I was less than flattering to producer Gavin Polone for his opinions expressed on the Fox Business Network yesterday. Now Polone has made contact with me to more fully explain why he's not just Another Attention Hog Blathers On Strike as I accused him of being. He's now allowed me to post the two comments he made after coming under attack from, among others, Jorge A. Reyes, the creator of Kevin Hill.):
"Hey, thanks for all of the attention. I want to make sure that I get more than Ari.
I wanted to clarify a few things. First, that I am not saying the studios will never be hurt by the strike. Probably in 9 months to a year when the feature film pipeline dries up, they will have a big problem. Before that time, they will not be producing expensive new scripted shows and they will cut overhead drastically, using force majeur to get out of contractual obligations. This cuts the expense side of the profit equation drastically. The revenue side will not be damaged significantly. Look at the network numbers right now: same as usual. You’ll see them hold for quite a while. They have a lot of sports coming up and more reality programs on tap, including Idol. Ad dollars will continue to pour in. Procter and Gamble has to sell their soap somehow. Yes, people who are fans of particular shows will not watch the reruns of those shows but they will watch reruns of shows they haven’t seen before. I’ve seen every I Love Lucy and every Bewitched but I never saw them on their first runs. Therefore, the networks will continue to make money. During the last strike, the big three networks ratings dropped slightly but Fox and the cable nets went up a lot. If fewer people watch NBC but many more watch USA, Zucker may still show overall profit stability. And, I don’t think NBC will be hurt that bad, anyway. Sunday night football will do even better opposite reruns on ABC.
Also, these companies have many ways to earn money. CBS owns a huge outdoor advertising business: if companies move away from TV advertising they’ll buy more billboards and radio (CBS also has radio). Fox owns MySpace: they’ll also benefit if ad dollars leave broadcast TV. Maybe people will go to theme parks because they’re sick of reruns: good for Disney and NBCUni. Maybe people will read more: CBS owns Simon and Schuster and Newscorp owns Harpercollins.
I do think the WGA has taken the wrong course in being so aggressive and vituperative. They just encourage the studios to dig in deeper, so they don’t show the other unions that they will bend to pressure. And, as I said, those companies are run by tough individuals who aren’t afraid of fighting it out.
So, in short, the WGA will have to hang in for a long time to hurt the big entertainment companies. During that time, many writers will get into bad shape financially. People who are in related businesses will be hurt even more, as they aren’t getting residuals from the reruns that will be all over the schedule, like many writers do. Did you know that writers on Letterman are probably getting $2500 in residuals per week, and up, for every week that he stays off the air? When people at panavision or catering companies start losing their jobs because of the strike, there will be a backlash against the writers. I don’t think they can hold out under the resulting personal or outside pressure of a long strike. Some will scab. Others will protest within the guild. The end result will be they will go back, on bended knee, and negotiate the deal that they probably could have made had they not gone out on strike and just kept negotiating.
Finally, to those of you who said shit about finding out where I live or blackballing me, I want to say that this is the kind of behavior that causes most people to lose sympathy with your cause. The guild’s telling members to turn in others who they think will scab is particularly repugnant. Is this a writer’s union or the Soviet Union? I should be threatened because I expressed my opinion? Really, calm down and act like adults. If your ideas and leverage are so strong, you don’t need to threaten people to win the battle.
And then, then inimitable Polone responds this way to the re-start of WGA-AMPTP talks:
"There are many reasons that the AMPTP would start negotiating. My guess is because it looks good. They do have a lot of interaction with the FCC right now and want rules changed. Appearing reasonable is smart business. I am very confident because they are not being hurt, right now, by the strike. There is no evidence of that. Movies are coming out and TV ratings haven’t dropped.
When you say “the eyes of Hollywood,” whom are you talking about. The AMPTP is Hollywood. They are not “Humiliated and embarrassed.” I have spoken to many studio people recently and I don’t get any of that. I think they’ll come back with a similar proposal to what they had the Sunday before the strike and be willing, later, to get to a slightly higher proposal that, pretty much, applies the current residual plan to downloads.
Speaking of embarrassed, why don’t you print your name on your posts? If you’re so confident about your views, put your name behind them. It is pretty easy to name call and take a stand anonymously. If you think it is okay to accuse other bloggers of not being “real writers” why not let us all assess if you are a “real writer.” So far, I can only go by the fact that you wrote “peace, out” at the end of your post, which makes me believe that nobody has ever paid you to write anything."
I’m not interested in anything you have to say, Gavin.
Besides, you’ll never be as cool or worthwhile as Bryan Lourd.
Comment by e — November 17, 2007 @ 1:52 pm
Hey Gavin
I’m a hardworking hyphenate who will never, ever, EVER turn in a scab, repugnant as they are to me. I don’t cheer on my union members for talking shit. Believe me, I and most writers I know act like adults.
I’m not striking because I like the idea of “hurting” companies. I am withholding my services until we get a decent contract. I cannot wave a wand. I can’t predict the true impact of the strike. Neither can you, though I grant you that you’re more educated about it that I am. Sick of reruns = travel to Disneyworld? That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think? Sure, conglomerates will still make lots of money. Writers won’t, and we’ll suffer. Good for the Letterman crew that they’re get all those residuals. The great majority of us won’t get near that (even someone like me, who works on a quite successful show).
I don’t believe one Idol or five Idols will fill the gap we leave. I don’t believe crowing about profits because you can force majeure a few millionaire slackers and also not pay for new pilots makes sense. What will the studios crow about when there are not enough scripts to produce for next season? The argument we’ve been hearing is a textbook “robbing peter to pay paul” kind of shortsightedness. Could take 9 months. Could take a year. But if this strike doesn’t end now, studios will feel something by Christmas.
Not saying they’ll feel enough to give a shit. We’ll be feeling it, though. We and our crew and our assistants. But you know what? I’ll take a loan. I’ll get another job. Moguls don’t like to be treated aggressively? Neither do I. I don’t cave just because someone warns me it could get ugly. Please. A lot us subsisted on Top Ramen for YEARS trying to get into the business. That’s not a threat. That’s just reality. The reality is, we fought hard fights long before this one. Don’t underestimate us.
Comment by Anonymous — November 17, 2007 @ 2:00 pm
I agree that people asking where he lives is really immature and irresponsible. Even if he is a bit of a jerk (but he’s never denied this.) Would have been nice to hear his thoughts on the upcoming talks, even if he think they’re just for show.
Comment by Writer Lass — November 17, 2007 @ 2:03 pm
Gavin needs a new crystal ball. The one he’s using is busted. Hey Gavin, how are you gonna spin this line of horse shit if things work out sooner than anticipated? I’m sure you’ll split this hair, and spin the whole thing to show that somehow you were… gasp… right all along.
Go fuck yourself, you fraud.
Comment by Ultimo Franco — November 17, 2007 @ 2:06 pm
What an asshole.
Peace out.
Comment by Anonymous — November 17, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
for a guy who built his career on the backs of talent, he sure is quick to cowtow. Like any rep, former or present, he doesn’t make money off residuals and therefore has no interest in writers getting them. That’s why all of the agencies were slow to support their clients. If agents and managers got a commision on residuals they would be right there on the picketline with the rest of us. Now that gavin has leaped to producer he cares even less. He can’t leech off larry David until larry gets back to work
Comment by ben gardner — November 17, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
Ben, agents do get a cut of SAG residuals, and everyone knows that this strike is largely a proxy strike for SAG. So, agents do have a vested interest in this succeeding.
Comment by Mike S — November 17, 2007 @ 2:14 pm
His comments don’t change anything. He’s still a blathering attention hog.
Comment by Anon — November 17, 2007 @ 2:15 pm
Pissing on the people he built a career on. Classy. The only thing sadder than Polone’s behavior is its predictability.
Comment by DLW — November 17, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
Poodle Gavin Polone argues: “The companies are too strong, they don’ t need you, give up.” Yip, yip, yip.
If the Guild had listened to the Gavin Polone’s of the world, we wouldn’t have residuals, health benefits or pensions. Just ask a non-WGA animation writer. Any benefit that any union member has, has been fought for against overwhelming odds, and with people like Gavin Polone telling them they didn’t have a chance and should shut-up and go back to work.
“The opposition is too powerful. Give up without trying!” You’d make some leading man, Gavin.
Comment by VVictor Frescoictor Fresco — November 17, 2007 @ 2:31 pm
Scott Boras called, Gavin — he wants his asshole back.
Comment by Anonymous — November 17, 2007 @ 2:38 pm
more big logic flaws with Gavin’s argument — ad dollars for I Love Lucy are a fraction of Lost’s. Also, the big six don’t share revenues. You think NBC is psyched people will turn from reruns of The Office to watch Idol? Whatever viewer migration occurs, some nets will be hurt worse than others, creating division within the AMPTP ranks. Also, as Quarterlife is demonstrating, if the networks alienate writers too much we’ll eventually find equity and turn them into licensing shells.
Peace out
Comment by writer — November 17, 2007 @ 2:42 pm
“Did you know that writers on Letterman are probably getting $2500 in residuals per week, and up, for every week that he stays off the air?”
Use “probably” is the same as “Here’s a guess that I have no figures to back up!”
I don’t think it’s a secret to anyone that writers receive payment for repeats.
However, that is a wildly inaccurate number. And it calls into question the legitimacy of every other claim you make.
Comment by Razzles — November 17, 2007 @ 2:53 pm
Gavin’s production company is called “Pariah.”
I rest my case.
Comment by Chad — November 17, 2007 @ 2:55 pm
What you have said is Double Plus Ungood, Gavin.
Comment by WGARiter — November 17, 2007 @ 2:58 pm
A real stand up guy, in case anyone forgets:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/art3/gpoloneall.pdf
Comment by Anonymous — November 17, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
Interesting and quite flawed. The idea that people will move to cable and not the internet is absurd. But you did cover the internet - when you brought up Myspace. Seriously? That’s ridiculous. There is plenty of other entertainment on the internet and very little of that is on Myspace. It is a social network, not yet a place for entertainment. You, however, could spend hours upon hours on YouTube - I’m sorry, which one of the studios owns that? Oh, right.
And that fact that you brought up I Love Lucy and Bewitched as examples of reruns is hilarious. When you were done watching an episode, did you climb aboard your dinosaur and head down to the drug store for a soda? Jesus, how old are you?
Yes, the studios have deep pockets, but so do companies like Apple and Google and if any studio head does not think they are working fast to come up with an idea to capitalize on this situation, then they are fucking morons. If the studios lose the Net Neutrality battle, then they are toast. The longer the strike drags on, the longer writers will begin thinking up ways to work online. Trust me, that is the most common conversation people have been having in the picket lines. In the first week of the strike I acquired funding for an online project. Several others I spoke to are doing the same. The number of shows that will be hitting the web in a few months is going to spike and if the studios have not made a deal, that audience will just move away from television. And writers like myself will be making a name on the web and then the money will follow. The time to move and establish yourself as a online creator is now and the studios are giving us ample time to move in that direction.
