So as a writer, albeit a fiction writer, not a screenwriter, I’m following the writers strike very closely. In fact, very closely might be an understatement. I consume the news rapaciously. My wife says I’m addicted. But I have good reason: I live in LA and know hundreds of producers, writers, teamsters, directors, etc., in addition to all my friends who have jobs that rely on the movie industry. So now that I’ve justified my fetish, I will now offer up a litany of wonderful links that will enthrall and demoralize you.
Contrary to the propaganda spewed from the studios, most writers earn a modest salary, living rather unglamorous lives.
Why aren’t the teamsters honoring picket lines? My teamster friends tell me it’s because of two reasons: First, because they’re waiting to be laid off, which means they’ll get unemployment, and second, because the writers didn’t support them in their last strike.
Studios are trying their best to say, hey, we can hold off forever, we don’t need writers – but all the financial evidence says otherwise. Studios are only putting on this charade to 1) scare the writers and 2) reassure investors and advertisers. CNN has a story on the financial realities of how companies won’t pay top dollar for recycled shows.
Lovely youtube video of writers cracking jokes about the studios.
There are only two companies that profit from the strike: Starbucks and Tanning Salons.
A provocative quote, but not entirely accurate:
Really smart people have told me that if this walkout doesn’t settle in the next few weeks, say, by December 15, then there may not be an incentive for the moguls to settle it until June.
And, just a prediction: Just as in ’88 the viewers turned from network television to cable, so this strike will mark the turn of viewers (and advertisers) to the internet. Mark my words: this is a watershed moment. We’ll be watching all our television on the internet by next year.
