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« WGA Post-Strike Watch: News About Returning Shows
WGA: "We Will Be Picketing the Golden Globes"
Deflating some of the promise offered on Wednesday in comments made by the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Writers Guild of America is holding its ground and insisting that no interim agreement will be arrived at permitting the Golden Globes to transpire without incident. "As previously announced, the Writers Guild will be picketing the Golden Globe Awards," says a statement from the Guild. "The WGA has great respect and admiration for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, but we are engaged in a crucial struggle that will protect our income and intellectual property rights for generations to come. We will continue to do everything in our power to bring industry negotiations to a fair conclusion."
Thusly, it again appears likely that the Globes will either be held in a much lower-key fashion — perhaps not even televised — lest the gala risk the embarrassment of featuring a slew of A-list no-shows. "Unless and until there is an agreement between the WGA and HFPA," says Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg, "we will advise our members of their rights with respect to not crossing WGA picket lines and/or not appearing on programs using non-union writers."
A perhaps-final decision on what exactly will come of this year's Globes is expected as early as this afternoon.
Related:
• Golden Globes Organizers in Talks to Secure Interim Agreement from WGA
• TVGuide.com's Strike Survival Guide: We'll Help You Make the Best of a Sad Situation
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Jan 3, 2008 1:32 PM
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Um... A perhaps final decision on what exactly will come of this year's Gloves is expected as early as this afternoon.
Perhaps it was meant to read Globes. Now if there are fisticuffs involved I am sure plenty of people will pay to see the writers beat "the man".
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Jan 3, 2008 2:06 PM
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Wow that was fast! Good job Matt!
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Jan 3, 2008 2:07 PM
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I have a feeling the longer this strike lasts the more the writers will lose ground, especially with the fans of certain shows. I have a feeling that the producers will not like seeing strikers at award shows and won't budge for sure, I don't know why.
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Jan 3, 2008 2:51 PM
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I have a feeling the longer this strike lasts the more the writers will lose ground, especially with the fans of certain shows. I have a feeling that the producers will not like seeing strikers at award shows and won't budge for sure, I don't know why.
Posted by ladyofthelake Jan 3, 2008 2:51 PM Report Abuse
I absolutely agree. As a matter of fact, they are already starting to lose ground with this TV viewer.
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Jan 3, 2008 3:13 PM
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Nope. This fan is standing strong in solidarity with the writers. I don't intend to be a turncoat at my convenience. I recognize their contributions and want them to be duly compensated no matter how long the strike lasts.
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Jan 3, 2008 3:23 PM
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I hope all the award shows just cancel them this year. No Oscars for anybody at all, no GG, no nothing for any of the overpaid, self righteous talent that take the regular workers for granted. This strike will end with less writers employed in fewer scripted TV shows and the networks will go with game shows and reality shows as a staple with a fewer scripted shows sprinkled throughout the week. Instead of doing what the DGA did and apparently hired people to research the new media potential and get an idea of what they might expect in a 3 year period.
The whole argument that there is a treasure trove of digital downloads and internet revenues is specious at best and terribly naive. Most of the investors see no large scale movement away from TV and to the internet and most don't believe the studio execs boasts about the large money potential in the internet they have over hyped to the point that the Guilds believe it too.
So this strike will go on until July at least unless the DGA gets a quick agreement that the WGA can sell to their masses as one that is fair and that the SAG can model their own talks on to avoid a further strike in June.
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Jan 3, 2008 3:41 PM
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No big deal.
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Jan 3, 2008 4:01 PM
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Variety also had this quote from the WGA (along with the quote mentioned in TV Guide's) in their article about this same subject:
"Dick Clark Prods. is a struck company," the WGA said. "As previously announced, the Writers Guild will be picketing the Golden Globe Awards."
http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117978278.html?nav=news&categoryid=1983&cs=1
But there is more to the story than the TV Guide editors elected to reveal here.
The Variety article goes on to say:
Meanwhile, party planners -- including reps from HBO, NBC Universal, Warner Bros./InStyle and the Weinstein Co. -- are assuming that their parties (which cost $300,000-$700,000) will be held. Nobody wants to cancel parties at this point, as several said Wednesday, because nobody wants to diss the Globes.
But there are other unanswered questions. For example, it hasn't been decided whether the HFPA and Dick Clark Prods. can tape the ceremony and distribute clips to the media.
If NBC doesn't air the ceremony, Dick Clark and the HFPA would lose their license fees. NBC would presumably schedule something else in the Sunday slot.
Now this is where the real story lies. The difference between Dave Letterman getting his World Wide Pants a deal and the Golden Globes not. Dave made a contract which affects all of the shows his company produces. It was a fair deal to both sides and brings the writers back to the show today, tomorrow, and as long as the interim holds. It brings back everybody to work on Dave-owned shows.
But the Golden Globes proffered deal they are trying to dazzle you with (a red-herring promise that was only dangled to the public by the person trying to get it) is only a one-shot event that would bring Dick Clark Prods. and NBC a lot of money.
However, the writers (and hence the rest of the staff) of all the rest of Dick Clark shows are not being offered the same deal. Dick Clark Prods doesn't care if they remain on the streets today, tomorrow and until the strike ends.
