I thought Oprah might be free because of the writer's strike

But I don't think Harpo Productions is a union shop.

These are a few of the union jurisdictions involved in film/TV production in Chicago:

International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 714 - Handles movement of all vehicles, as well as loading/unloading of freight

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 22 - Camera Operators

International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 110 - Projectionists

International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 2 - Stage hands

These are the main crews. I have even talked about gaffers, riggers and other shops.

Every movie or TV show completed in Chicago/Illinois lists the names of the unions in the closing credits.

The non-union claim is not valid. Show me ONE instance where Local 714 did not load or unload freight at her studio.

Show me ONE instance where Local 2 is not installing/dismantling stage sets.

Show me ONE instance where her camera crews are not part of Local 22.

Now, her producers very well may not be unionized - there is NO "producers" union. That is up to her producers to organize a union,
if they so desire.

But show me ONE, just ONE instance where she does not employ members of these locals on her show. Otherwise, this is bullshit.

Monday, February 19, 2007 - 09:40 AM, (1451 Reads)


OPEN CALL Are you America's Greatest Unknown Philanthropist? Are you the type of person who makes things happen and will do what ever it takes?

Either gender / Any yrs. / Any Ethnicity.
****Must be 18 years or older, a legal U.S. Resident, willing to take part in a primetime television series that will be taped in the spring of 2007 and broadcast nationally on network television, and willing and able to spend up to six weeks away from home on a full time basis. ****


THE BIG GIVE (Television)
Employer: Profiles Television Production
Location: Cities in USA
Duration: 6 weeks, starts March 2007

Non-Union. Director: TBD. ?The Big Give? OPEN CALL Are you America?s Greatest Unknown Philanthropist? Are you the type of person who makes things happen and will do what ever it takes? Do you have a big personality and lots of charisma? Are ready to pay it forward?

Harpo Productions is pleased to announce our first primetime network series, ?The Big Give?. This show is all about inspiring people around the country to do good for others. ?The Big Give? will challenge contestants to dream up creative and innovative ways to help others. Contestants travel through the US completing tasks based around the communities? needs and changing the lives within them. A new, positive twist to primetime television created in the spirit of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

We are looking for competitive, creative, and adventurous individuals who want to use their resourcefulness to help others and will stop at nothing to do the right thing!

Be sure to meet us in a city near you!

Please let us know that you found this listing at Gigslist.org

NEW YORK March 7th, 2007 / 9AM ? SHARP! The Manhattan Center?s Grand Ballroom 311 West 34th Street New York, NY 10001

Please visit www.oprah.com

Web: http://www2.oprah.com/uyl/harpoprod/harpoprod_bgcasting.jhtml

Apply to: Chase Landau, 121 W Lexington Ave, Glendale CA 91203

http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=434

I mean ... I did look first. I'll post more of what I found earlier.

If you're going to smear someone, provide a source, otherwise its libel. The fact that Oprah's staff gets such great pay and benefits they do not
wish to unionize tells me she's pro-labour as does the fact she sends her staff on great vacations.

And Oprah has contributed 95% to Democrats and has such great values that Michael Moore begged her to run for president in his book.

Oprah's coolness is indisputable.

Workers either unionize - because they have a damn good reason to - or they don't.

So you concede it's not a union shop as I surmised? Interesting ... and so is your over-wrought reaction.

Show me ONE instance where Local 714 did not load or unload freight at her studio.

Show me ONE instance where Local 2 is not installing/dismantling stage sets.

Show me ONE instance where her camera crews are not part of Local 22.

Now, her producers very well may not be unionized - there is NO "producers" union. That is up to her producers to organize a union,
if they so desire.

But show me ONE, just ONE instance where she does not employ members of these locals on her show.

*crickets*

— “The Oprah Winfrey Show” doesn’t employ union writers and will continue uninterrupted.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21644146

And that link only shows that her writers are quite happy with her above-union pay grade and benefits, as I've stated below.

What's your real gripe? That Bill, Chelsea and Momma couldn't rustle up one-hundredth the crowd The Double O Express
did over the weekend? Jealousy is an ugly emotion. Better stop The Politics of Personal Destruction like those three (and
counting) Clinton campaign regional directors who got caught sending Republican freeperish swift boating "Obama is
a dangerous Muslim who studied at a madrassa" emails... y'know, with supporters like you, it's no wonder the Clinton
campaign has the highest negatives by far in Iowa.

See ya.

heavily unionized when it comes to set labor (camera, gaffing, sound, etc.) Guild members often can't work on non-union sets unless they are under the category "extremely low budget", and that she ain't. Producers aren't union because they are considered bosses. Production assistants, however, are. Directors are members of the DGA (guild) and that includes 1st and 2nd ADs.

The fact that Oprah deals with unionized crews doesn't mean she supports labor. That means she has to pony up and deal with it because that's where the most highly skilled workers are. Entertainment is one of the last HIGHLY unionized fields and it's utterly necessary.

Unionization is not just about getting good pay; it's about having recourse to challenge your employer for myriad abuses including sexual harassment by coworkers, unsafe working conditions, or arbitrary termination. For a vast portion of anti-union bosses in entertainment, education, and non-profits it's not about the money as much as it is about control. These people tend to like the notion of wielding power over people's lives.

