STRIKE OVER: Hollywood Back To Work!

90 Comments »

1. Uh, could the screenwriter of “Untraceable” go ahead and keep picketing indefinitely, even after the strike is over?

   Comment by The Downside Of A Deal — February 12, 2008 @ 5:04 pm

2. THE STRIKE IS OVER!!!!!!!

   Comment by amanda — February 12, 2008 @ 6:07 pm

3. Sweet. This means more LOST!!!

   Comment by Steve — February 12, 2008 @ 6:21 pm

4. And now that you have settled this tiff, please think about how you will get back the 100% of the audience you had before (which was, by polls taken before - not doing very well). Or rather, consider every day you were on striake as losing another small percent of your audience and while MANY will return, they all will not. Many will be writing for projects soon to be terminated. You need the people A LOT more than the people need you.

   Comment by James Callahan — February 12, 2008 @ 6:21 pm

5. Congrats to all of you! Good job! Now–back to work. And try to turn out something worth watching, will ya?

   Thanks

   Comment by GLC — February 12, 2008 @ 6:21 pm

6. Nice.

   Comment by Scott — February 12, 2008 @ 6:23 pm

7. 92 percent? Even though it cost me a couple days pay, I’m actually glad they had this vote to placate the people whining about how this was being “shoved down our throats.” Now they can see how pathetically out of touch they are.

   Comment by comedy writer — February 12, 2008 @ 6:37 pm

8. Congratulations to the WGA!!!! To be honest, this is slightly bittersweet for me as a non-union writer because I was actually enjoying the picketing, the conversations, and the daily walk before I headed off to work. As a writer I felt compelled to picket along with other writers, even though I never sold a single spec or worked on any shows, but it was still important to hit the sidewalk and let everyone know we were united as one, regardless of success. I enjoyed that equality. I’ll miss it. However, with that said, I’m happy for all writers, union or non-union, because we finally got justice… or the closest thing to justice in this town. It’s about time writers get paid for their work. Once again, congrats to all WGA members!

   Comment by Alex — February 12, 2008 @ 6:38 pm

9. What’s very troubling is the absurd pack mentality at work here. 90% voted to strike back in November and now 92.5% vote to end it without getting anything they were led to believe would be theirs.

   You can call it solidarity if you want but I believe it’s a reflection of lousy leadership and a majority of members without any independent thinking ability of their own.

   The majority who voted to strike were duped and misled. There was no need to strike without SAG also striking for a double punch victory. The timing was horrible. It was six months premature.

   And because of the lousy leadership and terrible timing of this strike the members had no choice but to vote to end it just when they were reaching their maximum leverage points all across the board.

   Now a slightly larger majority have been duped yet again into thinking they have achieved this great victory. The gains are so minimal they are laughable. That’s because the demands at the start of this thing were not nearly large enough to get any type of gain.

   Hillary should hire Verrone and Young to run her fizzling campaign. They will convince everyone that Obama is a certain loser and Hillary is already our next President. *rolls eyes*

   Comment by Anonymous — February 12, 2008 @ 6:42 pm

10. yay!.. now there will be fresh propaganda and opinion control on all our idiot boxes once again.

    yay.

    Comment by ralphie — February 12, 2008 @ 6:46 pm

11. Congrats everyone! You deserve everything you got and more. As someone who is not a writer I understand that the writer is the foundation upon which all films stand. I’m happy to get back to work but the circumstances make it even better.

    Comment by HanSolomente — February 12, 2008 @ 6:47 pm

12. eggcellent

    Comment by Jon — February 12, 2008 @ 6:50 pm

13. OKAY WGA– you destroyed my livelyhood, ruined my xmas holidays, made us take a 2nd mortgage– and for what? my show is gone, my buddys have lost their OH deals, and we really didn’t get much AT ALL. What a waste.

    Comment by freddy — February 12, 2008 @ 6:51 pm

14. PROUD TO BE/
    ONE OF 283!

    We’ll rue this day, but for those of you celebrating tonight, congratulations and godspeed.

    Signing off.

    StickingWithMyUnion

    Comment by StickingWithMyUnion — February 12, 2008 @ 6:53 pm

15. Yay!

    Comment by Annelise — February 12, 2008 @ 6:55 pm

16. The words I’ve been waiting three months for. I have nothing to say right now but thank you, Nikki. And thank you, WGA! Let’s get our shows back on the road!

