Golden Globes cancelled

Well, I'd say the screenwriters who are nominated will miss out on shining that day.

What I hate about the strike is that a lot of people are losing their jobs. Staff, crew, maybe even actors who were booked on a show/movie. And many writers are not making a lot of money to begin with -- their livelihood is hanging on a thread. But in concept it's their right to strike. In reality, a lot of people are being hurt. Many of my friends in Hollywood are not working because of the strike -- and they have to ask, what did they do to deserve being put out of work?

maestrowork said:

Well, I'd say the screenwriters who are nominated will miss out on shining that day.

What I hate about the strike is that a lot of people are losing their jobs. Staff, crew, maybe even actors who were booked on a show/movie. And many writers are not making a lot of money to begin with -- their livelihood is hanging on a thread. But in concept it's their right to strike. In reality, a lot of people are being hurt. Many of my friends in Hollywood are not working because of the strike -- and they have to ask, what did they do to deserve being put out of work?

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That's a question that, IMHO, needs to be put to the AMPTP, who are insisting on old agreements that are pretty egregiously unfair to writers.

The Globes haven't been all that interesting to watch since Christine Lahti won while she was in the bathroom. Robin Williams' impromtu fill-in was hysterical.

The issues the writers are striking about are going to set a precident for issues later on that will concern actors and crews etc. I hate what is happening now, but placing the blame on the striking writers just doesn't seem right, when really it appears to me that the big production houses are being rather self centred. It's not like they don't have a tiny bit of money to go around. It's working though. More and more people are blaming the writers, when people don't realise that it's the production houses that are really keeping them striking. It may be about money, but with the internet and all the new developments and new media, writers deserve to be compensated accordingly, and not still in the same way it was back when television etc was way more straightforward.

Pity about the Globes though. I enjoy them far more than the Oscars, the actors are all relaxed and tipsy. It's amusing.

ChaosTitan said:

The Globes haven't been all that interesting to watch since Christine Lahti won while she was in the bathroom. Robin Williams' impromtu fill-in was hysterical.

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The Globes, to me, are often more fun to watch than the Oscars. It's more spontaneous and goofy -- the stars are out having a good time, instead of being stuck up in their evening gowns and tuxes.

Toothpaste said:

The issues the writers are striking about are going to set a precident for issues later on that will concern actors and crews etc. I hate what is happening now, but placing the blame on the striking writers just doesn't seem right, when really it appears to me that the big production houses are being rather self centred. It's not like they don't have a tiny bit of money to go around. It's working though. More and more people are blaming the writers, when people don't realise that it's the production houses that are really keeping them striking. It may be about money, but with the internet and all the new developments and new media, writers deserve to be compensated accordingly, and not still in the same way it was back when television etc was way more straightforward.

Pity about the Globes though. I enjoy them far more than the Oscars, the actors are all relaxed and tipsy. It's amusing.

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I hope you don't mean I am blaming the writers. I'm just saying that the strike is hurting a lot of people, many of them won't see a dime from this settlement. No assigning of blame here; it's the nature of a strike.

However, I think the writers are hurting themselves when they start making back-alley deals with producers to keep certain shows afloat, or when the producer-slash-writers are sneaking in writing for their own shows... Why give a waiver to David Letterman but not for an award show that boosts actors (SAG is supporting the strike) and screenwriters' profiles? Why give out waivers at all, if you're on strike? That just seems hypocritical and inconsistent. If you're on strike, you're on strike -- try to work it out. Some of it, I suppose, could be smear tactics on the producers' part. :shrug:

I do feel bad for my friends who are out of work right now. To them, it's work or famine. It's not a good thing and it's easy to see why they're resentful, since they won't see the benefits anyway: no one is saying, the crew should get a piece of the pie, too. So they're the people who really get hurt by this.

They aren't canceled. All the boring hoopla and silliness was canceled, because you need writers to write hoopla and silliness.

They are still going to air it as a news conference where they just read off the winners.

As it should be. All that other nonsense is, well, nonsense.

I believe the Letterman situation is that the company came to its own agreement with the writers, some settlement. Therefore actors were allowed to come on the show. I think that's what they are saying may be the way the strike may be resolved, is that each company comes to some resolution with the writing union. I don't think that makes a lot of sense personally, but SAG didn't just give a waiver to the actors for Letterman because they thought he was a nice guy. They were saying, "See when you resolve the issues, you can have the actors back."

