2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike

[Hurmoth]

LA City Council: Where's the AMPTP?

At today?s Los Angeles City Council meeting, over 300 writers and supporters came to hear Councilmember Eric Garcetti speak to the City Council about the writers strike, and the need to bring the AMPTP back to the table so negotiations can resume.

The AMPTP did not bother to send a representative, apparently feeling that the $20 million a day damage to the Los Angeles economy is more the City Council's problem than theirs.

Garcetti introduced an emergency motion asking for both parties to resume bargaining, and to come to a just and fair deal as quickly as possible. He also pointed out that the writers are still at the bargaining table, ready to negotiate, and called specifically on the AMPTP to return as well.

To see the meeting, go here for the playback; you can forward to 3hrs 36 minuts, or use the ?Jump To? menu and go to ?Special Motion #1 (Garcetti-Wesson)?.

Councilmember Garcetti mentions that the studios benefit from various programs and tax breaks that the city and state have given them to try and keep entertainment work in California. Aside from help with zoning and land use, expedited permits, the use of government buildings to film in for free, and the expansion of their studio space, the entertainment sector are the lowest payers of business taxes in the city, and receive state tax credits as well.

Garcetti said it clearly: ?We?ve put ourselves forward helping this industry out, and now we want it to help Los Angeles and resolve this strike as quickly as possible.?

The conglomerates benefit from government tax breaks and incentives to keep them here in California. These incentives come at taxpayer expense. It seems only fair to ask that they behave as good corporate citizens in return ? instead of refusing to bargain as the strike does serious damage to the economy of the city and the state.

We at United Hollywood want to thank Councilmember Garcetti for his support and his honesty. We appreciate everything he is doing to help bring this strike to an end, and to protect the interests of working men and women in the entertainment industry.

The fact that the AMPTP didn't even show up, proves that they couldn't care any less about ending this strike. All Nick Counter wants to do is screw the guilds out of the money they so rightly deserve.

Strike prediction: $220 mil per month[/b] mil per month

The WGA strike will cost the regional economy $220 million in damages each month it continues, a regional economic group projected Wednesday.

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. forecast was 10% higher than the group's previous projection of just a month ago (HR 11/21). To date, the seven-week strike has cost the regional economy $342.7 million in lost wages and ripple effects on such businesses as restaurants, hotels and personal-service firms, the LAEDC said.

"There have been 52 scripted series where almost all production has ground to a halt, and you have motion picture projects starting to founder, so there is definitely an impact out there," LAEDC chief economist Jack Kyser said. "We are seeing wage losses for members of the WGA, and this is spreading through the broader economy. It's going to be painful, and it's going to get more painful as it goes."

Kyser was among those testifying Wednesday before a Los Angeles City Council committee about how the seven-week WGA strike is affecting local residents and businesses.

"It's not going to kill the economy, but it's not going to help," Kyser told The Hollywood Reporter.

Entertainment represents the region's third-biggest economic sector, after international trade and tourism. The industry employs more than 254,000 locally, or 5.5% of the local work force, according to LAEDC statistics.

Some projections of economic impact from the strike have been much lower than those from the LAEDC, but Kyser told councilmen that best available estimates show WGA members already have lost more than $122 million in wages while craft professionals and blue-collar workers who are members of IATSE have lost $211 million.

The Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers was the source for both wage estimates, but the LAEDC used an impact multiplier to calculate broader economic impact. The group also noted that the annual Academy Awards represents $130 million in contributions to the regional economy, with the awards program now roiled by the prospect of WGA pickets at the Feb. 24 Oscars.

The MPAA also presented testimony into the record of the Council session.

"Each day the strike continues, more people and more businesses are impacted -- more layoffs and more lost revenue," MPAA senior vp Vans Stevenson said. "We know restaurants, florists and dry cleaners are affected because their customers have to cut their spending, (and) also of concern is the loss of health insurance coverage to entertainment union and guild employees."

AMPTP spokesman Jesse Hiestand said the studio group deferred to the MPAA for the council testimony, as that's the group that normally represents studio interests before governmental bodies.

WGA negotiating committee chair John Bowman testified on the guild's strike and its stalled negotiations with the AMPTP. Afterwards, the guild criticized the AMPTP for not adding its own testimony to the proceedings.

