their strategy to win hearts and minds include signs that read ‘Nick Counter Eats Farts.’
Comment by tenpercenter — November 15, 2007 @ 8:30 am
to a straight guy who has supported the gay and lesbian community and yes…has friends who are gay and lesbain, i find ‘gay gate’ to be offensive.
why don’t we organize ‘jew walk’ and ‘midget mayhem’ next week? we are in this together…
Comment by Roscoe — November 15, 2007 @ 8:51 am
Gays, dogs, assistants, TV stars…what’s next, the mexican immigrants who pick the lettuce 69 miles from the studio?
I’ll give them a B- for effort. If they get A-list movie stars with hugh participation deals out there, I’ll give them an A.
Comment by mla28 — November 15, 2007 @ 9:17 am
do you know how awful and embarrassing this all sounds?
This is not a disco.
Comment by appalled — November 15, 2007 @ 9:31 am
Re: WGA / Assistants Picket Line
My question is (as an assistant): Would the WGA pay the assistants rent? In ‘recognition’ of their sacrifice (i.e.: the fact some have been laid off)?
Now THAT would mean something.
Comment by Simone — November 15, 2007 @ 10:12 am
I don’t know about any other assistants, but I’d rather be “recognized for my sacrifice” with a check for my rent. Or my car insurance. Or groceries.
Comment by lowmanonthetotempole — November 15, 2007 @ 10:19 am
… you have to be “invited” to picket on Monday? This is becoming a bit unseemly and as others have posted elswhere on DHD, it is beginning to have a “playful” tone. The Strike is becoming a bit like a WGA amusement park - Star World, Gay World, Dog World, Assistant World…
This is a serious, seminal moment for the WGA, for all writers. We must fight, and fight hard against a formidable opponent. Mabye it’s because I feel I am a more militant member of the union, but I’d like to see stronger efforts made to force the AMPTP back to the bargaining table and get this strike over with. Enough with the play dates!!!
Comment by datne writer — November 15, 2007 @ 10:23 am
yeesh…I’m sorry. If the story from IATSE is even half true that the WGA was pretty much predetermined to strike more than a year ago is true, I don’t see how ANY assistant could go out to show support.
Someone please, PLEASE argue that the average Hollywood assistant isn’t living/working near/below the poverty line. I need a good laugh.
They are essentially smiling and laughing with one of their 2 executioners.
Perhaps all the monetary support actors and others have been talking about throwing towards writers can go towards their criminally underpaid slaves, er, assistants who perform the hardest and most thankless job in Hollywood.
Comment by manny — November 15, 2007 @ 11:04 am
I think that, in about a week, everybody that can end this strike is going on vacation until January. Anybody care to caravan to Aspen and Telluride and picket there? When they have to answer their kids’ questions about the out-of-work people on the sidewalks, they might be more inclined to talk.
Comment by Jim Sevin — November 15, 2007 @ 11:05 am
Moving this post…
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 “Kids Day” from our leadership.
Comment by PowerRanger — November 15, 2007 @ 11:05 am
I am suddenly dissapointed………………. Is this the best you can do.
Comment by WGA supporter — November 15, 2007 @ 11:07 am
I’m looking forward to Variety and the New York Times’ coverage of the assistants picket: WRITERS GET ASSISTANTS TO DO THEIR PICKETING FOR THEM
Comment by Marc Guggenheim — November 15, 2007 @ 11:42 am
I feel bad for the assistants, as I’m one of them.
Comment by nick — November 15, 2007 @ 11:43 am
And how exactly are the assistants striking Monday being recognized and celebrated by the WGA? I do not consider assistants picketing with the writers as real recognition for the first wave of people who have been let go because of the strike.
Comment by Southpaw — November 15, 2007 @ 11:47 am
Me thinks the young blond young with the T-shirt wearing dog needs her own day at a studio gate.
But the crowd won’t be anywhere near as stylish.
And they might not be gay, but they would be happy.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
pb
Comment by pb — November 15, 2007 @ 11:50 am
Are you kidding? Below the line IATSE members are invited to picket with the WGA ? We are invited to picket with the people who put us out of work. I don’t think so!
Comment by Anonymous — November 15, 2007 @ 11:55 am
I don’t know how many below-the-line victims of this mess are anxious to be “celebrated” by the WGA. While I know it’s well meaning, the arrogance of such an idea is absolutely astounding. My co-workers and I didn’t ask for this and now while the writers on our show are collecting residuals for the repeats that are airing 5 nights a week, we’re about to be unemployed, uninsured and SOL. Innocent people will lose their homes and more because of this. What part of this is a “fair deal” for us?
Comment by Innocent Victim — November 15, 2007 @ 12:13 pm
It’ll be good when we get past this phase, celebs on the line, fabulosity and frivolity, reaching out to assistants for support. “Please like us!” (”Forgive us?”) I’m a writer with a half-dozen feature credits, a house in Studio City, a couple of kids in college, a WGA member since ‘77. What’s missing in the discussion so far (though Nikki has been great) is the basic acknowledgment that writers are not laborers, that the prime issue is not our labor but our intellectual property, the ideas we alone create and upon which all the rest of this is founded.
Maybe it’s our mistake as a Guild. I’ve thought since the ‘88 strike that it was wrong to put so much emphasis on picketing, walking the line. Picketing makes sense when you are trying to show the world exactly what you’re withholding from management: the coalminer’s thick arms, the autoworker’s strong back and nimble fingers, the electrician and carpenter’s physical skills. If I was in charge, fat chance, I’d put a single writer at a card table in front of each gate — better yet, an empty card table, maybe with a closed laptop, though then you’d have to position someone nearby to keep it from getting swiped. Let management get the real message: we’re keeping our ideas to ourselves for now, maybe even sitting on the beach, maybe even recharging our brains, travelling, getting some new ideas. (During the ‘88 strike, I laid saltillo tile on my patio; it’s still there, providing a residual pleasure every time I walk out the door.)
Want to know where the real picket line is? A Variety piece mentioned an agent or executive whose phone log went from four hundred calls a day pre-strike to “less than a dozen” one day last week. Tell me that doesn’t scare the other side. What isn’t happening this week that was happening four hundred times a day before the strike? No one is saying, “What about a series about a NBA star who starts coaching a high school team? A sort of ‘Friday Night Lights’ in, say, Chicago?”
What we have is the power of ideas, the value of ideas. I hate to see the below-the-line people upset, scared for the future. They’re my neighbors. (Most of them make more money than I do now.) But the business in which they work is here because of people like me. That some of us are puffed-up asshats is beside the point. That a good number of the ideas that studios, networks and their stock-holders and advertisers find useful aren’t my taste or yours is beside the point. A cheap movie that fails horribly at the box office still attracts an audience of millions.