If Oprah's writer's aren't unionized, it's not likely to be because she's so great and they're so happy. It's more likely that she doesn't permit it. Or it is unspoken verboten.

And I'm not pro-Clinton at all. I'm pro-union and no one gets a pass.

Oprah's a spontaneous person, and the show is taped, so they can (and probably DO) re-do parts that don't work.:)

Producers decide topics, but no one is writing scripts.

Maybe she gives them a BETTER deal, for all you or anyone else knows, to NOT unionize. Maybe she has them sign contracts with competitive benefits AND non-disclosure agreements....

And I agree with your points 100% and stated them below more than once, to no avail to the OP, who's a Clintonian anti-Obama shit-stirrer
of the first order.

the fan on the thread and a fight broke out...oh, well.

I think Oprah might have particular, very specific contracts that prevent workers from taking pics with camera phones and stuff like that, and selling them to the tabloids and so on.

And she pays extra for people who are willing to go along with the program. She's well off, she can afford to do that to get a set that is to her liking, staffed with workers who are going to be responsive to her requrements, and is an amenable work environment for her.

She even asked about Obama and Oprah staging their NH performance at a non-union arena... and I batted that down, too.
That's not a fight, that's playing good defense. :-)

And I agree with your deductions about Oprah's pay practices. These attempts to snidely smear a woman who has brought
so many voters under the Democratic mantle over the weekend - many for the first time - make me sick.

into this, not me.

Please check the available info out there ... Oprah is not known for her generosity w/staff.

Hawaiian vacation.. And I mean THE BEST time and place on Maui.. Happened to be on that Island from mine and even talked to the Staff of the Exquisite Hotel they all stayed in, ALL we very generously tipped and treated well by HER and Her People..

I ain't a big Ophra fan, as a middle aged man she doesn't interest me, but I saw firsthand how very well she treated her Voluminous Staff..

Unless she beats them in the basement at home, but I'd have no way of knowing that :)

any writers.

http://tv.yahoo.com/the-oprah-winfrey-show/show/32704/castcrew

There's the complete list of credits for the show - no writers are listed.

need or want union backing. They probably get a good bonus to remain "uncredited." Some talents don't like to be perceived as relying on writers for ideas and turns of phrase.

It's conceivable that Oprah writes all those intros and bridges, but I'm thinking she's got someone who does that work and loads up the teleprompter/cue cards, or whatever.

In the case of Oprah, she belongs to three different craft unions herself (as a performer), yet refuses to allow union representation of any sort inside the doors of her studio, instead paying substandard wages and benefits to non-union crews. It is a travesty that Oprah feels no responsibility to those who helped her create her billions in profit, but that’s the way things are and it’s part of the reason union representation is so vital in this industry.

http://www.reelchicago.com/backtalk.cfm

Some disgruntled worker will end up calling the Enquirer over something...that's always how it seems to work...

I maintain she has the right to stump for whosoever she pleases, and she can bring Doctor FeeeYul along with her, if she so desires.

And if people want to turn out and cheer like they're all getting new iPods and XBoxes, well, that's up to them. She does have the ability to get butts in the seats, that's for sure! She has a large fan base, I'm just not among them.

Someone posted that quote before.

It appears in a Chicago area web-magazine for entertainment industry workers called ReelChicago. However, that individual is not being quoted in an article, that person is not a journalistic source. That quote comes from the reader's comments section, responding to an article about the WGA strike.

I took the posters name and checked him out. No mentions or credits to his name anywhere on the web to suggest he was an industry professional. Not listing in the IL Film Office Production Guide.
No listing on IMDB
No mention on any of the professional networking sites.
No listing in the IATSE roster.

It's not reputable. I know people who worked for Harpo. They are treated well and paid better than standard rates. They have no desire to unionize, cause Harpo treats them well.

This is a reality competition show, therefore they are seeking contestants, not actors. Therefore it makes sense that they are seeking non-union and not members of AFTRA/SAG.

Site of Barack-Oprah event isn't unionized

Joyce Cardoza, business agent for the 50-member IATSE,the union of professional stagehands, motion picture technicans, and allied crafts, Local 195, said prior to the agreement, "I am concerned why a candidate would go into a building and not be able to get union help in there. They are going in without a union company bringing in and setting up the equipment."

Cardoza said she telephoned Obama’s state campaign last week to "tellthem that the union was not allowed in the building."

She said she wants the Obama campaign "to acknowledge that they moved too quickly on this without checking if they can get union labor in there."

"The other candidates seem to be standing up to what they say," she said. "They haven’t even approached that building."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/9/113133/649

The Obama campaign got a waiver from the NH AFL-CIO to book the rally here without pickets.



Try again to smear Obama... by the way, did you know Hillary crossed the picket line at the same Verizon Center back in June????? Or don't you care
when it's Hillary????

I'm right and you're wrong ... now, wanna talk about HRC?

That's hardly "authoritative". You're wrong and a Clintonian propagandist and I'm right about this and about you.

