Back from the front lines at 20th Century Fox. Day One of David vs. Goliath-Warner-corps-com-inc-ney.Good turnout and well organized. Picket signs aplenty, many new, bottled water, and even printed lyrics to custom protest chants.
Lots of cars and trucks honked in support. Even a cement mixer, whose driver probably has three upcoming pool constructions now in jeopardy.
Since it was the first day the media was there in full force. By tomorrow there will be nobody. It was fun watching these reporters scouring the writers looking for a familiar face – ANY familiar face. And then the scowls of disappointment when there was nobody “famous” enough for them. Sorry guys, Tina Fey is in New York.
Any writer who brought a kid got interviewed.
Camera crews filmed us all marching. If they use more than four seconds of it I will be floored.
Face it, we’re not a pretty union. We'll never be mistaken for SAG.
At one point I
was walking with Jim Brooks and Allan Burns (two of my absolute IDOLS) and a reporter approached Jim (pictured left). Once she confirmed he was involved with THE SIMPSONS she asked this multi Oscar and Emmy winner “are you also a writer?”Meanwhile, another SIMPSONS scribe, Mike Scully was marching… on crutches. There's got to be some WGA award he can win for that, right?
There was a union guy with a megaphone trying to rally the troops. We’re not used to that. He tried to lead us all in a rousing chant of “We are the writers, the mighty mighty writers!” and the only reaction he got was snickering. Note to anyone with a megaphone: We’re just not a real rah rah bunch.
It was fun to reconnect with friends I hadn't seen in awhile (i.e. the last strike).
You also see a lot of people on the line you haven’t seen in awhile and can’t remember who they are or how you know them. Overheard a LOT: “Hey, man/babe/dude/guy, how are ya? You’re looking great.”
Also overheard every six seconds: “What WERE you working on?”
Unfortunately, you also see every writer who ever fucked you over in your career, got the job you coveted, beat you in an arbitration, stole your girl, or beaned you in an industry softball game. And you pass by them again...and again...and again...and again...
Actor David Clennon was on the line marching. He’s not even in the WGA. Our sincere thanks to everyone not in the guild who is supporting our cause. Just ‘cause we’re the “mighty mighty writers” doesn’t mean we don’t really appreciate your help.
At 1:00 when the first shift was over I bet Junior's deli was PACKED. Not everyone will suffer from this strike.
I wrote an article for Sunday’s TORONTO STAR about the strike. Some of points I’ve mentioned already in my blog but if you’d like to see it translated into Canadian, this is the article.
See you tomorrow on Pico Blvd with my sign.
Honk if you love writers!
Damn it, Ken, I laughed while reading this entry, now I think I'll have to call union HQ on you.
ReplyDeleteNice to see a guy who has been an inspiration has idols of his own. I think if I saw James L. Brooks within ten feet of myself, I'd start giggling and wouldn't be able to stop.
Honk!
ReplyDeleteHonk!
ReplyDeleteKeep it up, mighty mighty writers.d
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI wrote a letter to LA Times supporting the strike. Now, on to the Washington Post!
Kathy
Ken: Keep putting up the good fight! I'm sure my Dad would have supported these issues, even though he would have known nothing about what's going on with the internet!
ReplyDeleteI've supported the WGA on my Lost blog at The Lost Community.
HONK! HONK! HONK!
Hey Ken how can the blogosphere (us rank amateurs and wannabes who type crap up and post it...it's not fair to the pro writers to call it writing) help support the strike?
ReplyDeleteAny ideas?
The 19-cent article was excellent by the way...shows me that I was right to only take on little guy artists creatives and inventors as clients and not represent the Dark Side Mega Media Corporations (TM) back when I dabbled in intellectual property law. I've never had a problem sleeping because some grasping clause I wrote in some contract resulted in a talented person only getting 19 cents where some shithead in a suit got $19 million.
Sounds like Pico was so much more fun than the congo line I was in (Radford)...