Why do writers get paid so much and deserve more? There’s a line, either novelist B. Traven’s or screenwriter John Huston’s, about the value of gold. Bogart or Tim Holt says, “It (gold right out of the ground) sure don’t look like much.” The old man, Walter Huston’s character, says, “Gold is worth what it’s worth because it represents the labor of all the fellas who looked for it and DIDN’T find it.” Ideas are rare, whether it’s the plot of “24″ or Apu’s lines in “Simpson’s (I know, I know; we’re working on union recognition for all animation writers) or “You’re so money!” in “Swingers.” Or your favorite character in your favorite story speaking your favorite lines.
And, sorry, IATSE, I’ll grant that “Mad Men” wouldn’t be as wonderful as it is without your members’ costuming and set design and decoration and lighting, but build and dress all those sets, costume those actors and light them beautifully without a story, a situation, a plot, lines of dialogue, without, in short, Matt Weiner, and see what the financiers and advertisers offer you. If you’re working at your craft instead of having it for a hobby, thank a writer.
If you want to know why we’re out, I’ll show you a VHS and DVD royalties check for about nine dollars, all I made for a movie whose name you would recognize I wrote for Universal six years ago. We settled too soon in ‘88.
Comment by Old Writer — November 15, 2007 @ 12:47 pm
How about bring a writer to work day.
Comment by dagger — November 15, 2007 @ 1:01 pm
Old Writer’s line that “the business in which they (IATSE members) work is because of people like me” is the kind of arogance that’s going to split this strike into the “haves” and the “have-nots.” I get where he’s coming from — and his rheotoric is more even-handed than most — but it’s still pretty galling.
And the notion of assistants joining the picket lines outside of Fox is really appalling. Why not just call it “You Little People” day? I’m not an assistant, but when it was suggested to me that I join the pickets as a show of support, I nearly choked on my own tongue. Or maybe it was just the bad taste I’ve had in my mouth from the writers’ condescension over the past two weeks.
Comment by Average Joe — November 15, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
‘Kid’s day’ was more than a gimmick to many of us as many schools and day cares were closed for Vteran’s day. Hate on it all you want, but it kept those of us who can’t afford nannies on the picket line rather than at home.
Comment by Ted Striker — November 15, 2007 @ 1:30 pm
Tomorrow, 100 shows will have been shut down. Figure that there’s at least 100 people working on each of those shows.
Now surely I’m not the only one sickened by the fact that the writers are turning this strike into a socializing event. I know writers don’t get out much (as evident by the lame scripts they churn out that have nothing to do with reality) but all this talk about cheap drinks and being fabulous etc just turns people off.
It’s a bit hard to feel sorry for people who are basically acting like social butterflies instead of… oh… negotiating!
Comment by Sherilyn — November 15, 2007 @ 1:31 pm
I think I walked the picket lines my last day today. When I returned and found this post, I lost all respect for what we’re doing. From now on, I’ll just do my picketing where I do my socializing…on myspace.
I can’t hold that sign up any more while the two parties aren’t negotiating. Those are my terms. I will go back on strike when they get in a room together and start talking. Unti then, I’m on strike from the strike.
Comment by fed up — November 15, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
“You’re writers, why are your signs so boring?”
“You’re on STRIKE, how dare you have clever signs.”
Which one is it people?
How about this - WHY WON’T THE AMPTP NEGOTIATE AND PUT EVERYONE BACK TO WORK.
I AM SORRY IF ANYONE IS OFFENDED. I TRULY AM. I DON’T WANT ANYONE LOSING THEIR JOBS.
But I was an assistant in many capacities (no trust fund, btw) before writing and NEVER had job security. Ever.
And I would not begrudge anyone for standing up to big media for a fair deal.
Gay Gate was organized by 2 gay writers - not the whole WGA - and that’s their right.
And frankly, as much as the “real world” pretends to hate Hollywood. They LOVE THEIR STARS. They do. I don’t give a crap if SAG members use it as a photo op - at the end of the day, the issues remain the same.
As for Assistants, blt, IA being invited to walk - I have been on many pickets where several of those peeps have joined, but some were afraid they would not be welcomed. I think the wga just wanted to make the message clear - everyone is welcome b/c we want everyone back to work.
If that’s offensive to you, I’m really sorry. But turn you ire to your greedy boss who laid you off. But the wga is not your employer.
Comment by girl scribe still walking — November 15, 2007 @ 1:45 pm
I agree that it’s making the writers look silly having these strike events. I went to the Universal gathering and I was extremely disappointed. A lot of people were just standing around, chatting, rubbing elbows with celebrities. It didn’t feel like people were out there for a fight. Chanting may seem silly, but at least it makes it look like you have some energy and some fight in you. Listlessly strolling the sidewalk with a sign in one hand and a donut in the other doesn’t make you look like you’re out fighting the good fight. I started out in support of the writers, but it’s starting to wane as I see friends getting laid off and picket lines that seem like social events.
Comment by disaapointing — November 15, 2007 @ 1:50 pm
It is TRUE, this strike was predetermined. They (WGA negotiation committee) knew this would happened but pushed it anyway. Now what? You have many people (Below-the-line) loosing their jobs all because you want more on residuals? You get residuals on both DVD and New Media now! But what are BLT peeps getting? zilch, nada! And now you ask them to come support? And the WGA calls the studios greedy… if you want something that was written by you to belong to you, then write a book! You work for the studios, therefore they own the work you provide, which you’ve gotten paid for to begin with. Will the assistants also get residuals? Will the BLT get residuals as well? Where was the WGA when the other guilds went on strike?
Nothing but greed greed greed… go pick up the pen and get back to work and think about the poor shmucks who lost thier jobs due to your greed!
Comment by Supports those w/ no residuals — November 15, 2007 @ 1:50 pm
yet what everyone also fails to mention is all of the fun the writers (and actors) look like they’re having in the photos and videos from the picket lines
Comment by jcpbmg — November 15, 2007 @ 1:53 pm
Does the WGA have a pr machine setting up all these “specialty” days or do individuals just organize them?
It does seem a little silly with the dogs, kids, etc., but maybe that’s the only way they can think of to get in the news. Although, I don’t think any of it’s working, as most local tv news seems to not care at all (the exception is KTLA - the anchors/entertainment reporters talk about the strike daily).
It worries me that, with the holidays coming, public opinion/interest in the cause with diminish. Even on fan sites, so many tv fans are angry with the writers and completely blame them for the shows stopping production (especially on the ABC LOST forum - ouch, they are bitter over there!). They do not see that there are two sides who need to talk.
Comment by Sam — November 15, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
I’m with Old Writer in that we’re putting far too much emphasis on picketing - and especially on “themed” picketing.
Why not steal a beat from the anonymous email I received last night, apparently from someone who sadly has been laid off, who suggested calling both sides relentlessly to “Please end the strike”?