"The (AMPTP) was invited to attend but refused," the WGA said. "We believe their refusal shows a callous disregard for the people of Los Angeles. First these companies walked away from the bargaining table, and today they chose to ignore the economic hardship their actions have caused. The WGA would like to solve this problem and get everyone back to work, but that can't be done until the other side comes back to the table."

The WGA strike today marks its 46th day, with no new bargaining sessions with the AMPTP planned and the guild setting its sights on more limited work agreements with individual production companies.

After the Council session, Bowman again told reporters he hopes to announce deals with some number of independent companies by next week. One such pact is expected to be hammered out with David Letterman's Worldwide Pants.

[Hurmoth]

Writers initiate separate talks

With no talks scheduled with Hollywood's major studios, the Writers Guild of America has begun negotiating with several small independent television and movie production companies on new employment agreements, John Bowman, the union's chief negotiator, told reporters Wednesday after a news conference. Some deals may be announced as early as next week, he predicted.

Separately, producers for the People's Choice Awards on CBS announced that they would drastically change the format of the Jan. 8 broadcast to a taped show to avoid disruption by picket lines. In the past, the show had been broadcast live.

The decision came after the Writers Guild earlier in the week declined to give waivers for striking Hollywood writers to work on the Golden Globes or Academy Awards shows.

Bowman said the interim contracts between the union and independent producers probably would require them to accept any agreement the union ultimately reaches with the big studios. The plan would work if enough smaller producers sign deals to bring the studios back to the bargaining table, he said.

"We have a number of companies that are interested in signing these agreements," Bowman said. "If you get a critical mass of people going back to business and it puts pressure on the other companies, that's something we would do."

One independent company, David Letterman's Worldwide Pants Inc., said Wednesday that it was interested in a separate deal with the union to get "Late Show With David Letterman" back on the air with new shows. CBS Corp. has been airing reruns of the talk show since the strike began Nov. 5.

If the strike continues through the end of the current television season in May, industry losses may reach $2.5 billion, Bowman said Wednesday in an appearance before the Los Angeles City Council's economic development committee.

Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said writers had lost about $122.4 million in wages since the strike began. He said the estimate came from the studios' negotiating representative, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

"This strike will not kill the L.A. County economy, but it will certainly act as a brake," Kyser said.

Alliance spokesman Jesse Hiestand didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

As for the People's Choice Awards, the show will be produced in a "magazine-style" format. Instead of a live ceremony, the show, hosted by Queen Latifah, will consist of taped segments and prerecorded acceptance speeches.

Industry sources said the change in format came as a direct result of concerns about striking writers on picket lines discouraging movie, television and music stars from attending the ceremonies.

[Hurmoth]

WGA STRIKE UPDATE: Daily Show and Colbert Report to Return January 7

Comedy Central?s The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report are the next late night shows to announce their returns without writers. Both shows will be back on the air January 7.

"We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence,? read a statement from the network attributed to hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

?We continue to hold out hope for a swift resolution to the current stalemate that will enable the shows to be complete again,? the network said in a statement.

The shows will return the week following the January 2 resumption of NBC?s late night shows hosted by Jay Leno and Conan O?Brien and ABC?s Jimmy Kimmel Live. All three shows will return without writers.

David Letterman?s Worldwide Pants is expecting to meet Friday with the Writers Guild of America in hopes of negotiating a side deal to allow the CBS shows hosted by Letterman and Craig Ferguson to return as soon as January 2, but with writers.

[Ayepecks]

Sweet -- more Colbert :D

[Rappy Veteran]

:laugh:

[Hurmoth]

^ :laugh: Desperate times call for desperate measures.

[episode]

I just hope once Christmas and New Year comes and goes that its settled and we can get back to the Heroes and Chuck.

Even if it does end in early Jan, its too late. This season is over.

[Ayepecks]

Meh... the Daily Show can go to hell, just give me Colbert :p

[Hurmoth]

Even if it does end in early Jan, its too late. This season is over.

Not true, Carlton Cuse (WGA Negotiating Committee & Executive Producer/Writer of Lost) recently said that if they could end it by the end of January the seasons could still be salvaged.

“I think that January is really the critical month,” said Carlton Cuse, an executive producer of “Lost” (which returns with an eight-episode season Jan. 31) and a member of the WGA negotiating committee.