ReplyDeleteA reporter asking Jim Brooks, "are you also a writer?"
That's priceless. That'll keep me going tomorrow as I pass the few writers who've fucked me over.
Let's hear it for the mighty, mighty writer. Rah. Rah. Rah.
Ken
ReplyDeleteJust back back from out of the country on Sunday, so missed your mention of me.
Thanks for asking about Bond. As you may know, it begins shooting in a few weeks, and I turned in my first and second drafts earlier this month. Their notes for the polish, since you seem concerned, were not able to be completed as of the strike deadline. They will shoot without them, I am sure, or perhaps make the changes themselves. You would have to ask them.
Thanks for thinking of my parking concerns. Not sure about you these days, but I am a freelance writer, so don't have a spot on the lot. However there was plenty of parking at the Veterans lot this morning. Even without your kind invitation, I managed to walk the line for a good deal of the morning shift and all of the afternoon shift.
I've been a member of the guild since the late 70s, and like you I've been through a number of strikes, some tougher than others. One thing that troubled in the tougher strikes was writers sniping at each other. I am sure you will remember that it became very personal and incredibly destructive. What divides us only weakens us.
I am sure you had no intention of doing that here, and were just having a little fun at my expense, and since I am being paid a truckload for Bond, I can afford it, even without the polish money. So no harm, no foul.
As I am sure is the case with you, I am really grateful for work like that. Besides being a lot of fun, it allows me to spend a couple of years or more doing projects that dozens of Americans want to see, like In The Valley Of Elah.
I see you are at Fox and it looks like you had a great turn out. I was lucky enough to work with Jim Brooks for a very short period; like you, I am still in awe of his talent and his commitment to the guild.
Pull an extra shift and come see us over at Sony. Robert Towne was there today, doing his full afternoon shift, although his back was so screwed up he couldn't stand. Now that is a hero.
See you on the picket lines.
my best,
paul haggis
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhoops.
ReplyDeleteHere we go again. :P
It's funny. At a time like this, it's like "Wow, I've never seen these people before. Oh, they're writers?"
And then they don't support the WGA because they immediately associate anyone in the entertainment industry as 'rich'.
Of course, their idea of a screenwriter will probably change upon closer inspection of the picket lines... lol!
"Face it, we’re not a pretty union. We'll never be mistaken for SAG."
Maybe I should join! Just kidding. XD
In the face of the WGA's withdrawal of the demand for increased DVD residuals, it's hard to interpret the AMPTP's refusal to compromise on digital distribution as anything but a signal that they want to eradicate residuals all together. Just as the WGA views the concession on home video residuals to have been a huge mistake in 1988, I think the AMPTP thinks their huge mistake was ever agreeing to pay residuals in the first place. Clearly they intend to correct that this time around.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I don't undertand is why the WGA felt in had to get out in front of this issue. Due to the nature of the work, the latency between work stoppage and pain just makes it too easy for the AMPTP to sit back and test the resolve of the guild members. Wouldn't it have been better to let SAG or the DGA do the dirty work where the pain would have been both broader and more crippling? Even reality shows use DGA and SAG talent.
I really hope someone comes to their senses soon. Preferably on the AMPTP side because I don't really see what more the WGA can offer at this point.
By the way there is something weirdly incongruous about seeing gazillionaire James L. Brooks walking a picket line for better compensation, but it's certainly admirable.
On the plus side just think how much healthier all the writers will be from power walking for four hours a day. You'll be a pretty union in no time.
and I may have been exaggerating when I wrote "dozens" came to see Elah. Say tens. Tens is safe. Definitely more than fives.
ReplyDeleteAny blog entries from here on out are cut, pasted, and assembled from previous entries.
ReplyDeleteNo new writing occured during this post.