But you keep yammering on about their deep pockets, while people like myself move to the new frontier - without any studio money or interference. No notes. Just the artists vision as it was always meant to be. Sounds like heaven.
And I guess I’m not going to go to Disneyland for a while because several million people will be there everyday.
Comment by Dave Anthony — November 17, 2007 @ 3:07 pm
Ben…
Um, er, didn’t an agent (or agents) get the two sides together in the first place to at least talk on Monday.
And, PS, Gavin is right in his responses (with the exception of more reruns = more Disneyland), these guys have revenue streams up the yin-yang. I think most of us are sympathetic to the writers cause, but the “real world” says the AMPTP offer coming will probably be more of the same with some modest bumps, and will address a SOLUTION for other distribution platforms (the Internet or Web is an outdated term), as in 5-10 years we’ll all have IPTV and an endless supply of content.
The WGA and the constiuency need to realize this is a business of compromise, and the best deals are the ones where both sides walk away from the table unhappy.
Comment by agentatanotheragency — November 17, 2007 @ 3:07 pm
Uhh… Mr. Polone, what about the financial hit of not having any TV series to sell overseas this year, if the strike lasts for months??
Don’t the studios make something like half their TV revenues selling shows in foreign markets? (Bottom line enhanced, by the way, because we writers have a shitty deal for foreign residuals. Which, in itself, makes me wonder how many shitty deals the Companies expected us to swallow before we stood up and said, “Enough! You’re not gonna bone us on the Internet too!”)
Comment by Undercover Black Man — November 17, 2007 @ 3:11 pm
I’ve known Gavin for about 20 years and have found that he is usually the one person in the room willing to vocalize the (often uncomfortable) truth. Those who would like to ascribe less savory reasons for his success, i.e. that he is indeed “the Prince of Darkness,” should dig a little deeper.
Comment by J Kamps — November 17, 2007 @ 3:13 pm
Anonymous who posted at 2pm, as opposed to the other anonymouses.
I think we have a lot of common ground. We both agree that it will take a while for the studios to suffer. Maybe you can hang on for that long but I doubt many can. Maybe you have a more compact lifestyle than others and can weather it longer. Maybe you’re tougher and deal with more hardship. If the writers can hang on for a long time, the WGA will have huge leverage and get what they want.
My comment about the Letterman writers was to show how resentment might come from those who are laid off because of the strike but have no floor beneath their incomes and no gain in an eventual settlement.
Anyway, thanks for the insult and threat free post.
Comment by Gavin Polone — November 17, 2007 @ 3:13 pm
Right on Gavin, right on . . .I couldn’t have said it any better.
Comment by tiff — November 17, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
Why don’t I use my real name? Well, honestly, because the people who hire me know my name. You know my name, Gavin. And when this strike is over, I’d like to work again. Just maybe not with you. We writers have long grown used to keeping our honest opinions about the lunacy we enounter on a daily basis to ourselves.
Comment by writer — November 17, 2007 @ 3:35 pm
I read that long-winded “analysis” and didn’t learn a single new thing. It’s all just meant to spread FUD plain and simple.
Every writer I’ve talked to on the line is dug in and prepared to fight for the long haul, be it weeks, months or longer. No one wants it to go that long, but we’d be total idiots to take a crappy deal.
No fear, and what the hell– peace out.
Comment by Writer — November 17, 2007 @ 3:36 pm
Instead of spinning and shilling for the studios under the guise of a neutral face, why doesn’t Polone offer a constructive suggestion as to how the writers could’ve handled the strike effectively?
He fails to offer a solution because the WGA did and continues to do things right. There was no alternative, the studios were not going to concede a cent.
Polone is smugly continuing the effort on the studios’ behalf to “psych out” the writers and diminish morale.
Polone is no friend of writers. Note his prophesy of a backlash against writers. This is simply malicious stirring of the pot when if he were truly a constructive force he would suggest those out of work direct their ire to those who fired them - the studios.
But he is not a constructive force. Nor is he an original thinker. He simply likes the sound of his own voice. He has said nothing that hasn’t been said over and over re: the studios laughable invincibility. Why was he even on tv?
He is an attention hog who doesn’t make a dime off residuals, but does make dimes from the studios. He is also out of work and figures the writers are softer targets to attack than the studios. What a coward.
If the studios were so invincible, they wouldn’t need to take out full page ads in the trades, or hire shills to spread lies, or return to the bargaining table even if just for show.
Fact is, studios are not faring well in this strike.
And if Polone has so much withering disdain for those who disagree with him, why is he bothering to write into a blog?
He has the smug obnoxiousness of a lawyer. He once said in an interview that he has no interest in the content of his shows, that he doesn’t even read scripts. He came off as blank and soulless then as he does now.
This was about him getting his name in the paper. Don’t do deals with this guy when this is all over.
Stay strong, WGA. You’re doing a great job.
Comment by Polone'sMother — November 17, 2007 @ 3:47 pm
Where would YOU be without writers Gavin? Allow me to quote Bill Murray from Ghostbusters… a classic line from a WRITER.
“This man has no dick.”
I think that sums your existence up fairly well. Which is odd, considering you decided to toss your meaningless two cents into this “pissing” contest.
Comment by PB (writer/producer) — November 17, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
When you have a child who has anger issues and needs to act out and call attention to himself in public - the first thing a therapist will tell you is that if that child is not a danger to anyone else or to himself, then you should I-G-N-O-R-E him within reason. Feeding the beast with acknowledgment or attention only encourages socially inappropriate behavior.
Comment by Thomas Farris — November 17, 2007 @ 3:57 pm
I am trying to follow Gavin’s logic here.
He believes that going on strike gives the WGA no leverage because, presumably, taking down immensely popular shows like “24″ and however many “CSI’s” there are, is incredibly welcome news to the networks because fans of, say, “Desperate Housewives” don’t care if they actually watch “Desperate Housewives,” they’ll just watch whatever the hell else is on instead. (It makes me wonder why networks EVER run original programming, since all it does is cost them money and gains them no viewers at all.)
So, concludes Gavin, we should have negotiated WITHOUT going on strike. OK, but then what kind of leverage would THAT have given us? After all, he just explained that there’s nothing networks love more than when production stops, so what kind of incentive would there be for the AMPTP to give ground on anything, ever?
Why, none, of course.
So basically, in the world of Gavin Polone, all the WGA could really do is ask politely for a better deal and then, when that didn’t work, ask politely again.
Brilliant.
Comment by Anonymous — November 17, 2007 @ 3:59 pm
actually, people are not shifting to other networks or going to disneyland
everyone’s reading DHD!
Comment by peace out — November 17, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
Polone is an idiot. How could threatening a strike against the shrewd dispassionate businessmen actually have provided any leverage???? If Media Moguls are as pennywise as Polone suggests would they not have welcomed a strike instead of negotiating????!!!! My F-ing, urghhhh!!!! Do you possess a conscience, Mr. Polone??? Can’t you see that by your own reasoning, the moguls heartlessly and coldly calculated that they would chart a course leading straight to the pocket books of below line employees right before a holiday season? Why didn’t you make this clear and expose the dismally grey spirit behind your “opinion” and spell this out for the fly-over states you were trying to decieve in the same manner as the Network that you appeared on.
And as for Polone whining about getting ridiculed for giving his “opinion”… What you expressed Mr Polone was an analysis (an incomplete one at best). Do you possess a conscience??? If you do, stop and think, reassess your analysis and tell us what you really think about the Mogul’s position, or are you to afraid to say it, because you have put your name out there and don;t want Daddy big Bucks to get pissed at you. Try saying something against against people that could destroy your hopes and dreams on a whim or as an after thought and then we’ll see how ready you are to give your name, you big bad rogue opinion giver!!! And no, I’ve never gotten paid to write, but i bet the feeling you have right now if you’ve read this far, makes you know that I am a real writer.
Comment by realwriter.com — November 17, 2007 @ 4:01 pm
I would love to see Gavin respond to the comments about riding the backs of writers to all his fame and fortune.
But obviously, he would never have the guts to do that. Because he knows how true it is.
No guts, no talent, just opinion.
Comment by taylor — November 17, 2007 @ 4:06 pm
just to clarify, I do not pay my agent on my feature residuals. I assumed this was standard. Only my biz manager and lawyer get a piece of that. Also, I do appreciate that bryan lourd got this thing going. I was just saying (perhaps incorrectly) that agents had vested interest in getting this going since they need to get us working again. At least no one took umbrage with the fact that palone is a leech.
Comment by ben gardner — November 17, 2007 @ 4:09 pm
I’ve been in the room with Gavin. I remember being so depressed after watching him try so hard to fit in with the writers. He had clearly rehearsed a series of “cynical” remarks to impress us, you know, because comedy writers are cynical. It was a seamless entry. Then, the pure sadness and anger I felt as he enthusiastically pitched jokes from the most well-mined territory (”How about the sassy grandma enters with a giant foam finger.”) He wouldn’t leave the room. It was awkward and awful. Also, in case you hadn’t heard, he’s a pariah. If you hadn’t heard, the pariah will gladly tell you himself what a pariah he is. Or, the pariah will tell the media what a pariah he is…that’s what outcasts do. They accept invitations to go on television and do interviews. “Hey, look at me! I’m a pariah!”
These are the mainsprings of his recent remarks concerning the strike: He wanted to be a writer, but wasn’t accepted into the club. (Anger, because he is a very competetive person.) He needs to maintain his pariah mythology. (Without it, he’s just who he is: another unremarkable, highly-driven guy in Hollywood.) So, nothing genuine or worthwhile here.
Comment by Not Gavin Palone — November 17, 2007 @ 4:18 pm
GAVIN -
Writers are “aggressive” and “vituperative?” That’s a compliment coming from you.
Writers are nothing if not sober, thoughtful, and frankly too easily manipulated most of the time. I think producers are resentful because we’re finally standing up for ourselves.
Every writer I know, from A-lister to showrunner on down, has already been pressured by producers to scab and do work right now. And we’ve all said ‘no thanks’ and the more dick-ish producers can’t stand it.
(btw, there are cool ones who are totally supportive)
And hey Gavin if you really cared so much about the little guy, where are you contributing to help? Most writers I know, many with less resources than you, are throwing together funds to help others if this goes long.
The more you say, the grosser you sound.
xoxo
A-lister who works with good people.
Comment by she writer — November 17, 2007 @ 4:20 pm
In the end, Gavin’s argument seems to be, “there are enough movies in the pipeline that the studios don’t need to worry about anything, and tv is in such great shape that they don’t even need new shows. Possibly ever.”
