I took two personal days and I come back to http://www.amptp.com which is a hilarious spoof of the AMPTP's official site http://www.amptp.org. It looks almost identical, too, down to those Did You Know? factlets. (Example: Six out of 10 non-Judd Apatow movies never recoup their original investment... "Writer" comes from the Latin ritem meaning "unhygienic and doughy.") Many many people are being fooled judging from the ton of puzzled emails I'm receiving. This satirisite is laugh-out-loud funny no matter what side of the issue you're on. I especially enjoy that the website creators make fun of the AMPTP's crappy new campaign labeling the WGA negotiators as organizers (to imply "that we're some kind of Commies," one WGA board member told me over the weekend). Also, did you know that Nick Counter was the youngest member of the Backstreet Boys? Cares about dolphin safety? Has a younger brother Aaron Counter who's head of the MPAA? A ton of work obviously went into it. This is what clearly happens when writers have way too much free time on their hands. Thank god for laughs in the middle of this tragic time. I look forward to the AMPTP pulling the same prank on the WGA. Oh wait, http://www.wga.com is already taken by the Western Growers Association.
Here are some excerpts from just the home page:
"We are heartbroken to report that despite our best efforts, including sending them a muffin basket, making them a mix CD, and standing outside their window with a boombox blasting Peter Gabriel songs, our talks with the WGA have broken down. Quite frankly, we're puzzled as to why this happened. We talked about it all the way home – after we walked into their hotel room, slapped our list of demands on the table and abruptly left the negotiating session – and none of us could figure out what went wrong.
... While the WGA's members can clearly stage rallies, concerts and mock exorcisms, maintain unity in a large and diverse workforce, gain the support of a majority of the general public, prompt a sharp dip in our stock prices, derail half a dozen major movies and force us to refund advertisers' money after they learn that they'll be getting American Gladiators instead of Chuck, we question their ability to get things done. It is now absolutely clear that the WGA's organazis are determined to advance their own personal ideologies, political agendas, sexual preferences, barbaric tribal customs, canine wardrobe choices, religious beliefs and blood rituals upon working writers and other working persons who depend on our work industry for their work.
...Their proposal for Internet compensation could doom the Internet media business before it ever gets started. (Projected start date: October 4, 2012.) We have already offered the writers a very generous $250 per episode for using their work on the Internet. Sure, $250 may not sound like much, but it adds up – a whole season of Heroes would cost NBC.com nearly $6,000! Who's going to pay that money? Go look at at the Heroes web site – unless you count Nissan, Cisco, Sprint, and American Express, nobody's willing to step up and advertise on such a risky and unproven medium. And who knows how much longer those fly-by-night operations will be around? (I mean, have you seen the Nissan Rogue? It looks like a Pontiac Aztek fucked a PT Cruiser, am I right?)
...In summary, the writers are demanding respect they haven't earned, privileges they don't deserve, and money for work they haven't done. And those are perquisites we reserve solely for the severance packages of departing CEOs.
...The fact of the matter is, we're going to win this thing. We've got enough material to wait out the strike. On the feature side, we've got great scripts ready to shoot. How do we know they're great? Because they were already hits! Get ready for Talladega Nights starring Dane Cook! Wait until you see Titanic with Keira Knightley and Zac Efron! And on the TV side, we've got enough reality shows to choke a horse. Literally – one of the shows is Can You Choke This Horse? And for the fall, we're already working on Can You Choke This Horse With the Stars? (Pepsi, you want a logo on the horse? Consider it done.)..."
Seriously, that site just might make the strike worth it.
HAHAHAHAHA.
Comment by jimmy — December 10, 2007 @ 5:26 pm
Beyond hysterical. Beyond brilliant.
Let’s just see Fabiani & Lehane with their $100,000 a month strategic communications/consulting fee beat that.
Comment by picketchick — December 10, 2007 @ 5:28 pm
and by the way, maybe these guys really are technology idiots. how on earth do you not buy the .com, .net and all over domains when you’re such a large, and often despised, group?
these writers must have been agast that the domain name was available! hahahaha
Comment by jimmy — December 10, 2007 @ 5:28 pm
The mere existence of the spoof site tells me a lot about the state of management in Hollywood.
What brainiac secured the .org address, but didn’t secure the .com address?
Don’t they know that internet is rife with parodies and spoof sites, and that writers are extremely likely to take advantage of any weakness in the AMPTP’s web armour?
It shows that Hollywood’s management possess a combination of contempt, arrogance, and stupidity, that’s going to kill the golden goose.
That’s my opinion anyway.
Comment by Furious D — December 10, 2007 @ 5:29 pm
I will probably be killed in my sleep for using this phrase, but: For the WIN!
Comment by Caitlin — December 10, 2007 @ 5:33 pm
I keep hearing the AMPTP is trying to figure out this Internet thing before they know how to pay writers for their work on the Web. Here’s a free tip on your journey to web mastery — always register domain names similar to your own.
Comment by I Miss Heroes Already — December 10, 2007 @ 6:07 pm
AMPTP.org is another obvious disinformation campaign by the AMPTP designed to confuse and make me pee. I always pee when I laugh. I shouldn’t have read this on my Treo in traffic. Lucky it’s a rental car.
Comment by I have 10 cats — December 10, 2007 @ 6:10 pm
AWESOME.