-Jim
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIf Paul Haggis is still reading these comments, be it now or tomorrow:
ReplyDeleteThank you for what you helped do to the Bond franchise. Bond is my Star Wars and when Brosnan left, I thought Clive Owen was the only one that could replace him, being that he looked ok in a tux and had a tough look about him. You created a Bond that is down-to-earth, and Daniel Craig carried that well.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for pulling the character out of the teenage boy slump it was in with "Die Another Day."
*blubbering fanboy mode off*
Yes, La Guy but SAG stars are generously bringing foamy treats gratis from Starbucks. I fear our top writing beacons will look like Britney Spears before the end of the strike. A couple weeks of daily fraps and you almost can't walk it off. We support the WGA and everyone's efforts on the picket lines.
ReplyDeleteHey "vdovault", here's something everybody including us writers can do to help -- stop watching television or going to movies during the strike.
ReplyDeleteIf the ratings and box office numbers slump, the studios and nets will have to start rethinking their strategy.
If you recall a motorcyclist driving by around 1 and honking and giving th thumbs up, that was me!
ReplyDeleteReports of so many productions shutting down seems to show a huge amount of support and willingness to stand up for the writers.
ReplyDeletePaul Haggis? Is that the Paul Haggis who wrote City?
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to him?
The Dutch Writer's Union supports you!
Oh, wait - we haven't got one.
I wrote about 200 half hours in the last 15 years, some of which are constantly repeated and I don't get a cent for them.
Honkity honk honk
ReplyDeleteI can see why you are striking when you get a 19 cent royalty cheque, I hope you invested the money wisely Ken, honk honk.
ReplyDeletePlease forgive me, Mr Levine, but I can't pass up the opportunity to tell Mr. Haggis how great I thought EZ Streets was, and that scene where Joe Pantoliano began banging his own head on the table when he was being interrogated was like NOTHING else I have ever seen or expect to see again.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the best of luck to all you writers now on strike - I'd say any American able to live with the fact that you are not getting the same basic compensations as British writers now recieve are unpatriotic and dare I say, hate our country!
la guy: It would have been untenable for the WGA to keep working with no contract until next spring when the other guilds' contracts come up. Plus as I understand it, there's a little resentment left from the last time the DGA screwed over the WGA.
ReplyDelete"la guy: It would have been untenable for the WGA to keep working with no contract until next spring when the other guilds' contracts come up."
ReplyDeleteLet's check back in a few months and see how untenable the existing contract was versus not getting paid, for anything.
I just think this was a big gamble and it's not clear it was necessary or worth the risk at this moment in time.
Yes the WGA was backed into a corner from which there was no turning back, but entering the room was elective not compulsory.
That said, now that we are here I support the WGA's right to strike and hope it bares fruit sooner than later.
Like many others who work in the shadows of the industry, the strike is costing me money too.
The worst part about reading a Canadian article is seeing all of those perfectly good U's going to waste.
ReplyDeleteThat and having to read it on the opposite side of the street.
Speaking purely as a guy who works in a business where in .5 seconds someone who makes a couple of million a year (with a golden parachute worth 3 times that) can decide that my $40,000 a year job is not needed, I hope that you guys win your fight. In my own job, they just hired four people to fill open slots at a rate of pay substantially higher than mine. They "promoted" me, but I have to prove I'm worth a raise. In the meantime, I'm training the people they hired, who are all making more than me. I have no union protection, so it's a bit hard for me to do anything but take it in the posterior.
To Paul Haggis, if that is you...
ReplyDeleteKen's point is that by turning in work for what essentially is a license for the studio to print money (the Bond film), you undermine the cause of writers everywhere.
That said, I understand that a striking writer isn't able to make payments to the Church of L. Ron, so I understand completely.
Meep-Meep
ReplyDeleteBut... but... if there's a writer's strike, who wrote the picket signs?
ReplyDeleteBut... but... if there's a writer's strike, who wrote the picket signs?
ReplyDeleteBetter still, how much did they pay for them? Package deal?