“There’s still time, if we can make a deal, to salvage the remnants of this television season,” Cuse continued. “It’ll be shorter, but it’ll give us a chance to wrap up [our shows]. But more importantly, there is still a chance to salvage pilot season [in which potential fall shows are created]. If January comes and goes without a deal, you’re really looking at this television season and next television season being cratered, as far as scripted shows go.”

[spenser.d]

Meh... the Daily Show can go to hell, just give me Colbert :p

Pfft. They're the same thing anyways :p Colbert came into existence because Comedy Central was looking for a good way to make the Daily Show an hour long.

They're both great shows, IMO.

-Spenser

[aubaine]

WGA STRIKE UPDATE: Daily Show and Colbert Report to Return January 7

this is really disappointing to me. I would have thought that Jon and Stephen would have supported the strike enough to not resume their shows without their writers....

[D!ABOL!C]

this is really disappointing to me. I would have thought that Jon and Stephen would have supported the strike enough to not resume their shows without their writers....

Perhaps it's for the same reason, Leno and Letterman are coming back. They all have NON-writing staff that are out of jobs. It's not just the writers who are affected, it's everyone. Tough decisions have to be made.

[Ayepecks]

Pfft. They're the same thing anyways :p Colbert came into existence because Comedy Central was looking for a good way to make the Daily Show an hour long.

They're both great shows, IMO.

-Spenser

How on earth are they the same?! Because Colbert was on the Daily Show and they're both political comedy? They're not very similar, IMO, and the Daily Show has been horrible ever since a lot of the cast left (Colbert, Carrel, etc).

[Hurmoth]

this is really disappointing to me. I would have thought that Jon and Stephen would have supported the strike enough to not resume their shows without their writers....

I agree with you, but they do have their non-writing staff that NBC was going to fire. According to union rules they can suspend them for a certain period of time (like 30 or 60 days) with no pay and then they have two options: (1) keep them on full pay or (2) fire them. They're not making enough money to support them with reruns so they really don't have a choice but to fire them.

I applaud them for sticking with it as long as they did.

Perhaps it's for the same reason, Leno and Letterman are coming back. They all have NON-writing staff that are out of jobs. It's not just the writers who are affected, it's everyone. Tough decisions have to be made.

Letterman is different. Worldwide Pants is the production company behind Letterman (in fact he owns it) and they have signed an interim deal with the WGA to get their writers back.

Leno and Conan cannot do that because their production company is NBC/Universal (if I'm not mistaken).

[Rappy Veteran]

Here is what is clear to me based on new reporting about the entrenched positions of both sides: hopes for any kind of settlement have dimmed. I have learned that last week Jeffrey Katzenberg secretly tried and failed to work out a compromise that would have brought both the WGA and the AMPTP back to the bargaining table. It was an effort that was laudable. But the fact that it was unsuccessful dramatically points up disturbing realities, I have learned: that the CEOs are deeply entrenched in their desire to punish the WGA for daring to defy them by striking and to bully the writers into submission on every issue, and that the writers are sadly misguided to believe they have any leverage left. I'm told the moguls are determined to write off not just the rest of this TV season (including the Back 9 of scripted series), but also pilot season and the 2008/2009 schedule as well. Indeed, network orders for reality TV shows are pouring into the agencies right now. I'm sorry to break this disappointing news right before Christmas, but the truth hurts.

The WGA-AMPTP post-strike talks fell apart December 7th when the mogul reps issued an ultimatum, containing six issues which the WGA needed to take off the table for any talks to continue, then ended all negotiations. Katzenberg as both a moderate and a bit media player (as head of small DreamWorks Animation) has been marginalized by the Big Media moguls during these negotiations. Nevertheless, he singlehandedly made an effort, with the full knowledge of the other CEOs, to get the talks restarted. "Ultimately, what he was trying to do was to bring both sides back before the DGA started negotiating," a source told me.