    Comment by Caitlin — February 12, 2008 @ 7:04 pm

17. From all of us actors that finally got a ride on a show, we are so grateful you got your lousy $1,200.00, the chump-change from those amazingly lucrative Internet feeds and of course the three people that have actually downloaded a movie from the internet last year. I would gladly give up my chance at continued employment on a network television show for which I have worked so hard and sacrificed so much to help you line your already amazingly abundant pockets. I am firm believer it is much better to pick up those shiny nickels on the ground while those pesky $20.00 bills fly over your head. Just brilliant. The future is safe. Great job…….

    Comment by cannnnl;kasVCXCkdl;k — February 12, 2008 @ 7:07 pm

18. Thank God it’s OVER!!!!!!

    Congrats to all. Great job of showing your solidarity and sticking to your guns. Hopefully this will set a great precedent for future contracts in all of hollywood.

    Now once we are all back at work it will be time to actually interact with your crews that were put out of work and suffered for your gain. Get to know them. Learn their names. Say “good morning” and “thanks for a great day”. Get a coffee cart for the crew or bring in the “In and Out” truck. We’re really good people. Don’t make a beeline for video village and only talk to the actors, the director and the producers. The people that actually bring your visions to life are hard working and fun and would love to actually be acknowledged once in a while.

    Cheers! See you on the set.

    Comment by can't wait to work — February 12, 2008 @ 7:33 pm

19. Glory and halleluiah!

    Bless you, Nikki. This makes me sound like a sycophant, but without your coverage, I really think this thing would have dragged on longer.

    Thanks for being a real journalist.

    Comment by velveeta — February 12, 2008 @ 7:37 pm

20. Congrats to the WGA!!

    You deserved what you were striking for and I’m only sorry that it took this long for the Directors and other parties to come to the table.

    While I was pretty “depressed” at the lack of decent programming, not to mention the loss of some of my favorite programs, I understood what the strike was about and was behind you 1000%.

    Now get back to work and make those programs and movies!! (humor, seriously…)

    Cheers!!

    Comment by Thirteenburn — February 12, 2008 @ 7:40 pm

21. oh please. . . in a market of re-makes and un-original screenplays, you beg for our pity? are you kidding me? all of you are the reason why this land has become the epitome of hero-worshippers and the ‘land of the paps’. give us all a break. quit crying like a bunch of 6th grade girls, and get to work like the rest of us. waah.

    Comment by brian — February 12, 2008 @ 7:47 pm

22. Congratulations to the writers/members of the WGA. Your win shows that it is STILL possible to fight and win. This is a victory for all workers.

    Comment by Todd Ricker, — February 12, 2008 @ 7:48 pm

23. This is great news!

    Comment by steve adams — February 12, 2008 @ 8:00 pm

24. hooray.

    Comment by rob — February 12, 2008 @ 8:02 pm

25. Freaking Finally! I hope the writers and all involved will be rewarded for may years to come! Thank god all my catering friends will get paid again…

    Comment by Jay — February 12, 2008 @ 8:09 pm

26. Yeah…

    Comment by Anonymous — February 12, 2008 @ 8:12 pm

27. Congrats to all!

    Comment by Jay — February 12, 2008 @ 8:12 pm

28. I know there are probably a lot of writers out there who are relieved to end the strike and get back to business. I know what it’s like having been through this and worse numerous times. Even now it will take time to recover and heal. But you have to sit back and ask yourself, was it worth it?

    Was it worth three months of hell to make the minimal progress made? Taking all things into consideration, had there been no strike things might be worse. There would not have even been the paltry gains that were made and possibly even rollbacks on what writers had before all this.

    But that;s the nature of this industry, at least in Hollywood-land where AMPTP companies still call the shots and writers pretty much have to let them.

    So while many will disagree with me in this, I’m quite sure many others won’t and I’d like to think I speak for them, if for no other reason than the reasons they have not to speak their minds. In this kind of thing you have two opposing sides and it polarizes people to feel right or wrong, good or bad, “yes” or “no”. The real world has grey areas and things don’t naturally lie somewhere in the middle ground, obviously.