Comment by Strike Grrrrl — December 10, 2007 @ 6:14 pm
That is some funny site but this situation has become so tragically not funny that I couldn’t finish. Since I hadn’t been to the real site at http://www.amptp.org I took a look at that too. I found that an interesting read. Since I’m looking at laying off some of my employees I think it is important to see both sides of this tragedy. I realized that both sides spin and both sides make good points. There has to be a middle ground.
Tom
Comment by Tom — December 10, 2007 @ 6:24 pm
Damn
People are out of work and this shit pops up. In the immortal words of Eddie Murphy “Ha Ha Very Funny Mutha Fucka”
Comment by BigHomey — December 10, 2007 @ 6:24 pm
I laughed so hard I tinkled in my pants.
Writers rule!
Comment by AthenaDelphi — December 10, 2007 @ 6:33 pm
That is one of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time.
My only worry is: How do we know it wasn’t written by shills for the AMPTP. Maybe some shill created that site to show that the AMPTP has greater writing skills than the actual writers, and that they have a fantastic sense of humor. Therefore undermining the value of WGA writers. What a clever guise. But I’m not falling for it. The only way I know for certain somebody is not a shill is if they include “fuck the AMPTP.” That was not included. Ha! On to you! I for one, see through your clever guise! Nice try, shills.
God, I hate all these shills.
Comment by Insider — December 10, 2007 @ 6:46 pm
I love it!!!!
Keep up the good works, now this is a strike.
Comment by boo — December 10, 2007 @ 6:54 pm
Dear AMPTP:
You idiots know so little about the interweb it is fucking astounding. As someone said before me: Buy all your domain names. I did it a couple of years ago. Cost me about a hundred bucks.
How’d saving that money work out? About as well as destroying television to save a few million?
Comment by DA in LA — December 10, 2007 @ 6:57 pm
As a former union organizer, this is just the type of stuff that we would make up about union-busting lit, but never put out. Well, ok, maybe this is 10 times funnier than our sarcasm. But do as Alinsky used to do, “Beat ‘em with humor.”
Comment by whackamole — December 10, 2007 @ 6:57 pm
LMFAO! I started gasping for air at the first line: We are heartbroken to report that despite our best efforts, including sending them a muffin basket, making them a mix CD, and standing outside their window with a boombox blasting Peter Gabriel songs, our talks with the WGA have broken down.
This is too good…I wish I could give the folks who put this together a big ‘ole hug and thank them for the much-needed belly laugh. This was great! Thank you, writers!
Comment by Lisa — December 10, 2007 @ 7:09 pm
Brilliant. Just freakin brilliant.
Moral of the story? “Never piss off creative people with spare time to burn.”
Comment by Brett N — December 10, 2007 @ 7:27 pm
No wonder the AMPTP think the internet’s still an unknown quantity — to let something as bloody simple as buying the dotcom version of their own damn name slip right by is madness! And shame on their PR group for missing that trick as well.
This is hysterical, and fabulous, and brilliant. The more of this sort of thinking I see, the more I think the creatives really need to strike out on their own and leave the antiquated studio system in the dust.
Comment by Nina — December 10, 2007 @ 7:28 pm
Furious D said it all. Who would want to own stock in these companies that are so incompetently run?
Comment by IATSE JE — December 10, 2007 @ 7:30 pm
Great idea, semi-funny content.
Most amazing thing is idiot studios didn’t protect the site. (I heard the site owners are WGA sympathetic and rented it, btw.)
Nevertheless, cut the shit and negotiate. You’re all very clever but who cares.
Comment by Fred — December 10, 2007 @ 7:31 pm
Which Studio Media Genius didn’t spend the extra $50 bucks to buy the .com and .net domain names too? I haven’t laughed this hard since the strike started. And the site is very funny too.
And a side note to BigHomey, Laughter is what we all need to keep our spirits up through the hard cold nights ahead before this fight is over. And this sight is dead on in the unreasonable attitude of the Studio non-bargaining position.
And they didn’t buy the .net etc names because someone didn’t tell them too the way someone told Chernin to buy MySpace….”Moguls” is obviously an old Latin word for “Idiots”.
Comment by ReelBusy — December 10, 2007 @ 7:46 pm
Everybody can go home now. AMPTP.com just won the strike.
Comment by Winnar — December 10, 2007 @ 7:51 pm
For the first time, I actually BELIEVE the AMPTP when they state their belief that the internet’s mystery. Unfortunately, they seemed a lot smarter when I assumed they were lying through their teeth — now they just look like dolts.
I don’t think this is harmful, just mischievous. And amusing, given how starkly it contrasts the writers (who understand the internet very well) with the AMPTP (who haven’t got the first clue about the most basic of web protocols).
Comment by Grace — December 10, 2007 @ 8:02 pm
Very Very funny…you know, we do some nice work Now let’s solve this damn thing!
Comment by Mike mARTINEAU — December 10, 2007 @ 8:08 pm
TOM WROTE: “There has to be a middle ground.”
No, Tom, actually there doesn’t HAVE to be anything. There MAY be a middle ground. But there does not have to be a middle-ground. The WGA could be 100% wrong. The AMPTP could be 100% wrong. There are two sides to the evolution versus creation debate. One is right. One is wrong. We either evolved to our current form or we did not.