So Katzenberg organized three give-and-take sessions between himself and 30 to 40 TV showrunners seeking his advice because of their concern about the WGA's negotiating strategy. ["These meetings shouldn't be confused with the smaller showrunner informational meetings that took place during the same period of time which included at least 100 if not more," an influential WGA source tells me. "There is no widespread showrunner movement to negotiate independently, just a small group who mistakenly thought they could maneuver behind the scenes (with only the best intentions) but were blindsided by the AMPTP as you suggested."] He told them, "If your WGA leaders don't make a deal with us before the DGA, my concern is you'll never make a deal with us. The guild will break down and key people like yourselves will go Fi-Core. It'll be 1988 all over again almost to the week and month. It's my belief that it's not in anyone's interest, in fact it would be bad for the Industry as a whole, for the guild to get divided. And that's what's going to happen."

Then Katzenberg went to Barry Meyer, the Warner Bros chairman/CEO considered a hardliner among the moguls, and told him that this clique of showrunners were ready to go to their leadership and tell them to focus only on New Media issues if the talks re-started. But the moguls needed to go back into negotiations without any conditions so that ultimatum had to be taken off the table. "Jeffrey told Barry, 'I'm confident we will get a deal done if you go back in the room with the WGA now,'" an insider confided.

But Meyer, obviously speaking for the rest of the CEOs, refused. So no talks are planned, none are anticipated, and if the moguls continue to have their way, none will be forthcoming for months and months. That is the reality, hard as it is to accept.

I am now convinced that the 8 Big Media moguls pretty much have a vice-like grip on how this strike will get settled. And virtually no amount of external pressure will force their hand. I know from my many years of reporting on labor negotiations in the U.S. and abroad that, in any new contract negotiation, there is one watershed moment when the union and the companies can move the flag down the field in a meaningful way before ego, rhetoric, and the passage of time get the better of everyone involved. Has that moment come and gone? I honestly don't know, but if it hasn't then it's soon -- very soon.

[Source]

[Hurmoth]

^ Interesting read... the major thing here is that the WGA cannot get divided, plain and simple. If that happens, they'll end up getting screwed by the AMPTP and it may take years to ever get internet residuals.

The main thing that's really going to tell us what will happen with the strike is how the DGA will negotiate. If it is clear that they want the exact same thing and the AMPTP is not willing to give it to them, then the strike will last a long time, but the DGA is willing to go low and the AMPTP is willing to listen, then the strike could be over by the end of January and while this season will be short, the pilot season will salvageable. I doubt summer shows (i.e. Burn Notice, Monk, Psych, Damages, etc.) will return in their usual time frame, but they might return later in the year though.

Writers have a lot riding on a director

Long before he became a lead negotiator for the Directors Guild of America, Gilbert Cates honed his skills as a fencer.

In college he would spend hours some days lunging at "suspended doughnuts" to sharpen his aim before facing a human opponent.

Cates is preparing for his next parry and thrust -- a labor negotiation with the major studios that could determine whether Hollywood returns to work any time soon. Writers are in the eighth week of a strike that has shut down scores of TV shows and idled thousands of production workers.

Hopes of a quick end to the walkout were dashed this month, when studios broke off talks with writers as the sides failed to reach agreement on how writers should be paid for work distributed over the Internet.

Some are now looking to Cates and the DGA to break the logjam.

"There is no question that the DGA is negotiating for everybody," said Bill Condon, who wrote and directed "Dreamgirls." "The issue that has united our membership and the DGA membership is new media."

A longtime Hollywood insider, Cates is seen by the studios as someone with whom they can deal, in contrast to the more aggressive adversaries who lead the writers. He and DGA Executive Director Jay Roth are known for their nonconfrontational style and have a history of settling contracts peacefully and quickly.

It's a reputation Cates doesn't dispute. "We all want a piece of the Internet. The difference is not in what we want but in the tactics we use to get it," he said in a recent interview.

A deal on a new contract between the directors and the studios could not only undercut the writers' demands, it could weaken the position of actors. The powerful Screen Actors Guild, whose contract expires in June, has supported the writers. But Hollywood has a history of "pattern bargaining," in which the first contract settled between one of the talent unions and the studios tends to become the template for subsequent contracts.

Cates can't afford to appear to rush into a deal. He and Roth must negotiate a contract that is acceptable to the guild's 13,400 members, who share many of the striking writers' concerns about Internet pay.

Cates, 73, will be pressured to forge an agreement that is palatable to writers. He's still remembered, none too fondly by some Hollywood scribes, as the deal maker who gave away the lion's share of income from home video sales during a contract negotiation more than two decades ago.