The companies can make their money off of myspace (which is already that crappy, abandoned mall with the orange julius that people are leaving for Facebook in the millions), off of cable shows (um, which will run out of content pretty soon, too), off of publishing (it would be wonderful if people read books again; they don’t), off of radio (really, Gavin actually said CBS radio? From CNN: “CBS’s radio unit has long been an underperformer, delivering steadily declining advertising revenue as listeners shift to prerecorded music or commercial-free satellite radio.”) and off of theme parks (can’t… process… logic…).
Plus, he says “ad revenue will continue to pour in.” Yup, I think Procter and Gamble is positively psyched to be showing their new, expensive ads with repeats of shows that were broadcast LAST MONTH (especially with the shows that needed to BUILD ratings).
If Gavin watched “I Love Lucy,” he may have noticed that the powerhouse companies advertising during the show include the Bedazzler and Paul, the King of Big Screens. There is NO OTHER ADVERTISING MEDIUM as powerful or with as far a reach as PRIME TIME, FIRST RUN TELEVISION. And with the WGA strike, it’s already gone.
The reason Gavin looks like a shill is that his arguments are specious. They don’t seem like “uncomfortable truths,” they seem like propaganda. It isn’t exactly obvious to me why he’d be rooting for the Alliance, though… It seems writers have been pretty good to you.
And as for WGA members turning in scabs… That’s what unions do. And word on the street is, the WGA is using a velvet glove. From what I understand, scabs aren’t threatened or harassed. They’re simply told that when the strike ends, the Guild won’t have them. And then, it will be difficult to find work, so the choice is the scab’s to make. To me, it seems like a pretty even-handed approach; in other industries, scabs don’t get polite phone calls; I think they may get phones thrown at them. The big, old wooden ones that weigh, like, twenty pounds.
Comment by Dagazzi — November 17, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
wow, not surprised about the sexual harassment lawsuits against Polone
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/art3/gpoloneall.pdf
Comment by Anonymous — November 17, 2007 @ 4:22 pm
would somebody pls call out zwick and herskowitz for selling non guild programming to a struck company during a strike???
Comment by Anonymous — November 17, 2007 @ 4:28 pm
Hey -
The letterman writers make more than me and I have, and will have, zero resentment.
The strike may take a long time and it sucks (we know that dude, it’s been discussed for over a year, but thanks for showing up and pointing out the obvious) But it’s also a last resort. The folks who formed this guild that I am so proud and grateful to be a part of (when I started I was guaranteed MBA, healthcare, pension, credit) - it took them 9 years of fighting to form the WGA. It’s my turn; I’m happy to sacrifice to keep from losing well-earned and necessary residuals.
It’s the AMPTP that should be ashamed and pressured for tossing other people out of their jobs. Why do you not hold them accountable? Oh that’s right, you’re whoring it up on Fox news…
Actually, that just speaks for itself.
This thanksgiving, I’m thankful you aren’t attached to any of my work. I kinda used to respect you…
Comment by girl scribe still walking — November 17, 2007 @ 4:29 pm
What Gavin said just flat out makes sense. Everybody is reacting so emotionally that they’ve lost the ability to think calmly and rationally.
Comment by chris — November 17, 2007 @ 4:30 pm
Didn’t take QL to sell out…
NBC Picks Up Quarterlife: New Media Taking Advantage of Hollywood Strike
http://www.deepjiveinterests.com/2007/11/17/nbc-picks-up-quarterlife-new-media-taking-advantage-of-hollywood-strike/
Comment by Anthony — November 17, 2007 @ 4:43 pm
Further proof that Hollywood is “shutdown”. Producer Gavin Polone has nothing better to do but blog all day. I agree with the other posts… he is an *sshole with no d*ck. Wait, this is starting to sound like a “South Park” skit. Damn, it sounds like a great idea for an episode. Trey Parker… Matt Stone… you guys listening to this douche Polone?
Comment by Writer — November 17, 2007 @ 4:43 pm
personal feelings about Gavin (who I first met when he was an assistant 15+ years ago) aside, he’s right about the pain has a lag for the networks, wrong about everything else… including how long that lag is.
And be very clear that networks and their bosses and their bosses bosses know where revenue and profit comes from — billboards isn’t the same as on-air and the internet it drives (Oh, wait… does digital make money or do networks need more time to figure it out? I’m confused). When revenues dwindle, as I bet they are faster than they thought, and more people get let go… things will happen.
Also, advertising doesn’t take place in a vacuum. The money earmarked NBC isn’t going to land at USA. It’s going somewhere else all together.
Oh, Gavin’s also right about where the online deal will probably land, same 1.25% we’ve been asking for. More proof the AMPTP wanted the strike - because if they would have just come to the table with restoring the DVD to what it should have always been and applying the same number to online, we wouldn’t be here.
Comment by counterneedsabj — November 17, 2007 @ 4:43 pm
From the Guild gives health benefits. Therefore without the Guild, I wouldn’t have health benefits. From the Guild, I’ve also got a magazine Written By and a red T shirt. Therefore, without the Guild, I wouldn’t have magazine or T shirts.
Because it’s not like medical care, reading material or clothing is something you can just buy.
Comment by grateful Guild member — November 17, 2007 @ 4:49 pm
Moguls and fatcats generally care about two things. Money and their reputations. The former will play out over a longer term. But the latter is already at work. The last strike took place during the Reagan era, union-busting, and a very narrow media universe. It’s a mistake to confuse that time with this one. The public’s support for the striking writers is overwhelming– the now-familiar joke is that more Americans believe in UFOs than Nick Counter. Politicians have offered the kind of support that simply did not exist in the past — and that includes the three people mostly likely to become our next President. The Companies are returning to the table because they have already lost that battle. And it’s a battle that means something to them. Both for cosmetic reasons (ego, basically) and business reasons (they need happy and obeisant pols to keep their scams intact).
That leaves money. There’s no question that the companies have deep pockets. And setting aside the more risible points made — Disneyland and more book learnin’ –it seems likely that it will take a while to inflict a great deal of harm. But when we reach that point? That’s not one, but two TV seasons down the drain. And a seriously degraded movie slate. It’s arrant nonsense to suggest the Companies are not aware of this or that it will not have some impact on current negotiations.
Just one more thing that I find curious. Or maybe I find it predictable. (Both?) In his entire apologia — defense, counterattack, etc. — Mr. Pollone never addresses the right and wrong of this, never considers what is fair versus what is unfair. These things are apparently not worth comment. And in their place? The simplistic and morally dubious idea — not to mention spoonfed Company line — that Since You Can’t Win You Might as Well Surrender. (And the Sooner the Better.)
That’s not an uncomfortable truth. That’s cowardice in a very expensive suit.
Comment by Harley — November 17, 2007 @ 4:50 pm
Fact: Nobody knows how long this strike will go. NOBODY. Certainly not Those Who Like To Stab Writers In The Back: Gavin and Ari. We ALL want a quick resolution to this strike so we can get back to work. If Gavin somehow ends up being correct about the length of the strike, it’ll be luck, not brilliance. No matter, writers are in it for the long haul. I got my Top Ramen and peanut butter…
Fact: Gavin can’t take the heat! The man is melting down. (Exhibits A, B, C: his posts here). Let’s see, why would some writers choose to be anonymous when commenting here?… Hmmm… well, maybe because people like Ari and Gavin are drunk with their own power and enjoy denigrating writers whenever and wherever they can (Ari will throw a writer under the bus in a second to save an Endeavor package). Maybe because Gavin went on Fox and gave the finger to striking writers. Writers have been “mature” and “reasonable” for over eighty years and where has it gotten us? Screwed… NOW, thanks to the internet and Nikki Finke, we get to publicly express our thoughts/feelings and… uh-oh, the big boys, like Gavin, don’t like it. What a shame… How does it feel Gavin? Kind of like those tracking boards where managers/producers regularly trash writers - not just on the quality of the scripts - but personally as well (you know, just for fun).
FACT: Writers have power. And now in this “New Media” world we are going to use it. We will NOT back down this time. We will never give up. We will never give
in.
May this strike turn the town on its head and usher in a golden age for writers…
Happy Thanksgiving! (you too, Gavin)…
FACT: The town belongs to Nikki!
Comment by dante writer — November 17, 2007 @ 4:51 pm
Gavin –
As to why people use pseudonyms here — Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay used the pseudonym “Publius” when writing the Federalist papers that helped create the great country you’re lucky to live in today.
So go fuck yourself…. anonymously.
Comment by dawgski — November 17, 2007 @ 4:54 pm
Gavin Palone explains himself? Heeeee. I had no idea there was an explanation for Gavin Palone. This is a pathetic attempt on Gavin’s part to pretend that he’s still an insider. His main talent is for somehow getting the actual talent like Larry David and Amy Sherman Palladino to work with him. (What’s that all about anyway?) Gavin feeds off of “provocative” publicity the way a serial killer feeds off fear. (Anybody other than me remember the brass knuckles)? His macho swagger was at least kind of entertaining when he was a “young turk”. Now that he’s merely old and creepy, it’s not so cute anymore.
Comment by Sylvie Q. Katz — November 17, 2007 @ 5:01 pm
Mr. Polone’s initial interview with Fox contained a number of illogical statements (a few of the commenters took care of those last time) and a number of sensible insights (enough so that I didn’t think he deserved such hostility). Same goes for his newest statements. A few quick points, however:
1. Most of the writers are well aware that they’re sacrificing income in the short run. Polone’s observation that “many writers will get into bad shape financially” is obvious. What we’re fighting for, however, is better financial health down the road, not only for ourselves, but for future generations of writers.
2. Yes, some commenters talked shit about finding out where Polone lives, and yes, most of those comments were lame. But I don’t think they were as threatening as Polone thinks. The way I read it, people were making sport of Polone’s line, “these aren’t guys you can push around by walking outside of their houses with signs.” In other words, they were joking.
3. I also disagree with Polone’s complaint about being blackballed. Writers are free agents; they can work with whomever they please, for whatever reason they wish. Certainly Polone, who’s been around the block, shouldn’t be surprised that writers found some of his comments distasteful, particuarly his assertion that the strike has been, for him personally, rather opportune.
4. As for Polone’s line, “The guild’s telling members to turn in others who they think will scab”: this is false. No one at the WGA is asking writers to turn in members who they think WILL scab. What they’re asking is for members to report scabbing when they see it — for example, when a show runner asks his or her staff to come in during the strike and punch up work (yes, this is happening). If Polone wants to use hysterical slippery slopes arguments to make that sound like Soviet-style paranoia, fine. But that doesn’t make it any more accurate.
Comment by Brian Gunn — November 17, 2007 @ 5:10 pm
The writers around here talking about someone else’s arrogance is quite amusing. If I had 4 cents for every “without us none of you would have jobs, so stop complaining about being laid off” post, I’d be in pretty good shape for the next few months.
Comment by jb — November 17, 2007 @ 5:12 pm
HERE’S WHY PALONE IS RIGHT!
He’s the type of personality that WGA has to sit across from at the bargaining table. How do you even begin to negotiate with a person like this? Our Guild will just be yelling down an empty well. We’re dealing with people who are working towards that ENRON moment where they’re high-fiving because their shares are going up as families are getting wiped out.
