Writers Strike (Reloaded)

[D-Dogg]

Man, if Daly was painfully unfunny with writers, I can only imagine how horrifically unfunny he'll be without 'em.

Man, you must have a dy-no-mite imagination then.

He's like the worst nightmare of unfunny.

 

[Cheesebeef]

for all those interested in what's what with the strike and regular updates, here's the go-to-site for all the news that's fit to print:

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Props to Conan !!

Conan O'Brien paying salaries of staff during strike

LOS ANGELES (AFP) —

Late-night US talkshow host Conan O'Brien is paying the salaries of nearly 80 members of staff threatened by unemployment in the Hollywood writers's strike, it was reported Thursday.

Entertainment industry journal Daily Variety reported the popular 44-year-old comic was footing the bill for dozens of staff from "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" who have not worked since the strike began on November 5.

O'Brien is continuing to pay the wages of non-writing production staff because of the loyalty employees have shown towards him over the years, Variety reported on its website.

Nightly television talk-shows such as O'Brien's -- which rely heavily on teams of union writers to come up with jokes -- have been in shutdown since the writers strike began nearly four weeks ago.

Industry analysts have warned that the dispute is leaving production staff on the affected shows, such as camera operators or lighting technicians, out of work and facing lay-offs.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) held a fourth day of talks on Thursday in an attempt to break the deadlock.

Writers called a strike after the producers' alliance rejected demands for a greater share of profits from Internet and new media sales.

It is the first strike by the 12,000-strong writer's union in nearly 20 years. The dispute has already led to production or postponement of several hit television shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "24."

FilmLA Inc, a non-profit group that handles film permits and promotes the industry, has estimated that the strike will cause losses of around 21.3 million dollars a day if it extends into December.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

No props for Leno !!

Nonwriting Tonight Show Staff Laid Off
Source: Variety
December 1, 2007

Friday was the last day for most of the 120 staffers on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," who left with an early Christmas bonus check and no guarantee of a job when the strike ended, reports Variety.

"Do we have a job when the strike ends? That's what everyone keeps asking," one former staffer told the trade. "They've guaranteed no one a job. They just keep saying, 'The letter explains it."

That letter is a notice from NBC's human resources department that says, "If your services are needed, we will contact you."

Variety adds that while some higher-level executives received severance packages, other staffers received only Leno's traditional bonus of $100 times the number of years the staffer has been on the show.

"We haven't heard from [Jay Leno] since the second or third day of the strike," the former staffer said. "He called on speakerphone while we were in our daily meeting and said, 'Don't look for other jobs , no one's going to lose their house, we'll get though this.' Two weeks ago, we got the heads up that we had two more weeks (of pay) and that's it. Everyone wondered, 'Is Jay going to come through?' And nothing happened. Conan makes less and he said, 'I'm going to pay for my people.' "

Still on the payroll are the exec producers and a skeleton crew to answer phones. Leno was not on hand for the layoffs. Instead, Leno's assistant notified the staff yesterday that they would get their Christmas bonus early.

 

[Cheesebeef]

just one more reason I revere Conan as the greatest entertainer in the biz, for pretty much every reason.

 

[Pariah]

Here's a question for Chap and/or Cheese: Do you think writers are still writing (just not formally)? If you're a writer on, say, Lost, are you still going through scenes in your head and making notes?

If so, do you think we'll see a "surge" of strong television writing after the strike is over as a result of all of the pent-up ideas?

...Just trying to see the glass as half-full, I guess.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Here's a question for Chap and/or Cheese: Do you think writers are still writing (just not formally)? If you're a writer on, say, Lost, are you still going through scenes in your head and making notes?

i think most writers are thinking about what they have to do once the strike is over, but the overwhelming majority aren't putting "pen to paper" for technical reasons (staying within strike guidelines), but more so from a motivational standpoint.

If so, do you think we'll see a "surge" of strong television writing after the strike is over as a result of all of the pent-up ideas?

no - I think it'll be status quo... if anything, the TV might be WORSE in the short run because people are gonna be rushing to get scripts into production.

 

[Gaddabout]

Here's a question for Chap and/or Cheese: Do you think writers are still writing (just not formally)? If you're a writer on, say, Lost, are you still going through scenes in your head and making notes?

I'm guessing there are a lot of TV writers who are polishing up their screenplays, show pitches, treatments, novels, etc. etc. By and large, TV writers don't write for TV because that's what they first were inspired to do.

 

[Cheesebeef]

OMG will this just completely suck: Les Moonves editing cable shows to bring to CBS if strike last long time:

who wants to watch a PG version of Weeds, Dexter and The Tudors? Not me. Ugh. This just sucks from a quality standpoint. Those are three GREAT shows that have no business being on regular TV.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr...sion/news/e3i3429e07b4feb0c53cc66102536c60aaf

 

[Gaddabout]

OMG will this just completely suck: Les Moonves editing cable shows to bring to CBS if strike last long time:

who wants to watch a PG version of Weeds, Dexter and The Tudors? Not me. Ugh. This just sucks from a quality standpoint. Those are three GREAT shows that have no business being on regular TV.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr...sion/news/e3i3429e07b4feb0c53cc66102536c60aaf

I'm surprised they didn't do this for sweeps. PG versions of those three shows are still 10 times better than anything CBS currently airs in any time slot. They could've aired two hours of Weeds and CSI re-run Mon-Fri primetime and beaten NBC.