I have been following this from the beginning. Yes, there actually IS a middle ground. The sad truth is that the AMPTP has not even remotely gone anywhere near it with any of their proposals. They wanted this strike and they pushed writers into striking. Anyone would have done what the writers are doing. Period.
Comment by Tom Commenter — December 10, 2007 @ 8:49 pm
OMFG !!!!! They didn’t buy the .com - Unreal !!!!
The thing is funny. It looks perfect. Read the FAQ’s - by far the funniest page. Fell out of my chair! OMFG is AMPTP a bunch of morons or what?
All this thing needs is a strike relief fund link and it will be the bomb - probably would raise a bit of money. Word will get out about this.
Comment by tentoes — December 10, 2007 @ 9:33 pm
To “Fred”, the guy who said for writers to “cut the shit and negotiate”… we’re ready, willing and able to do just that. As soon as the AMPTP can take time away from their Christmas shopping to join us at the negotiating table. They walked away from the table in a giant hissy fit.
They’re not used to people who actually expect to negotiate with them. They expect to just give orders and be done with it.
Not. This. Time.
Comment by LB — December 10, 2007 @ 9:33 pm
News item: Media Mogul goes to JAIL…
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN0937463420071211
Hollywood moguls, please read before bedtime.
Hollywood Union members, please call on Congress to investigate Big Media accounting practices.
Comment by 20 year writer — December 10, 2007 @ 9:57 pm
Hot dang! That there was more brilliant (and informative!) than those god-awful “Speechless” videos.
Reputations will be made in this here strike.
Comment by Cruiser — December 10, 2007 @ 10:16 pm
Found under the “News” section:
“Nikki Finke”: You Expect Us to Believe That’s a Real Person’s Name?
Hahaha.
Comment by Tony — December 10, 2007 @ 10:35 pm
They didn’t buy the .com?! Ah hahahahah!
Comment by No Way! — December 10, 2007 @ 10:47 pm
I will be happy of course when the strike is settled.
However, I’ll also be wistful that all this amazing and creative entertainment - the blogs, the speechless campaign, the AMPTP spoof site - will end, and we’ll have to go back to watching crappy sitcoms.
Comment by WGAT EAST — December 10, 2007 @ 11:05 pm
“Nikki Finke”: You expect us to think thats a real person’s name?
haha! geniuses.
now.
if only we could figure out how to get a paycheck out of it…
Comment by brian — December 10, 2007 @ 11:18 pm
I checked the registration for amptp.com. The same owner has .net. Definitely not owned by AMPTP.org - they’re not sharing the same dns.
And apparently the AMPTP are so cheap they didn’t grab .biz, .info, or .us. And they didn’t grab .tv or .la
Obviously, they’re not investing much in their web development. Boneheads.
For what it’s worth, amptpsucks.com is available.
Comment by s — December 10, 2007 @ 11:25 pm
Fred, Ease up, old boy, it’s the holidays, we need a laugh.
Insider, it’s official, you’ve gone mad. Time to take a walk and step away from the cool-aid.
Comment by A Comment — December 10, 2007 @ 11:37 pm
All comedy aside… The fact the spoof site exists where it does (AMPTP.com and AMPTP.net) tells us a lot about what we’re dealing with at the real AMPTP. They’re supposedly a group of entertainment professionals, yet so UN-savvy about the new technology the entire industry is moving toward using that they didn’t even think to spend $9.99 to secure AMPTP.com and AMPTP.net - leaving those URLs wide open to be used against them.
Comment by David Sobolov — December 10, 2007 @ 11:37 pm
Ha, you couldn’t write this stuff!
Beautiful.
The AMPTP once again show all the guile, intelligence and brilliant tactical awareness of Dastardly and Muttley.
(And, toon-related, picture the poor Smithers who has to tell Nick Counter’s Mr Burns that they, um, forgot to register some domain names.
That’s after he explains the concept of domain names, of course. And the concept of the internet).
Comment by BlesstheAMPTP — December 11, 2007 @ 2:11 am
I agree with Fred. Satirizing something like the AMPTP is not much of a challenge, and that’s why it’s not that funny in the end. Also, given that LOTS of people will be out of work due to the collapse of negotiations over the holidays, this parody is a little immature; at least, let’s show it to a below-the-liner and see if he laughs.
Nikki, you’ve been great. Please, stick to the issues at hand. YouTube videos are one thing to give us a chortle, but this is more puerile.
Variety says this morning that Verrone was not present during the Friday negotiations. How is this possible? If so, where are his priorities.
I for one want the strike to end, and just hope and pray the WGA is focusing on the problems at hand; and not trying to win some ideological battle against corporate America while the middle class, as always, suffers.
Comment by satire? — December 11, 2007 @ 3:08 am
To the people who designed that comedic website: How dare you make fun of our employer!
Sincerely, “Fred,” “Satire?,” “Chuck T.,” and “Dawn — a fan.”
Comment by i-swear-we're-not-shills — December 11, 2007 @ 3:58 am
“Satire?”–
Yep, Verrone wasn’t there on Friday — he was at a rally for workers who are trying to unionize. Then again, the media company CEOs also weren’t there on Friday. The negotiation was being handled — as it often has been — by David Young and the WGA’s negotiating committee, and by Nick Counter and the AMPTP’s phalanx of attorneys. (And, let’s face it, if Verrone *had* shown up, then the AMPTP’s post-Friday spin would’ve been that he was so petulant and irrational during negotiations, he derailed everything. As it stands, they reserved that treatment for David Young.)
