WGA strike news update Dec 18

Politickery, some late-night shows returning without writers, awards shows denied waivers, action and donation links, more politickery…

and nothing at all like this:



In the meadow we can build a snowman

And pretend that he’s a circus clown

We’ll have lots of fun with mister snowman

Until we get kinda thirsty. Nom nom nom.  
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Consumers Support the WGA probably has some new actions up by now. Unless she’s still fighting the flu. But you can always catch up with older letters — the post office is so busy this time of year, no one’ll know you were a bit late.

Cash For The Crew is raising money (raffling off autographed scripts) to help crew members affected by the strike, supporting the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s Work Stoppage Relief Fund (I haven’t vetted them, but it’s here). And StrikeSwag.com is still selling strike T-shirts, donating profits to the WGA’s Union Solidarity Fund.

Firedoglake has an easy email letter tool, sending stuff to show producers, and you can still buy  pencils.

Some sites to check out for info:  

Nikki Finke, at DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com

UnitedHollywood

WGAeast blog

Livejournal fan supporters

fans4writers.com

Minor chaos today, so I’m going minimal.

WGA has refused waivers to the Golden Globes and Academy Awards (who so far were just asking to use film clips), so dunno what’ll happen with the shows. And apparently ‘hollywood’ isn’t terribly fond of whoever it is who votes for the Golden Globes. And the AMPTP responded “In the category of Worst Supporting Union, the nominee is the WGA.” UH gets the last word in. Latest, anyway.

Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show will also return; so far, no real word on TDS/TCR (as Ms. Interpreted at NoFactZone says, “UPDATE: No Update!”. Lotsa rumors.  And apparently Letterman doesn’t have that interim agreement sewn up yet, but wants to be back on the air on Jan. 2 — with writersdunno how that’ll work out. Apparently some networks are taking the opportunity to cancel production deals.

In politickery, it looks like the unions — DGA, SAG, and WGA — are in solidarity vs. the AMPTP. DigitalMediaLaw discusses some of the issues there. And UH is targeting AMPTP president Nick Counter, in a post discussing the different (sometimes conflicting) agendas of the corporations that make up the AMPTP:

Unfortunately for writers, Hollywood below-the-line workers, Los Angeles businesses and, yes, even the companies themselves, what’s driving the negotiations (or lack thereof) is Nick Counter’s agenda. And the bizarre part is, that agenda doesn’t necessarily line up with several of the congloms.

…So with all these differing corporate circumstances, what exactly is Nick Counter’s agenda?

In a nutshell: His agenda is Nick Counter.

Counter is very proud to have made his reputation by screwing the unions on DVDs 20 years ago. And with the current negotiation his last, he’s obsessed with cementing his “legacy” by keeping everyone out of what he believes is the next frontier of big profits – the Internet.

He’s leading the charge, and the collateral damage to the studios and networks (or anyone else, for that matter) isn’t his concern. If this year’s TV season goes up in flames, or the 2009 theatrical schedule falls apart, it doesn’t affect him – he’s retiring.

Think about it: Nick Counter is the only one in this entire process – on any side – with absolutely nothing to lose.

In more money stuff, a WGA crew talked with advertisers/media buyers last week, and some venture capitalists are looking into making direct deals with writers to put content directly online, bypassing the studios entirely. Which is what my mother, retired librarian, Mets fan, grandma, and NYTimes reader (and crossword puzzle/sudoku maven) thinks will happen. I suspect Mom’s as much an expert as anyone else on this.

And… it’s time for the ellipses! Photos and such from rallies in  Boston, San Francisco, Kingston NY and Minneapolis are online… an article in Publisher’s Weekly talked about how the strike affects comics creators, quoting Mark Evanier (NewsFromMe.com, which I link to often) among others… this was kinda amusing… NBC is going to air USA shows Monk and Psych in March — season 1 of Monk was good, but I’ve drifted away since then…

1 comments

  1. There were also some new videos around, but I got sidetracked.

    Oh, and I’ll be taking two blog-free weeks starting next week. Not that anything newsworthy ever happens at Christmas/New Year’s. (cue ominous music…)

Comments have been disabled.