Let's see - they hired you to do a job - write a script, direct a TV show. But now you feel you should be paid everytime that show is played anywhere, on any medium? Seems a bit overreaching to me. No one forced you to take the job, did they? If you want to own the rights, create and make your own shows. To me, this is like saying every guy who held a boom or adjusted a light should get paid every time a show he worked on is played anywhere. I don't think so.
ReplyDeleterepeats of shows (specially comedies and procedurals) can bring in almost as many viewers as the original run, so, yeah, I think it's fair to ask for better video and DVD fees, and more "rerun" money. However, I must disagree with those writers who ended their "Producer" duties as well. I just read an article from Shawn Ryan (the shield/the unit) where he claims among other things that he ceased every one of his duties because "editing is part of writing, casting is part of writing, location scouting is part of writing". I can see his point on editing, but, as regards the others it sounds like he is stretching the bull. If you want to make a point make it, but don't try to hide behind the "location scouting" is writing excuse.
ReplyDeleteDiogo, since Ken is also a location manager on several films, it's quite possible that writing and location manager are the same.
ReplyDeleteNow I have a dilemna. If I read a sign written by a striking writer over the internet, do I have to worry about that writer not getting residual payments for the sign?
The writers complaint is based on precident. If writers had been paid for years as a one time gig, maybe the strike wouldn't hold water. But writers (who Ken can probably attest, see their futures dry up a bit the older they get) depend on the residuals to make a living into the future. While you and I might be able to swing 40 years out of a career, it's not exactly easy to have a string of hits on your resume to keep you working constantly. Nor is the pay steady enough to ensure that you'll have a great living year after year.
Yes, we know that Ken lights his cigars with $20 bills, but for every Ken Levine, there are 50 Gerald O'Yablonskiwitzes.
Are you being sarcastic Crutnecker? Because Ken already confirmed that he is not the LM on Jurassic park, nor in Flipper. If you were being sarcastic, sorry, my meter is still off today.
ReplyDeleteHey, Ken, hate to be a stickler, but the US dollar has tanked lately, so your $0.17 would be worth at least $0.18 Canadian.
ReplyDeleteThe only reports I saw on the network news broadcasts were of writers marching in front of Paramount, probably because the front gate is the most recognizable of any of the major studios -- the rest all look like the entrances to major defense contractors -- and it's amazing to hear how they all seemed to short-change the writers, more ironic even because it took a newswriter somewhere to come up with their copy. And this morning, on the CBS morning show, Julie Chen announced "This strike has to come to an end!" Julie, of course is married to Les Moonves, so I'm wondering which side of the picket line she was coming from...
ReplyDeleteHey Ken, question for you:
ReplyDeleteI wrote a couple of posts of support on my own blog but explained that I was not going to quit working on my screenplay during the strike. I'm not even a paid writer, much less a member of WGA, so not writing in solidarity seems narcissistic to me. Since you are a paid writer and a WGA member, what do you think?
Honk!
ReplyDeleteEven if you're not the most photogenic folks on the planet, your writing makes you all sexier than any 007!
Honk!
ReplyDeleteGood luck from a writer above the border in Canada. You guys are doing this for all of us.
I live near Paramount studios. Yesterday when I was jogging I saw a bunch of people outside the studio gate and assumed they were writers and was about to cheer my support when I realized it was Raleigh I was running by, not Paramount. They were people waiting for a screening.
ReplyDeleteI'll try Paramount next time. Keep your chin up!
To quote several writers for whom I've developed a good deal of respect, "Honk."
ReplyDeleteTo qoute the great Harpo Marx: Honk.
ReplyDeleteSorry, on my previous posts I forgot HONK HONK HONK HONK
ReplyDeleteIt is perfectly okay to write spec scripts during the strike. Best of luck with it.
ReplyDeletePaul Haggis -- I am honored that you commented, even if it stings a little. At the end of the day I know we are both on the same side, and I voted for CRASH and love the new direction you're taking the James Bond franchise. In our new contract get a rider that the writer of Bond movies gets to kiss the Bond girl.