Dick Clark just wants to take whatever money he can swindle out of the writers, by tricking them into letting this one event go through or shaming them into it in the world of public opinion. Sure a few writers will get money to write the show and a few actors will get their kudos by getting their awards without crossing picket lines, but Dick Clark Prods and NBC will make a great deal of money from their advertisers, especially in an environment where there's nothing else on.
The people paying the price? All those who work on all the other Dick Clark Prod shows. They will still be out of work, losing their homes, etc. , because Dick Clark won't sit down and make a fair contract with the writers so that all of his people can go back to work today, tomorrow, and for however long the contract holds. Instead, he would rather just have a few people work for a few days, so he can continue to rake in his money.
I ask you? Is this what you want to support? Is this what your humanity supports? Because this is what you are supporting when you rant against the WGA position on this event.
If Dick Clark wants the money from this event so much, tell him he still has a few days left. Tell him to sit down with writers to draft the same contract that Dave did AND BRING BACK ALL THE WORKERS TO ALL OF HIS SHOWS FOR EVERY DAY.
By the way, the WGA offered that same contract to every member and struck company of the AMPTP. You could possibly have your favorite shows back, if they would just sit down and do the right thing, instead of letting congloms walk their boots over them. Think about it... I think you'll know where you should be applying pressure.
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Jan 3, 2008 4:31 PM
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No Oscars for anybody at all, no GG, no nothing for any of the overpaid, self righteous talent that take the regular workers for granted.
But you have no problem sitting back and devouring their creations. Not all that high and mighty, are ye?
The whole argument that there is a treasure trove of digital downloads and internet revenues is specious at best and terribly naive.
It's a plan for the future. What's naive is thinking the traditional broadcast/theater/rental markets won't be seriously disrupted and altered by the internet.
And if there are no profits to be had, the AMPTP shouldn't have any problem giving away a percentage of "nothing".
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Jan 3, 2008 4:59 PM
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excellent points gollysunshine...if Dick Clark Productions really wanted to deal with the WGA rather than just line their own pockets, they would have come to the table prepared to deal for the entire company, not ask for a special dispensation just so they can make money in the short term. The WGA will make deals when companies come prepared to negotiate. The AMPTP will...issue press releases and try to make money off people being out of work.
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Jan 3, 2008 5:23 PM
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So who is devouring whose creations those horrible conglomerates who shell out 100's of millions of dollars to make box office and TV flops that make no money at all of just enough to cover their costs.
There are only a few true creators on TV who are the main show runners who provide a bible for the shows writers to work from. You basically just drop in a standard A sleeps with B and C finds out story. I have been watching TV for too many years and most of the stories seem awfully familiar to me. You could just use old scripts from Dr. Kildare or Marcus Welby MD on the medical shows and then replace the names with new character names and nobody would know the difference. The cop shows are the same and the lawyer shows too. There are only a few "Original" shows that have any kind of new story lines that have been done recently like Babylon 5, LOST and Heroes and even their creators were inspired by other shows, books, or movies of the past. So the idea that any of the material being written today is original is nonsense. Most writers will even say a lot of their stuff is a rehash from Shakespeare and writers from later years.
The constant drone that the strike will break these companies is ridiculous. GE could care less about the tiny amount of money that it will cost them for the strike. They will simply write it off their taxes. The same for Sony, Disney and the other corporations. Their only concern is the bottom line in getting costs down and profits up. So strike on until you drive the networks to cancel the poorly written high cost stuff and put on the cheaper to make high profit stuff i.e. reality and game shows that might not get 10-20 million viewers but get a constant 6 million at 10% the cost. You figure it out if you were a businessman whose job depended on getting the most return for the investment you go with the cheaper show.
During the strike I suggest that the writers take a couple courses in economics and business management instead of relying on labor rhetoric to make their points. I still have not seen any numbers for what the WGA wants other than either a percentage of internet advertising revenues or some vague flat rate per internet viewing of a show.
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Jan 3, 2008 5:51 PM
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So who is devouring whose creations those horrible conglomerates who shell out 100's of millions of dollars to make box office and TV flops that make no money at all of just enough to cover their costs.
Huh? Wha?
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Jan 3, 2008 5:55 PM
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OK TV flops this year. Bionic Woman 8-10 million dollars just for the pilot and then a 50% drop in the ratings. Box office flops are numerous and you know it including MI3 which didn't take in as much as it cost some 200 million to make. Why do you think they dropped Cruise. Most of the shows are gliding along with 8-10 million viewers according to Nielsen and even the top shows get maybe 15 million or so and the cost per episode goes up with each season. So as a bean counter looks at the cost per revenue basis they would take a cheap to make modest ratings show over a high cost modest ratings show. So if you write for a show that gets less than 10 million viewers its curtains for you in favor of American Gladiators. Inexpensive to make and more profitable is what you are going to get as a bottom line.
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Jan 3, 2008 6:15 PM
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So you're saying there's a lot of dreck out there. Everyone knows this. It's always been that way. How does that figure into the fair compensation of people who write and/or create these shows regardless of their quality?
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Jan 3, 2008 6:44 PM
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