tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post9040058690382519483..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Force manureBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-88149366158833404282008-01-17T14:40:00.000-08:002008-01-17T14:40:00.000-08:00Believe me, I don't mean to say that my approach w...Believe me, I don't mean to say that my approach would've worked any better. Striking now might have been the best move. It's just that the Underpants Gnomes seem to be in charge of WGA strike strategy.<BR/><BR/>1. Go on strike!<BR/><BR/>2. ?<BR/><BR/>3. Profit!<BR/><BR/>It just came over the wire that the DGA has reached a tentative deal with the studios. I haven't seen any details yet, but it's hard to imagine them reaching a deal this quickly is good for the WGA.<BR/><BR/>MikeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-72911966227380296132008-01-17T12:05:00.000-08:002008-01-17T12:05:00.000-08:00Mike,That's the EXACT same position the WGA took w...Mike,<BR/><BR/>That's the EXACT same position the WGA took with DVDs. Sign a bad deal and then re-visit later when the market value is clear. Except that the AMPTP refused to re-visit, saying essentially, "Too bad. You made a bad deal. That's the way it is."<BR/><BR/>We probably would have gone with your plan had we not been burned before. Your plan is sensible and I wish we could employ it.<BR/><BR/>But think about this, given the history, if the AMPTP won't give up a piece of money they don't have, how plausible do you think it will be for them to give back money they DO have? <BR/><BR/>No one is happy striking. It's a hardship for all concerned. But to ensure our future we have to suck it now. And according to the Wall Street Journal, what we're asking for is (their words) "negligible" to the studios. <BR/><BR/>We're not trying to strong arm the industry. We're not looking to bring the studios to their knees. We just want a fair piece of the pie. We just don't want to be royally screwed. <BR/><BR/>And it's the old saying, "Fool me once..."By Ken Levinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43819201155019956462008-01-17T11:49:00.000-08:002008-01-17T11:49:00.000-08:00"So what's your plan, Mike? Capitulate to the AMPT..."So what's your plan, Mike? Capitulate to the AMPTP? Roll over and take whatever they offer next (assuming they ever return to the table)?"<BR/><BR/><BR/>Much like the captain of the Titanic, I'm not sure what to do AFTER hitting the iceberg.<BR/><BR/>Now, if I'd been in charge, I'd have punted the dispute down the road and just gotten a deal done. I would have rather seen the actors or directors take this fight on first. The WGA seemed to think that fighting now over the potential money to be made from internet broadcasts was better than fighting in several years over the actual money produced by internet broadcasts. That wasn't necessarily such a bad idea, but I would have been worried that the studios will not give up any piece of that pie until they know how big it's going to be. I also would never have allowed any side deals with anyone, because some folks working and others not is always going to be a bigger problem for a union than for ownership.<BR/><BR/>What should be done right now? Work real hard on building alternative means of production and start trying to make nice, because it looks like they're either going to have to go around the studios or roll over.<BR/><BR/>MikeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-58184452039551367162008-01-17T10:49:00.000-08:002008-01-17T10:49:00.000-08:00So what's your plan, Mike? Capitulate to the AMPT...So what's your plan, Mike? Capitulate to the AMPTP? Roll over and take whatever they offer next (assuming they ever return to the table)?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-2828801703208510612008-01-17T07:55:00.000-08:002008-01-17T07:55:00.000-08:00"I think it is fair for the writers to feel hurt b..."I think it is fair for the writers to feel hurt by the studios seeming desire to prolong the stalemate."<BR/><BR/><BR/>Uh, no. A strike is an act of economic war. It's purpose is to cause enough pain to the other side to get them to do what you want. The rational and quite appropriate response from the other side is to cause you pain. Getting pissy about that response demonstrates you didn't really understand what you were getting into.<BR/><BR/>In the real world, being right often has little to do with being successful. We've heard a lot of rah-rah about how the WGA is right. I think they are, but I'm not sure I understand their plan for being successful.<BR/><BR/>MikeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-35421580321058886082008-01-17T01:24:00.000-08:002008-01-17T01:24:00.000-08:00meant grammar... stupid no previewing...meant grammar... stupid no previewing...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-39902294804154826892008-01-17T01:22:00.000-08:002008-01-17T01:22:00.000-08:00Love how you didnt address any issues there baldy....Love how you didnt address any issues there baldy... <BR/><BR/>but i will concede i misused comprehension there... obviously i ment gramar and punctuation... but whatever... u cant understand this...