Comment by writerguy — November 17, 2007 @ 5:29 pm
There are so many flaws in Mr. Polone’s argument they don’t really deserve comment and should be filed away under self-serving or AMPTP propaganda or, better still, just ignored.
His is a twisted reality where advertisers are so desperate to sell soap they’ll pay the same amount of money to advertise on a rerun as a first run and think the heads of the major entertainment conglomerates are such an old boys club that they chuckle at the notion of people switching from ABC to Fox so long as one of them is making money
Mr. Polone does know that fear is a powerful weapon, and his statements are made to unnerve the writers, to make them think the studios can live without them. The tragic truth is that most of the suits have forgotten how to read long ago, and the only way they can judge material is based primarily on who wrote it. Hiring for scabs puts their own tastes and abilities on the line, and none of them really want to go there.
Comment by Scribefire — November 17, 2007 @ 5:30 pm
When I worked with Gavin at UTA, all the assitants used to laugh at how this blowhard actually got anything done. We used to call him “big wind” behind his back, in addition to a number of not-so-flattering things. He used to say something along the lines of “squeaky wheel gets the oil,” which seems appropriate given his penchant for barking at the trees until they bend. Make no mistake. Gavin is just drying to drum up some publicity now that he’s not getting a free ride on the backs of his writer/showrunner clients. In any other profression, this man would either be in jail or taking a hiatus to help solve his “thyrod problem” on “The Biggest Loser.” You’re a tool, Gav. Don’t go away mad…just go away.
Comment by Former UTA Assistant — November 17, 2007 @ 5:36 pm
ANONYMOUS: Although I don’t agree with a lot of what Gavin has said, that Smoking Gun crap that you posted was a cheap shot. I was a client of Gavin’s when he went through that nightmare with UTA. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t of his doing. A bunch of us left the agency in disgust. Argue the points, but leave fucking internet vitriol at home.
Comment by chardkerm — November 17, 2007 @ 5:40 pm
It’s scary that some of you who think “Peace, out” is a clever signoff are actually employed as writers. It’s also scary to think that some of you might be employed as writers and not have the vision to see the obvious timeline: Studios start to seriously panic = 4-6 months. Your non-writer friends who are out of work because of the strike starting to get seriously resentful on your ass = 2-4 months. This isn’t to say that the strike is ill-founded, just that that’s one point on which Palone speaks the truth.
Comment by chris — November 17, 2007 @ 6:01 pm
Gavin,
I am a Guild member, and I am on strike. My name is at the bottom of my post. It’s my real name. To disagree with your posts is to not understand the business. Those who don’t understand your business don’t watch television, including some of the most innovative and risky television of the last ten years. It’s not possible to write, produce and get on the air the shows you do without intricate knowledge of what drives the companies we work for, and the men and women who run them, not to mention the talent who feeds the pipelines. So in terms of cred, and having earned the right to be listened to without a rain of verbal tomatoes, I think it’s safe to say that the vituperative and below-the-belt stuff on this website, as it is in the entire blogosphere, is put there by folks who both have too much time to spare and aren’t professional writers. Though pros are far from immune from spewing venom. But to those who are reading this, know this: what Palone is saying is very much in the forefront of the minds of those at the negotiating table, all of them, and all of it. It ain’t everything, but, tone aside, nothing he’s said is untrue.
There are agendas at work in this action — on both sides of the table — that don’t have much if anything to do with the talent now on the street, or their families, or savings accounts, or hopes and aspirations. Or residuals. There’s a lot of theater going on. (The Ellen Degeneres business; the strike-dancers outside Paramount.) It’s all balm for the masses – who would be us. This isn’t working very differently from national politics: what we are seeing is engineered and architected. The stuff that matters happens out of view. All the first pumping is good chicken soup – and it’s lonely and maddening to be pencils down; because, let’s face it, our favorite people are the characters we create on the page. But companies do not have souls; the people who work for them and feed them do, of course, but they have only one audience, and they’re smart to know it: the share-holders. And the share-holders have one exclusive concern: the bottom line. I think it’s fair to say that this strike to date, and perhaps into the nearish future (perhaps December, maybe even into January) might have been a profit-making enterprise. For creative execs it’s been a nightmare. But for the string-pullers operating overhead, they’ve probably been all for it, and from their view from their offices the Guild has played straight into their hands.
Our Guild has a supra-agenda, too: to assert a new-found self-generated sense of militancy. The Guild wants to matter, and to show it can be a political force to be reckoned with. I think the leadership probably believes they’ve succeeded. And now David Young feels like a rock star, too. So the agendas have now been met. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both sides are now about to get back to the edge of the table.
I want to add one thing about “fairness”. This strike can’t be about fairness, because if it is we’re in very deep trouble. Would it be fair for writers to get what they’re asking, not only the bigger slice of entertainment’s very prodigious pie, but the other ancillary, incidental stuff? Sure it would. But as far as respect for writers on and off the set; well, I think it’s fair to say that those who command respect, and earn it, get it, in spades. No, this is about getting out of this alive, with something minimally acceptable. It’s about math equations, not feelings. If it were about getting our due, then here’s another fact: it’s a futile exercise. We may not want to know it, or believe it, but history has a pretty good track record on this sort of thing. History is batting a thousand. These kinds of labor actions, if they’re about getting just due, have never succeeded. Not sometimes, not maybe: never. Forget Young’s comment about “winning” this strike. There’s no point system: there’s working and there’s not working, that’s it. What we want to get out alive, and we want to get out before we cross a particular line that we know we’ve crossed only in our guts: on the other side of it is the knowledge that we will never be able to make up what we’ve lost, and it will not have been worth it to get there. It’s called the land of regret, and it’s a shitty place to live.
I want to add one last thing about the anonymous scab squad that’s been established by the Guild, replete with hotline to drop dime on other writers without accountability. There will be no way to prove any accusation, short of raiding a writer’s home and getting into his computer. (If a writer is dumb enough to actually circulate new work, then, well, he probably deserves what’s coming.) It’s been said, but it’s worth repeating: that the layers of irony here are thick and ugly. The Guild itself was established in part as a way to galvanize against anonymous accusations of Communist affiliation. Those people – many if not most of them innocent – were destroyed. History never treats blacklists well. It heaps on them scorn and a dearth of dignity. It slaps the faces of their implementers. The slap will sting – forever. This case is no different. I am also a journalist, and a novelist, in addition to feature writer, so have plenty to do. Others will do what they will, and their conscience will be their judge, and then we’ll all just get with it. When I read the email the Guild sent out about this anonymous tipster business – which, let’s face it, amounted to not much more than a stupid fist-pump — after a prick of anger, the lasting emotion I’m left with, to this day, is shame. Like when one’s brother knocks over a liquor store; that sort of shame.
I hope we can all get back to work soon, and get back to loving what we do, and doing what we love. This thing we’re doing now, we’re not much good at it.
So thanks, Gavin, for your thoughts. I’m glad you’re willing to play piñata to the ignorants. But the stuff you’re saying needs to be said.
Peter Landesman
Comment by Peter Landesman — November 17, 2007 @ 6:01 pm
You’ll take what we give you and like it, Gavin and no amount of double talk will give you the ability to make a good film. You can fill the seats with your marketing, but you once they see your film sucks ass then they won’t go back. That’s why all you pricks all say that bullshit about having to make your money on the opening weekend, because you don’t know how to make good product. You just change the rules of the game so you can compete. The same shit happened in the twenties with the robber barons like you Gavin. Nothing reflected it’s real value. All you scumbags stole off the top and the bill came and the stock market crashed. If your companies fall we will still be able to make movies with our new P2 cameras and FInal Cut. Keep talking shit you inbred fucking Red. Daddy Murdoch owns you and so you expect us all to be slaves. We work in this business and we all know that the only reason films cost over 100 million is because you skunks are stealing off the top. We’ll knaw on your skull, because it still hasn’t gotten weird enough for me.
Comment by Gavin'sSoviet blacklist — November 17, 2007 @ 6:08 pm
What an insufferable douche bag this guy is. And an even bigger baby. “Don’t threaten me… Wahhhhhh, wahhhhhhhhh.” He’s got his foot on the necks of all the talent that made his career. I hope him much success, the busier he is, the less I have to read his incomprehensible, dated, ridiculous rants. I always heard what an asshole he is. Wow. I just figured it was urban legend. Every writer should boy cott him after this.
Comment by Strike Grrrrl — November 17, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
The strike is not good for anyone and I would never cross a picket line but I can’t agree with the us or them arguments . Writers have a weak union , we don’t even protect money we already have that the WGA is being sued for not giving to the scribes it “can’t find “. Gavin Palone was not wrong but he was not specific he was saying something about business and union reality just not in detail . The fact that he wrote “just so I get more attention than Ari ” was funny and honest and that is because he knows ari can’t be honest, he is still an agent and he can’t do something outside the limits of an agents capacity.
I am not saying this because I love Gavin but he did say something so it was at least more than Ari offered which is always the least he can do . Ari who has two of the worst agents in town screwing with writers they “represent”. That is why Ari is a model for a cliche of what agents have become which is 10% of anything they can gain even if it’s just credit (ok make that 98%) . If writers built a stronger relationship with each other and producers that were creative it would treat this more like a business and less like a show .
To the guy who thinks anything but worthless about Bryan Lourd, that is what your opinion is worth less. Agents always find a way remain named , 10% real 90% artificial flavor
Comment by dj lewis — November 17, 2007 @ 6:13 pm
There’s certainly truth in Gavin’s view, but he uses facts that could easily have alternative interpretations.
“The AMPTP… is not ‘humiliated and embarrassed.’ I have spoken to many studio people recently and I don’t get any of that.”
This gives them little credit for being able to keep a poker face and lie to a producer. I’m gonna say they’ve got the skills for that.
“Probably in 9 months to a year when the feature film pipeline dries up, they will have a big problem.”
Yes it could take that long but…maybe they want to rectify this problem before everything dries up? I don’t think they literally want to be out of films for months.
“Before that time, they will not be producing expensive new scripted shows and they will cut overhead drastically, using force majeur to get out of contractual obligations.”
Anything drastic would include no pilot season, so more likely, they will actually hold on to deals that involve shows they would like to have back. And if there’s no pilot season, that’s gonna be a lot of shows.
“The revenue side will not be damaged significantly. Look at the network numbers right now: same as usual.”
Obviously you can’t interpret the future based on right now, as only late night is in reruns.
“They have a lot of sports coming up and more reality programs on tap, including Idol. Ad dollars will continue to pour in.”
This presupposes that people will watch all these reality shows (I don’t think so) and that TV’s largest and most important audience, women, will suddenly love sports. Also, football only covers a few hours, and is largely over in January. Maybe everybody will rediscover hockey!