    Anyway, I’d just like to offer this response to the moguls from the bottom of my heart. Fuck you.

    Comment by Jon Raymond — February 12, 2008 @ 8:12 pm

29. The WGA people are a bunch of self centered wieners. They caused so much damage to the economy of LA during their strike but do they care? NO! All they care about is themselves and now they can go back to writing the same crap that we haven’t missed for the past few months.
    Great….

    Comment by Tommy Barnsworth — February 12, 2008 @ 8:15 pm

30. I’m still waiting to hear about the details of the gains in DVD residuals. Or did that not happen??? Bueller?

    Comment by DVD Residuals? — February 12, 2008 @ 8:18 pm

31. Hooray!!!

    Comment by JohnnyT — February 12, 2008 @ 8:19 pm

32. welcome back–now we can have more crap on TV

    Comment by K — February 12, 2008 @ 8:30 pm

33. CONGRATS!!!

    Comment by shabooty — February 12, 2008 @ 8:30 pm

34. about time!! yay.

    Comment by Knives in my Pocket — February 12, 2008 @ 8:46 pm

35. Wow! Now when can we expect TV to catch up?

    Comment by Charles — February 12, 2008 @ 9:29 pm

36. What about the viewers? We’ve been yearning and wishing for our favorite shows to have new episodes- what shows will be cancelled because of this? Everybody complains that the strike is for this and for that, people without jobs, etc- your choice- but nobody bothered to mention the millions of viewers who support those jobs through spending on the advertizers products… Welcome back!

    Comment by Jigma — February 12, 2008 @ 9:33 pm

37. Can someone tell me how the settlement affects HD DVDs. Are they covered under new media somehow? Is it still nothing as with regular DVDs?

    Why all the concern with downloads when the industry is about to start another sales cycle with HD DVDs?

    Comment by John — February 12, 2008 @ 10:15 pm

38. Thank God! Now I can finally go back to being an out of work TV writer!

    Comment by One Time Sitcom Writer — February 12, 2008 @ 10:28 pm

39. From the WGA website:
    

    …LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK — The membership of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) today voted overwhelmingly in favor of lifting the restraining order and ending their 100-day strike that began on Nov. 5. 3,775 writers turned out in Los Angeles and New York to cast ballots or fax in proxies, with 92.5% voting in favor of ending the work stoppage….

    That’s 92.5% of 3,775 voters decided the fate for some 10,000 WGA members. So actually only 35% of WGA membership voted to end the strike. A fine example of the media agenda to distort the facts. Either that or the strike began on stardate Nov. 5 3,775. Who writes this stuff?

    Comment by Anonymous — February 12, 2008 @ 11:04 pm

40. Just a simple CONGRATS!!!! to the WGA< with hopes this holds for the strength for unions everywhere!

    Comment by John S Cheney — February 12, 2008 @ 11:46 pm

41. Does this mean we can bring the aliens back on Days Of Our Lives?

    Comment by superchicken — February 12, 2008 @ 11:49 pm

42. at least THE OFFICE will be back on!!! that is the best sitcom EVER!!!

    Comment by who cares — February 13, 2008 @ 12:39 am

43. What? No word from Nick Counter? Earlier in the strike, you couldn’t keep his name off a press release or letter. I mean, isn’t he happy?

    Funny, really. The AMPTP and their PR monkeys spent all that time demonizing Young and Verrone, clearly trying to get WGA members to lose faith in their leadership.

    But seems like the reverse happened: the big congloms lost faith in THEIR leadership at the table.

    So much so that their chief negotiator (Counter) is nowhere to be seen or heard when a deal is made. He’s not even mentioned on the AMPTP’s own site.

    I’d love to know the real story behind The Sidelining of Nick Counter.

    And since when did the AMPTP just become seven people (the signatories of the “It’s over” statement)? Interesting shift, bet those hundreds of smaller company members must be thrilled at that.

    Comment by Who runs the AMPTP — February 13, 2008 @ 12:49 am

44. Congratulations to the AMPTP, you managed once again to screw the writers and they are even patting themselves on the back not realizing it. You have accomplished your goal and in only 3 months.