Beyond reaching agreement on a new contract, the directors say their broader goal is to help end a strike that has crippled the working lives of their members, who include production managers, assistant directors, associate directors and stage managers.

Some top writers, including a contingent who belong to both unions, hope Cates can break the stalemate in the WGA's negotiations. Studios have refused to bargain with writers until they take several proposals off the table, among them demands to extend union benefits to writers who work in reality TV and feature animation and the right to support other unions' strikes without fear of reprisal.

Over the last two weeks, several leading TV writers have been quietly lobbying directors to stress their mutual concerns, such as payment for work on the Web, and to make it clear they won't accept a deal that mirrors what the studios have already offered.

"I have the profoundest respect for the directors I work with, and I want them to get the same deal we're asking for," said Neal Baer, a WGA negotiating committee member and executive producer of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

The writers previously rejected as paltry a studio proposal to pay them for the streaming and downloading of their work on the Internet. Among other things, writers complained that the proposal would pay them less than $250 a year for the reuse of a one-hour drama. The studios maintain that the writers' demands are unrealistic given the uncertainty about the growth of online entertainment.

The DGA spent more than a year and nearly $2 million researching the future of online entertainment with the help of outside consultants. In a meeting with WGA leaders last week, DGA officials shared their findings, which buttress studio arguments that Web business is still in the formative stage, according to people familiar with the research.

Writers Guild officials countered with their own findings that show rapid and strong growth of digital media.

In the past, the two guilds have been guarded about sharing such information, reflecting a history of strained relations.

The bad blood dates to 1984, when Cates negotiated a contract that included a discounted pay formula for residuals from home video sales. Writers had been seeking a higher rate and felt weakened by the DGA's agreement, which became the model for subsequent talent union contracts.

Over the years, writers have tried but failed to garner a bigger share of revenue, even as the home video and DVD business boomed.

Aware that their organization is sometimes viewed as being too cozy with the studios, DGA leaders stressed in a recent letter to their membersthat they weren't "pushovers. . . . We have never been that and don't plan to start now."

The directors say they would normally have already begun their negotiations for a new contract; the current one expires June 30. They held off to give writers a chance to settle their own contract, but the directors are off the sidelines now that the writers and the studios haven't returned to the bargaining table.

In fact, some believe that the writers strike gives directors more leverage because studios are eager to end what has been an economically painful walkout. A deal with the directors would also hand the studios an advantage in the public relations war with the writers, whom the studios portray as intransigent.

Despite their overlapping concerns, the directors are expected to be more flexible than the writers on residual payments. That's because directors typically rely less on residuals for income because they usually are paid more than writers. Furthermore, 40% of DGA members are production workers who tend to care more about health and pension benefits than residuals.

In the recent interview, Cates said he was well-prepared for next month's negotiations. The two sides have been talking for more than a year about the issues and last week agreed on an agenda for the talks.

Notably, the agenda focuses on the Internet and does not include such non-starter issues as the right to support other unions' strikes that the writers have kept on the table, according to people close to the situation.

"I promise we will know more about the issues than management does," Cates said.

A former dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Cates has been active in DGA affairs since he joined the union's board back in 1975. He was president of the guild in the mid-1980s, when it led a successful fight against the practice of coloring black-and-white films. He also presided over the DGA's first "strike" in its 71-year history; the walkout lasted only five minutes.

Cates is known to the public as the impresario behind the annual Academy Award show. He is slated to produce his 14th Oscar telecast in February.

That places him in an especially awkward position because the Writers Guild has said it won't allow its members -- who pen everything from the cornball jokes to presenter remarks -- to work on the 80th awards show.

Although he is vilified by some writers as too close to the studios, Cates' supporters say he has used his extensive contacts in the industry to deliver solid gains for guild members.

In 1981, for example, Cates helped negotiate a deal for residual payments from HBO and other cable TV channels that ended up being far better than the pact the writers negotiated for themselves.

Writers Guild leaders, for their part, have publicly downplayed the significance of the DGA talks, emphasizing that their agenda won't be set by another union.

"We wish them well," the guild said this month, "but they do not represent writers."