“Yes, people who are fans of particular shows will not watch the reruns of those shows but they will watch reruns of shows they haven’t seen before. I’ve seen every I Love Lucy and every Bewitched but I never saw them on their first runs. Therefore, the networks will continue to make money.”
This conflates things that shouldn’t be conflated. Syndication repeats are not network repeats. Congloms own those too but different congloms. If one conglom starts gaining at the expense of another, you think the loser will stand for it?
I believe a couple of bubble shows may gain viewers (as with Married With Children in ‘88), and cable will go up, but again that means winners and loser congloms and the losers won’t sit idly by.
“Also, these companies have many ways to earn money… [various ways congloms are diversified].”
Yes, but I have a hard time buying the premise that they also will be happy participants in killing a very profitable part of their business dead. History shows they don’t like that.
“So, in short, the WGA will have to hang in for a long time to hurt the big entertainment companies… [various pressures] The end result will be they will go back, on bended knee, and negotiate the deal that they probably could have made had they not gone out on strike and just kept negotiating.”
This is where the companies (and Gavin) seem to have majorly underestimated things. Screwed out of billions on VHS and DVD, we’re just not going to let this one go. This is not huffing and puffing, it’s just true. This issue has done the impossible: it’s united the film and TV writers. The showrunners are united. 90% writer support could dip to 80% or even 70% over six to nine months? Sure. But basically, we’re going the distance on this one.
Finally, what should be obvious: the strike IS our leverage. Not the “threat of a strike”, the actual strike. The pipeline gives them power. Taking it away gives us power.
Thanks for reading this very long post.
Comment by Dave — November 17, 2007 @ 6:16 pm
Um, Gavin, you don’t need to point out to us that we are fighting giant companies that will make this go on for quite sometime. I get it. I also get that they make some money. BUT while they’re doing that, everybody’s gathering around their YOUtube or downloading shows. So they are shooting themselves in the foot. People are learning how to get their own entertainment and it ain’t on TV. This is just a repeat of when the networks didn’t anticipate that people would leave them for cable. I DON’T CARE IF THIS STRIKE TAKES FOUR YEARS. There eventually be NO TV RESIDUALS because there will BE NO TV. We will all be downloading from the internet on our “computer tvs.” So we are fighting so the model of TV residuals gets moved to the internet when the “internet/tv” is the new model. WAKE UP.
Comment by macy — November 17, 2007 @ 6:16 pm
May favorite part of this is the notion that there is “blog bashing” going on between a high profile “man-agent-oducer” and “Anonymous from 2pm” - I will never believe my representation doesn’t have time to take my calls again.
Hilarious.
Oh, yeah, and if anyone gets a chance, go to Huffingtonpost and read my scathing anti-Bush diatribe to DickSatany08 in the comment section of an article about Pro-war Lesbians, in May of ‘05. It really has some teeth to it! I mean, this war is so bad and I made some great points, but did DS08, hear them? No. He just—
Anyway, I made a screencapture of it, and when the war finally ends, boy will I have been right!
I’ll show it to all of you then, just meet me in the comment section of…MY BALLS! Gotta go, Project Runway is on.
“Zero cents makes zero sense.”
-WGA/SAG AFTRA member
Comment by redblack — November 17, 2007 @ 6:23 pm
Gavin, the reason your posts send douche-chills up the spines of everyone who reads them is they are, nakedly and dare I say vituperatively, one sided, to the point of dishonesty. What they reveal to anyone with a decent bullshit detector (like, say, a writer) is that, you are angry at the strike, it hurts your bottom line, and you are engaging the best argument you can to break the will of the writers in the only forum where you can access them, the blogopshere.
An ‘honest broker’ in this debate would acknowledge, among other things, the sorry quality of stockpiled feature scripts, less than half of which are probably filmable; the hindrances of shooting a feature without access to punch up and polishes; American Idol’s value as a platform to launch scripted hits (House anyone?), the blow to 2008-9 development and upfronts money, and so on, and so on.
The truth is, it would cost the studios much, much less to settle the strike than the work stoppage will cost them in the short, medium and long term. And that while this strike will hurt many writers in the short term, this will make or break our livelihoods in the digital age, in a way that dwarfs cable and DVD, so much so that losing 9 months from now will hardly cut any deeper than settling early and losing now. That is why we are united and on message in a way never seen before, and why it’ll take more than your limp defeatism to discourage us.
But thanks for playing.
Comment by Norm A. Rae — November 17, 2007 @ 6:23 pm
Vituperative? Your argument makes sense but your examples are weak. American Idol is past its prime and with a plethora of reality fare to go against will keep falling this season. Sunday Night football ends in December, before any of the other net’s reruns even start. And what type of family says, “Reruns on tv! Dammn, let’s fly to Orlando!” And what about Sony, whose only bright point as of late has been its Hollywood product? There’s a lot at stake for all involved.
Comment by John — November 17, 2007 @ 6:23 pm
So, is Polone jealous because Berkus fired him and Berkus is now a lead strike negotiator?
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/art3/gpoloneall.pdf
Is that why Polone is injecting himself into the fray and trying to make trouble? Or is he just trying to get famous and grab his 15 minutes?
Comment by js — November 17, 2007 @ 6:31 pm
Yikes, Peter. The commie card? More revealing than you think, I fear. And not half as insightful as you think. (Weird how some posts read as if they were rehearsed in a mirror first.)
Comment by harley — November 17, 2007 @ 6:41 pm
Gavin:
Why are you always so desperate for “face time” on TV and movies? What is your need to see yourself on a screen?
First off, your face isn’t appealing. You played an agent on the first episode of “Action” and the promos repeatedly showed your one and only scene. You’re a terrible performer without anything close to comic timing. Your reactions were a blank stare and you obliterated what might have been funny. The first episode tanked in the ratings and your mug during advertisements had something to do with that.
Your only means to get attention for yourself is by being provocative, but in the midst of this labor dispute, you were irresponsible, even on a Fox station that’s about as “fair and balanced” as propaganda from the Third Reich.
When talking about new media, why didn’t you mention the download revenue you’ve made from “My Super Ex-Girlfriend,” a film that even movie pirates avoided? I’ve also heard in an attempt to bolster the ratings, your current HBO show “Tell Me You Love Me” is going to change its title to “Fucking.”
Your appearance on that show being a shameless sychophant for the AMPTP reminded me of Ellis from “Die Hard” trying to play up to the terrorists. Remember what happened to him?
Comment by John McClane — November 17, 2007 @ 6:44 pm
Bloomberg reports CBS already feeling the sting from the strike:
“CBS gets two-thirds of its sales and profit from television. The New York-based company relies more on scripted shows such as “CSI” than competitors and is vulnerable to advertising losses, said Lehman Bros. analyst Anthony DiClemente. …..
…“If the strike causes key audience ratings to be down significantly, significant revenues could be forfeited in the form of advertising time givebacks,” the New York-based analysts wrote.
… CBS also faces a potential walkout by news writers. About 500 CBS television and radio news writers vote this week on a proposal to call a strike if negotiators can’t reach a new labor agreement.
Late-night, TV talk shows were the first to feel the effect of the strike as networks began airing reruns the day it started.
NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” lost more than 750,000 homes in the first days of the strike from a total of 4.51 million a week earlier, and CBS’s “Late Night With David Letterman” had about 330,000 fewer households out of 4.06 million, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
ABC may start running out of scripts to shoot in as little as a month, Disney CEO Robert Iger said last week. News Corp.’s Fox network said last week it shut down two series, while 16 were still in production.
Comment by anonymous — November 17, 2007 @ 6:59 pm
Why is it that you never see Gavin Polone and Dennis Miller in the same place at the same time???
Comment by Walk The Line — November 17, 2007 @ 7:03 pm
Gavin Palone is a sad joke. He used to be powerful, and for a while, when he became a producer, people bought into his shtick, and he had some minor success.
But that was a long time ago. Now he’s just a loudmouthed loser desperate for attention, and will say anything to get back in the press.
It’s a story as old as Hollywood itself.
Comment by Anonymous — November 17, 2007 @ 7:21 pm
Just to be clear. There is nothing that irks me more than the Pose of the Knowing Realist — as if there was some virtue in abject surrender. Whatever we gain when this is finally resolved, the best way to guarantee that we get nothing to is to swan into the room proclaiming that we do not stand a chance. This is self-defeating, needless to say. But it also reeks of condescension.
Oh, okay, another thing that irks me. A strike is not a personal balance sheet that requires a positive outcome. Yes, some of us currently striking may not make up what we have lost in future gains. But this is not merely about the WGA today. It’s about the guild’s long term future, and more to the point, about the ways writers will be paid as delivery systems continue to evolve.
Comment by Harley — November 17, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
Ignore what Gavin is saying.
What’s important is where he went to say it — the Fox News Network, aka the Murdoch Propaganda Network, where the virtues of corporate greed are appreciated and where the truth about the United States winning the war in Iraq is allowed to be spoken.
Comment by Kit Sargent — November 17, 2007 @ 8:13 pm
Most of what Gavin POLONE has said may “hurt” but his message is ‘truthful.’ He is a prolific television producer, feature producer and has had a storied agent/manager career. If you have know him personally and disliked him, it was likely never because you thought him untalented, powerful, successful, smart or capable, but likely because he was a dick personally in some way. It seems if nothing else he is sharing an unpopular but accurate take on the state of affairs. He is hardly a pussy, especially in a town full of sackless lemmings like ours. And please, even Jim Berkus himself would never ‘bring up’ the UTA fracas mentioned above; Gavin more or less smacked the taste out of their mouth on that count. Know your enemy. Use his information constructively, don’t waste your bullets on the messenger.
Comment by Buck Zollo — November 17, 2007 @ 8:21 pm
Mr. Landesman and Mr. Polone make some valid points.
However, if you wanna look at this without righteousness and emotion and what’s “fair”, fine. Take out the fact that writers (and actors, directors) are, by in large, being exploited by huge conglomerates (and let’s face it, who isn’t?!) and you’re left with politics. Everyone knows that the key to politics is the art of the spin. The WGA is winning that in spades. The vast majority of the public that has an opinion one way or another sides with the writers. It’s easy to like the artists who write the characters and stories that enrich or at least entertain us and it’s equally easy to villify big, greedy, corporations and people like Polone who come off as smug at best.
This isn’t the last strike. The writers and the fans of their shows and films are using the internet to get the public on their side. Again, not too hard to do. Why is no one addressing this factor? The writers now have a direct line to the public that loves their work. Who are they going to side with? Joss Whedon, James Gunn, Steve Carell… or Rupert Murdoch, Les Moonves?
That’s the studios’ achilles heel. They’re so arrogant that they don’t even factor in the people that keep them in business. I think they’re in for a rude awakening when the public they hold so little regard for turns on THEM when they have nothing but reruns and shitty reality TV to watch. When they refuse to watch and start telling studios and their advertisers that they’re not going to watch, download or buy anything until the writers get a fair deal.