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-65645618431357878242008-01-16T21:49:00.000-08:002008-01-16T21:49:00.000-08:00The negotiating committee has many fine movie and ...The negotiating committee has many fine movie and TV scribes. Have any of them been force manured?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-40435463512104254572008-01-16T21:08:00.000-08:002008-01-16T21:08:00.000-08:00Well, baldini, you've shown you don't have a very ...Well, baldini, you've shown you don't have a very good grasp of grammar or presentation. I can't make heads or tails of your original post to tell what's original or what's quoted.<BR/><BR/>Obviously, you're a producer....gwangunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00743626777447874196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29221975730258512802008-01-16T20:31:00.000-08:002008-01-16T20:31:00.000-08:00smacklab, at least you have proven that you don't ...smacklab, at least you have proven that you don't know what "comprehension" means. Serves me right for getting in an argument with an illiterate. Next time I'll use smaller words.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-59664854776365680352008-01-16T19:28:00.000-08:002008-01-16T19:28:00.000-08:00Hey baldini... U say " this is what most people ou...Hey baldini... U say " this is what most people outside of hollywood think" then post that massive piece of crap... WHY?... you can say "oh but i agree with u" but then u essentially say you dont... writers lost, they dont have the publics support... yada yada... but im not in hollywood and that quote doesnt represent me or anyone i know... o whats ur point?<BR/><BR/>so if your gonna post ignorant, self-indulgent drivel (even if it isnt your opinion) expect to get a reaction... <BR/><BR/>PS.. fuck u comprehension nazi... this is the internet... not english 101... this is dialog, not an essay...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-58613812186642128132008-01-16T19:26:00.001-08:002008-01-16T19:26:00.001-08:00gosh, "writethis," can't you find room for even a ...gosh, "writethis," can't you find room for even a teensy-weensy bit of blame for the producers, whose refusal to negotiate fairly precipitated the strike and is now prolonging it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-20119327475725352522008-01-16T19:26:00.000-08:002008-01-16T19:26:00.000-08:00Hey, who let the AMPTP's Troupe of Amazing Trained...Hey, who let the AMPTP's Troupe of Amazing Trained Typing Monkeys in here today? <BR/><BR/>I haven't read so much ignorant heckling since reading the minutes from ABC's "Strike Educational Seminar." (The studios lawyers are really starting to lose it!)<BR/><BR/>Writers, don't give in on any points whatsoever, you're gonna win this one hands down. If this is the best the opposition can muster, I say let them clean up their own poopy circus pants. <BR/><BR/>Now, back to the irregularly scheduled monkey-poop-throwing comments.Richard Cooperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04094016831874148306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-27434536584713838302008-01-16T18:17:00.000-08:002008-01-16T18:17:00.000-08:00Could not have been said any better.Could not have been said any better.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04880673147898477451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-39228825085490655222008-01-16T18:06:00.000-08:002008-01-16T18:06:00.000-08:00Writers f-ed it all up. The town is sick of them....Writers f-ed it all up. The town is sick of them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-19937438120011856172008-01-16T17:56:00.000-08:002008-01-16T17:56:00.000-08:00Well, I see the trolls are here, too.You might wan...Well, I see the trolls are here, too.<BR/><BR/>You might want to put a note, Ken, at the top of your comment post page, as UH has, reminding everyone not to feed them.<BR/><BR/>See you on the soundstream...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-26953840747238685102008-01-16T17:01:00.000-08:002008-01-16T17:01:00.000-08:00to tcinla, smacklab and jozeemyt---As a group know...to tcinla, smacklab and jozeemyt---As a group known as "those who cannot read and are too stupid to function as a part of society"<BR/><BR/>Please read my post again. You'll notice that I posted that I agreed with the writers and the QUOTED text was from someone else. That's what quotation marks indicate (let alone me explaining, in plain English, what I was posting.) The next time you want to question someone's intelligence, please make it your own. Your complete lack of reading comprehension is only matched by your lack of intellectual honesty. If people like you are in the WGA, well, they're getting what they deserve. You have proven to be too stupid to read, let alone write.