As you well know.

Good try though ...

Your argument is false.

And you know it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21644146/

— “The Oprah Winfrey Show” doesn’t employ union writers and will continue uninterrupted.

Again show me where Oprah does't allow her writers to unionize. Could it be that she pays them more and offers more benefits to them (like sending
them all on Hawaiian vacations) than a union contract does??

Your Clintonian smear tactics are pathetic. Do you care that Hillary crossed a picket line back in June? I'll bet not. Did you write a diary about that?
I'll bet not.

hers is an unscripted talk show, and she doesn't do a comic monologue or anything like that.

WHY DON'T YOU WRITE TO HARPO AND ASK THEM YOURSELF??

And you have not provided one link that proves she is refusing to allow her writers to unionize.

Until you do, you're just a typical Clintonian bullshitter. I've seen you on other threads sniping at Obama and I know what you're up to.
Now other DUers at GD will, too.

I double dare you ... heck, this thread had nothing to do w/Obama.

And I'm not playing fetch for a Clintonian bullshitter. Yes, you're trying to diss Oprah and then you posted about The Double O Express
being staged at a non-union arena in NH before I nipped that smear in the bud.

Feigning innocence is not very believable... I will leave you now because I've made my point.

I don't think many take it seriously.

or decided to quit they'd be out of luck.

There is no reason not to unionize. A union provides arbitration of workplace issues so you don't have to hire a lawyer to fight someone like Oprah you have a beef.

However, Oprah very well may not have writers for her show.

it says she "doesn't employ union writers". That could mean she doesn't employ any writers, OR that she employs non-union writers. I can't draw a conclusion either way from that one sentence.

Here are the credits for The Oprah Winfrey Show, and nobody is identified as a writer:

http://tv.yahoo.com/the-oprah-winfrey-show/show/32704/castcrew

http://thepinehillsnews.com/wp/2007/12/09/some-interesting-info-regarding-oprah/

Do you know that Oprah does not employ union workers?

Do you know that Oprah votes for Republicans 50% of the time?

Do you know that Oprah associates herself with anti gay extremists?

Well now you know!

Check the extended for more (with links).

We're discussing whether the Oprah Winfrey Show employs writers at all, union or not. You haven't demonstrated that they do.

I've linked to the credits for the show, and nobody is listed as a writer.

http://www.wga.org/organizesub.aspx?id=1127

(Examples of Programs with Minimal Writing: "Oprah," "Donahue," "Geraldo," "The Montel Williams Show," and "An Evening at the Improv." Minimal writing occurs when such material as openings, lead-ins, bridging, introductions, questions, lead-outs and/or closings are scripted.)

that doesn't show that she employs writers. Perhaps the producers write the bridges. Perhaps Oprah herself does. I have no idea.

But you haven't proven your premise.

If anybody, including Oprah herself, writes whatever, it is a non-union shop.

hosts are allowed to perform their own material.

Unions set minimums. So that people don't work all week and then fall down from starvation, things like that. Which is a reason Democrats have traditionally allied ourselves with unions and union workers.

"Clintonian smear tactics"? To say a non-union shop is a non-union shop? IF it's a non-union shop.

There can be many reasons to employ non-union workers. I don't like any of them, but since a personal friend is benefitting from being a non-union worker at a show that's reasonably popular with DUers (out because of the WGA strike) I can't bring myself, sadly, to go all righteous about it. I do know they listed my friend in the credits for about ten minutes before they realized his non-union status made that a really bad idea.

So Oprah is clearly not the only person we admire, AND I DO ADMIRE HER, operating with non-union workers. But if it's true, it's true. And it's not a "smear tactic" to tell the truth. Is it?

I think she might have her workers sign non-disclosure agreements--what happens at HARPO stays at HARPO. Dunno if that's the sticking point that keeps them out of a union, or if they just don't feel a need to unionize because they aren't being 'deprived' in any fashion.

Really--if you're getting the same deal or better, why pay union dues? After all, the idea behind unionizing is to get a decent wage and working conditions. If she contracts with these people and says that their pay/conditions will never be LESS than what the prevailing unions demand, they get the benefit without paying the dues.

or just plain out ask:
Is Harpo Productions a union shop?

but no...
it's "I don't think'....

well, I don't think you are being honest here.
and I don't think your shoes are on the right feet

and I have no interest whether Harpo is union or not - I would of course prefer that it was - but I just caught a real big waft of a sniff of something when reading you OP.

:shrug:

:)

You'd be surprised who has writers. Talk shows are particularly vulnerable because they are done every day and not pre-recorded months in advance. If Oprah has new shows, she's got people writing for her.

provided by MonkeyFunk & NYCgirl, she doesn't have any writers listed on the crew.

She doesn't do a monologue like Ellen does (as far as I remember). It's just her and her guest(s). Maybe she writes for herself whatever she's saying.

that has to be written. Oprah does not.

She doesn't do staged bits. They research stories, but that's not writing for film or the stage.

that clears up a lot of the disinfo being spread here.

I thought she trusted to luck, and the ignorance of the peasants. :shrug: :D

No writers.