BTW, what “ideological battle against corporate America” are you and the AMPTP referring to? I wasn’t aware that a request for 2.5% of digital-streaming revenues was tantamount to demanding that workers control the means of production. And if the Guild *is* waging an ideological battle, shouldn’t it be asking for a lot more than $8 million/year, per company?
Comment by K — December 11, 2007 @ 4:24 am
Verb: organize ‘orgu`nIz
1. Create (as an entity)
- form, organise [Brit]
2. Cause to be structured or ordered or operating according to some principle or idea
- organise [Brit]
3. Plan and direct (a complex undertaking)
- mastermind, engineer, direct, organise [Brit], orchestrate
4. Bring order and organization to
“Can you help me organize my files?”
- organise [Brit], coordinate
5. Arrange by systematic planning and united effort
“organize a strike”
- organise [Brit], prepare, devise, get up, machinate
6. Form or join a union
AND!…(this posters addition)
7. To “Righteously Humiliate to a Degree of Extreme Prejudice”, any given fossilized, and decrepit conglomoration of power-hungry and greed-obsessed robber barons.
Comment by Qirronis — December 11, 2007 @ 4:27 am
Followup to
Question:
If one is to believe the AMPTP’s negotiating stance, that they’re not making any money or they’re loosing money on “New Media”, shouldn’t the SEC be looking into what then must surely be false and misleading statements made to their shareholders? Some silly rule about corporate officers attempting to unduly influence or manipulate their stock’s price through lies or deceptive practices?
Comment by timbrehse — December 11, 2007 @ 5:36 am
They not only grabbed the http://www.amptp.NET domain, it’s also up and running. It’s the same as the .COM.
Comment by Covered the Bases — December 11, 2007 @ 6:01 am
Dear satire?
Give it a break. People protest in different ways. Creative writers protest in.. well.. creative writing ways. Hence the site.
To call their site puerile is silly. Would you call it puerile when the AMPTP takes out full page ads in major newspapers? Both sides are waging a PR battle, just through different levels of ingenuity.
As for why Verrone wasn’t present during the Friday negotiations. It might be that he’s the WGA president and not its negotiating committee.
Comment by Writer/Director — December 11, 2007 @ 6:44 am
It’s funny…but the WGA sending a link to this site out to members, in an e-mail with a subject line “update”…well, that doesn’t seem very savvy to me. A large part of the problem here is personality based. And, sorry to say, that now seems to apply to both sides. Before I get lambasted by members, let me point out I am a working screen- and television writer and this strike is very much a daily reality for me.
I would have hoped my Guild would take the high road. So while I laughed at the site, sending it to members seems childish to me. I understand emotions are hot, but let’s all refer back to the playbook. Lose your temper, lose your shit, lose your ability to negotiate.
Comment by Harris — December 11, 2007 @ 6:57 am
I think it’s funny as hell, BUT I was disturbed to find it in my in-box last night as an official strike-related email sent to all of us members from the WGA. Those emails are supposed to be important strike updates. The fact that they would send out a link to a parody site making fun of the people with whom they are supposed to be attempting to make a deal is actually frightening to me. It’s NOT funny that thousands of people are out of work because of this. If our goal were to win a contest proving we write the best internet snark, sending this would be appropriate, but it isn’t. the goal is to get this strike over quickly and secure a fair deal.
Comment by CMC — December 11, 2007 @ 6:59 am
Hmmm…sounds to me like Fred and “satire?” aren’t having withdrawal symptoms from lack of late-night TV. I don’t know about you guys, but to me, this site has Colbert Report writers written all over it (hence, the footnotes on the FAQ page, a la I Am America footnotes).
Peter Gwinn? Laura Krafft? Is that you?
Comment by Lisa — December 11, 2007 @ 7:15 am
Great find Nikki. Before anybody else questions who made the site, It was an United Hollywood production.
As for the speechless videos, they are supposed to be depicting a world without writers.
Comment by Jessy S. — December 11, 2007 @ 7:58 am
Better than satire, http://www.amptp.com shows what well-motivated writers can create on their own without network or studio interference — oops, I mean “development notes.” What we still need is solidarity — not just the WGA and the viewing public, but the WGA and the other guilds and unions (and even indidivual producers who are forced into the same lousy net profots boat) to bring the Sherman Anti-Trust Act down upon the media conglomerates. Remember that intellectual property is specifically protected by the U.S. Constitution in the form of copyright. It is not a product to be bought and sold like cars or shoes, as the AMPTP and their lackeys insist. Onward! P.S.: This little video will give a taste (language advisory): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9KcVFN7qlc
Comment by Nataloff — December 11, 2007 @ 8:10 am
I am now officially against the WGA in this dispute. This has done it. I wasn’t against you, but now I am.
In the midst of all this you have the time and the gall to make fun of the people you’re leadership is supposed to be negotiating with?
What are you guys after? You want to gain jurisdiction without having those people who work in reality television and parts of the animation business sign cards granting the WGA rights of collective bargaining? You want to lift a no-strike clause– a clause that every other union in this industry has? You want “respect”? (“This battle would be about respect.” New York Times 12/10/07)
Shouldn’t it be about the money—the monetary compensation of the WGA’s current members? Shouldn’t that be the first order? Doesn’t the membership know you will not win these other issues?!