    You have assured several years of labour peace with the writers as there is no way they will hit the picket lines again for at least a decade.

    You didn’t have to give up any money on the DVD,HD DVD, BluRay… market and can keep all the profits you can eat as consumers replace thier movie and tv show collections with the latest incarnation.

    You were able to get rid of showrunners on payroll who are not working on current series, you have been able to find new sources for television shows overseas.

    You have had a chance to review the way you do business and have arrived at some ways to do more with fewer writers by changing how pilots are handled.

    Yes, of all the interested parties, you, the AMPTP, have outshone them all and truly deserve congratulations for more than exceeding your wildest dreams for this deal.

    Comment by Chips Down — February 13, 2008 @ 12:56 am

45. LOL at the above comment and especially the bit about stardate Nov5 3,775. LOL. Glad to know that the writing is going to get back to Happening. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! :) :)

    Comment by Anonymous — February 13, 2008 @ 2:38 am

46. Congrats idiots.
    By drawing this bogus line in the sand, you screwed not just yourselves, but SAG, DGA and IATSE. As if there wasn’t a big enough gap between writers and production.
    This was an idiotic strike and ultimately harmful to all.
    The whole guild, it’s members, and particularlly our flawed leadership should feel deep shame and remorse, but with mouths full of sand we’ll just move on, bruised, weakened and gloating about this tragic, phyrric victory.

    Comment by writer — February 13, 2008 @ 2:46 am

47. “That’s 92.5% of 3,775 voters decided the fate for some 10,000 WGA members. So actually only 35% of WGA membership voted to end the strike.”

    Your point being? To cite an example, only 24.57% of voting age Americans voted for George Bush in 2000, yet that didn’t stop him deciding upon the fate of the world.

    Comment by Riley — February 13, 2008 @ 3:18 am

48. As a viewer who was rooting for the writers more than the return of shows, I am disheartened by the math - I have been reading that there are about 12000 dues paying writers in the WGA, but all the reports I have been reading say that only 3800 (rounding up) of them voted and that 93% (rounding up) of them voted to approve. Which means that about 1/3 of the membership decided the fate of all. About the national average, I guess.

    Comment by B. L. — February 13, 2008 @ 3:42 am

49. How can I get back the 14 weeks of wages I was screwed out of? Not to mention the series I was on is now cancelled due to the strike. Yes, cheers all around.

    Comment by Brian — February 13, 2008 @ 3:57 am

50. GOD is it satisfying to hear the “hard core” union members bitch and complain about the deal, just days after ranting and raving you unionized labor, how they had the upperhand, how the stike would go on through June. I can only hope a lot of you-bags end up losing your job permanently, and that those who oposed the strike and loss of income while supporting a family somehow come out ahead in all of this.

    I said it 2 months ago and I’ll say is now (its not earth-shattering by any means) - the “moguls” f-ing do this for a living. you were never going to win. you lost, badly, and a lot of good people suffered. Writing Is A Commodity. Don’t forget your place.

    Comment by Joe John — February 13, 2008 @ 4:41 am

51. Re that first comment: I’m so glad this strike is over, now I can get stuck into writing Norbit II.

    Comment by Writer of 'Untraceable' — February 13, 2008 @ 5:00 am

52. Yesssss.

    Comment by Jen — February 13, 2008 @ 5:26 am

53. I might be happy with the strike ending if more than a handful of writers produced quality and original ideas before the strike. How many new movies and shows are just remakes of the old 70s shows/movie and done at a worse quality. I don’t blame only the writers, but come on, they are the ones creating the content.

    Comment by George S — February 13, 2008 @ 5:38 am

54. Ok, strike is over whoopee. Now will the execs leave the writers to be creative or will they screw with and cancel every show worth watching as they normally do?

    All I care about now is seeing the last season of The Shield and keeping The Unit, Life and Shark on TV. 24 won’t be seen until 2009 so if those other shows don’t get on TV I have zero need to turn mine on. Too much crap is out there, I hope this strike teaches all sides to put quality on TV for a change and what quality is there needs to stay.

    Comment by Moe — February 13, 2008 @ 5:38 am

55. To Anon at 11:40pm: How is the media distorting facts? 92.5% of WGA members who cast a ballot voted to end the strike. It’s not the “media’s” fault that only 3775 of us voted. That’s embarrassing that only a little more than a third of us voiced an opinion. WE should be ashamed–not the media.