 

[abomb]

OMG will this just completely suck: Les Moonves editing cable shows to bring to CBS if strike last long time:

who wants to watch a PG version of Weeds, Dexter and The Tudors? Not me. Ugh. This just sucks from a quality standpoint. Those are three GREAT shows that have no business being on regular TV.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr...sion/news/e3i3429e07b4feb0c53cc66102536c60aaf

Crazy stuff. The Eye is also bringing back unaired eps of Jericho and The Old Adventures of New Christine or whatever that JLD show was called.

 

[Cheesebeef]

so, just found out that come January 1st, I'm out of a job. Yeah!

 

[abomb]

so, just found out that come January 1st, I'm out of a job. Yeah!

Ugh. Terribly sorry to hear that Cheese.

 

[D-Dogg]

OMG will this just completely suck: Les Moonves editing cable shows to bring to CBS if strike last long time:

who wants to watch a PG version of Weeds, Dexter and The Tudors? Not me. Ugh. This just sucks from a quality standpoint. Those are three GREAT shows that have no business being on regular TV.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr...sion/news/e3i3429e07b4feb0c53cc66102536c60aaf

Sex and the City and Sopranos on cable really suck already...they miss a lot with editing.

 

[D-Dogg]

so, just found out that come January 1st, I'm out of a job. Yeah!

 

[Chaplin]

In better news, the guild has said that the talks have finally progressed to a much better stage then they've been in yet. Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come.

 

[Cheesebeef]

In better news, the guild has said that the talks have finally progressed to a much better stage then they've been in yet. Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come.

I hope you're right, but where did you hear that Chap? This isn't an attacking question, it's just that I haven't heard that from my boss, his strike captain or the various news sources I usually read (although I haven't talked to the boss man since he broke the news to me yesterday). I'd love for the above to be true, but I ain't holding my breath.

edit: just saw an article in the Reporter that references what you say above. I'm still skeptical, but what's being said now is a hell of a lot better than what was being said last week... or even on Monday. Come on folks (on both sides), hammer this thing out.

 

[Pariah]

Cheese, how do you even have a job now? What does a writer do when they aren't allowed to write?

 

[Chaplin]

I hope you're right, but where did you hear that Chap? This isn't an attacking question, it's just that I haven't heard that from my boss, his strike captain or the various news sources I usually read (although I haven't talked to the boss man since he broke the news to me yesterday). I'd love for the above to be true, but I ain't holding my breath.

edit: just saw an article in the Reporter that references what you say above. I'm still skeptical, but what's being said now is a hell of a lot better than what was being said last week... or even on Monday. Come on folks (on both sides), hammer this thing out.

Yeah, I didn't read it in the reporter, but it was a rehash of that article on Yahoo, I believe.

 

[Gaddabout]

so, just found out that come January 1st, I'm out of a job. Yeah!

Is the show cancelled or is it suspended and maybe you'll be brought back?

 

[Cheesebeef]

Is the show cancelled or is it suspended and maybe you'll be brought back?

we're still in the "to be or not to be" picked up stage and while Lifetime has told my boss that they'll know if we're picked up the week before Christmas, his agent believes that's a crock of crap and a decision won't be made until the strike ends. If it goes, I'll definitely have a job.

There's actually a slim glimmer of hope for my bank account not to go completely caput as my boss' told me today that Disney's got an animated project they're interested in him doing. If he gets that gig, I won't have to be laid off. I'll never understand how animation writers aren't in the same guild as the rest of the writers.

 

[Gaddabout]

I'll never understand how animation writers aren't in the same guild as the rest of the writers.

If you end up doing that project you'll learn why in a hurry. I wrote a short for a friend's student animation project and there were something like 30 people involved in that little 90 second production. I couldn't just write it. I had to act out everything, and if I couldn't pull it off I had to re-write it until they enjoyed my performance. I wrote another short for him, a 3-minute comedy, and never heard from him after I handed in my final draft.

 

[Heucrazy]

Ok so I just watched Scrubs on NBC.com due to missing it the last couple of weeks and unless the three 30 second long Chase commericials, the 3 AT&T go phone commercials, and the "sponsered by AT&T" logo at the bottom were free, than I have officially jumped ship to the writer's side in all of this.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

it was as free as the cost of mainting a webpage, formating the program to be streamed and actually hosting it and running it.................

using that same logic the people who run this board should be taking in money hand over fist, after all there are a lot of ads here

 

[Chaplin]

Ok so I just watched Scrubs on NBC.com due to missing it the last couple of weeks and unless the three 30 second long Chase commericials, the 3 AT&T go phone commercials, and the "sponsered by AT&T" logo at the bottom were free, than I have officially jumped ship to the writer's side in all of this.

That's using the old noggin'.