Wednesday, October 31, 2007

WGA Stuff

Haven't spoken to anyone this evening but the word across the 'net is that the Producers are holding firm on the following position: That there will be no increase for Writers in DVDs and they define "DVD" as including when your show is downloaded via the Internet, and they probably define it to include several other forms of delivery, as well. Furthermore, the AMPTP is saying, until the WGA drops its demands in that area, there will be no movement on any other part of the contract.

The WGA is unwilling to drop that. Our leaders certainly are not...and while I'll know more about the mood of the membership after tomorrow night's big meeting, I suspect the rank 'n' file are overwhelmingly in the same place on this.

Which means we're looking at a strike, probably but not necessarily as of tomorrow night.

I've received a number of e-mails — some from writers but mostly from folks who are not in the WGA — asking if I can briefly summarize what the conflict is all about. I believe I can and will attempt to do so in the following two sentences...

There's a ton of money being made in DVDs and other forms of home video and these amounts are expected to skyrocket. For as long as possible, the Producers want to keep as much of it as possible for themselves.

Believe it or not, there really isn't much more to it than that. What's more, regardless of what they may say in public, everyone involved knows that that's what this is about.

You'll hear and read a lot about recoupment and softness in traditional markets and deficit financing and all sorts of biz-babble and some of it may even be true. But it's by and large irrelevant to the core of the situation, which is that the companies want to maximize profits and the people who run them want to maximize their own personal take-home pay and bonus moola. They don't want to say that even though everyone knows that...so they put up the smoke and mirrors and say, "Gee, we'd love to cut you guys in for a better piece but there are all these complicated business-type reasons why we can't." The folks explaining that do not buy it for one second when it comes time to negotiate their own compensation but, you know, this is how the game is played.

Do not believe there's anything going on here other than the situation I just summarized. Yeah, there are issues about respect and creative controls and minority hiring and screen credits and a number of other things, and I'm not suggesting they don't matter. They matter a lot but they don't matter enough for either side to allow a strike to happen over them.

To underscore that point: As I was typing the above paragraph, I received my copy of tonight's mass e-mailing from WGA Prez Patric Verrone. It says, in part...

After three and a half months of bargaining, the AMPTP still has not responded to a single one of our important proposals. Every issue that matters to writers, including Internet reuse, original writing for new media, DVDs, and jurisdiction, has been ignored. This is completely unacceptable.

It's also completely typical, as you'll see if you read back through some of my past postings on the subject.

This will be my fourth (or is it fifth?) strike since I joined the WGA. In every one, I've lost something...some important project went away, some break broke. On the other hand, I've done okay through them because my income has never been wholly dependent on work that the WGA covers. The real pains have come from the distraction, the emotions, the politics and labor of striking, and the holding of hands (figuratively) of friends who are frightened or hurting. I believe that some of those 4-5 strikes were mismanaged from our side but on the separate question of whether any given strike was warranted, I never felt we had a choice. I don't see that we have one this time.

• Posted at 9:52 PM · LINK

Music Man

One of the best things about the classic Warner Brothers cartoons is the music. It was almost all the handiwork of a brilliant man named Carl Stalling who died in 1972. Fortunately for history, he was interviewed a few times before he left us...by Mike Barrier, Milt Gray and Bill Spicer. Barrier is sharing some of that material with us over on this page of his website.

• Posted at 7:12 PM · LINK

Go Read It

Scott Dunbier, who is presently between editing/managerial gigs in the comic book business, tells the story of a freelancer with a great way to deal with the fact that he didn't have his work in. Go read Scott and then come back here to read the rest of this item.

Back so soon? Okay. I recently heard of what was probably even a better excuse. A certain artist did not have his work done. He sent his editor an e-mail and to it he attached a photo of an extremely beautiful model-actress wearing almost no clothing. The message said, "I had the choice between getting your assignment finished and having sex with this woman. What would you have done?"

The editor wrote back, "Congrats. You did it to her and me at the same time."

By the way: Scott quotes what he says is an old saying in the comic book industry about how to get steady work, a writer or artist must have two out of the following three qualities: He (or she) just be very good, very fast or very nice. I often cite that as an "old saying" in the business — I say "very reliable" instead of "very fast" — but I actually don't think it's an old saying. I think I made it up, sort of. There's a sign one often sees in print shops that says you can have Quality, Speed or Value...pick any two. I believe I modified it for the comic book industry. At least, I never heard it anywhere before I started saying it and I'd much rather have the credit for that than for Scrappy Doo.

• Posted at 3:32 PM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Here's ten minutes of Robert Goulet just being Robert Goulet...

• Posted at 1:12 AM · LINK

Another Public Appeal

In 1967, Zero Mostel appeared in a TV special called Zero Hour. Does anyone have a copy?

• Posted at 12:24 AM · LINK

November 1, 2007 • Current • October 30, 2007