    Comment by Can't Take it Anymore — February 13, 2008 @ 5:40 am

56. As one who spent years assisting on the producer side at Universal (Back in Casey Silver’s days)I can tell you that the “moguls” are laughing their heads off, slapping each other on their collective backs and wondering if it’s true that the WGA could be so stupid as to cave at this point in time.

    When this strike started I called one of my buddies and he said it will be “settled at the end of Feb or early March”. When I asked why he said that they needed at least 90 days to kill all the stagnent money-sucking term deals that weren’t producing crap and move out the dead wood.

    Guess what’s going to happen now? After the first month (Which you gave them for free) of selling your tv shows on itunes ,etc. they’ll just give them away for free and your precentage of “free” isn’t all that interesting anymore.

    Good job putting hard working people in other industries out of work for almost nothing (other than pride.) Enjoy your extra $35 a week!

    Comment by Jack — February 13, 2008 @ 5:57 am

57. Seems some people think it was worth it, others don’t. Which leads me to quote from the movie Real Genius, “Then I’m happy and sad for you!”

    As for me, I’m happy that The Office will soon be back in production. Sorry, but I couldn’t care less about the rest.

    Comment by BRW — February 13, 2008 @ 6:01 am

58. AT LAST! (Handel’s “Hallelujah” starts playing)

    Comment by Sean Pultz — February 13, 2008 @ 6:02 am

59. Amanda- are you patting yourself on the back- or what?

    Comment by James — February 13, 2008 @ 6:27 am

60. You guys caved! They ripped you off! You need to walk off for a whole year next time.

    Comment by Stan — February 13, 2008 @ 6:33 am

61. it’s like taking 3 steps forward and 2 back…..you writers made people lose their homes, in debt,….and lose viewers…

    Comment by franck — February 13, 2008 @ 6:41 am

62. This is a day of relief and optimism for everyone in the entertainment industry. We can now all get back to work, with the assurance that we might still be able to hang onto 1 or 2 of the millions of viewers who realized that sitting around watching TV REALLY WASN’T all “THAT” just like they thought.

    Comment by Watcher — February 13, 2008 @ 6:44 am

63. Phyrric victor this is! This is just a small side fight compared to what will probably happen when the SAG contact is up later this year.

    Comment by steve — February 13, 2008 @ 7:24 am

64. Good. I guess. Only please tell me there is a clause in the contract that prohibits Jon Stewart from goofing about the whole debacle when he hosts the Oscars? Truth be told, I was looking forward to a slimmed-down version of Hollywood’s Big Night since the worst aspect of the ceremony has always been the forced banter between seemingly clueless stars, “unscripted” ad-libs from the host, and overly purple prose used to enlighten the uninformed home viewers what “art direction” means.

    Bright side? Debbie Allen is directing a play in New York, so no mind-numbing dance numbers for the critics to write about post-mortem.

    Comment by Michael — February 13, 2008 @ 7:34 am

65. Congrats to the writers, they shut it all down, brought Hollywood to its knees, and got in return…..virtually nothing they wanted! I will laugh at you guys for this debacle for many years to come. You ruined SO many lives by putting hard working people out of a job, and you have so little to show for it.

    Pat yourselves on the back for a job well done.

    Comment by Below The Line — February 13, 2008 @ 7:41 am

66. That’s 92.5% of 3,775 voters decided the fate for some 10,000 WGA members. So actually only 35% of WGA membership voted to end the strike. A fine example of the media agenda to distort the facts. Either that or the strike began on stardate Nov. 5 3,775. Who writes this stuff?

    X

    It’s not the media’s fault that the WGA membership didn’ come out and vote.

    Comment by Dani — February 13, 2008 @ 7:55 am

67. Congratulations. You got your settlement, and you lost fans. I found out long ago that it’s not important to be so dependent on your entertainment on the big screen or the “Boob Tube.” Most of your garbage today is liberal diatribe at best.

    “24″ and Law & Order, CSI Shows are the only show I pretty much care about, anyway. But it’s about the junk you guys care about - it’s all about YOU.