Go for the money and find your respect in that. You certainly won’t find it on sets anymore. Especially you television writers who have had the most immediate impact on the lives of crewmembers. (Some of you aren’t even very good writers.) Good luck finding respect when they look into your eyes upon your return. I think every one of us has a countdown calendar where we’ve figured out when we lose our house, car and/or apartment. And for most, that day is not too distant. (We’re so happy for you that the WGA’s strike fund has you folks covered.)
Your rallies and conversations amongst yourselves have led you to believe that you’re entirely in the right and you’re going to win and that everything will be great once the strike is resolved. If you don’t get your leadership to do what’s right for you now, but the time this is over there will be fewer jobs available for you. Reality television is VERY popular. Game shows are EXTREMELY profitable. Scripted television will be reduced markedly. So many of you who had jobs before the strike may find that was your last position in the business before you went off to work at Wal-Mart.
Get a clue, WGA members! Many of you don’t remember 1988. Those who do should have a little chat with the youngsters.
As for me and my band of crew and support business owners (without whom, by the way, your scripts are just words on a page), should this strike continue, we have a good chance of losing homes, marriages, families and friends. This is no time for jokes. This is a serious time that should have you all wondering about your guild leadership’s ability to end this to your best advantage.
Stop laughing at the underwear you’ve just strung up the flagpole and get your leadership to resolve this dispute!
Comment by out of work — December 11, 2007 @ 8:28 am
To answer your question satire,
Comment by Never Forget 88 — December 11, 2007 @ 8:31 am
I don’t think it serves us (the writers) in any good way to be tossing around so-called insults such as “totally gay” and “retard,” even under the guise of the evil corporations. It’s unprofessional, it indicates that WE think these are legitimate insults, and it ultimately distracts from our very serious message that our conflict is about being treated fairly. Also? In general, the site isn’t nearly as funny as it thinks it is.
Comment by Angry Enough — December 11, 2007 @ 8:37 am
Wow. Ridicule the AMPTP. That’s so….. cool. So…. writerly. It’s really a laugh-riot. We’re so clever and they’re so…. stupid and evil. Gee, I feel so much…. better. About….. everything. Ha……………………. ha……………
Comment by MANDYMANDYAMNDYANDY — December 11, 2007 @ 8:38 am
“it’s not that funny in the end”
I beg to differ. It’s hilarious, and while being satirical, makes some excellent points.
Sure, the situation is sad, but that’s no reason for the writers not to put their talents to good use.
Comment by mike — December 11, 2007 @ 8:39 am
Whoops someone needs to fire their newly-hired PR firm! LMFAO.
Comment by Sujata Bhatra — December 11, 2007 @ 8:40 am
Wow, “out of work” has absolutely no sense of humor or any idea of what the public wants.
Do you actually believe that people are going to watch nothing but reality & game shows?
The only reason anyone is watching junk like the Howie Mandel idiocy are the babes in bikinis & those watching are people that don’t have cable or satellite!
The cable customers watching actual nudity on Skinemax!
Viewers want comedy & drama, even if it’s as bad as “Cavemen”.
The greedy clowns running the AMPTP aren’t dumber than we think, they’re dumber beyond anything we can conceive of! It’s just that right now they have the money.
This backwards stand of theirs is going to be as productive as RIAA’s towards downloaded music.
Comment by Unindicted Co-conspirator — December 11, 2007 @ 9:21 am
Out of Work,
Go to Variety.com with the other shills. There you can post anti-WGA babble to your heart’s content. No one with half a brain believes this is the WGA leadership’s fault. During the first negotiations, the AMPTP said they’d negotiate on the key issues if we dropped DVD. We did, they walked. Since then, they haven’t been willing to “negotiate” on anything. It’s all a ploy. They have their stupid agenda. You have yours.
P.S. It must be nice to own a house. As a writer who’s struggled for over a decade and was just starting to make it, I’ve always wondered what it’s like. You can afford kids too? Gosh, you’ve had it pretty good working in this industry on stuff writers create. Maybe Nick Counter will give you a loan.
Comment by Out of Work Before You — December 11, 2007 @ 9:37 am
Cute. Not pay-me-$205k-a-year-cute, but cute none the less.
Comment by RoundAbout — December 11, 2007 @ 10:05 am
Sorry, I agree with Out of Work. I am a manager, with clients who can’t sell scripts or get work. I am also a producer and my favorite beloved project just fell apart. My heart is heavy. I understand that the WGA feels that they got raped in ‘88. But, I also don’t get why they are overestimating their importance in this business. Speechless? Yeah, but how about MONEYLESS? The studios SPEND THE MONEY. They take the FINANCIAL RISK. Do the writers want to come in and pay for movies out of their own pockets. If you want a FINANCIAL PARTNERSHIP, then fund the films. Otherwise you are just employees and this pompous posturing is old and boring. Many people will soon lose their homes, and yank their kids out of school. This isn’t charming, funny or helpful. I don’t get the giggling and immaturity. What I see is a business that has changed in a bad way for many years. No one I know was happy with their jobs BEFORE this happened. Now what? I am sick of hearing about the gay picket, the black picket, the singles picket, the bring your dog to picket. What’s the matter with you people? This is a serious matter for most people and you are never going to win. Just drag it out until you put your colleagues so in the hole that they will be lucky to say “would you like to Supersize that?” soon. GROW UP AND GET BACK TO WORK. Oh yeah, and the WGA demands are ridiculous. Please. Make some realistic demands and I am sure the Producers will come back to the table.