I’m not suggesting caving, but why not use MoveOn’s tactics, get together a list of REALLY meaningful numbers to call - the AMPTP, the executive offices of all the major studios, the home numbers of senior executives if we can get them, and work in relay teams - from home, I’ve done it that way for MoveOn in the past - and just call and call and call until we annoy the hell out of them and maybe make the point that we aren’t going away, that this issue isn’t going away, and that they’d better recognize us and come to the table with something meaningful.
The Guild could provide scripts (um, we can write, can’t we?), just as MoveOn does, to suggest what we say when we call, but we can also add our own thoughts and say it in our own way. I will happily sit at a phone and call studios, the AMPTP, Rupert Murdoch - if someone wants to give me his cell - and anyone else, to say that this issue needs to be resolved fairly.
We need to be taken very, very seriously!
Comment by Alexander Chow-Stuart — November 15, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
THIS GETS MORE MORONIC BY THE DAY - YOU GUYS ARE EMBARRASSING YOURSELVES. I’m glad to see that you are seriously concerned about the large number of people that have lost their jobs. What’s next face painting, maybe jugglers, manis and pedis for the picketers? TALK ABOUT OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY. THE ASSISTANTS THAT LOST THEIR JOB BECAUSE OF YOUR GREED SHOULD COME OUT AND SPIT ON YOU. GREEDY IDIOTS!
Comment by YOU DISGUST ME! — November 15, 2007 @ 2:03 pm
I personally know a couple of the people who dreamed up the Assistants Picket, and who’ve worked hard to get it organized. Can you guess what their job is? They’re assistants. They’re people who work for writers and showrunners, and have been fired… not by the writers, but by the studios. As Seth MacFarlane says, it was like something a drunken father would pull: “Look what you did, you made me so mad that I hit the kid and its your fault.”
The studios are hoping that the assistants will blame the writers for their firing. The opposite has happened. The assistants (at least these ones organizing this picket) support the writers even more solidly, largely ’cause they’re getting their own firsthand look at how capricious and petty the studios can be: with one hand, Chernin says Fox is rollin’ in dough and unharmed by the strike, and with the other hand Chernin fires people making $700 a week.
I used to be a writers’ assistant, and hoped to be a writer, and I understood that the strength of the Guild, then, would determine the value of Guild membership when I came aboard. The same is true now, of today’s generation of assistants. They recognize that the benefits we current writers win (or lose) will be the benefits that they some day will have (or won’t) when they are writers.
In many ways, this fight is for them, and for all future members of the WGA, and, indeed, for the future members of all Hollywood guilds and unions (given that the internet residual we’re fighting for today will be won [or lost] for all guilds and unions, forevermore).
Patrick Meighan
Culver City, CA
Comment by Patrick Meighan — November 15, 2007 @ 2:06 pm
its like Jr High all over again ( without the money).
Chess Club Strikers meet at Fox on Thursdays.
Math Olympic Strikers at Universal on Tuesdays
this is serious folks. if the WGA needs “events” to get out the strike, this thing is over before it begins.
Keep the faith, the DGA will begin talks in a few weeks and have a deal my Xmass.
Comment by ughhh — November 15, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
Great idea! Let’s make Tuesday bring your maid to the strike day. Sound good?
Comment by It's a joke — November 15, 2007 @ 2:10 pm
As a reluctant strike captain who has been walking with a sign for the past two weeks (and encouraging others to do the same), I want to add something to the very thoughtful stuff Old Writer just posted.
Another reason unions picket is to put an immediately sympathetic face on their side of the fight. You see a line of autoworkers or nurses, and you get it - these people are oppressed. You see a line of writers, and it’s not so clear. Now I believe our cause is just. The problem is, it’s not immediately apparent - just look at how many people in this town who work with us every day and should understand our issues are yelling at us to get back to work. Because for all of the regular Joe working writers being cited by our leadership, the ones being interviewed are generally the ones sitting on piles of syndication and/or summer blockbuster money. Yes, yes, I know the median Guild income numbers. But that’s the problem in a nutshell: if we need to keep screaming our median income to make people sympathetic, then we’re kind of hard to rally around.
It reminds me of the NFL players’ strike - I’m sure they felt they had legitimate grievances, but all most people saw were a bunch of big, rich guys who wanted even more money to play a game.
Which is why I have been a reluctant strike captain - and, anecdotally, not the only one. I was willing to walk out on something very important to me for this strike because I believe we need to establish a legitimate formula for internet revenues and residuals. And I understand the studios are testing our resolve right now, because why should they bother coming back to the table if we might crack in the first few weeks? And I would like to think that there is something we can do to accelerate the timetable, make a fair deal and get everyone back to work. But picket parties ain’t it.
And if we’re waiting for our ‘brothers and sisters’ from other unions to join us in rising as one against The Man, we may be waiting a long time. Because when they see us on those lines, I don’t think they see themselves.
Comment by kirk — November 15, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
This is a really stupid idea. Isn’t the whole idea of a UNION to be UNITED?
Comment by realworldperson — November 15, 2007 @ 2:21 pm
A really, really bad idea. As was kids day. Not only bad from a PR perspective, but dangerous to have them on the line. People try to drive into us. It is no place for kids.
The gay gate is just ridiculous and disappointed me when I read it.
Celebrities day is actually fine. A way to get the message out and show that we are not alone in this. It gets quite a bit of ink, which is always necessary.
Comment by DA in LA — November 15, 2007 @ 2:29 pm
Yikes, calm down people. It was a perfectly nice picket at Raleigh today. It was nice to connect with other gay writers on the picket line and share our experiences. It’ll help keep morale up, I’d go again in a second.
Comment by Gay writger — November 15, 2007 @ 2:33 pm
WGA and AMPTP should take a cue from Local One and The League of American Theaters and Producers(They seem to take the strike more seriously) and resume talks instead of doing these stupid gimmicks.
Comment by Just a fan — November 15, 2007 @ 2:48 pm
This only furthers the proof that the writers are playing with the lives of the non-unionized individuals that are affected. The supposed “cause” will not be heard if the fourth grade potty humor insults from “adults” and themed picketing continue.
Comment by Anonymous — November 15, 2007 @ 2:57 pm
To Power Ranger and others who are bitching about “Gay Gate” and picketing being too playful: You obviously have picketed very little — if at all — in the last 11 days. Had you picketed even one four-hour shift, especially this hot week, you’d know how hard it is to walk that line day after day. Of _course_ writers are trying to make picketing more fun. Because it’s not. It sucks. And yet it’s vitally important. So writers are trying to make it bearable. How about you stop bitching and get out on the line? I’ll be at Fox at 5 a.m. See you then.
Comment by ashley — November 15, 2007 @ 3:08 pm
Let’s make Thursday “Wear a Funny Hat to the Strike”? I have the most adorable sombrero that I have been dying to wear out. Pass the word around to other writers, okay?
