A Writer's Blog: From the Picket Lines, Day 3

WGWw member and writer on strike, writing here under the pseudonym Albert Vogler, shares his experiences and pictures from the picket lines in front of Sony Studios in Culver City, CA on Day 3 of the writer's strike

Before getting on with today's report from the picket, I'd like to respond to a few questions I've received. First, does "Pencils Down" mean that I'm not allowed to write anything at all? Let me clarify. What I can't write is any script that I am under contract for. Nor can I discuss current, future or pending projects with producers, executives or representatives. I can write a spec, but I can't sell it. I can sell a poem, or a book, or a play, and I can write an email, or a blog, or draw a little picture of a waitress on a napkin. None of those mediums are under WGA jurisdiction. (And, as it happens, none of them pay much money.)

I also want to respond to this pressing question:

From: Greta Vogler
To: Albert Vogler
Are you wearing sunscreen? How about a broad-brimmed hat?

Rest assured, Mom, I wear sunscreen every day. Good looking out. Now, onto today's report.

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Strike Lesson #1: Always check the weather. Today was friggin' cold! I'm talking 65 degrees here. To my brethren in the Midwest I'm sure that sounds balmy. But there's something about LA 65 that makes it feel like 45 anywhere else. This guy was so cold he draped some kind of weird orange thing over his shoulders. I don't even think it's clothing.

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On the topic of fashion, the latest trend is finding new ways to sport the requisite "strike red." Check out my man Jordan Roberts freakin it with the dope red cap and matching scarf. Jordan wrote the narration on MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, which sold approximately seven gazillion copies on DVD. Multiply that by four cents, suckas!

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This Sony exec hurried off the lot with her phone glued to her ear, walking briskly through the picket as she fired off script notes to some unknown person who is, presumably, scabbing. If anyone has means to hack AT&T phone records, we could have ourselves a good time tonight.

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Be warned. The WGA is now recruiting ex-Navy Seals to infiltrate the picket lines. The man you see here has been given explicit instructions to hunt down one Nicholas Counter and take him out.


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They make it so easy to remember where you left your vehicle! I chose my favorite Ralph Machio film, THE KARATE KID. Remember the part where Mister Myiagi says, "Wax on, wax off?" Yeah, I bet you do. Did you know that line was written by Robert Mark Kamen? Without him, there would be no KARATE KID. Think he got residuals for reuse in this parking garage?


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On my way to the picket today, I stopped at a red light across from the studio. As I glanced in my rear view mirror, I noticed the woman in the car behind me drop her face into her hands. She was weeping. Maybe an admin at Sony, or production crew. They are the first to get hit in this strike as the studios cut their jobs. My camera in hand, I moved to snap her photo. But then I stopped. This strike has invaded her life enough already.

More tomorrow.



http://www.triggerstreet.com/gyrobase/TriggerDigest?oid=1235660

<snip>

Back here in the trenches, our WGA Source left us with additional comments. Said Source noted that in the neighborhood where S. lives, most of the "biz connected" neighbors were of the IATSE – i.e. "Below the Line," or crew – type. Seeing S. emerge on the driveway, they'd ask "What are you gonna do?"

("You" in this case," meaning "the writers.") S. would say S. couldn't be sure, but there'd probably be a strike. "Well, we're f*cked!" S. reports, by way of the neighbors' reply.

And indeed, as reports increase about which shows are "shuttering"—closing down – that means less and less work.

At a time of, well, less and less work overall, as the dollar crashes into the cellar, gas prices shoot past the roof (and chimney), and the economy threatens its first king-hell style Depression since the 1930's.

A letter handed out on the Warner Bros. picket lines last night – and forwarded to (trade) Below the Line – signed by a Denise Franks, asks of both sides, "Will you mend homes? Financially support the people who lost everything? Will you restore lives? Most of all will you please explain to my children, why we have to move into grandmas house, and why Santa Clause didn't bring them any Christmas gifts?"

Franks indicates she works in a crew capacity in Hollywood, and elsewhere in the letter states "Sadly adding insult to injury it has been reported that many of the negotiators from both sides are hoping this strike continues through January! So that they have more leverage over the opposing side, knowing the opposing side will begin to feel the financial effects of the strike. By January!!!!"

"This is no exaggeration. 'Below the Line' Individuals and Family's will have exhausted every avenue and become financially crippled and lives irreparably destroyed by January. Many can't even survive through Thanksgiving much less through January!!!"

Which more closely reflects fiduciary reality in the teetering, spiritually and economically threadbare America of the early 21st century.

Source noted that there were already young writers leaving the picket lines looking for temp agency work, while Source would have to leave the industry after the holidays to find a paycheck to keep home and hearth in shape.

<snip>

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/usa/news/article_1372533.php

It is in every worker's best interest to support this strike.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?WGA

Via

http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/