So, “fair” aside, it’s pretty hard to argue that the writers, actors and directors have a lot more respect for the public that keeps them in business than the studios do. And the public know that, so let’s see who will be hurt more by the strike when the boycotts begin.
Comment by Thomas Cunningham — November 17, 2007 @ 8:28 pm
Gavin,
I am an American of African decent WGA member and I am afraid you are clueless what writers are really struggling for. I am also a member of SAG and if it wasn’t for residuals I can guarantee you Gavin I would be robbing your house as we speak.
I came up through the hard streets of South Central, but if it was my writing and acting to keep the beacon of Hope shinning in my life I would have gone the way of my fellow gang member Tookie Williams. (God rest his soul)
If it was not for my guidance counselor, Mr. Jackson at Hamilton High who recognized something in me though I was academically he saw me on stage in the musical and said I had something special. Then Mr. Jackson stated for me to come to his office to get my special surprise.
That surprise was a golden ticket to join “Student News” where only a few students were chosen from LAUSD schools to writer, reporter and produce each week both in English and in Spanish a local news program on PBS’s KLCS Channel 57.
Writing and reporting for “Student News” is where the seed for me as a writer begun and is why I walked the picket line and have been injured by a hit & run driver doing so at Paramount.
We don’t write because we want 4 cents extra on the Internet or DVD, we write because it is in our blood to write or die.
In my senior year Student News won a local Emmy for Best News Broadcast in Los Angeles beating out Channel 9, 13, 11 and 5.
Gavin we writers are striking for our manifest destiny and not to please you or our agents but to feed our families in the future.
Respect Us,
Chris E. Jackson
Comment by chris jackson — November 17, 2007 @ 8:37 pm
You people are pathetic with the name-calling. Only a few have been able to debate Palone without some sleazy insult. You rank with some of the worst internet blog comments ever.
Comment by WGARiter — November 17, 2007 @ 8:41 pm
Yawn.
A little agitated, are we? I go to dinner for a few hours and look at all of the anger that wells up from the depths. Did I say something to offend some of you?
Peter Landsmen, that was really smart and intersting.
Dave, first, thanks for expressing your opinion without the insults and stupidity. People can disagree and remain civil. I think we agree that the writers will have to hang in for a long time to gain the leverage necessary to achieve anything major, like an increase in the DVD payments, a much higher download percentage and purview over reality shows. Where we differ is on the stamina of the members and if the collateral damage that will result in a long strike is worth it. If you are right, and they hang in for the long haul, the WGA will get what it wants. The AMPTP will be forced to conceed on most of your requests. If the writers cave in, they will end up with something slightly better than what the AMPTP is offering now. I don’t think they will hang in and I think the deal that could be made now is about what they’ll get in a few months when their resolve withers. I’m sure you are tough enough to take it, or maybe you don’t spend a lot or you have a lot to spend or both. Many do not. Pressure will also build as more people outside the guild are laid off. Maybe I am wrong here. We’ll see. As I said, the WGA will only succeed in gaining a big increase by hanging in for a long strike.
A couple of people asked my opinion as to what the guild should do. I think the best tactic is to get in the room and continue negotiating until you get to an acceptable level of compensation on downloads: somewhere between 1.2% and 2.5%. Keep the current DVD formula. Get something for ad supported free downloading. Give up on breaking new ground on reality shows.
The key is to stay in the room and keep going. If they walk out, your demonstrations should be about how they walked out and the WGA wants to keep negotiating. Don’t leave the room: literally stay there and hold press conferences. If you stay and they go, it reflects badly on them. I know they stopped negotiating the last time but that was because the strike was called while progress was being made. Chanting about how you’ll shut them down doesn’t work. I think the studios will be forced to keep negotiating if you maintain the position that you’re trying to talk and they don’t want to talk. But give up on the angry stuff.
As I have said, you should not have gone out on strike while the talks were in progress. From what I’ve heard, that was due to a communication problem between the two guilds. Whatever it was, I think an acceptable end result was attainable if the negotiations had continued. With these new talks coming up, there is another chance. Not for a big score but something that improves the current formulas and is agreeable to the studios. Not being out of work for half a year has some value, as well.
Ok, continue with the mudslinging. Blah, blah, blah, I made my living off of writers and now I am a tool for the studios, blah, blah, blah, I was fired from UTA, blah, blah, blah, I’m wrong about everything. You take it from there.
Comment by Gavin Polone — November 17, 2007 @ 9:06 pm
Gavin,
Recent strike parlor game: a bunch of us (recently produced, highly successful feature writers) agreeing that when this is all over, and you call a partner to send us that book or article, you won’t even get a pass - we’ll just draw the process out and never give a response. Character matters. Ask Billy Friedkin (the “Jade” Friedkin, not the “Exorcist” Friedkin).
Sincerely,
Fourteen or so you’d really like to work with
Comment by number14 — November 17, 2007 @ 9:13 pm
Actually there have been some really articulate fact-based comments countering Polone on this blog
It’s Polone who’s rather emotional and “vituperative” and name-calling
Comment by Anonymous — November 17, 2007 @ 9:17 pm
I don’t pretend to understand the nuances of this strike and the two sides strategies. However, there was an important point that Mr. Palone made that few here seem to be addressing:
“When people at panavision or catering companies start losing their jobs because of the strike, there will be a backlash against the writers.”
I think it goes much deeper than that. I work at one of the major studios in Information Technology. It’s obvious that cast, crew and the like will soon be feeling the effects of the strike. But people in my department as well as many others are about to be touched by this too. My studio has mandated that ALL contractors/temps be let go effective now. This doesn’t just mean people in production, this means everyone. The outpouring of support that the WGA has enjoyed to this point will quickly evaporate if the studios start slashing and burning like this.
I understand that the people who deserve the blame for this are the studios. But believe me, the people who are let go won’t care who is to blame. If they are unemployed a month before Christmas there will be plenty of anger to be spread around. I support the writer’s cause and believe in what they are fighting for. However, if I am cut loose now, that support will wane quickly and it will turn into the very backlash Mr. Palone is suggesting only I would suggest it will be a lot worse than he intimated.
One last observation:
What is accomplished by threatening and smearing Gavin for his remarks? I know nothing of him and he very well could be the asshole everyone is suggesting. However, it wasn’t like he was making personal attacks with his remarks. He was simply giving his point of view, right or wrong. If you disagree with him then argue his points on their merit. Don’t lower the conversation with ad hominem attacks. You give him more credibility when you act like a child with your remarks.
Comment by Hoopersx — November 17, 2007 @ 9:30 pm
I dunno. He is harsh, but he is ultimately right. It sounds bad to some people, but most all of what he says is true.
I especially agree with his views on threatening people. This is still, allegedly, the most powerful and civilized nation on earth yes? Do we really need threats of physical harm to other people to make points? Please.
Also, how many people wouldn’t want to trade places with him? I know I would take his career in a second. He’s an asshole but a very successful asshole. Sounds like every guy my sister has ever found attractive. :p
Comment by manny — November 17, 2007 @ 9:38 pm
Gavin is right.
The strike will be go on a long long time because the issues mainly help movie writers, who get free time to pursue their spec projects, while the TV writer loses his paycheck.
Comment by out of work TV writer — November 17, 2007 @ 9:52 pm
On a completely superficial and meaningless note, I was more than willing to dislike Polone knowing very little about him…
But that bit in his final comment “I’m wrong about everything, you take it from here”… was pretty funny. Not too often I laugh reading all these comments.
Comment by jr — November 17, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
I wrote a big, long letter which turned out to be the last one in the initial string vv Gavin Polone. I won’t bother to reiterate it; I was trying to go through some of the things Gavin said that have some credibility and those I thought didn’t — without name-calling, which helps nothing. I had pretty much said what I thought might be useful, but now notice, in this string, the repeated references to the “weak” writers guild. So I will repeat something I said before and nobody probably read: the WGA did not lose every strike it was ever in, as Polone asserted. As Peter Landesman and a couple of others seem to think, it is not a “weak guild” that was fiounded to combat the McCarthy red scare tactics. We get residuals, have health care and pensions and separated rights because writers fought for these rights and won them in successful strikes before the red-baiting fifties. In 1988, the guild began to fall apart under the pressure of a protracted strike about residuals for the then new medium — video tape. I had just joined then, and I can tell you that even though I supported the guild, I wasn’t entirely convinced that video tape would be as important as the leadership said it would be. Neither, apparently, did some powerful people who comprised a faction that ultimately opposed the strike. Many of those people were TV hyphenates who thought their shows would never sell on tape. To keep the union from splitting, the strike ended with a bad deal. After that, trying to keep peace in the industry seemed more important than improving our deal to keep up with changing delivery systems. I won’t go into more detail, but suffice to say that now nobody thinks new media won’t be important. It already is. And it will be everything. Everybody knows it — we’ve certainly all seen the video clips of AMPTP members talking about the big money they’ll make on the internet — they’re on the internet. So is everything else. The guild will not fall apart now. We aren’t weak. And I repeat what I said in another post — these vertcally integrated corporations can afford to compromise and deal us in. They lose very little by gving us a fractional percentage of their revenues in new media. But if writers give up, we (and SAG and ultimately the other unions) will lose everything. If internet work isn’t covered by the guild, we not only won’t get residuals, we eventually won’t get health care and pensions. Offering nothing but rollbacks and refusing to talk about new media is a way to start breaking the guilds — all of them. We know that. We won’t fall apart this time. We can’t afford to. We must all ultimately come back from this strike and work together, so let’s stop tearing each other apart. Here’s to a new start after Thanksgiving.
Comment by Marjorie David — November 17, 2007 @ 10:18 pm
More misinformation.
The AMPTP dragged its feet for months, then started the negotiations with a roll-back proposal they knew would anger the guild and push the leadership into a strike position, which is exactly what happened.
Then, on the weekend of the contract deadline, finally, the AMPTP decides it’s willing to talk turkey. But only as the result of intense back channel lobbying. What would it take for the AMPTP to start bargaining for real? Take the DVD residuals off the table. So the WGA takes the DVD issue off the table. What does the AMPTP come back with?
Nothing.
The AMPTP was told at the beginning of the meeting that the strike was set to begin at 12:01am. Duh. The deadline was no secret. The WGA said it would call off a strike if substantial progress was made before the deadline. Which basically means, getting close to the foundation of a deal. The WGA said it would continue negotiating even if significant progress hadn’t been made and even if the picket lines started.
Still, after the WGA conceded on the DVD issue, the AMPTP could come up with nothing in response. Nothing. Notta. Zip. Zilch.
Then they suddenly acted like they had never heard of Eastern Standard Time.
Nick Counter wanted this strike. He got it. Then he found out that, even though they had filled his ears (and the ears of the stockholders) with sweet nothings about being able to withstand a long strike with little or no economic consequences, his bosses weren’t, in the end, really that keen on a strike.