Comment by embarrassed — November 15, 2007 @ 3:18 pm
Really? For Serious?
Why would i want to go picket with the people who are responsible for me losing my job?
I’m glad WGA is having themed strike days, while the rest of us can’t afford to live anymore. Nevermind, actually GETTING IN A ROOM and resolving what needs to be resolved - that makes too much sense. Let’s have “gay day” instead. Way to have your priorities straight, Mr. Verrone.
Comment by Are you guys Serious? — November 15, 2007 @ 3:19 pm
What laid off assistant would show up to support this??
Comment by really???? — November 15, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
Nicely done, Dagger. Nicely done.
Comment by SighitsFiction — November 15, 2007 @ 3:31 pm
How about this, kids. We picket the picket line. Those that cross one picket line are labeled Picket Line Scabs and are banned from joining any other picket line. This is just silly.
Comment by Strike, Schmike — November 15, 2007 @ 3:33 pm
If you want names, addresses and phone numbers of studios and CEOs(Moonves, Chernin, etc.) go to-
http://www.bringtvback.blogspot.com
The site provides a “script” of what to say/write when contacting the studios. Please urge the studios to get back to the table with WGA and negotiate!
Comment by S — November 15, 2007 @ 3:42 pm
It seems to me there are a lot disappointed people that should have been picketing while they were posting comments.
Is there something wrong with boosting morale at gates? I missed the memo where it said all picketing was to be morose and maudlin.
As it was my understanding on the Hot In Hollywood website, Gay Gate was a get together (not sponsored by the WGA, but a gay writer) to support the writers and producers of Ugly Betty.
Why don’t you all get your heads out of your asses and admit that what your disappointed about was the fact it was gay. Clearly you haven’t been on the picket lines or you would know how burned out people are.
And to Roscoe, if you were really offended, then ask your gay writer friends what they thought of gay gate.
Comment by Devon — November 15, 2007 @ 3:56 pm
FOR THOSE MAD AT WRITERS -
First, I hear you’re all pissed thinking writers are arrogant if they dare express any notion that your job depends on them…
Next, I hear you’re all pissed b/c you got laid off b/c the writers are picketing…
So, does your job depend on them or not? Just curious.
My pov is we’re all important and we all have unique models of how we make a living and I won’t poop on your right to fight for yours, so please don’t poop on mine. You don’t get residuals, but I don’t get overtime, or meal penalties and I have to do a lot of work for free to even get a job - it’s slightly different models.
And I love that some of y’all think we on the picket line are the same folk who negotiate with AMPTP. I’ll go sit at whatever table you want me to and wait for Nick Counter to show up. I kinda doubt he will…
But then I’d be criticized for being a lazy, spoiled writer for sitting behind a table and not picketing…
All I know is that when I’m doing my boring laps, the horns of the cars going by is at times deafening b/c people are so supportive. And I’m not giving up my fight for residuals and the free promotional clause b/c some folks don’t like how some in my guild, and outside my guild, choose to picket and/ or support.
THAT WILL GET NOTHING DONE.
I think there’s a sad thing in our corporate culture: so many people are worn down to the nub by the crappy treatment they get at work, so accustomed to mediocrity, that it is unnerving to see others stand up for themselves. “How dare they? Why should they get fight for fair treatment at their jobs when I don’t”
I’m really sorry if my choosing not to be a victim is offensive to you. But I’m not going back on that choice. And if you choose the same in your job, I will happily picket with you.
And if you’re a fed up writer. Go fi-core, get back to work, more power to ya. That’s your right.
PS Should I dress up in Dickensian garb when I picket? Would that seem real to you?
Comment by wga writer — November 15, 2007 @ 4:16 pm
Thanks, S, that’s a really useful resource:
http://www.bringtvback.blogspot.com/
Comment by Alexander Chow-Stuart — November 15, 2007 @ 4:25 pm
Methinks I detect a bit of homophobia in the comments hereinabove (shades of the “Brokeback” Oscar imbroglio Nikki wrote about here: http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/what-did-i-tell-you/ )
Themed strike events are great: they give new and fresh angles for the press to cover and keep the strike from fading out of sight and mind.
As importantly, these gatherings enable writers to strengthen their communities and work together powerfully. I am a gay writer who picketed at today’s event and found it uplifting and inspiring.
Personally, I’d like to see a special picket gathering of the most emeritus WGA members. Oh, but that’s right, old folks make some people nervous so we better not do it.
Comment by The Schwartz — November 15, 2007 @ 4:28 pm
Sherilyn, why is that in some blogs you call yourself a writer, but in other blogs you refer to the “writers.” Interesting.
Shill.
Comment by DA in LA — November 15, 2007 @ 4:37 pm
Sorry, Devon, but if you can’t take criticism without falling back on the anti-gay card, I don’t know what to tell you.
It was a bad idea, plain and simple. As was kids day.
Comment by DA in LA — November 15, 2007 @ 4:41 pm
As someone who has been walking with a sign for the past two weeks (and encouraging others to do the same), I want to add something to the very thoughtful stuff Old Writer posted.
Another reason unions picket is to put an immediately sympathetic face on their side of the fight. You see a line of autoworkers or nurses, and you get it - these people are oppressed. You see a line of writers, and it’s not so clear. Now I believe our cause is just. The problem is, it’s not immediately apparent - just look at how many people in this town who work with us every day and should understand our issues are yelling at us to get back to work. Because for all of the Regular Joe working writers being cited by our leadership, the ones being interviewed are generally the ones sitting on piles of syndication and/or summer blockbuster money. Yes, yes, I know the median Guild income numbers. But that’s the problem in a nutshell: if we need to keep screaming our median income to make people sympathetic, then we’re kind of hard to rally around.
It reminds me of the NFL players’ strike - I’m sure they felt they had legitimate grievances, but all most people saw were a bunch of big, rich guys who wanted even more money to play a game (and they at least had the advantage of fans noticing the absence of their talent immediately. And they were the faces of the game – the beloved actors - whereas we are behind-the-scenes. We’re like an NFL coaches’ strike. This analogy is falling apart in my hands.)
Here’s the thing: I was willing to walk out on something very important to me for this strike because I believe we need to establish a legitimate formula for internet revenues and residuals. I understand the studios are testing our resolve right now, because why should they bother coming back to the table if we might crack in the first few weeks? And I would like to think that there is something we can do to accelerate the negotiations, make a fair deal and get everyone back to work. But picket parties ain’t it.
And if we’re waiting for our ‘brothers and sisters’ from other unions to join us in rising as one against The Man, we may be waiting a long time. Because when they see us on those lines, I don’t think they see themselves.