I just have this vision -- man carrying blank picket sign in the WGA line.
ReplyDeleteOnlooker 1: Why is it blank?
Onlooker 2: He didn't get it written before the strike was called.
Woman passes by carrying blank placard.
Onlooker 1: What's her story?
Onlooker 2: Writer's block. Very sad.
How about a man pretending to hold up a picket sign?
ReplyDeleteOnlooker 1: Good to see the Mime Artists' Union's come out in support!
How about british writers? Do they hold signs with "Tea for sympathy"? and "What, no DVD fees? What a couple of Wally plonkers. frightfully naughty"
ReplyDeleteHonk, honk! Even we lowly bloggers support your cause.
ReplyDelete"...translated into Canadian..."
ReplyDeleteOh, you whacky 'Merican writers. Hee hee.
Stacey
"By the way there is something weirdly incongruous about seeing gazillionaire James L. Brooks walking a picket line for better compensation, but it's certainly admirable."
ReplyDeleteI see nothing incongruous about it at all. I'm sure if you asked Brooks he would acknowledge that he's not hurting for money, but I'm sure he would also acknowledge that much of his gazillions are partially attributable to the work of the members of his guild. Since the alternative seems to be Brooks saying "I'm a gazillionaire, why should I support the strike?" it seems there's no other place he should be. And as a SAG member who mostly does background work, I'm aware of the fact that it's the gazillionaires stopping work that makes guild strikes successful. I think in the event of a SAG strike the studios would find a way to soldier on without me.
Besides, who says you lose your rights just because you're a gazillionaire? Do you think those are the little sisters of the poor sitting across the negotiating table from the WGA?
I realize you weren't ripping Brooks, l.a. guy, but I just wanted to address the point on general principal, since I'm sure a lot of people are making the same observation.
Please forgive me, everyone, for addressing Paul Haggis and not the strike in this comment.
ReplyDeletePaul, did you have to ruin the infamous Black Donnellys of Canadian folklore with your crappy boy drama from Beantown?! I mean, really, you had us with the first two seasons of Due South, and then again years later with Crash, but you definitely pissed us off with your swiping the name The Black Donnellys. Somethings are meant to be respected for what they were, not used as tools to shill crap tv shows. You should be ashamed. I'm not gloating about the show's early demise, but you can't deny the old saying, "you reap what you sow," now can you?
For the rest of you who don't know what I'm talking about, Google the folklore or keep reading other comments about the strike. It's a Canuck thing.
Stacey
Hi, Ken -
ReplyDeleteI'm going to take a leaf from Jim Henshaw, and boycott all TV and film from companies that the WGA is either striking against, or trying to bring under WGA jurisdiction, for the duration of the strike.
And I'm going to tell the AMPTP so, via their chock-full-of-lies website at www.amptp.org.
By the way, that article in the Toronto Star got me to start following your blog, so the strike won't be a total loss, right?
I want this stupid thing to end. New shows like "Back to You" are gonna get screwed by this. And if I don't get my Lost in February, I'm not gonna be happy.
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog via Writers Strike (http://writers-strike.blogspot.com/). Thanks for the funny take on this erringly serious topic.
ReplyDeletea. realist said "But now you feel you should be paid everytime that show is played anywhere, on any medium?"
ReplyDeleteWhaddaya mean "now?" The residual system has been in place for a long time. There are perfectly good reasons for it, which I'm not about to rehash. But since this is a big news story right now, it shouldn't be difficult for you to research the facts and perhaps arrive at a more informed opinion.
Much as I support the striking writers, I think the Guild was remiss about reality writers. And what about the extras on DVDs? That work doesn't come under Guild contracts but it should. Those feature-ettes don't write themselves.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry, Ken! Hate to join the confederacy by addressing Paul but-- Hey Paul! I remember back when you hung around the 'Gracie' bungalow at 20th with Brooks and discussing a storyline... about a female boxer. (This was at least ten years before the release.) Sometimes even the best can have myopic vision. Glad you never gave up on that one!