Gavin is right about one thing. The media conglomerates have the resources to sit out a long strike. They even have the grit and conviction and greed to sit out a long strike.
But the reality is, they don’t want to.
They don’t want to face the stockholders in 2008 after months of a debilitating strike. They don’t want to dance around Wall Street’s questions about lost ad revenues and lost viewership.
They want to do exactly what we want to do. Go to work and make money.
So, yeah, in the end, maybe the writers aren’t going to get that much out of the AMPTP. But it will be something. Which is better than nothing. Which is all the AMPTP was offering before the strike.
Comment by Kit Sargent — November 17, 2007 @ 10:29 pm
we are really embarrassed for polone that he’s trolling this site and answering comments .. he actually is that defensive with nothing else to do
this guy is really distasteful. worse, he dishes it out but can’t take it.
also, no one asked what you would do, polone, so keep your opinions to yourself. no one’s asking.
Comment by fromtheinside — November 17, 2007 @ 10:29 pm
Male, 34, single, enjoys movies, surfing Zuma, morning walks with my dog-
…Oh, shit…wrong blog.
Comment by Single Male — November 17, 2007 @ 10:37 pm
At this point, Palone, you are seeming a bit trollish. I get all the points you have made, some are even more than a bit obvious and I think much of the aggression here is because you do not seem to be stating anything that has not been heard already a hundred times by writers.
In the end, you’re just another guy on the internet starting a post with “Yawn” and following with rather pedestrian opinions.
I have not read anything you have stated that I have not heard before or made me for a moment stop and think. So, I really don’t know what all the attacks are about. For some reason, people just don’t seem to like you.
Now I have to go watch this “I Love Lucy” show you were talking about. If my grandfather doesn’t have a copy, can find it online? Because that is where many of us youngsters go these day.
Keep fighting the good fight, Palone. In the age of the internet, producers will be the first thing to go.
Comment by DA in LA — November 17, 2007 @ 10:37 pm
And by the way
The thousands of talented, hard-working, below-the-line people that are essential in the creative process of turning scripts into viewable entertainment, these people will respect and support the writers who respect and support them. Sure, some of the wonderful legions of below-the-liners may harbor some resentment over a long strike and losing employment, and I couldn’t blame them. But trust me, one thing is for damn sure. These people will never like, respect or support the non-writing producers and executives and media moguls more than the writers.
They might not like the strike. But they know what it’s about.
Comment by Kit Sargent — November 17, 2007 @ 10:43 pm
Just one more little Gavin memory. I was working on a pilot he was “producing”. He was gone 99.9% of the time in some eastern European country producing a bloated, horrible mini-series that he described as “brilliant” and “genius”. It got scathing reviews and was instantly cancelled. Anyway, we’re deep into pre-production on the pilot when he returns from Lithuania or wherever and waltzes into the room late for a meeting. Without saying hello to anybody, he starts pontificating about the lighting. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the lighting. For a pilot where we didn’t even have a director. Like the studio executives would make a note: Gavin says don’t make it too dark! Gotcha! I’ll bet that savvy helped Larry David with Curb Your Enthusiasm, because the lighting isn’t too dark. I guess that’s the Gavin touch? Anyway, back to the meeting. After his lighting advice, then he proceeds to give notes on a prior draft of the script, a draft that had subsequently been rewritten many times since the draft he read. He referred repeated to characters that had been dropped six months earlier. He’s like a caricature of a cartoon of a cliche of a bad joke about Hollywood.
Comment by sylvie Q. Katz — November 17, 2007 @ 11:28 pm
I’m shocked at all of those denigrating this brave speaker of truth, this chivalrous warrior of veracity. This is the one unafraid to stand out and loudly reveal from the Fairest and Most Balanced broadcasting tower in the land, the following great epiphany:
Those With The Most Power And Money Are More Rich And Powerful Than The Weaker Ones With Less Of Each.
Are there any among you who can honestly say that this is not a new and shocking idea worth having been said no matter what the personal cost? Oh, you say there was no personal cost and, in fact, the courageous revealer of this illumination only stands to gain millions in studio deals for advancing the corporate agenda? Bravery comes in many forms, my friends. Any who have been under the hot lights of a news set will understand the risk involved to expensive Thomas Pink shirts when engaged by perspiration or the rash possibilities at the end of an improperly cleaned make-up brush.
Disparage not this hero, Polone The Knower Of All Things, but feel grateful we have him to enlighten and lead us and mourn for our predecessors not as fortunate to have such a champion.
Imagine the pain and struggles that could have been avoided had a soothsayer of his ilk only been there to say, “Don’t throw that tea in the Boston Harbor. The English will be angry and have many ships and more extensive weaponry!”
Or, “Look at all the tanks and airplanes those German guys are building. Opposing them is foolish.”
Not to mention, “Ms. Parks, refusing to sit in the back of the bus is pointless. You have no ‘leverage.’”
Enough with the disparaging of the enlightened one who has risen majestically to save us from ourselves. Rather let us lift this gifted seer up on our shoulders and celebrate him for the messiah he clearly is.
And then proceed directly to the abattoir with the comforting knowledge that a lot of untidy confrontation was avoided along the way.
Comment by DLW — November 17, 2007 @ 11:36 pm
Hi Gavin, Propagandist here. I never attacked you personally, but you called me out on being “anonymous” (even though I’d included a link in my comment to one of my homepages) so please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Micah Wright, and here’s my IMDB page. I’m not afraid of you, nor anyone else… that fear was burned out of me by people far scarier than you.
I was an animation writer and show runner until 2001 when I was approached by a group of writers at Nickelodeon who wanted to get covered by the WGA. In a show of solidarity with the people working with me, I signed my WGA card and helped in the WGA’s attempt to organize Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, CA. When presented with an overwhelming majority of signed cards from their writers, Nicktoons called in Viacom’s corporate lawyers. They immediately illegally fired 28 writers, shut down production on 5 shows, put 250 artists out of work, killed my show 4 episodes into an order of 26 (costing me potential millions in toy & ancillary monies), brought in the IATSE Local 839 Animation Union to lock the WGA out of Nickelodeon forever (even though we were there first). They did all of this to save themselves an astounding $5/airing writing residual — the same residual that they gladly pay the actors and composers of my shows.
Then Nickelodeon took the time out of their busy union-busting schedule to undertake a witch-hunt for the “Ringleaders” who had caused them all this trouble and legal expense. Once they picked me and 2 other writers out of a hat, they called the other 5 animation shops in town and illegally Blacklisted me, Jay Lender (who became my writing partner), and another writer whose name I won’t publicly state (because he later got hired at a different company using his brother’s name and I don’t want to bust his cover) out of animation. Forever.
Then Nickelodeon called my Management, and threatened them into dropping me as a client, which they gladly did because they had other clients who they represented at Nickelodeon and wanted to keep their relationship with Nicktoons tight (thus proving once and for all in my eyes whom Agents & Managers really work for: the AMPTP).
And then, when all this happened, the then-president of the WGA turned to me and said “that’s really too bad what happened to you.” That person then asked if I would endorse them in the upcoming election. When I asked what the WGA was prepared to do to help those of us who had been burned by the WGA’s weak leadership, I was told by the then-head of Guild Staff that the WGA “doesn’t have a hiring hall.” When I asked if they’d file a lawsuit on the part of those of us who had been blacklisted, the then-head of organizing told me he’d been ordered to “forget about the Nickelodeon effort.” So yes, I support this “strike-happy” Guild Leadership, because I’ve been burned by their polar opposites, the get-along-go-along-happy-negotiations-gang who blindly trusted that the AMPTP would play ball and not break several federal laws and blacklist writers just for exercising their federally protected rights.
So, when you say stupid shit like this in public:you might want to think about the history of blacklisting in this business and decide if you really want to advocate something like that. Did Ari reverse his opinion or was he coerced into doing so? Is that what you want: to force people to refrain from expressing their opinion or lie about what they truly think? Again, writer’s union or Soviet Union? It sorta pisses me off that you think that the WGA is the problem when it comes to Blacklisting people. I know you were responding to other posters who made stupid threats to picket your home, but it’s important to keep in mind who we are versus who the AMPTP are. THEY blacklist people, Sumner & his minions. It happened to me. I was out of work for a full freaking year before I was lucky enough to enter another field of writing, and that certainly wasn’t easy… ever get a Manager when your last one dropped you like a hot potato and the word is out that you’re unemployable? No? Then STFU about poor, pitiful, rich-ass Gavin Palone being “blacklisted.” The worst that the WGA can do is force current-member scabs to go fi-core and publicize their names, and to prevent other non-member scabs from ever joining our union. Considering that -all- scab work extends the period that the AMPTP can hold out against our strike, I find it a pity that we can’t draw-and-quarter these quislings when we catch them.
As for this: Speaking of embarrassed, why don’t you print your name on your posts? If you’re so confident about your views, put your name behind them. It is pretty easy to name call and take a stand anonymously. If you think it is okay to accuse other bloggers of not being “real writers” why not let us all assess if you are a “real writer.” So far, I can only go by the fact that you wrote “peace, out” at the end of your post, which makes me believe that nobody has ever paid you to write anything., well, saying “peace out, losers” was an insult to all the cowards who are supposedly WGA writers here who advocate so very loudly for us to play the peacemaker and to surrender to the AMPTP. It’s not how I talk and I’d never write that dialog into a character’s mouth. It’s up to you to judge whether or not I’m a “real” writer, but unlike a lot of the anonymous “writers” here, I’m willing to sign my real name, I am in the WGA, I have sold material, I’ve had covered work this year, I am a working writer, and, unlike a lot of the cowardly whiners I was addressing, I volunteer my scant free time at my union: I’m a member of the Animation Writers Caucus Steering Committee, I’m a member of the New Media Caucus Steering Committee, and I’m the interim chairman of the American Indian Writers Committee. I pushed through a WGA award for Best Writing in a Videogame this year, and I’m currently working on a videogame units system to help non-member game writers join the WGA. Unlike others who choose to stand aside and throw monkey shit at our guild and its leadership, I made the decision to get involved and better things.
I’m more than happy to sign my name to my statements, because I stand behind all of them (except the Force Majuere deadline being reset — I was wrong about that). I would like to address one of your statements, directly — am I wrong about this strike already costing the TV studios money? Nope. Their ratings have already gone down in latenight, and primetime ratings will swiftly follow latenight down the rabbit hole once they run out of original episodes, staring… oh, right, next week.
Further, I think your prediction that the TV Broadcasters aren’t going to be hurt by a strike “for 6-8 months” is ludicrous… have you forgotten that it’s SWEEPS weeks this month? Many popular shows like The Office are already out of new episodes. I don’t think those rerun ratings are going to reflect very well on NBC’s advertising prices, and remember, the prices set during this months sweeps will run until May 24, 2008. So let’s not pretend that this strike won’t hurt the TV Broadcasters NOW, and not in 6 months.