Comment by Kirk — November 15, 2007 @ 4:43 pm
I’m sure the WGA thinks they are honoring “below the line” people like me, but maybe they don’t understand how much our salaries actually mean to us. We actually need both parties to work harder to do less finger pointing and more negotiating. This thing on Monday just seems to aggravate the situation. Can’t the WGA honor us by putting more man hours into creatively resolving this problem before its too late? I feel like the rest of us are being sacrificed here.
Comment by RR — November 15, 2007 @ 4:48 pm
Sherilyn said: “It’s a bit hard to feel sorry for people who are basically acting like social butterflies instead of… oh… negotiating!”
WHAT A GREAT IDEA! Oh my God, wish I had thought of that! Tell me, do you know where I can go to talk to one of these negotiators?
I’m so glad you spoke up now! I don’t know why I’ve been walking around in circles for the past two weeks when I could be negotiating! Thanks!!
Comment by Bob — November 15, 2007 @ 4:52 pm
Go, Patrick Meighan!
Each post of yours is so right on.
You also get kudos for identifying yourself.
Impressive.
Comment by Producers with conscience — November 15, 2007 @ 4:58 pm
Perhaps there is something positive to be extracted from this concept of Daily Themes…
To highlight their contributions the creation of various characters that populate the entertainment boyd of work, past and present, perhaps a day of costumed characters representing these creative endeavors. And think of the contribution that SAG could make prior to their June deadline.
Think of Ten Lucille Balls, Six Captain Kirks and Forty Earls. (easy costume for most writers).
This not purposed to make a circus of the WGA’s position in the least, but to draw increased attention to the strike in a very visual manner.
If extensive TV and printed news coverage is desired, then what better method, at least for one day?
pb
Comment by pb — November 15, 2007 @ 5:04 pm
Gay gate.
I don’t know . . . kind of sounds gay, no?
Comment by Phil Harmonic — November 15, 2007 @ 5:33 pm
I was at “Gay Gate” this morning, wearing my red shirt along with a whole lot of other writers, actors, and supporters of the WGA strike. I thought it was a fantastic idea when I first heard about it, and the actual experience was amazing.
During this incredibly difficult time, I’m for whatever gets people out on those picket lines. And I think a little fun along the way doesn’t hurt.
Comment by Moe — November 15, 2007 @ 6:12 pm
I think the theme picketing days get the press to show up, thus keeping the writers’ concerns in the public eye. The mainstream media has an attention span of about 30 seconds, unless they have some dumb handle they can latch onto. There are plenty of back gates and side entrances that are not part of these photo ops, for those of you who think that there is only one, old-school way to picket.
Comment by writer's spouse is non-pro — November 15, 2007 @ 6:32 pm
Thanks Devon, you’re completely right. If half the whiners on here had picketed for just one day, I think they’d agree that ANYTHING to boost morale is a good thing. I don’t think anyone views picketing like it should be a party, but any element that makes walking in circles feel less like a funeral march is a positive.
I was at Raleigh today and Universal on Tuesday. Both were probably the best days of picketing I’ve had. Friendly people, creative signs, music, and a genuine sense of camaraderie that was born from an energetic atmosphere. What would the critics want? A bunch of quiet writers solemnly shuffling back and forth with their signs half-heartedly held in the air? Screw that.
Comment by Nick — November 15, 2007 @ 6:34 pm
P.S.
Would all the critics be complaining as much if it was a “Women of Screenwriting” gathering? I doubt it.
Comment by Nick — November 15, 2007 @ 6:38 pm
Old Writer
if more writers were like you, more would support the WGA’s cause
Sadly most seem like “asshats” as you so eloquently stated
Comment by Curious — November 15, 2007 @ 7:11 pm
To those who found “Gay Gate” offensive, it was not meant to be offensive. It was merely a way to support the writers and producers of UGLY BETTY.
I am not a Guild member, but I have been picketing at various gates every day. This was originally planned as a few friends getting together at Raleigh and once the e-mail got passed around, the various websites began to pick it up.
I’m sure that pickets are not supposed to be considered “fun.” But it certainly was a great way to connect with other gay writers. And if you went to the Hot in Hollywood website, you would see it was NOT exclusively gay. It was open to everyone.
I see nothing wrong with boosting morale of writers and producers. And everyone from UGLY BETTY was very appreciative to have the company today. We had about 200 people join at one point during the day and there were a number of print reporters that showed up.
And yes, it was all about unity. Which, again, was clear on the website Hotinhollywood.tv. We asked everyone to wear red to support the writers. I don’t want to give the impression that this was set out to be a giant Gay Pride Parade on the corner of Van Ness and Melrose.
And as for the comments about social butterflies and negotiating, so darling. But none of the people out on that picket have been invited to a bargaining table.
Again, sorry if anyone was offended.
Comment by Chad — November 15, 2007 @ 7:18 pm
I agree that the whole Theme Day thing is stupid and misses the point and looks bad. But for everyone who blames the writers for this strike, who blames the writers for their being out of work, who says, “stop with the dogs and kids and gays and face-painting and get back to negotiating,” I say look at the facts.
The WGA has a standing offer to continue negotiations, DESPITE the well-documented underhanded, bad-faith and duplicitous moves by the AMPTP. This is not to mention the five multinational conglomerates that comprise the AMPTP who talk of landmark profits on Wall Street out of one side of their mouths and abject poverty to the writers out of the other, all the while refusing to consider even the most meager modicum of compensation for the creative content that enable these same great profits.
No one wants to get this over with more than out-of-work writers, who would happily agree to a contract that gave them less than 1% of internet distribution of their work. Let the studios take 99%. But this is not enough for them. They want 99.6%. And that’s why you’re out of work. That’s why Lost will not air an complete season. Because these studios want to crow on Wall Street that they made 99.6% instead of 99.2% on [insert your favorite show].
So go ahead, pile on the “spoiled writers” who you feel are responsible for this strike. And forget about the fact that they are part of the same machine in which you work. They spill their souls out on the page to give you something to shoot, dress, light and direct. But remember that no writer I have talked to feels good about the pain the AMPTP’s intransigence is causing you.
Comment by Venice — November 15, 2007 @ 7:19 pm
One more thing… the idea that WGA members on the picket lines could just somehow magically step into a negotiating room with the AMPTP and hammer out a deal is… I can’t even think of the word. Asinine is the closest I can come up with.
WGA members out on the picket lines are doing all that they can do. They are holding signs and being visible.
Negotiations are up to the negotiating parties in the union and the AMPTP and the last I heard, the WGA was waiting on the AMPTP.
So where are the calls for the AMPTP to get back to the bargaining table? Huh?
Why the finger pointing at the writers? Is it because you know the AMPTP is not looking at these (or any other) posts? And is that because they don’t give a s**t about what you or anyone else thinks?