    At least be honest about that…

    Comment by CAREY, U.S. ARMY — February 13, 2008 @ 8:02 am

68. Well one thing the writers strike ensured… you all have jobs for the next quarter century. If I had to watch one more repeat of CSI or some terrible “Dancing With The Addicts” rehash I’d shoot myself. In fact, I actually re-subscribed to HBO. That’s desperate!

    Comment by Akiva Abrams — February 13, 2008 @ 8:06 am

69. For all those people complaining about writers creating crappy product, I suggest you go rent “The TV Set.” The amount of tinkering that goes on from studio heads, which contributes to the crapfest, is equally to blame.

    Comment by Cameron — February 13, 2008 @ 8:14 am

70. Now that Jack Bauer is out of jail for the dui charge, it is time to get back to work and make it happen. We all know that they went on strike because he was in jail. Hey lets get in gear and start getting 24 back online before Jack get MAD!!!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by PaNdaBeaR — February 13, 2008 @ 8:30 am

71. What happened with doubling residuals for video? What happened with reality and animation writing? How in the world was this strike worth its damage?

    I’m sorry, but as much as I want to champion the cause of the underdog, I have to call a spade a spade. The WGA was strong for 90 days and then collapsed, DEAD, in the final hour.

    I won’t blame the 93% for voting yes on this miserable deal, because in all honesty, with all the pressures from our own families and industry peers, could we REALLY have rejected a proposal?

    No.

    So do I strip the WGA members of all blame?

    No.

    It’s our fault for putting Verone and Winship at the wheel. They led us to believe we were making progress. We didn’t. Take a good look at the business behind the veil. Writers didn’t win. Several HUGE points were left in the void. And now…with studios tightening the belt on pilots…things are worse. If I sound negative, I challenge you to brush of the confetti, put down your kazoo, and read the details of the new contract. This wasn’t a practical victory.

    Comment by TV Nerd — February 13, 2008 @ 8:37 am

72. Now that the writers cost billions to the economy, they are now happy for a few dollars extra that they will receive. Who’s going to help all the other workers that the strike seriously hurt?

    Comment by Joe — February 13, 2008 @ 9:34 am

73. Screw the WGA.

    Comment by Anonymous — February 13, 2008 @ 9:43 am

74. Is it in the writer’s new contract to get money’s from dvd sales..or did that part not go through?

    Comment by MARC SMITH — February 13, 2008 @ 10:27 am

75. Anyone from the crafts unions, etc who’s complaining about their losses due to the WGA strike had better practice grabbing their ankles for when the SAG contract comes up - unless the actors make like the airline pilots who talk big and go out on strike for a week or so till the payments on the lake house or the aerobatic plane come due and then cave - that one could quite possibly be longer and have a widerspread effect than the WGA strike.

    Comment by fairportfan — February 13, 2008 @ 11:54 am

76. The media reports a 92% margin, which is accurate. But they neglect to mention it’s based on only 35% of members voting. This 92% number is touted and raved about like it’s a great victory. The number is meaningless out of context with the fact it represents only 34% of membership voted down the strike. people hear 92% and say “Wow”. there’s nothing “wow” about it. taken out of context it is effectively a misrepresentation of facts. A more “wow” number would be to report that 65% of WGA membership don’t give a flying fuck about the strike. Either that or they’re homeless with bigger problems having been foreclosed upon as one writer I personnally know of.

    Comment by Anonymous — February 13, 2008 @ 12:15 pm

77. I am curious about the Actors guild. If scripts will finally be ready for approval, and the actors go on strike, won’t we be back in the same boat? Won’t this encourage directors and producers to hire talent(writers and actors) who do not belong to a union? Does anyone remember the post man strike? They always went out around christmas so we would never get our bonuses. How many people signed up for direct deposit that next year?
    Writers-you were beat when you were born. One issue I cannot comprehend you ignoring is copywrite. It goes to the director when the writing turns into a movie or tv ep. Why not just work to keep this? The rest is just gravy.

    SUkka’s

    Comment by crazy loco — February 13, 2008 @ 2:30 pm

78. “Crazy Loco” isn’t so crazy. Why not just have the writer hold on to the copyright and make separate licensing agreements for this and that? That’s how it works in the book world. You go to all the trouble to write a script, give it away and then try to beg and bargain the executives to give you your due in dribs and drabs - why are you bargaining and trying to negotiate on something you should own?