Comment by Sofia M — December 11, 2007 @ 11:08 am
I am a below the liner, I am so far out of work I can only vaguely remember what a paycheck looks like and both my fall back jobs…in the industry. So when I saw the website…I laughed my ass off!! Oh and then I showed it to my friends, other below the liners and they…laughed their asses off. It’s funny, it’s cute and it releived a little tension. I applaud the writer’s who are trying to stay sane day after day in whatever way they need to do it. Many of us on the outside don’t see it as disrespectful, as weak or childish. We see it as a group of people hunkering in for the long haul who don’t wish to have their sense of humor go the way of their jobs.
Oh and I’d like to mention for the group of crew people I am friends with and work with, a lot of whom are looking at losing jobs, homes and so on, we don’t think that just because we’re scared you writers should take a bad deal, capitulate and get screwed for our sake. We get it, it sucks, but we get it. We’re also aware that most writers don’t make much money, that selling a script doesn’t happen every day, every month or even every year. Hell, I made more money last year then my writer family member.
So laugh, hang tough and get this taken care of the way it should be!
Comment by way below the line — December 11, 2007 @ 11:23 am
Dear out of work,
Please understand that we take this pretty seriously. Sometimes the best way to express a real point is to do it through a joke. Satire is specifically designed for that purpose.
Most of us are pretty concerned for the livelihoods of below the line workers. Actually, I have the same calender you do…although I’m worried about paying for rent, food, and transportation. And I know, I know, that’s not worse than you because you have people that depend on you. But it’s still pretty damn scary to have to figure something else out or, you know, go homeless. It’s a really scary, terrible feeling. That doesn’t mean we can’t laugh - yes, we’re weird people that way, but don’t for a minute think that the motivation behind the jokes is anything other than real concern over all of our livelihoods.
Comment by Sassy writer — December 11, 2007 @ 11:24 am
Sofia M said:
“But, I also don’t get why they (writers) are overestimating their importance in this business.”
I am so glad you are not my manager. I get that people are losing money, I feel sick over that. And many of us (writers) will NEVER make up what they lost during this strike.
BUT DO YOU GET ON ANY LEVEL that the studios are trying to get rid of the entire residuals and P&H because they know people are not going to be watching TV in five years - they will be watching their computers. It’s not about getting “raped in 88,” it’s about not repeating the same mistake in assuming the internet (which is already making the studios a ton of money - they are the ones bragging about that) is no big deal, like we were once convinced of cable TV.
And we get that the Studios take the financial risk. That’s why we get residuals - A SMALL % AFTER the studio has made their money.
“Grow up & Get Back to Work” you said. Wow.
Comment by Strike Grrrrl — December 11, 2007 @ 11:31 am
Wow. So much fury - and over what? A joke. And a badly needed one at that, in the face of the grim times ahead. When I was in the service, we lived for the next moment of ironic humor to get us through our days, and we never for a minute forgot the seriousness of our fight. The AMPTP leaving itself open in this day and age to have their website mocked, when the fight is over the Internet itself, is about as good as irony gets. Lighten up and clear your mind, you can’t fight what is - there are plenty of hours in the days to come for serious matters.
Comment by ArizonaKid — December 11, 2007 @ 11:32 am
P.S. Sofia M-
Why don’t you tell the Studios to “Grow up and Go Back to Work.”
They have lost more money in this strike than we ever asked for. They also walked away from the talks which makes it impossible for us to resolve this and therefore “Grow up and Go back to work.” Channel your frustration in the right place.
Comment by Strike Grrrrl — December 11, 2007 @ 11:33 am
AMPTP put up running dollar loss thingy on its website (i.e., the boring real one). “Pencils Down” must be catchy, because even AMPTP is using that term now.
Comment by "Pencils Down" is Catchy — December 11, 2007 @ 11:38 am
Sofia
Do your clients know you feel this way? I find that most of the writers, actors, and directors I work with all the time as a producer support the WGA, and they would not be very happy to know their manager sees them as a greedy, ego-centric problem who brought this on the town. I am sure that when they make their next deal you will be willing to reduce your commission and give up your demand to be attached as a “producer” for the pleasure of working with your clients - after all, why should you benefit from a fight you don’t support and undermine with your position.
Comment by ArizonaKid — December 11, 2007 @ 11:44 am
Dear “out of work”
The Teamsters are allowed to respect the picket lines of other unions. That is in their contract.
And while some writers have been able to be out on the picket lines and at the rallies, some are working day jobs and their only means of protest are staying up late and writing something biting about the jerks who are walking away from the table after making ridiculous “offers.”
Next time your union is offered a deal to remove their health and pension I’ll tell you to just take the deal and go back to work, ok?
Comment by Jennifer — December 11, 2007 @ 11:51 am
“I think every one of us has a countdown calendar where we’ve figured out when we lose our house, car and/or apartment. And for most, that day is not too distant. (We’re so happy for you that the WGA’s strike fund has you folks covered.)”
FYI, the writers have helped set up fund that are available to BTLs in financial straits due to the strike. Contact your union or the Motion Picture Fund for more information.
BTW, the money being raised for these funds is mostly via funny writing. Sorry. That’s what we do.