The fact is the writers are on the right side of this issue and would be happy to negotiate with the AMPTP (HELL, we were willing to give up our proposal to increase DVD residuals — where did THAT get us?) but the AMPTP seems content to slash and burn the TV season and tens of thousands of jobs for .4% on a medium they claim cannot be proved will ever be profitable… I really fail to see how anyone cannot see through this…
Comment by Venice — November 15, 2007 @ 7:27 pm
All of this anti ‘Gay Gate’ drivel has more than just a whiff of steaming homophobia, and yes, jealousy, rising from its rotten core.
In case you’ve forgotten, The Gays run this town. The anonymous posters complaining about Gay Gate obviously know this, which is why they don’t dare post their real names.
Sure, you’re all bold and bad-ass behind the anonymity of a laptop, but would you have the balls to say that shit during your first post-strike pitch with a homo exec? Or you dike manager? Or your married, closeted fag agent? Didn’t think so.
Just because other unions like auto workers, nurses, teachers and janitors don’t have the imagination to organize a Gay Gate (or even a Bi-Curious Gate for that matter), don’t condemn us for doing it. We could never be as dull as you. There’s a reason why it’s called SHOW business.
From some of the posts you would think there was a Gay Pride float full of horney Greek sailors in thongs parked in front of Raleigh today. The only ones who are embarrassed about Gay Gate are YOU. Self-loathing closet issues anyone? They’ve established a Larry Craig Port-a-Potty on the corner of Melrose and Van Ness just for you.
Even though we’re having a few laughs on the picket line, that does not diminish the gravitas of our 20-hour weekly mandated picket duties or our sympathy for the assistants and others (including ourselves) losing jobs.
And yes, that’s 20-HOURS, to all of you ‘important’ writers who seem to think you’re above walking the line with the peasants. Do us a favor, Stay home. We really don’t need to be aggrevated when you show up two hours into a shift wearing a cardigan sweater, sipping a Frappuccino, signing in, not putting on a WGA T-shirt, walking around for 45 minutes and then leaving. WE know and YOU know who you are. And so does the WGA. I doubt Ellen DeGeneres will be the only one publicly bitch-slapped by the Guild.
And as much as you Anti Gay Gaters might not like to admit it, picket lines ARE social events. I have met more writers in the past two weeks than I have in more than ten years living and working in LA and today got a few phone numbers from some hot gay writers.
To the homophobes bemoaning Gay Gate, why not organzie a ‘Straight Gate’ and invite Fred Phelpes and congregation? Or better yet, refocus your rage (no pun) at the AMPTP. If not for their obstinate refusal to negotiate, there would be no NEED for a Gay Gate.
That said, sign me up for Gay Gate 2. The musical.
Comment by fussy Protocol Droid — November 15, 2007 @ 7:28 pm
Stupid question: Why aren’t people picketing outside the AMPTP offices? Doesn’t it make more sense to make their lives a living hell than a studio that isn’t currently shooting a television show?
What am I missing here?
Comment by Devon — November 15, 2007 @ 7:29 pm
At what point do the writers start questioning their leadership. When David Young can sit back and be gleefull about his self proclaimed havoc he was created and not one of you question his motives is perplexing. As a group that I look to as free and progressive thinkers why now are you taking a blind faith in my leaders approach.
David Young is getting rock star treatment while the creative forces walk the picket line. The 2007 remake of The Puppet Master.
Comment by dagger — November 15, 2007 @ 7:36 pm
Funny how nobody hated on theme picket days until there was a gay-themed one.
I even had one supposed liberal say to me, aghast, “But what will middle America think about a gay picket?!” Good God.
I say anything that gets people out on the picket lines (and Gay Gate got a couple HUNDRED to Raleigh today, folks) and a little bit happier about doing it is a great idea. Bring on the gay.
Comment by I'm just saying — November 15, 2007 @ 7:40 pm
I think no one here is anti-gay. It’s just that these theme days seem to be getting out of hand. Some people are afraid it will look as if the WGA is not taking this seriously. This is a labor action, people are losing their jobs. It’s very serious. I grew up in Pittsburgh during the 70’s and I watched the steel mill jobs leave the country. Thousands of people lost well paying jobs. They were on the picket lines day and night, in Pittsburgh winters worried about getting their heads beat in. Not marching around munching on donuts in the LA heat. Not to disrespect that, but to underline the fact that maybe you should understand how others across the country are viewing this. If it takes a Gay Day to get two hundred people to show up where otherwise only two would, so be it. Just maybe don’t have so much fun doing it. LOL
Comment by mla28 — November 15, 2007 @ 7:59 pm
I personally don’t care who’s out picketing - gay people, assistants, moms with babies, etc. Rock on. My concern is that the general public, while they side with the writers now, may soon change their tune if they think the whole thing looks like fun or some kind of a circus.
Are the real issues getting out there or is the media just focusing on the bs stuff - like the churro handout? The stuff that makes writers look silly and makes the strike look like a frivolous action, which we all know it is not.
Everyone needs to constantly drum home the idea that the AMPTP walked away, NOT the writers. I’m afraid the general public thinks the writers are the SOLE cause of all the below the line people being kicked to the curb. And writers dancing on the line or chowing down on doughnuts seem like very easy targets for media/public opinion backlash. My frustration is not with the people on the line…you are the front line and you are doing an awesome job…it’s with the lack of a united, cohesive DIRECT message.
I would love to see Patric Verrone on more talk shows (he did a good job on the KTLA morning show last week), educating people about the facts of the strike. Is that going to happen soon?
Comment by Samantha — November 15, 2007 @ 8:05 pm
Any idea when Nude Day is?
I’m sure a camera will show up then to take your pictures.
Comment by Francine Fishpaw — November 15, 2007 @ 8:07 pm
Moe,
Nice to know you took the opportunity to get lucky. God forbid you concern yourself with ending the strike.
Comment by Curly — November 15, 2007 @ 8:10 pm
Hey,
I’d like to propose a “Nick Counter” themed gate. Let’s invite him and all of his staff to a gate…any gate would do, to picket along side of us so we can really get to know his issues.
And as long as we’re all there, what the hell, why don’t we invite Mr. Verrone and Mr. Young along. We don’t want them to feel excluded. Maybe we could even set up a little table for them so they could cat and have a cup of joe.
Who’s with me?
Comment by Lets get along — November 15, 2007 @ 8:27 pm
We ‘whiners’ who aren’t in the picket lines… many of us aren’t writers. We see scores of people losing jobs and look to see if there’s progress and we see the WGA merrymaking in the streets instead. I’m not naive enough to blame the WGA for those lost jobs. Not for one second. The strike is justified and the loss of work is pretty much the definition of a strike. But you also lose a little bit of my support when I repeatedly am presented with the impression that the picketers are more focused on making it a fun experience rather than a productive one.