[Hurmoth]

Wall Street: Congloms Let Town Suffer Rather Than Make Fair Deal

Last week, Wall Street firm Bear Stearns issued a report stating that even if the Writers Guild got every single provision it has been asking for in a new contract, the impact on the conglomerates' bottom line would be "negligible." It's encouraging to see Wall Street saying what we've known all along: that the WGA's proposals are fair, reasonable and affordable. (They don't even keep up with inflation!) On the other hand, it is absolutely infuriating that the companies would walk out of negotiations and happily keep thousands of people out of work and wreak havoc on the LA economy over something... "negligible." It is not negligible to countless families in our industry and our region.

MediaPost.com has a summary of the Bear Stearns report here (reg. req.) The highlights:

"From Wall Street's perspective, we estimate the impact of accepting the [writers'] proposal is largely negligible," Bear Stearns wrote in a report last week.

The firm estimates that the $120 million figure would carry an average impact of less than 1% on annual earnings per share for the media companies. That does not factor in any concessions by the writers' side (the WGA), where the principal issue is a desire for a piece of ad dollars from new-media distribution.

The potentially small financial impact suggests that studios (Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers) are more concerned about setting a precedent in new-media revenue sharing. However, Bear Stearns wrote that the writers' forecast for that market "strikes us as fairly aggressive." The firm hinted that studios are looking to the future. They are concerned that a favorable settlement would embolden directors and actors in their coming renegotiations.

[Hurmoth]

?Law & Order??s Dick Wolf on the WGA strikeke

Just before Christmas, I participated in a press conference with Dick Wolf, creator and executive producer of the Law & Order franchise, about the debut of the 18th season of the original series, which features two new cast members, Jeremy Sisto and Linus Roache. (You can read some of the conversation with the actors over at Film.com, and I?ll be previewing that debut next week.)

During the course of the conference, the inevitable topic of the writers? strike came up. Here?s what Wolf, inarguably one of the most powerful people in television, had to say aboutI think the strike is the worst thing that?s happened to the community in 20 years, since the last strike. Nobody ever wins a strike. This is a disaster for the television business much more than the feature business. And my sincerest hope is that people get their heads on straight, lock themselves in a room, and come out with a deal. It?s an absolute necessity.

I have a horrifying feeling that it?s going to be a lot longer unless this is solved very, very quickly, in the next ten days or two weeks, which I don?t see in the cards right now. It could be a horrifically long strike. I mean the last one was five months and two weeks.s and two weeks.[/indent]If the strike drags on, would Dick Wolf Productions go out and make iNo, I think that you?re going to find that these side deals are going to be nonstarters. I fully believe that I think that it would lead to a whole different form of chaos.

I don?t own my negatives. So I don?t even know if I wanted to, whether I could sign an independent deal. I want the industry to go back to work. It?s not about me or my shows. It?s about the future of television.

And I am fortunate enough to know that these shows will go on no matter what the resolution of the strike. This is affecting literally tens of thousands of people who have no dog in the fight. And that?s the real tragedy here.t?s the real tragedy here.[/indent]

Video game industry capitalizing on writers' strike[/b]izing on writers' strike

Who says there's nothing new on your TV?

Not video gamers.

As the Hollywood writers strike drags toward 2008, the video game industry is hoping a lack of fresh episodes in prime-time could motivate more people to pick up video game controllers instead of remotes -- especially with the millions of Wiis and copies of "Call of Duty 4" under Christmas trees this holiday season.

"If you're a fan of network programming, maybe seeing another repeat of 'Pushing Daisies' or 'Cold Case' will inspire you to finish that level of 'Ratchet and Clank Future' instead," suggests Joseph Olin, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.

Because game publishers rely almost completely on nonunion talent to create video games, the Writers Guild of America walkout, now in its eighth week, hasn't been an issue for the gaming industry. Only a handful of game writers are represented by the WGA, and they fall outside of the jurisdiction of the current strike.

"There's a much better relationship between game developers and publishers than there appears to be in terms of all the polemics between the writers, producers and studios," says Olin.

During the five-month writer's strike in 1988, gamers were just beginning to become infatuated with "Tetris" -- not exactly a narrative form. In the 20 years since the addictive bricks fell, plot and Hollywood have both become integral parts of interactive entertainment.

With new games now pegged to almost every major blockbuster movie, most of the major studios -- Warner Bros., Walt Disney Co. and Sony Corp., for example -- now have their own gamemaking divisions.

Two years ago, however, a tussle between Hollywood and Silicon Valley threatened a strike of its own.

