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Alec Baldwin Reminds Writers Who The Coffee Is For
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"You see this watch? You see this watch? That watch cost more than your car. I made $970,000 last year. How much you make? You see, pal, that's who I am. And you're nothing. Nice guy? I don't give a shit. Good father? Fuck you -- go home and play with your kids! You wanna work here? Close! You think this is abuse? You think this is abuse, you cocksucker? You can't take this -- how can you take the abuse you get on a sit?! You don't like it -- leave. I can go out there tonight with the materials you got, make myself fifteen thousand dollars! Tonight! In two hours! Can you? Can you? Go and do likewise! A-I-D-A! Get mad! You sons of bitches! Get mad!"
No that isn't Alec Baldwin, that's David Mamet. Baldwin delivered it beautifully in the classic film Glenngary Glen Ross, but it would have never happened unless a genius writer - Mamet - put pen to paper.
Today Baldwin suggests on the Huffington Post that writers should remember who really is in control in Hollywood. It's not the prettyboy talent who can read the lines, it's not the studio suit who's watch really does cost more than your car, it's the scribe, but the scribe needs to take it to the next level and close.
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I recall when a popular late night talk show host skewered the head of his own network for a prolonged run, right there on his show. On and on it went and, from what I heard, that network head was apoplectic. These people have bigger egos than even the stars themselves, but without any sense of humor. I want the WGA to set up a website and on that website we can all post stories about every no-talent, idiotic, amoral producer and executive we have ever dealt with. Just like they do to us on shows like Extra and sites like TMZ (owned by Warner Brothers.) Set up a website and tell the entire world, via the internet, your own anecdote about some of the witless boobs you have endured in Hollywood and beyond. The strike will end in a week. - Alec Baldwin
Baldwin's column is pretty long-winded and proud before it gets to the money shot, but there it is. The idea of using the web to settle scores also delights us to no end because it's ironic proof that this medium is amazingly powerful no matter who you are, especially if you're a writer striking for a slightly larger stake of monies garnered thru the web.Alec Baldwin's scorching performance in Glengarry Glen Ross
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