No one is offended that it was a gay-friendly theme. I was tempted make a similar ‘too much partying’ complaint after the WGA Happy Hour article, after Defamer ran a story about synchronized dancing picketers, after DHD itself start posting all the shots of movie stars in the crowd. (Because really, if there’s a group of people who would be totally unphased by pictures of actors, it would be us). Today could have been Left Handed Writers Gate and we would still be put off.
These publicity stunts don’t attract the press, they distract them. All the reporting is on the delivery, not the message.
If these continue to be the tactics that writers employ, then it will indeed be important to keep morale up because the strike will drag on far longer than it needed to.
We support you. We know you deserve a better deal than what has been offered. We really want to think you guys are taking this as seriously as the rest of us. Theme days are a step in the wrong direction on that.
Comment by tenpercenter — November 15, 2007 @ 8:39 pm
Nude Day is being planned by the WGAe to coordinate with the Macy’s Parade for maximum press exposure.
Blimps and butts on parade.
It goes without saying that male participants will be issued “hand warmers” to deal with the shrinkage factor.
pb
Comment by pb — November 15, 2007 @ 8:55 pm
Until all commentators (WGA members & non-members alike) realize that, as in all commercial strikes, the only thing that matters are the economic costs of settlement (vs. the economic costs of non-settlement) and, therefore things such as kid day (ugh) gay day (double ugh) celebrity day (arghhh) etc. are meaningless (and, therefore, purposeless) and a waste of time & energy includinq commenting in any detail on those events in blogs such as these.
Thanks for listening.
Comment by pundit — November 15, 2007 @ 8:58 pm
kirk, no offense, but that’s nonsense. The same people who are whining about the greedy writers would also by whining about the greedy nurses who are letting their patients die out of selfishness, the greedy autoworkers who are putting other industries related to automaking out of work, the greedy teachers who are letting their students twist in the wind, the transit workers who are inconveniencing their lives. It has nothing to do with not seeing themselves, it has to do with inexplicably identifying with the powerful and megarich and celebrating a culture of corporate selfishness and me me me (we need nurses, so the nurses owe us and should put up with slave wages, disrespect, horrible dangerous working conditions, 20 hour days–who cares. We don’t owe them a damn thing, but they owe us). Well. okay, it does have to do with not seeing themselves, in the sense that these people want to see themselves as important and powerful and not subject to any type of power outside of their own tremendous individual merit (and when that merit doesn’t get them anywhere, they scapegoat immigrants or something). Everybody is faulted except the powerful.
Believe me, these type of events happen in every strike, and people complain, but it’s the only way to get attention from the media, and half the time the themed events are the product of individuals just trying to pass the time by doing something other than worry. If they weren’t complaining about Gay gate, they’d be gloating about nothing happening and the strike running out of steam, it’s always something. As you see here, some think the writers look bad carrying doughnuts, others think they’re shuffling too slow, but if they go too fast, they look like they’re fired up and enjoying it–nooo! That’s wrong too!
And of course there’s always an element of actual members who are too important/lazy/militant/conservative/about-it-all, etc., to attend a single planning meeting or get involved in any way, but are only too happy to let those who actually do get involved know how stupid they are, how much they suck, and how much better things would be run if only the important/lazy/militant etc. could be arsed to do anything except complain after the fact. *shrugs* Believe me, I’ve been around strikes for a long time, and none of these reactions are specific to the Writers’ Guild. Your description of how you saw the NFL is how some of these trolls see even the poorest, most desperate striking workers.
Comment by Anon — November 15, 2007 @ 9:04 pm
There. There’s my name. Gay gate was a bad idea. So was “kid’s day.” So is “assistant’s day.”
It was and is a bad idea.
Comment by David Anthony — November 15, 2007 @ 9:38 pm
And I didn’t pick on “Kid’s day” because I didn’t realize we were going to have a running theme. I did go home at talk to my wife about how a kid could have been hurt and it was very inappropriate to have kids out there. With people losing their jobs, it is inappropriate to turn these lines into happy events.
And I’ve walked every day, 9am last week, 6am this week.
Comment by DA in LA — November 15, 2007 @ 9:40 pm
I’ve been hesitant to post any comment, because no matter which site, the internet is the internet and flames occur.
I’m a writer who is just beginning to break into Hollywood. I would NEVER cross a picket line and fully agree writers deserve a better residuals package.
Now, this is what I’ll likely get flamed for. As a person not in the Hollywood circle, but with enough exposure to know how it works, I firmly believe that a lot of this has become posturing, pissing, and dick sizing. On both sides. Again, I side with the writers, but I have to say I don’t like (at least the view we have of) how the higher ups are acting. On both sides. Big Media is just that, and they act like most other corporate conglomerates out there. That’s the part I fully agree with: strike against Big Media.
Some of the posturing et al is par for the course in a strike, but it is made worse by egos. Not saying the writers egos, but the top guys. The David Young’s who talk about being treated like a rock star, and I’m sure the other side is much worse (but better hidden).
The theme days are, I know, to help pass the time and maybe get media attention (though I could be wrong on the latter). The parties where alcohol is discounted and writers commune and commiserate (and rub elbows, I’d imagine) is also for morale. But to advertise those aspects, themes and “strike, not prohibition” parties, doesn’t help people *connect* with the strike. Fans are connecting mostly because of the exposure they’ve had to their favorite shows. But to me, a strike is teachers marching. Flight attendants and mechanics picketing at an airport.
Theme days help pass time, but how about thinking of a way, and as creators it’s what we do, to better connect with people?
Comment by hesitant — November 15, 2007 @ 11:10 pm
Well Hesitant, I would love to hear your ideas of how to connnect…
I would like to hear all of your ideas of how to end this and how to have the “right tone” and how to conduct a “real” strike like those of other “meaningful” professions.
“Themed” Gates = a bad idea, point well taken. So what are the good ideas you all have? When you are all ready to stop sulking and bitching, let’s talk. Until then- see you at “Gay Gate” and “SWF Gate”
Comment by MM — November 15, 2007 @ 11:48 pm
Well, not sniping, snarking, and/or flaming a supporter sharing an opinion would help connect, I’d think. I’m sorry if anyone feels dumped on, that was never an intention. My only intention was to share an opinion.
Comment by hesitant — November 16, 2007 @ 12:27 am
I’m proposing a theme picket for picketers who hate themes. If you’re annoyed by “Gay Gate,” “Kids Day,” etc. set up a gate and time and picket together.
It’s the second week and everybody’s already letting their frustrations out in each other. Could this be the beginnings of a Guild starting to bust? Are we falling prey to the master plan that’s being laid out by the deep-pocket mogs in their glass towers?
Damn, they’re good… They are good.