I also believe that your reiteration of the AMPTP’s “big threat” of replacing scripted material with Game Shows and “Reality” TV junk is dependent upon flawed theories of where TV viewership is headed. The last three years have shown us that cable channels which originally depended entirely upon reruns of old material, and upon documentary and unscripted fare have begun to purchase scripted material in an effort to distinguish themselves from everyone else. Thus we see excellent shows like “Mad Men” on AMC, a channel which was created to dump old studio back-catalog on; F/X has built an entire lineup of exciting, groundbreaking material such as “The Shield” and “Nip/Tuck”; Sci-Fi is producing original scripted material, as are a whole host of other weird channels; The History Channel, the Military Channel, etc. If cable sees that original scripted material is a big part of their future growth, and they see that growth coming from cannibalizing the major networks’ ever-dwindling audience, then why should anyone believe that ABC, CBS, NBC & Fox are going to -profit- by driving away their primetime viewership? It’s illogical.
Finally, you ask When you say “the AMPTP is humiliated in the eyes of Hollywood,” whom are you talking about? The AMPTP is Hollywood. They are not “Humiliated and embarrassed.” I have spoken to many studio people recently and I don’t get any of that. Well, personally, I don’t think that the AMPTP -is- Hollywood. The WGA, the DGA, SAG, IATSE & the Teamsters are Hollywood. Studio executives are Hollywood. But the AMPTP are essentially 6 million-and-billionaires who are attempting to stare down the WGA and force us to take a crap deal, and their agenda has been blatantly exposed: they’re jerks and everyone knows it. If being exposed as lying to the press and dealing in bad faith isn’t embarrassing, it’s only because Rupert Murdoch & Sumner Redstone lack the genes necessary to register embarrassment.
So… now that I’ve thoroughly pissed you off, how about you throw me some work? At least you know you’ll never lack for someone to debate shit with. Y’know… after the strike is over, that is.
-Micah Wright
http://www.micahwright.com
http://antiwarposters.com
http://www.evilscum.net
Comment by Propagandist — November 17, 2007 @ 11:54 pm
My girlfriend has the television on in the next room and reading this blog and forth is the more unique and entertaining time-filler.
Comment by diesel mcfadden — November 18, 2007 @ 1:27 am
I’ve got a theory: Gavin is trying to cozy up to the Studios because they’re going to dump his pod via Force Majeure. Looks like his card is going to get punched. In a town full of useless non-writing producers, why would anyone want a useless non-writing producer who acts like a douche?
Also, he was the exec producer of “Emily’s Reason’s Why Not.”
Comment by greezy — November 18, 2007 @ 1:47 am
When I worked at a management company as a lowly assistant, Gavin would call in because he was pursuing an acting client for a movie he was producing. The notorious film was “My Super Ex-Girlfriend.” Gavin repeatedly said this movie was a monster that would make careers and, of course, the opposite was true. The thing was, nobody took him seriously and the proof came in on what kind of producer he was when his TV series “Emily’s Reasons Why Not” was cancelled after ONE EPISODE. He didn’t put a fight and basically said that McPherson was right. What a wimp. He got Kevin Reilly pretty snowed, who’s no great genius, and is proof that if you’re tenacious and loud and aggressive you can get somewhere without a lick of ability.
Comment by Just Another Teen Assistant — November 18, 2007 @ 1:54 am
I just looked at Gavin’s IMDB and couldn’t find a single project in the last 5 years that he hadn’t been dropped from at some point in its life cycle.
Then again, what do I know? I’m a nobody. How could I possibly know what I’m talking about?
For what it’s worth…
Comment by A total nobody — November 18, 2007 @ 2:00 am
I think this pot of coffee has gone cold and stale, so this will be my final post.
Marjorie David, thanks not being insulting and posting your name by your ideas. I agree with almost everything you said. I just question the resolve of the WGA to stay out long enough. If it does, as I said many times, it will win.
Kit Sargent, again, thanks for saving the tomatoes and printing your name. I only know what I read and what I heard from people who weren’t at the last negotiating meeting. Maybe what happened there is different from what I had read; though, given how the strike has been conducted, thus far, I believe those reports. About the rest, we agree. I just think that the guild would have been better served not going out, rather than striking. I also think they’d be better off settling now, if they are not going to go deep: why lose 3 mos. income to get the same deal? And, I think losing the animosity in their rhetoric, as well as the “shut them down/I’m a rock star” bravado, would serve them better.
Micha Wright, yes the latenight ratings are down but, overall, the effect is minimal. And, I think you’ll see all of those talk shows back on the air in Dec. Ellen is already back and her ratings are the same. Check them out. Football is doing better than ever. Dancing with the Stars did very well. You have to place the losses against the cost reductions to get a profit picture. In any case, if they were being hurt wouldn’t they be more aggressive about getting back to the table? Why wait until after Thanksgiving? Why offer so little leading up to the strike? Why not settle it then? As many of you said, it is all about the money with them, so, if they were suffering (or thought they were about to start suffering), they would do a cost-benefit analysis and give the guild what they want. Anyway, the last line of your post was funny. I think what happened to you at Nick sucks. Good luck. Sincerely.
I appreciate the chance to fill in some of my thoughts where I wasn’t able to do so on Fox Business. The sad thing in all of this posting is how much negativity and ridicule filled space that could have been used to exchange ideas about the topic. Many of you, obviously, wanted to show others that voicing an opinion different from your own will result in embarrassment and even retribution that would effect the offender’s careers. I’m in a fortunate position of being insulated from that kind of pressure: as many of you pointed out, I have had many bad things said about me in print, so I’ve learned to ignore ugly words offered by those who don’t know me, or whom I don’t care about; and, I don’t need to worry about my mortgage, so threats about others not working with me because I expressed a differing opinion don’t really mean much. But others are in dissimilar positions in their lives and, of course, they would not want to openly express themselves, if they didn’t agree with the most aggressive of the trash throwers. This, obviously, limits discourse. But, more importantly, it makes one wonder what the value of having free speech is when only rich people who have become calloused to insults can offer their opinions because they don’t fear the bullies? Several people, both whom I know and some I didn’t, sent me private emails supporting what I said on the blog. Two said, in their emails, “don’t tell any one.” Only a couple of the many who said they agreed with me did so using their names. Obviously, they feel intimidated. They felt that they would be harmed if they expressed themselves openly on a blog. And over what? A discussion about the conduct of a strike by writer’s union? It really shouldn’t be like that.
Comment by Gavin Polone — November 18, 2007 @ 6:01 am
If nothing else, this very entertaining thread is yet another illustration of a point made previously. These guys - by which I mean the Companies generally, moguls (for lack of a better term) specifically - care about two things. Their money and their reputations. Mr. Pollone has repeatedly endured insults, slander, good advice, and a modest amount of fluffing in the service of the latter. Why? Not due to a desire for honest and open discourse. But to defend his reputation.
That the public is overwhelmingly supportive of the WGA’s aims — or more to the point, overwhelmingly negative when it comes to what they identify as corporate greed — is not tangential to what happens next. It is part and parcel of whatever progress we are able to make in the future.
Comment by Harley — November 18, 2007 @ 8:22 am
Gavin,
I know you’re already gone, so this post will most likely go unnoticed, but I thought I’d chime in anyway. You keep characterizing the strike as a mistake and talking about how the WGA should’ve just kept negotiating with the studios without striking. You mean, like Native Americans who kept “negotiating” with the U.S. government whom they trusted would do so in good faith and then ended up shoved onto tiny patches of desolate sand? Human beings haven’t changed all that much since then, or since the dawn of man for that matter, so it’s hardly a stretch to assume that the longer the WGA sat at the table with the AMPTP, the longer the AMPTP would dig in and force us onto that tiny patch of land. It was already starting to happen during the last days of meetings as the WGA started to give in on issues like DVD residuals. When you were an agent did you not push and claw and fight for your clients to get the best deal possible, or did you tell them to just be happy with the patch of sand the studios were so generous to offer?
p.s. You brewed this pot of coffee to begin with, so if it’s cold and stale, that’s because it just wasn’t that good a pot to start with.
Comment by He Who Types With Fingers — November 18, 2007 @ 8:55 am
Gavin or someone else,
Is there something about the way Hollywood works that writers don’t choose to work for ONE studio to create some new stuff so that studio would be better off than the others? There’s nothing better to break up solidarity than getting one to fight each other.
If the WGA treats the studios as one big entity, they’ll stick together. If they let some writers work on new episodes of shows for NBC that would go against reruns of other established network franchises which could be eroded, wouldn’t that create some leverage? and get some income for a few folks, but that’s secondary.
thanks in advance for any comments.
-diesel
Comment by Diesel — November 18, 2007 @ 10:07 am
When in doubt, call us Communists. While in the USSR a good many people secretly wanted to live in freedom, I am yet to meet a Writers Guild member who secretly wants to be free from residuals.
We’re a union and voted to strike (overwhelmingly). We know we’re justified and are prepared to pay the price. I’d wrestle with whether or not to report a scab about as much as I’d wrestle with whether to call the cops on a guy breaking into my house. That’s right. I’d call the cops on someone breaking into my house just like they do in Communist China.
People won’t turn off their TVs and go to Disneyland. Have you ever been to Disneyland? It’s fucking boring. Without new episodes of Desperate Housewives, millions of Americans are going to just masturbate more using their own imagination. Thank God for the vast majority of us, Robert Iger plays no part in that. And the best part? No ads.
AMPTP will offer a real deal or lose a fuckload of money first and then offer a real deal.
Everyone adversely affected by the strike who is also a Time Warner cable customer should make their first cost-saving measure cancelling or suspending their cable until the strike is over. Don’t smash the state. Smash your Idol.
Seacrest Out.
Comment by Brave Print My-Namer!! — November 18, 2007 @ 10:14 am
In December of 1994, I pitched editor Allan Mayer of the late Buzz magazine a story about then-agent Gavin Polone. Three months later, “The Infuriating Confidence of Gavin Polone” was published.
Gavin’s ability to be infuriating has outlived the magazine that first heralded it by ten years.
I’m not surprised.
Ross Johnson
Comment by ross johnson — November 18, 2007 @ 10:14 am
Information is power,or so they say.
Gavin Palone’s statements and point- of-view certainly have informed me (a WGA member) in many ways.
Understanding the other side in a negotiation is the beginning of the wisdom (and power) necessary to close the negotiation.
Considering G.Palone’s statements miqht be useful to many who are too quick to judge the messenger, and therefore miss beneficial information (and perhaps wisdom) within the message.
Rusty Lemorande
Comment by Rusty Lemorande — November 18, 2007 @ 10:30 am
Hilarious.
Gavin can’t help but read and repsond, but not without lobbing insults at how lame we all are for discussing our views on a blog. A BLOGG HE IS READING.
Did he not come a’ courtin’ the blog?
See…he can write a joke…
Comment by girl scribe still walking — November 18, 2007 @ 10:35 am