    Comment by Book Writer — February 13, 2008 @ 3:18 pm

79. Woo Hoo!!

    Comment by Mike — February 13, 2008 @ 4:04 pm

80. Was 4 months of no work worth it? Nope. Not for me. I think there should be a serious discussion as to voting on contracts. Is it really fair if someone re-wrote a script 12 years ago and has never been employed since as a writer (yet kept their dues current) gets to vote to strike? If they’re working at Pottery Barn, what do they care about regularly employed writers (and, frankly, the rest of us crewfolks)? Seems to me that if you haven’t been employed as a writer for over (I dunno, three?) years, you should not have the ability to vote to strike. It simply isn’t realistic or fair. For crew people, we have to work a minimum of 400 hours each and every year, or we lose our standing in the union. There ought to be a tiered process to having the ability to vote to strike. Hell, only 1/3 showed up to vote this week as it is! Thoughts?

    Comment by Crewguy — February 13, 2008 @ 5:07 pm

81. “For all those people complaining about writers creating crappy product, I suggest you go rent “The TV Set.” The amount of tinkering that goes on from studio heads, which contributes to the crapfest, is equally to blame.

    Comment by Cameron — February 13, 2008 @ 8:14 am”

    Now, wait a second. Over the past several days I’ve read HUNDREDS of comments that went on and on about how writers are so very important. How they are essential as they are the ones responsible (apparently single-handedly) for creating the worlds, stories, and characters the audience sees on both the big and little screens. And don’t even get me STARTED on the utter jackasses who claim that writers are the only true creators and others, such as the “BTLers,” don’t really contribute that end product — they just follow the writers’ direction and vision. (Ugh. Makes my skin crawl to even type that.) NOW, when people bring up how crappy most tv is, it’s the studio’s fault? What happened to the writers being the ones solely responsible for the brilliance that people see on tv? What happened to the prior assertions that what we see on tv wouldn’t exist but for the writers? Not saying you’re completely in the wrong, but writers can’t claim the responsibility for a show when it’s a success and then back away and point the finger elsewhere when the audience deems it a failure/crap.

    Comment by Can'thaveitbothways — February 13, 2008 @ 5:29 pm

82. Initially I supported the strike (even picketed) but around the time the DGA made their deal (admittedly not the greatest of all time, but a deal nonetheless with zero heartbreak and no strike) I started to listen to the instincts I had suppressed before — that the intelligence and tactics of the WGA were totally questionable. Now I’m convinced that my instincts were right on. Verrone (especially) and his henchmen boned the WGA rank and file (not to mention all the “collateral damage” folks) by their 1000% misguided approach to the negotiations. The membership’s lemming-like following was/is pathetic and their thinking that the new WGA deal is anything more than a mirror of the DGA agreement is totally nonsense. More succinctly, the past three months basically gained nothing for the WGA, cost billions and hurt tens of thousands for pennies of gain for a few. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on all the well-intentioned people who originally supported the strike but were too obtuse and blinded by fervancy and propaganda to recognize the stupidity and wrongminded approach of their leaders.

    Comment by gimmergimme — February 13, 2008 @ 6:46 pm

83. I have enormous respect for BTL people. I work with them everyday and I couldn’t do what I do without them. But the one BTL dude that keeps posting venom toward writers here should well remember that he wouldn’t have a job if it wasn’t for writers. If he holds writers in such low regard, he should find a job in another industry.

    As far as the vote goes, keep in mind that the largest turnout for any WGA vote or election is well under 5,000.

    Given the fact that this particular vote was called in 48 hours, required members to show up at the WGA theater within a four hour window, or send their vote by proxy via fax … I’m impressed that almost 4,000 members voted.

    For those who hate our product, no one’s forcing you to watch TV or movies. In fact, with this whole new internet thing, why not go out, grab a camera and show us professionals up!

    To those who say we caused so much pain for nothing … this strike did cause a lot of pain. For a lot of people. But don’t forget that a lot of writers were hurt deeply by this strike. I took a giant hit, but I could afford. Most others could not. Many will not get their careers back on track.