ReplyDeleteAccording to the AP, the following series have stopped or will stop production: "Desperate Housewives," "Back To You," "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "'Til Death," "Rules of Engagement," "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory."
ReplyDeleteI'm with the writers 100%, but part of me fears a byproduct of all this might be the death of the multi-camera sitcom filmed before a live audience.
BTW, the lady in my avatar would be behind the writers all the way too, as she respected the likes of Robert Riskin and Preston Sturges. Hell, she even dated them.
Well-known story about Robert Riskin which I once heard, and which bears repeating:
ReplyDeleteFrank Capra, for whom Riskin had written a number of scripts which resulted in some of his biggest hits, one time was explaining to some reporters how he was able to put "The Capra Touch" on so many movies he directed. Never once did he mention Riskin's name or the work he had done on the scripts Capra used.
When Riskin found out about Capra's remarks, he sent him a package which arrived at Capra's house a couple of days later. Capra opened it, and inside the package was 120 pages of blank 3-hole punch paper, neatly fastened with the standard brads -- and a note which read :" Dear Frank -- Try putting 'The Capra Touch' on this!"..
This story, maybe more than any other in my opinion, does the best job of defining the role and value of the writer in the creative process...
If I understand correctly, negotiations of this sort are all for minimums. So when folk like Jim Brooks and others who are already receiving much more than basic minimums walk the picket lines with the rest of us, they are not worrying about their deals but the deal of writers who are not remotely as powerful as they. They are the strong helping to protect the weak. And that's how the Guild was formed all those many years ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm planning on joining you on the line tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteWell, I hope the lines were equally strong today. I drove by Universal, WB, and NBC yesterday afternoon and honked my pitifully squealy little Honda horn - I'm not sure anyone ever hears it, but it's the thought...
ReplyDeletewww.theskinofmyteeth.com
David
Xenu:"That said, I understand that a striking writer isn't able to make payments to the Church of L. Ron, so I understand completely."
ReplyDeleteanonymous:"Paul, did you have to ruin the infamous Black Donnellys of Canadian folklore with your crappy boy drama from Beantown?!"
Real nice, Ken writes this blog for nothing more than our mutual enjoyment. An A-Lister is nice enough to drop by and good naturedly defend himself and two people use the opportunity to take pot shots at him.
It brings to mind the old "If you haven't got something nice to say..." Those comments were neither constructive or civil. In my opinion we're guests on Ken's little outpost in the internets, save your venom for your own blogs.
As we know, some folks take the anonymity of the internet for a license to be rude (though I'm sure they prefer "scathingly honest"). If someone who didn't care for Paul Haggis' work met him at a party, I assume they'd simply shake his hand and attempt polite conversation, not start slamming his credits and his beliefs. His posts here show him to be a good sport. Is it so difficult to respond in kind, or not respond at all?
ReplyDeleteI agree. Paul Haggis was a good sport to respond. And the thanks he gets should not be pot shots from disgruntled anonymous commenters.
ReplyDeleteSave your slams for me. It's my blog.
Ken, here's one for you... in good humour, 'natch. "That's right – 19 cents (American, so it's even less in Canada.)" The American dollar is trading .17 cents below the Loonie. Hee. Sorry, couldn't resist pointing that out.
ReplyDeleteStacey
PS: I apologise for slamming Paul on your blog. It was rather ungracious of me. Won't happen again.
Honkity-honk-honk!
ReplyDeleteIf I lived closer, I'd buy you guys a bunch of coffee and snacks...Hell, I'd even hold your signs while you eat.
Keep fighting the good fight for us future Guild members!!
Ken, this New Yorker is a huge supporter of the strike, although I'm more caught up in the Tina Fey/John Oliver axis than the James L Brooks/Paul Haggis one. I just want to say that "A.Realist" should be ashamed of him-/herself for that post. The networks have simply eliminated a major sources of writers' income by trashing formal reruns, then not paying residuals on the webcasts.