Comment by Anonymous — December 11, 2007 @ 11:55 am
Sofia’s tired. She gets cranky when she’s tired. She directs her anger at the wrong people when she’s tired.
On streaming video, writers are asking or 2.5% of revenue. That’s hardly an inflated view of oneself. Now, if we were in a position to divvy up the remaining 97.5% of that revenue, I could believe we had an inflated view of our worth. No, what we’re asking for in these negotiations is fair. And I say ‘fair’ with as straight a face as I can, because, in my heart of hearts I believe our creative efforts are worth much more.
But in the spirit of sharing and getting the town back to work, we’ll take 2.5%.
Go to bed Sofia. You’re tired, clueless and angry at the wrong people. When you wake up, this will all have been a bad dream and the people walking the picket line will have solved all of your whiny problems. Nighty-night.
Comment by Sofia's mommy — December 11, 2007 @ 12:17 pm
To those of you who have questioned the fact that I am a manager and am upset about the strike? Are you kidding? Get off it. I work my ass off and treasure my writers, most of whom had never sold anything until I repped them and worked to get them to where they are. I live for writers, and of course I completely UNDERSTAND that there was some unfair business back in ‘88. But you guys keep saying “well we’re just asking for a tiny bit of money.” Uhhh…EXCUSE ME. I have writer clients who just had babies, one who just had TWINS. I literally DON’T SLEEP worrying about my clients. Don’t sleep thinking that it’s the holidays and some people are really suffering. Doesn’t anyone else GIVE A SHIT. They are my CHILDREN. Get it? So, when I see someone reasonably asking to improve their situation by negotiating for a BETTER DEAL…I’m ALL FOR IT. But, when I read about some of the things that have gone on, on BOTH SIDES, I feel ill. Days like this when there is NO MOVEMENT make me sweat. When will my clients get back to work? When will my clients, who are also my FRIENDS, who have spent years honing their craft, get to go back to work and feed their families? Stop taking what I said as resolute damnation of writers. Anyone who knows me knows that I am 100% devoted to my babies, my clients. I have done this job for many, many years and spent many, many unrewarded hours of my time on my clients. But, I think the strongest part of negotiating is picking your battles. What you guys put on the table is way beyond just a few points. And now no one is talking. Was that smart? And if the Producers are intractable, how do we get off this “kicking their ass” thing and make a move? Frustrated? HELL YEAH.
Comment by Sofia M — December 11, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
Looking at the AMPTP site for the first time. It is generally accurate. But MAN is it obnoxious.
Comment by JD — December 11, 2007 @ 2:06 pm
i also smell “colbert report”
Comment by land surveyor k — December 11, 2007 @ 2:19 pm
To Sofia, Out of Work, Satire?, Fred, and Every Other Shill Posing as an Out of Work BTL:
I’m gathering that this is Lehane & Co.’s #1 Tactic: Sign on to the web-site populated by Writers participating in the Strike, and pretend to be a Tormented: (1) Manager; (2) Assistant; (3) BTL Worker; (3) Just Wondering Bystander(???) or other (4) Interested Writer Who Doesn’t Make Nearly What the AMPTP Wants Everyone to Believe Writers Make (Because they are all Rich, Right????)or (5) Pretend to have Heard Writers Make Nasty Comments About BTLers (Like the Alleged “Natalie” of Previous Posts.
As a Manager who has represented Writers for the Past 16 years, I will soon lose 100% of my income. I have 2 children, and the same problems which every working adult in the entertainment community faces on various occasions: Loss Of Income. However, I can only think of one thing to say about Patric Verrone and David Young:
Thank the Lord.
This Strike is the Fight for the Future for All Members of the Entertainment Community, a community which includes, among others, SAG, the WGA, DGA, AFTRA and IATSE. And least you get distracted by the press releases and “Masters of Disasters” such as Lehane and Co., let me just remind you that what is being determined here is not a petty squabble between Patric Verrone and Nick Counter but the future of creative talent within the entertainment community.
Because what is truly being determined within this Strike is not just a streaming, download, or dvd issue, but the extent to which the creative talent within the entertainment industry will be allowed to financially participate in the future.
Comment by A Manager — December 11, 2007 @ 2:58 pm
This whole thing just makes me sad
When I first read the spoof site, it definitely made me giggle, but then reality soon sat in that this is what this whole mess has come to.
I hope and pray both sides can suck it up and get back to the table soon. But seeing things like this make me think that there is no way that’s going to happen.
This sucks.
Comment by Charlie — December 11, 2007 @ 3:19 pm
Dear A Manager:
Ha!!! I WISH I was a “shill” working for the AMPTP. Wow, what an imagination you have. Paranoid much?
Look, don’t be silly. I respect all counter arguments to what I or anyone says on this thing. However, this idea of plants posting messages is highly presumptious and profoundly grandiose.
Anyway, back to planet Earth . . .
Comment by Satire? — December 11, 2007 @ 3:27 pm
Hey Sofia, I hear what you’re saying, and I’m sure that your writer clients appreciate your passion and commitment. But have you ever heard the phrase “laugh to keep from crying”…? Well that’s all this is. Just some humor to break the tension that we ALL feel. I walk the picket lines every day with the same group of writers, and we spend most of the time trying to make each other laugh, or talking about movies and shows that we love. Not because we don’t take the strike seriously, but because we have to keep each other’s spirits up, and that’s the best way we know how to do it.