    But don’t think writers got nothing. This strike was about creating a precedent for the future. We had to fight to maintain our fair share of how the AMPTP uses and re-uses our content on new media platforms. We won jurisdiction, separated rights and a percentage of streaming residuals. Too many in our guild have thought there was BILLIONS of dollars in the reuse of content on the internet. There isn’t. Now. In fact, ad revenue is incredibly modest for streamed content. But it would have been pure folly to have not secured the precedent for the future.

    As for all the hate directed at writers here … wow … what a turnaround from December.

    Now you can all move on to hating the actors.

    Enjoy!

    Comment by Al Manheim — February 13, 2008 @ 7:43 pm

84. Crewguy and others:

    Only 4000 voted because only 4000 could. I’m in the WGA but I could not vote because i have not worked enough in the last three years to earn enough points to be at CURRENT ACTIVE status. There is a system in place. The writers who haven’t working in 10 years DON’T GET TO VOTE. I know. I’m one of them. So, there wasn’t a low turnout. 12,000 members can’t vote. You probably got almost all the current active members voting.

    Oh, and, this contract was clearly about jurisdiction. Do I think it blows? Yes. And the studios know it.

    Comment by explainingthevote — February 13, 2008 @ 11:02 pm

85. Mr. Polone, what you’ve continually said on this blog throughout this strike are some of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent ideas were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this business is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

    - Sloop John B.

    Comment by Sloop John B. — February 13, 2008 @ 11:57 pm

86. gimmergimme, give me a fucking break. The only reason the DGA got their deal so fast (well, besides teh fact that the DGA always caves immediately on residuals since their members mostly don’t get them or don’t need them) is because the AMPTP wanted to play good cop bad cop and try to look reasonable. Granted, this strike was a complete waste of time, but, uh, it’s not because we could have pulled out the magic wand and forced the AMPTP to settle but we didn’t. It’s because they’re determined to bust our union, the only leverage we have is staying out as long as it takes, and we didn’t have the stomach for it, and if we did you’d be bitching and whining even more.

    There isn’t any other kind of approach that would have worked, hair brading, cookies, and backrubs? Uh, no. As crappy as this deal is, we wouldn’t have been offered even this, or even the DGA terms, without striking, which shows what we’re up against.

    But, uh thanks for all the “support,” I think I remember seeing you on the lines *rolls eyes*

    Comment by come on — February 14, 2008 @ 12:18 am

87. Dear explainingthevote. Your post is the absolute first time I’ve read, heard, or seen anything about restrictions in WGA voting…Can you clarify please: Were you able to vote to strike? Or was it the same 4000 or so who were only allowed to vote?

    Comment by crewguy — February 14, 2008 @ 9:05 am

88. To Al Manheim: if I am the BTL person you are referring to in your post (and yes, many posted as some form of BTL)….”But the one BTL dude that keeps posting venom toward writers here should well remember that he wouldn’t have a job if it wasn’t for writers……..he should find a job in another industry.”…..I have news for you, bubba, all we ever heard during this strike was how the business wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for writers and how writers could do the job of everyone else, and now are complaining that the deal sucks. So, obviously, nothing in this industry is working for you guys, maybe YOU should think about another line of work. We, the BTL people, had every right to gripe, we all work a job we care about and had it pulled out from under us by your group who can’t seem to be happy working or striking or the end result of both.

    Comment by Below The Line — February 14, 2008 @ 9:08 am

89. Congrats Office writers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Now, what’ll happen next?? You only have a week or so to figure out what

    is going to happen in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

    Maybe you shouldn’t be reading all of these comments.

    hmmm…

    Comment by alex!! — February 16, 2008 @ 5:17 am

90. If you did not have writers….you would not have stories.,then you would not have a movie..to make a movie you need players.,to act out the story. I write.,and as I write,I play all the parts in my mind. you don’t need a lot of special effectx to tell your story..you dont need sex to tell your story.,you dont need bad words. I write stuff that the familly can go and see togather…there is a little violence even in a love story. If you are looking to make some new movies for famillys..then let me know.,I’ll send some synopsis. Chappy at..slatmarker@yahoo.com

    Comment by Chapman — February 23, 2008 @ 6:46 pm

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