Marc, whose new series “Eli Stone” will be debuting in January 2008 right after “Lost” sent the following WGA strike-related poem around as as a twisted Christmas greeting. Reprinted here with permission:
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the town
Nick Counter was smiling. (Though it looked like a frown.)
The producers were still away from the table;
The writers on strike for as long as they’re able.
On second thought, I misspoke — Lehane was raising the stakes;
While writers are out for as long as it takes.
And I with my picket and three red t-shirts
Could not help but wonder if this could get worse.
Would the DGA cave, that was my fear
For if they did, this strike could go for all year.
Because, it is true, actors wait in the wings
Ready to strike for new media things.
Everyone’s worried about what tomorrow will be.
From the WGA to the AMPTP.
Yes the corporations are scared of the future as well.
We’re all in this together. (As I’ve heard Patrick hear tell.)
The future’s important, it scares us all stiff
But let’s share in the profits, and cut the bûllšhìŧ.
The hour is nigh, the time is at hand;
Time to restore work to the land.
Hollywood is burning, we’re all feeling the heat;
From the suits in their towers, to the crews on the street.
So to Barry, to Ron, to Leslie and Jeff…
Come back to the table…
…before there’s nothing left.
• 
Too bad this will fall on deaf ears in the corporate world.
The brief description I’ve often heard given is:
Writers: We want a share in the profits.
Producers: There are no profits online.
And I just don’t see (given that drastic oversimplification) why the producers can’t just agree. Give the writers some percentage, and if there truly are no profits then they get x% of zero.
I mean, it isn’t like Hollywood accounting would ever let the books show profits to share anyway….
The brief description I’ve often heard given is:
Writers: We want a share in the profits.
Producers: There are no profits online.
And I just don’t see (given that drastic oversimplification) why the producers can’t just agree. Give the writers some percentage, and if there truly are no profits then they get x% of zero.
I mean, it isn’t like Hollywood accounting would ever let the books show profits to share anyway….
Gah! Double post. Sorry!
The brief description I’ve often heard given is:
Writers: We want a share in the profits.
Producers: There are no profits online.
And I just don’t see (given that drastic oversimplification) why the producers can’t just agree. Give the writers some percentage, and if there truly are no profits then they get x% of zero.
I mean, it isn’t like Hollywood accounting would ever let the books show profits to share anyway….
Your last statement hits the nail on the head on why the writers do not want a profit sharing arrangement. My understanding is the writers do not want a share in the profits from online so a better oversimplification might be:
Writers: Pay us for our work that goes online.
Producers: We don’t know how to make money online or even if there is money to be made online.
Of course they (the producers) have been telling all of their shareholders that online is where they are going to make phat bank, as the kids say.
I, for one, (and being one who has nothing on the line at all so it’s easy for me to say this) hope the writers hold strong. The hypocrisy of the producers is just obscene.
Once upon a strike so dreary
As the writer’s marched so weary
over sidewalks, streets and courtyards
chanting words of great implore
Shouting loudly to those heeding
Hoarsely urging, sometimes pleading
For producers in their towers
To descend and talk once more
Quoth producers: Nevermore
It’d be crazy to see if the writer’s strike goes all the way to the DGA and Actors guild strike deadline … and they they go on strike too! That’d suck as a fan of TV or movies, but be fascinating to watch the levels of spin.
Nothing to do with the strike, but i just encountered this little musical post: How the CIA Stole Christmas
I found a great one written by Mike Gold.
An Editor’s Night Before Christmas
http://www.comicmix.com/news/2007/12/24/an-editors-night-before-christmas-by-mike-gold/
I have a feeling if it’s not resolved very quickly (which would mean the writers giving in since it seems the producers won’t) then it will definitely turn into one giant strike with the directors and actors strikes combining.
Who loses if that happens? The writers, directors and actors (and us). The producers have all the money and could go for years while barely denting their bank accounts. The vast majority of the writers, directors and actors aren’t high paid mega-talent so they would quickly find themselve unable to put food on the table (so to speak).
I’m starting to think that’s what the producers truly want. They want the entire industry to be in such bad shape that they have no choice but to take whatever the producers offer.
Whether or not it is a valid belief, many television viewers feel entitled to product – Their favorite shows, and if they’re not on, some new shows – whenever they want it. If the belief becomes widespread that the writers’ strike was timed so as to cause maximum irritation to the viewers so that they’ll pressure the producers to meet the writers’ demands, the backlash could be severe. Another factor that must complicate the situation for some of the writers is that some (I couldn’t estimate a percentage) of the producers, creators and owners of the shows being shut down by the strike are also loyal members of the union. It may be that they honor the strike, picketing their own cash cows, from an ideological belief in the rightness of the union’s demands, or it may be that they have no acceptable option, but it must be terribly painful to see their properties devalued or sometimes permanently cancelled.
I cannot be all that positive about this, but I doubt any of the producers is in such an unassailable position that he would prefer that all production remain shut down indefinitely. Those affiliated with studios or networks nearly all have boards of directors and shareholders demanding continuously increasing revenue and profit. Those without superiors overseeing them are probably not nearly rich enough to welcome loss of revenue. No matter how rich they are, they would all like to get richer and have a larger presence on television. I think many of the writers’ demands are completely justified, but they will not be well-served by misunderstanding the studios’ and producers’ interests.
I’m uncomfortable with the idea of expecting the actors and others not in the WGA to honor the strike by refusing to work while the strike continues. All or most of these people are working under contracts negotiated by their own unions with their employers: They wanted conditions and payments to be a certain way, negotiated with the studios and agreed to work for an agreed-upon salary until the expiration of their own union contracts. If it is valid for non-striking union workers to refuse to work, the inverse is that it is valid for the studios to refuse to continue employing their union employees despite being party to a valid union contract. The latter case is clearly immoral and anti-competitive: So is the former.