Comment by A-Dub — December 11, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
Today at the film student rally at Sony all the young writers were talking about how they didn’t think the WGA was asking for enough compensation for EST. Because the Internet is replacing cable for them in their daily lives.
If streaming is replacing television, then payment for streaming should replace payment for television.
We gotsta listen to our youth.
Comment by Cloudlite — December 11, 2007 @ 4:36 pm
Well, I am not a WGA member, a BTL, or AMPTP employee. In fact, I am a nobody with no direct knowledge of the industry the aforementioned groups work in (though one day I would love to, from a writing standpoint). To be honest, I am a college student who simply loves film and television and would like to write in some capacity one day.
That said, I dont see how anyone could become upset with this website. It is a satirical Web site that has a little fun during what must be hard times. You dont have to like it, but get upset about it? Perhaps going to far.
The WGA is striking for things they believe is fair (whether you agree or not). This shouldn’t be something they are criticized for, unless it was completely bogus, but with writers, directors, actors, etc supporting them, I have a hard time believing it is all bullshit. I hope my television shows return soon, but not at the expense of the writers. If the stuidos decide to play only reality tv from now on, well they lost a viewer by me, which may not hurt them, but it isnt an attack or threat. It is just a simple statement of truth.
And why should I assume the studios are not just greedy corporate pigs who want to hold onto all the power and money. They have done nothing to prove to me they are otherwise. As far as I can tell, they are just the Man, and without trying to sound too radical, fuck them. (I do realize not every member of the AMPTP is a greedy corporate pig, but the heads and companies sure do seem it).
So that is all a nobody college student like me has to say. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m not. I am just happy I didnt explode into a fury and shout my mouth off in some angry tirade (of things I only read about and dont experience firsthand (this is the last parenthetical statement, I may have gone overboard)).
Comment by A Nobody — December 11, 2007 @ 6:41 pm
Dear Mr. Lehane and/or Fabiani, a.k.a. “out of work” “sofia” “fred” “satire?” et al,
Do you get paid by the word or are you just long-winded blowhards?
Dear Studio chiefs who might be reading this: Are you checking what your PR flaks are posting, and probably billing you by the hour to compose? They are truly awful writers. They’re transparent and clumsy. I’m guessing they’re worth their money for their political connections, but that’s it. You are wasting your money — and lots of it — on these outside the hollywood beltway amateurs if you’re only paying them for their press releases and fake blog posts. Barbara was doing a much better job of shilling for you.
My advice to you: Tell these guys to shorten it. I doubt an out of work grip would spend four hours composing a three thousand word treatise for a blog post. They’d be short and sweet. And they wouldn’t reek of snarky Ivy League attitude. That’s the WGA members’ job.
Comment by WGA member — December 11, 2007 @ 9:42 pm
Dear Satire?: Who else but a shill for the AMPTP would post this total crap (”Variety Says Verrone Not Present . . Where Are His Priorities?”) from the AMPTP controlled Variety Article on Deadline Hollywood, the only reporting source not bought by the studios?
Well, let’s see, Patric Verrone and David Young’s priorities are to ensure that the creative community –the WGA, DGA, SAG, AFTRA and IATSE, (to name a few), will not be screwed out of participating in the financial future of the entertainment industry. And they have been negotiating with your bosses for over 12 months in anticipation of the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement.
But only a shill for the AMPTP would question that, and then dress it up with “I respect all counter arguments to what I or anyone says on this thing.” And then–of course–you need to pretend that your bosses–Fabriant and Lehane–who are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per month would not plant their shills on the most important reporting source in this strike: Deadline Hollywood.
If you need to talk about this Variety crap, what don’t you visit the website at Variety? Oh that’s right, your bosses at the AMPTP already control that “objective” source.
Yeah, back to planet earth, and your tell your boss Chris Lehane (and the AMPTP) that your act is tired, and you are very, very obvious.
And One More Thing: You object to the Absolutley Hilarious AMPTP.net. So Let’s cut to the point: The satrical AMPTP.net is brilliant and perfectly illuminates and exposes the AMPTP, the “New Economic Partnership”, and your bosses (Fabriani and Lehane) for the jackasses which they are.
Comment by GO WGA! — December 11, 2007 @ 9:49 pm
WGA didn’t send the link out in an official email. At least not to me. And as a member, I get every official mailing. It was one of those “viral” emails. I got it from another writer.
And as for our “strike fund,” BTL workers have a strike fund, too.
The Actors Fund of America has monies available to any worker in any entertainment union for times like this. (That’s the same fund Clooney just gave a $25,000 donation.) BTL workers, go check it out. They will help you. They certainly helped me years ago when I was going through a divorce, had no credit, no job, and quite frankly not even a pot to piss in.
Comment by raye — December 12, 2007 @ 2:03 pm
I don’t think I’ve ever crushed on anything or anyone so hard that didn’t go by the name of Jordan Catalano. I’m actually surprised the real homepage doesn’t have dancing gophers and a message that reads “Best viewed on Mosaic 3.0″. - Perfect skewering. Rockstar.
Comment by Kristy — December 14, 2007 @ 5:53 am
I found this to be in bad taste.
I also hate Mark Twain and Jonathan Swift.
Comment by Varda — February 15, 2008 @ 9:09 am