ReplyDeleteI want to pass along something a commenter called bigted said on Alan Sepinwall's blog:
Isn't it kind of hypocritical that on one hand the studios and networks say that unauthorized downloading or copying of content is "stealing," because you're taking something of value -- but on the other hand, they say the writers don't deserve residuals, because the content is valueless?
Or now they're even saying that downloads are "promotional" -- in which case they should be paying hackers to copy DVDs and redistribute content on the Net.
This is a great summing up of the we-want-to-have-our-cake-and-eat-it-too attitudes of the moneygrubbers who've brought this dispute to the point of strike.
We love you writers, man! Even the ones who suck! (Well, theoretically.) HONK HONK!
HONK! HOOONNNK! HONK! HONK! HONK!
ReplyDeleteFair Share, everyone, fair share!
Thanks for braving the front line for all us aspirants.
(Since I'm not there, I've asked my friend in LA to do some real honks from me to you guys, and yell my name, and "FAIR SHARE".... You've been warned.)
Here's to a short strike.
fair share? FAIR SHARE?!?!?
ReplyDeletegood riddance writers. its my hopes that this strike will sink you, your average scripts and union. if i were to drop $10 million on a hotel, i can't imagine having to pay the framers, the plumbers, the electricians or the designers everytime i rent out a room. do your job, get paid for it and go away. if you've done a good enough job, i'll hire you again. if you haven't, go teach at the local college. tv sucks and you and your union are the reason.
why the hell can't your scripts be as witty as your bloggings? why the hell can't your monologues be as funny as your picket signs?
i can only hope that 20 weeks from now i find an article on the strike buried deep somewhere and the ratings are shooting through the roof.
same for SAG. i will relish the day they can completely animate your sorry a** and you have to join my sorry a** from 9 to 5 - building hotels.
Sounds like Mark needs his medication.
ReplyDeleteHey, I'd honk, but due to problems with my diabetes, I temporarily can't drive.
if i help create a car and it is used as a taxi, should i picket yellow cab for a residual on each fare?
ReplyDeleteif i help create an airplane, do i get really really bitchy buntil southwest gives me residual on every ticket/seat purchased?
if i help create a car and it is used as a rental car, should i carry around a sign asking for a residual every time it rents?
if i design/build a hotel, should i whine for residual everytime it rents a room?
if i help create a chainsaw and it rents over and over again down at the local equipment rental shop, do i strike until i get "just a little piece of it?"
if i help create a trailer, should i picket U-Haul until they give me a piece every time it crosses the country?
if i help create a refrigerator and its rented out through RAC, do i make it difficult for the employees to get in and out of the store until i get "just a little piece of it?"
if i help create a bus, do i moan until Le Bus gives me "just a little profit" everytime someone buys a ticket?
wga and sag are a bunch of prissy little girls whining for more than they're worth - and they realize that. if you're not getting paid enough, go get another job. Perhaps you should become a producer - sounds like they make a lot more money.
during your time off, advertisers will find new ways to market, producers will find new non-scripted shows, and we consumers will ultimately win because we will find better things to do with our time than making an effort to suffer through the drivel you "help create."
hell, yesterday i didn't turn the tv and discovered that i had neighbors. how cool is that? and our conversation was ten times funnier than any of the sh** on the office. goodbye steve carrell...
Hi Ken,
ReplyDeleteI know this particular blog pertains to the strike; however, do you know how to go about finding a quality comedy writer? I have a comedy ventriloquist show. It's no problem for me to write comedy for one of the characters, but I'm having trouble writing comedy for the others. Any helpful advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Here's my website:
FunnyDummy.com and my e-mail is the best way to reach me.
Best regards!
'I Love Writers'
ReplyDeleteT-Shirts, Hats, Stickers, Mugs, Buttons, Magnets, and more are now available at:
******* ILoveThisShirt.net *******
Show your Support for the Writers Strike!!!