I agree that the writers are definitely making negative waves with their actions. But I think this may be the first time the general public truly understand that without them, you don't have anything (except reality tv, and no I don't think we're in danger of reality tv taking over all tv). The problem is people like award shows. When you think about it, they are silly and pointless, but people like them, and so they are mad they are being canceled. Now they are blaming the writers for it. And yes that is bad because they need to keep the public on their side. But it still seems really petty to me of the public.

It's tough. How do you keep public on your side, while depriving them of their entertainment? Especially in a day and age when we are used to getting what we want, hate waiting for anything? People can't even wait a week to see the next episode of their shows, instead they just rent the whole series and watch one after the other.

Again, Maestro I think we are on the same side (I seem to debate with people on the same side as me more than people on the opposite, weird).

Yeah, such inconsistencies (giving waiver to Letterman but not Leno, waivers for SAG and Spirit awards but not the Golden Globes) is going to hurt the writers' credibility and the effectiveness of the strike. I'm of the mind that if you go on strike, you go on strike. No back-channel deal-makings and preferential treatments.

Just wait until they cancel the Oscars. There will be hell to pay!

(the reason they gave a waiver to Letterman was that he struck a deal with the writers, Leno did not. I still agree with you that this is bad way of handling things, but it isn't some arbitrary . . ."Hmm . . . I think we'll give a waiver to . . . Letterman.")

Yeah, even though the Oscars are so much more boring than the Globes, people will be up in arms if they are canceled! It's kind of interesting to see how much these awards show matter to the public. I don't say that it shouldn't, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Two thoughts stick in my head about this:

First, the union. It often baffles me that there are a "union" of writers in a place like Hollywood. But California is one of the last bastions where unions work. I just wonder how much longer the splintering of unions, as David Letterman and Jay Leno did, will continue. How much deeper can you splinter before the splinters are all that are left? It has been corporate and recent government policy to break apart unions. Besides, how much do you really miss original TV programming with the wealth of reruns and other programming that exists?

Second, entertainment. This isn't water or food. It's just time passing fun. The multitude of entertainment choices has opened up considerably, even since the last writing union negotiations. In most homes now, there'sa separate idiot box we call the PC/Mac. And there's plenty of idiocy on that, too, from Web pages to YouTube to MySpace, that can occupy about the same amount of time as television. Throw in video games (not sure if their writers are part of the strike) and their ability to connect us, and, well, legacy entertainment writers are anchored in a weird space. In short there's other stuff to do and the viewership of 'Lost' was flagging anyway.

Could be that the industry is in the embryonic stages of what the music recording industry has suffered? I have access to an HD camcorder with 24p, editing software and, if I hit my local community theater, actors. So do hundreds of thousands of others. In other words, the voodoo of movies has gone household; commonplace. Further, I can put it together to make something entertaining. Those of us who've watched Star Wars fan boy movies or almost anything mashed up on YouTube can make a case that plenty of other people can, too.

The shine is worn off. And that happened to a great extent with the music industry, too. The technology became available and simple enough to use (4-track recorders; then programs like Cakewalk and Acid). So, where's the industry to go? And how will writers remain a vital part of that process? Maybe the union is asking that question. Really, it's probably just asking for more money and better health benefits (and I should read more about this). The Boston Legals and others will be on life support soon. In fact, just tossing this out, hold this date in your pocket: February 2009. That's when all television stations must switch to a digital signal. Just how many analog people will follow and what will squeeze in between to capture eyeballs so they won't.

Golden Globes are the first casualty. To be fair, the Golden Globes were just a press conference to begin with. But eventually, writers have to eat and pay for their West Hollywood apartments. The real deadline to watch will be Oscar night, which is late March or early April. That will be interesting to see the 5 W's come to life.

Just learned that Tom Cruise's production company struck the same deal with the writers as Letterman's. Evidently this deal was offered to all production companies early December, but the production companies turned them down.

Looks like it is going to be a one production company at a time kind of thing.

(jst5150 - that is exactly why the writers are striking. Media is changing but the old production companies don't want to change their old fashioned policies).

Toothpaste said:

But I think this may be the first time the general public truly understand that without them, you don't have anything (except reality tv, and no I don't think we're in danger of reality tv taking over all tv).

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Reality TV is a result of the LAST writer's strike. For that, the writers have much to account for.

The writers are going to bat for us - whether you write for tv/movies or not. They're seeking a piece of the (often) extremely lucrative online pie - a pie that tends to offer us sniffs instead of slices.

