Writer's Strike ?

This is where reality shows come from.

Writers go on strike = no scripts = reality shows get greenlighted


And then when the strike is over, there are less scripts called for. I'm not saying I object to the strikes. The writers need to fight for their rights like anyone else. I'm just saying that reality shows flourish during a strike.

The only way and I mean the ONLY way a strike can be effective is for all writers to be on the same page. Those working and those not working.

Say 50 writers go on strike. There are literally hundreds of thousands of writers clawing for those positions. The only way a writers strike could work is if no writers move in to take their place.

The last time a strike took place, all of those writers lost their jobs and new writers got them. Strike over, industry wins. I suspect this one will be exactly the same.

You know, I decided to start writing for film in 02. Now, I didn't know anything about the business, the form, or anything really. I spent a year learning the format and rules of the form.

But the first thing I learned, in 02, was that there was going to be a writers strike that year. Over reality tv.

And I've heard the same thing every year.

and no strike yet.


I wouldn't hold your breath in anticipation.

J. Michael Straczynski says in his fantastic book "The Complete Book of Scriptwriting" that the strike back in the late 1980's changed the whole industry. He said prior to that strike, all you had to do was pitch an idea, then they'd hire you to write it. But because of that strike, you now have to have a completed script or they don't wanna look at you.

He explained that the strike went on for so long that writers everywhere were just sitting around, not working for the studios or the networks, and doing absoluetly NOTHING. So .... what does a writer do when he's got ample time on his hands???? He writes!! And so, when the strike was over, there were then THOUSANDS of completed scripts being toted into pitch meetings. Pitch meetings were no longer "I have a cool idea" they were now suddenly "I have a finished script."

Changed the industry forever.

Reality

Plot Device said:

This is where reality shows come from.

Writers go on strike = no scripts = reality shows get greenlighted


And then when the strike is over, there are less scripts called for. I'm not saying I object to the strikes. The writers need to fight for their rights like anyone else. I'm just saying that reality shows flourish during a strike.

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Even most reality shows are scripted.

Jamesaritchie said:

Even most reality shows are scripted.

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Butr where's the craft?

Craft

Plot Device said:

Butr where's the craft?

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See, now you're getting picky. No craft is what I'm good at.

I'm with Whistle on this. It sure seems this rumor surfaces pretty often, if not yearly like he said.

As far as taking a WGAw writer's slot during the strike, that's not a good plan. Once the strike ends, the scabs are blacklisted. You'll never work in that town again, to paraphrase.

The backlog of scripts will jam up the system, no doubt about it.

No good will come of a strike.

Joe270 said:

I'm with Whistle on this. It sure seems this rumor surfaces pretty often, if not yearly like he said.

As far as taking a WGAw writer's slot during the strike, that's not a good plan. Once the strike ends, the scabs are blacklisted. You'll never work in that town again, to paraphrase.

The backlog of scripts will jam up the system, no doubt about it.

No good will come of a strike.

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It's standard practice for the Guild to insist that any non-Guild writer who does Guild work during a strike will never be admitted by the Guild once the strike is settled.

Then, when everything is finally hammered out, the Producers say -- oh, by the way, all those non-guild writers who've been working for us -- we don't want you to take any action against them.

Then what does the guild do? Keep on striking over that, or forget about it?

They forget about it. They always have. They always will. If they catch a member scabbing, maybe that's different -- but that's much harder to catch.

Plus, you've got all of those Canadian and English and other English-speaking writers who belong to Guilds that are supposed to honor our picket lines but since there aren't any penalties if they don't -- they don't.

I joined the guild over twenty years ago - just in time for its last actual strike - which was a total disaster.

I can't think of a single thing that's changed from then until now that doesn't make things substantially less favorable now for a Guild strike than it was then.

NMS

Okay, then we agree. Nothing good can come of this.

And don't take advantage of a guild writer during a strike.

Bad idea, bad politics, and it labels you forever as a dirt bag opportunist.