a writer's perspective

As I get ready to join my brothers and sisters in the picket line, I’m flipping the channels, looking for some coverage. Fuckin’ Joe Torre is stealing our thunder. Finally, on KTLA, they break in with footage of Jay Leno pulling up on a motorcycle and handing three boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts to some writers.

All writers are being encouraged to give 20 hours a week to the cause. No problem. When I’m in production, I often work 20 hours a day. I told my strike captain yesterday that I’m available as much as they need me. She gave me the choice of picketing from 9a-1p or 1p-5p today, and, seeing as how I’d been watching football and drinking beer all day, I opted for the “late shift”.

I’m assigned to the Warner Bros lot in Burbank. I’m warned that parking is a mess, so leave early. I might have to park several blocks away and walk?! Oh, the sacrifices we make for the cause.

In a weird moment of (dis)synergy, my wife, a script supervisor, got a call yesterday afternoon to work on a television pilot that is being shot in early December.

Before I head out the door, I check Variety.com to read their latest coverage of the events. Throughout negotiations, the trades have seemed biased against the writers, happily regurgitating the opinions of the AMPTP and presenting it as news.

The article “WGA Goes on Strike” in today’s issue is the most misinformed and biased yet.

It’s tilted so heavily against the writers that it’s pathetic. The article opens with a quote from AMPTP president Nick Counter claiming that the producers have made attempts to meet the writers in several key arenas, and that the WGA is being uncooperative and irresponsible. Opening the article with this quote flavors the entire story, and makes it clear whose side the trades are on. The AMPTP has repeatedly refused to address any of the issues that matter the most to writers, while the WGA seems to have continuously made concessions in their demands in the interest of finding a solution. Apparently, the WGA even offered to withdraw its DVD demands yesterday in a last-ditch effort to jumpstart the talks and avert a strike.

Among other things, Variety quotes a disgruntled anonymous writer who is angry about having to picket the studio where he works. The truth is the WGA is being more than flexible with its picketing assignments. My strike captain has made it clear that if I had a problem picketing at Warner Bros. that I could be reassigned, and that if I had any scheduling conflicts, they would work with me.

For a more reasonable take on the strike, I head over to unitedhollywood.com. I feel the anger from reading Variety subsiding. At United Hollywood, there is a reprint of an excellent Forbes article about how much the studios stand to lose from a strike. There is also an article about what to expect on the picket line. One of the first warnings is to “expect chaos”. It goes on to say, “Embrace the chaos. It’s our chaos.”

photo by azrainman via Flickr