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-45458218989949346942008-01-16T16:20:00.000-08:002008-01-16T16:20:00.000-08:00Mr. Levine -- Your comments reminded me of this qu...Mr. Levine -- Your comments reminded me of this quote from the late, great Fred Allen: "All the sincerity in Hollywood you can stuff into a flea's navel and still have room left over to conceal eight caraway seeds and an agent's heart."The Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14723009641287783218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7099611628784421372008-01-16T14:54:00.000-08:002008-01-16T14:54:00.000-08:00That's really the fundamental problem isn't it? Wh...That's really the fundamental problem isn't it? When you go into a strike like this you either better have a huge war chest and be willing to wait out your opponent or you better be ready to shift your work force into an alternative business model (that doesn't require a deep war chest to fund). <BR/><BR/>The WGA had neither. I totally agree with their objective but they certainly didn't have a plan on how to achieve it. I agree with a previous poster that observed that it appears like the rank and file were looking as much for pats on the head and ego enhancements as much as they were financial objectives. <BR/><BR/>Right now the WGA is stuck. Either they capitulate or they watch their members go broke. The AMTP isn't going to cave. They have enough programming to make it through spring 2008. Then they'll spin up enough drivel in fall '08 to make the writers question their leadership. <BR/><BR/>What the WGA should have done was had deals in place where they secured production facilities to make their own shows. The interweb is a distribution channel just waiting for high quality content. You could have forced a paradigm shift, instead you tried to take the easy way out. Writing is tough, but so is production. You guys didn't have stones big enough to truly attempt to prove your worth. Now you're hosed.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04263138486490360168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-89084265299434008312008-01-16T14:38:00.000-08:002008-01-16T14:38:00.000-08:00Hey Anonymous Mike,I think you have to look at the...Hey Anonymous Mike,<BR/><BR/>I think you have to look at the whole picture. You say it isn't fair for the writers to be surprised when the studios fire a whole bunch of writers from their deals at this point. <BR/><BR/>The way the studios have been operating throughout the negotiations has set a bad tone.<BR/><BR/>They can't tell the writers they make little or no money from the Internet and then turn around and tell their stockholders they're making great profits from that media.<BR/><BR/>Now instead of holding on to the idea that this strike can be resolved they have stepped even further away from the negotiating table with this move to terminate those contracts. <BR/><BR/>I think it is fair for the writers to feel hurt by the studios seeming desire to prolong the stalemate.<BR/><BR/>P.S. In order to win viewers back to tv after the strike is resolved writers are going the same route as baseball. Writers will begin taking steroids and become involved in a widely covered home run race.Rickyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00480810172668236583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-33021316672680619802008-01-16T14:12:00.000-08:002008-01-16T14:12:00.000-08:00"it doesn't take rocket scientists to put out thei..."it doesn't take rocket scientists to put out their bullshit and have morons like you believe it."<BR/><BR/><BR/>Let's see how much bullshit it is if the strike continues into Summer. The longer this goes, the more anger and blame gets slopped onto everybody, including the writers. I sure hope the WGA has a plan that doesn't rely on them being about to outlast multi-billion dollar corporations.<BR/><BR/>MikeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-85201951918584204002008-01-16T13:59:00.000-08:002008-01-16T13:59:00.000-08:00Baldini - you seriously can't see the stupidity of...Baldini - you seriously can't see the stupidity of that quote?.... Oookay.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-42114765977876398802008-01-16T13:45:00.001-08:002008-01-16T13:45:00.001-08:00Iraq not Iran.ugh.see how smart I am?Iraq not Iran.<BR/>ugh.<BR/>see how smart I am?Cage Free Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06499309035198340074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-89871654238720856592008-01-16T13:45:00.000-08:002008-01-16T13:45:00.000-08:00"artful writer" is a great read when it comes to c..."artful writer" is a great read when it comes to craft, when it comes to opinions about events, I remember him saying "I told you so" when people in Iran were waving purple fingers.<BR/><BR/>everybody's entitled to an opinon but I'm entitled to take a Pasadena.Cage Free Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06499309035198340074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-18900371679732798962008-01-16T10:16:00.000-08:002008-01-16T10:16:00.000-08:00Sure, the studios walk away from the bargaining ta...Sure, the studios walk away from the bargaining table, extending the strike and then declare "Force manure," an act of God. Does this mean the studios consider themselves god?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com