Golden Globes ceremony scrapped
Jan 8 2008 12:07
Jan 8 2008 17:57
#2
I just read that Letterman and some other late night shows have cut deals with their writers and they have gone back to work while the rest of them remain on strike and out of work. Which is pretty shithouse.
Jan 10 2008 23:25
#3
My understanding, though I haven't been following this all too closely, is that Letterman struck a deal with the writers union more or less stating that they'd eventually agree to whatever the union signs onto with the networks and giving them decent concessions in the meantime. Apparently he could do this because unlike most other TV shows he owns his own production company. Hence Letterman is on air and sporting his "solidarity beard"- hasn't shaved since the strike began, or so goes the story.
Leno, Conan O'Brian, the Daily Show, Colbert, et al are scabs and doing their shows "without writers"; as much as they're trying to play that up, their shows are obviously still full of scripted stuff and they're scab assholes.
If anyone knows more about this, or knows that I'm wrong about any of this, feel free to chime in. This is just my understanding.
Jan 11 2008 07:55
#4
i don´t know much about the strike and who the strikers are. i ask my self a question if this isn´t just and intra-class conflict. i mean, aren´t these folks in fact capitalists? i would welcome other people´s views
Jan 11 2008 10:30
#5
MT wrote:
i don´t know much about the strike and who the strikers are. i ask my self a question if this isn´t just and intra-class conflict. i mean, aren´t these folks in fact capitalists? i would welcome other people´s views
What? They're not capitalists, they're writers. The strikers are people who write TV shows. Capitalists are people who own capital and live off that. Some of the big name writers will own capital as well, but that's the same with any group of workers.
Jan 11 2008 11:52
#6
as i said, i don´t know who the strikers are (of course i know they are writers...). as far as i know some of them write also big buck movies and i don´t know their relation to production companies, the way they make contracts etc. I don´t know how this works in holywood, that´s all...
Jan 11 2008 12:01
#7
Quote:
Capitalists are people who own capital and live off that.
"Above the line" writers that appear on the credits (which I understand are at the heart of the dispute) do precisely that. Their capital, aside from their "typewriters", is a contract for royalties.
Jan 11 2008 17:48
#8
There is 10,500 writers in the WGA. They are ALL capitalists with monocles.
Jan 11 2008 20:10
#9
Artisans with sandals more like.
MT wrote:
i ask my self a question if this isn´t just and intra-class conflict. i mean, aren´t these folks in fact capitalists?
The “capitalist” class doesn’t exist. There is no historic struggle. The bourgeoisie and the working class are not enemies. They are strangers passing each other by. One dying in the stagnant cesspool of bureaucratic society, the other operating in the realm of action, of creation.
Jan 11 2008 20:18
#10
Carousel wrote:
Artisans with sandals more like.MT wrote:
i ask my self a question if this isn´t just and intra-class conflict. i mean, aren´t these folks in fact capitalists?The “capitalist” class doesn’t exist. There is no historic struggle. The bourgeoisie and the working class are not enemies. They are strangers passing each other by. One dying in the stagnant cesspool of bureaucratic society, the other operating in the realm of action, of creation.
Ho, ho. Look's like someone's getting desperate for attention. Bless.
Jan 11 2008 20:22
#11
Ha ha. Well if it was "attention" I was after, I've got some now. There's only one kind of attention I like, and it's not deliverable remotely.
Jan 12 2008 04:27
#12
You are right, Carousel. During my time @ McDonalds I knew I should have sent Mr. Kroc that christmas card. We could have made a real connection and became friends. I should have tried harder.
Jan 12 2008 18:29
#13
You should never get involved with strangers unless they're hot.
Jan 12 2008 18:50
#14
Carousel wrote:
You should never get involved with strangers unless they're hot.
Great criterion - Ted Bundy was hot - no probs there then! 
Jan 12 2008 18:55
#15
Depends on what you're into. If you think Bundy was hot, it may have worked out for the "best" in that sense. To each according to need, as they say.
Jan 12 2008 18:59
#16
Carousel wrote:
Depends on what you're into. If you think Bundy was hot, it may have worked out for the "best" in that sense.
Nah it is what you are into - leave me out of it!! 
Keep being led by the dick and you could end up dead - that is all i am saying!!
It is not gonna happen to me as i have neither a dick nor a death wish. I don't feel i am missing out! 
Love
LW XX
Jan 14 2008 02:05
#17
A comment on the United Hollywood blog:
"Guys, don't worry, the strike might go on for a few more months, maybe. Once the studios kill all the unwanted deals they want to kill (ABC just killed a bunch of deals on Friday Jan. 11, more layoffs are expected here in the very near future), once they kill pilot season (which is just bloated, financially speaking), and once they are able to establish more reality shows in their regular line-ups, they will come back to the bargaining table and make a deal with whoever is left. For the AMPTP, this was never really about internet residuals, this was an opportunity to re-structure their business models. By getting rid of those unnecessary deals and killing pilot season, they are going to save a good chunk of dough. Producing more reality shows vice scripted shows will save money, too. Once they have finished their re-structuring effort, they will make a deal. Just be patient."
Jan 14 2008 11:09
#18
Observer yesterday: 50% of WGA members make less than £15,000 a year
Jan 14 2008 14:25
#19
Ha ha. Doesn't surprise me. Negotiating a new deal won’t help them because no-one wants their output anyway. It’s like acting innit, 90% of actors are “resting” I understand. I mean, writers, for the love of God, these are the sort of people who make money writing prize letters for "women's magazines" for crying out loud.
Indeed.
I'm finding all this quite exciting. I love Hollywood, and class struggle is quite good too. And here they are together.