But as easy as it may be to cast the producers as 100% bad guys in this scenario, I feel they have legitimate concerns too. Their risks are huge, their mistakes, costly. Revenue from online offerings can be fitful and how to balance them against those gained from advertising and other means? Should writers get a piece of the total revenue pie or just that part generated by the shows they've written for? What percentage might be fair? It's not as tidy as determining royalties on book sales (and if you've ever studied a royalty statement you know they're confusing as heck).

And then, if they get the writers settled, what will the actors want when they're in a strike position later this year?

It makes for tippy-toeing through a financial minefield.

I think the writers' decision to sign a side agreement with Worldwide Pants (Letterman's production company) makes perfect sense. They were/are hoping that he will get the A-list guests who don't wish to cross picket lines and that his ratings will soar past Leno's. It may or may not prove to be a winning strategy but it does put pressure on the other producers - most especially if Dave kicks Jay's butt.

Most of my tv time is spent watching sports or late night talk shows, so now that a modicum of normalcy has returned to the latter, as a viewer, I'm not going to be much affected by the strike.

But I sure hope the writers win a fair settlement because every working writer has a chance to benefit from the trickle-down effect.

And I hope it happens soon. I do sorta miss watching The Office....

My question is: where does it end?

Writers play an important part in tv and movies, but it's still just a part. Sure, it's creative work, but so is set design and makeup and special effects. Every part of the production process is important. Most of the crew just get pay checks. They don't get residuals for their work.

How far down the chain does it go?

Couldn't put it better than Frank.

Personally, I can't stand the 'less work for more pay' type union that really doesn't do anything but drive up unit costs and the final price the public pays for goods. Look at the auto workers. Can you seriously tell me the guy who screws the bumper onto a Buick deserves $75 an hour? That's what the average unionized auto worker gets paid in the USA; a hundred and fifty grand a year. No wonder a decent car can cost as much as a house does in some parts of the country.

But in this case, there really are serious issues that need to be dealt with so that everyone in the industry can survive and earn a reasonable living. I just hope both sides get off their collective backsides and hammer it out soon.

ETA: cross-posted with Shadow. First trickle of an impending flood?

I just think it's sad that Nicole Kidman has to settle for $5,000,000 a movie this year instead of $8,000,000.

LOL!

Mind you, that's part of the problem. The studios throw boatloads of cash at the stars, then find out they have nothing left so they have to play hardball with the people who put words in the stars' mouths.

Just to fair, most actors don't make much. Also, many top ranked screenwriters make seven figures as well. Besides, actors are behind the writers' strike. Let's see if the writers are behind the crew union strike, if there is one (I'm sure after this the crew unions will demand a piece of the Internet pie as well). Like Roger said, when will this chain end?

I'm all for fair pay. Heck, I'm in the union, I know how important it is. When I get my residual checks I'll be smiling because my union did their job. But I can't help but think about who is taking care of my crew friends? Are the writers going to donate their residual checks (from reruns and sub-rights) to their crew and staff friends so they can make their mortgage? There will be some really interesting dynamics when this is all over.

Agreed, Ray. As with anything, those at the top seem to get a disproportionate share of the take. CEOs getting millions a year while the guy in the trenches can't afford health care, etc. etc. etc.

But I see the other crew people as hourly employees. They do a job, they get paid, they go home.

Its what the writers produce, the intellectual property, that makes everything else run. You don't start with a set. You don't start with an actor. You don't even start with producers, directors, makeup artists, or set designers.

You start with a story.

And I guess I have no problem with them getting "royalties" from that story.

Or am I being too simplistic?

Every cog in that wheel is important. The crew union would argue that without the crew, you have no show -- even if you have the actors on a bare stage, who is going to film it? Who is going to record the sound? Who is going to do the post production, all that special effects Hollywood is so dependent on? Without them, you will have no Star Trek or King Kong. The crew make it look good and professional. If we go down that route, it's a very slippery slope. Besides, the actors and writers are already getting residuals -- just not from the Internet. The crew is already shafted in that department. So this strike does nothing for them -- except to take away jobs. Many are already packing up and leave because there is no job.

Yes, but back on topic, the writers have given us the greatest gift of all: they've put a weapons-grade hurtin' on the so-called awards-show season. Next to fall: Screen Actors' Guild Awards. We might make it all the way through without having even catch a glimpse of red-carpet hyenas feeding on celebrity.

Yipeee!