Comment by relax everyone — November 16, 2007 @ 1:00 am
to devon…
why would i care what my gay friends thought of ‘gay gate’? i was expressing my view…and how i felt it was not an all together positive action.
if i organized ‘writers’ with big dicks day’ (a small turnout, i’d project)…and we wagged them at passing cars on melrose…if you asked ‘us’, we’d say it was fun and cool…but probably not everyone in the guild would think it a good idea…
btw, some of us can write and picket with our head up asses too!…witness all of us in ny the last few days.
Comment by roscoe — November 16, 2007 @ 6:27 am
I’m an assistant, and I’m going to the assistant event, even though I already planned to do a 6-10 shift that day. I guess I’ll do both.
I don’t intend to be an assistant my whole life — and the only reason I’m okay with making $600/week (or, at this exact moment: $0/week) is that I want to be a writer. I’m happy to pay my dues, especially if I get to learn from talented professionals in the process.
I am WELL aware that not all assistants feel the same way — I see your snarky comments on NextGenFemmes et al — and that’s your right. But I have a right to spend some time with like-minded colleagues AND send a message that I support this strike. And that’s just what I’m going to do.
Btw, if you knew any writers, you’d realize that ONLY an assistant who supports the strike could have planned this event. Every single writer I know has gone out of his/her way to apologize, ask if I’m okay financially, and generally indicate that they don’t expect my support.
Yesterday, myself and another assistant, without really thinking, offered to do a coffee run. You would have thought we’d offered to cough up a kidney. No, no, we’ll do it, thank you, no, please, you’ve done enough. Hilarious, really, if you know what the dynamic is like in a writing office.
Comment by Kate — November 16, 2007 @ 9:02 am
I agree that it is funny that all the people who always had a problem with theme days just happened to mention it after gay day. Same goes for the people who always worried how these days might play in the court of public opinion.
Still, all homophobia — unconscious and otherwise — aside, it bears reminding the terribly-concerned that this strike will not be resolved in the court of public opinion. All that matters is how our actions affect the AMPTP. On that point, given how baldly (if futilely) they’ve been trying to drive wedges into us, showing them that we are in fact so united that every corner of our membership is rallying for the cause, and a in such high spirits that picketing is actually fun, seems tactically pretty smart.
Comment by Richard — November 16, 2007 @ 11:48 am
As an assistant fired BY FOX, I’ve been on the picket lines and will continue to be there, walking in support of writers, as well as below the liners whose pension and health benefits are augmented by WGA and SAG residuals. I’d like to step in and make an apology on behalf of the Studios to all those who have lost their jobs.
Comment by eli — November 16, 2007 @ 12:46 pm
Apologies don’t pay the rent.
I honestly don’t know how anyone can picket when neither side is even bothering to get in a room and negotiate.
Don’t you ever feel like you’re wasting your time?
Or that you’re the butt of some lame joke?
Comment by Francine Fishpaw — November 16, 2007 @ 4:05 pm
As an assistant whose days are numbered because of the strike I say we move mondays’ powwow from Fox to right in front of that dump located at 3rd & fairfax. Thoughts??
Comment by shame on you! — November 16, 2007 @ 5:26 pm
The below the line residuals for their pension is their own it is not augmented by sag or wga. Maybe you let go for being clueless
Comment by Dagger — November 16, 2007 @ 5:57 pm
To Francine Fishpaw: It’s hard to take anyone seriously whose name is based on a drag character from a John Waters movie.
Comment by Wow — November 16, 2007 @ 9:04 pm
I walked the line during the six month long commercial strike in 2000. We walked for hours trying to shut down commercial productions – parking lots, fields in the middle of nowhere, neighborhoods, alleyways, freeway overpasses…
The lines were crossed repeatedly, drivers screamed at us from their cars (some threw things), scab actors stood on their marks and gladly took our jobs from us. Very quickly, inside of the first month, most of the people I walked with felt demoralized – myself included. If there was a theme at all it was probably drinking. I’ve never enjoyed or felt I needed a scotch more than after a grueling and disheartening day on the picket lines.
We joked around, we acted ridiculous at times and we annoyed the hell out of each other after a while. It’s hours of walking in circles. As time wears on, the police become less lenient and won’t let any picketers stand still – you can’t stop to rest. You have to keep walking.
I’ve walked quite a few of the WGA picket lines. At Paramount, on the first day of the strike, I walked with a group of people in front of the Gower entrance. Even with the all the spirit and energy of the first day all I felt was dread.
I don’t think anyone walking the line at the “Gay Gate,” of which I took part, came just for a party. Everyone was acutely aware of what was at stake. What people showed up for was a sense of community. Being on strike makes you feel marginalized. Anything that is done to alleviate that feeling should be celebrated.
Walking the line on family day reminds everyone that there are families to fight for…
Walking the line on celebrity day reminds everyone how much we love watching actors bring to life the amazing stories that the writers have created…
Walking the line with the assistants reminds everyone how many other people are effected by this strike.
And walking the line at the “Gay Gate” reminds everyone that we’re here: We have mortgages and families. We write and act in everyone’s favorite shows. And on top of all that… we’re FIERCE as hell.
This is a fight with the AMPTP. That should be the only fight there is…
Comment by SAG in solidarity — November 17, 2007 @ 1:40 pm
Go SAG in solidarity! Finally a positive voice in an echo chamber of bitter bitchy (and yes, homophobic) naysayers.
Theme days are too “fun”? Picketing isn’t serious enough anymore? I guarantee that if the picketers at Raleigh had been doom-and-glooming around instead of having “Gay Gate,” many posters here would have been decrying the picketers funereal attitudes and proclaiming that it proved the writers were doomed, doomed I tell you, because they had already given up after only two weeks.
How’s about everybody take a breath. And if you don’t like picketing where there’s a theme day, don’t. And if you do, do. And if you’re not picketing, shut the fuck up.
Comment by Ripley — November 17, 2007 @ 5:32 pm
Oddly enough, this “theme” situation might be a very good tool to help keep this strike in the public’s collective eye.
The outside press is always hungry for good copy, especially if it’s visual. And who knows the visual world better than those involved, on all levels in this situation?
Ponder this: A Day of Suits on Parade.
This could be done at a gate that isn’t getting attention where Writers and supporters dress as “suits” (how many writers even own a suit – hello costume rentals!) and pass out “fake” film money to the lowly writers – a piece of street theatre. Think of the precision briefcase drill team from the Do Dah Parade.
No “fake” bill would be worth over a nickel and financial considerations and positions of the strike could be spelled out on the “fake” bills. And imagine the “heads” of state that one might place on the bills! Snarky? Sure. Attention getting..?
And how about replacing fake set money in working productions on locations and studios with this “fake” money too. Any creative artists (with drawing abilities) interested? It would sure beat flyers.
Pb, just thinking out loud, a bit of blue skying.
Comment by pb — November 17, 2007 @ 6:43 pm