The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted to strike against game publishers after they rejected an agreement seeking to boost pay for voice acting in games. Ultimately, game publishers refused to dispense residuals -- a slice of profits from every game sold -- but agreed to a 36 percent pay raise.

"The game production model has always been predicated on a buyout of performance," says Olin. "Games were sold in toy stores. For a long time, production teams only consisted of two people: an artist and an engineer. Now that technology has expanded, it's a lot more complicated."

Game developers sometimes hire authors or screenwriters to pen the thousands of lines of dialogue players may encounter in a game. When publisher Ubisoft tapped Telltale Games to create video games based on "CSI," the developer consulted with the CBS show's writers, but hired "CSI" novelist Max Allan Collins to write the dialogue.

"Anytime we have the ability to work with writers, it improves the quality of the game," says Dan Connors, CEO of Telltale Games. "They're a great body of talent that generates a ton of creative work."

Connors says no union scribes have composed quips for "Sam & Max," Telltale's popular episodic comedy-adventure game series based on the comic book of the same name. Instead, everyone who's contributed to "Sam & Max" has worked in another capacity on the game, like in programming or designing.

"Writing is something we look for in everybody we hire," says Connors.

For the first time, the WGA will recognize game writing at the 2008 Writers Guild Awards, a move that WGA West president Patric M. Verrone hopes will raise the profile of game writers.

Not that the gaming industry needs any resuscitation.

Nielsen Media Research doesn't yet count how many people play video games across multiple platforms in the same way they calculate TV viewership, but research from the NPD Group, which measures gaming industry sales, says people are buying more gaming software and hardware than ever before.

Sales of consoles, games and accessories hit $2.63 billion in November, up 52 percent from last year. Sales of games alone hit $1.3 billion in November, up 62 percent from last year, according to NPD.

Strike or no strike, the gaming industry is welcoming everyone.

"My hope is that people who are used to watching new programming on TV discover gaming as an entertainment alternative," says Connors. "Obviously, it will have to be a pretty prolonged strike for that to happen, but I think it's a definite possibility."

[Hurmoth]

WGA Announces Deal With Letterman's Company

It's just been announced that the WGA has made a deal with David Letterman?s company, Worldwide Pants. This is part of the larger strategy of making deals with individual companies within the AMPTP.

There are strong feelings about this on both sides ? people who think we should have done the deal, people who think we shouldn?t have. Here?s why I think the WGA made the right choice:

Some late-night writers may feel it's unfair for a few writers (i.e. Letterman?s staff) to be able to go back to work when the rest of them can?t. But the fact is, when the WGA first announced its strategy of negotiating independently with members of the AMPTP, it was a given that if that strategy succeeded, some writers would go back to work while others stayed on strike.

It?s the heart of the ?divide and conquer? strategy that the pressure on individual companies comes from some writers going back to work, thus putting the companies who are willing to deal fairly with us at a competitive advantage. This deal will help create that pressure, especially on NBC and ABC; also, it?s na?ve for anyone to think that Letterman isn?t going to be honest in his opinions about the AMPTP on the national stage that is his show. CBS is already furious with him for making this deal, he?s not going to censor himself to make them happy.

Leno, Conan, Kimmel and others have been staunch supporters of the writers, even digging into their own pockets to pay their non-writing crews. The sacrifice they?ve made by staying out this long in support of writers is an incredible thing. But unlike Letterman, who can thumb his nose at CBS because he owns his own company, the other late-night hosts are effectively hostage to the position of their employers, like NBC and ABC.

And since all the hosts are being forced to go back in January anyway, the income stream they provide to the conglomerates will come back no matter what, albeit (we hope) reduced by advertisers rebelling.

So denying Letterman a deal wouldn?t actually have deprived CBS of a revenue stream. At best, it would have reduced the revenue stream. And again, tremendous advertiser pressure will now be put on NBC and ABC to settle this.

Where New Media is concerned, it looks like Pants is going to take full responsibility for the income writers would make from reuse of their work on the Internet. Translation: even though CBS won?t pay that money, Worldwide Pants will, and will pay it as per the proposals we presented to the AMPTP that they have walked away from -- twice. Apparently Letterman doesn't feel that giving his writers a fair share of internet revenues will destroy his business.

But the most important strategic value here is that we can completely refute the idea the AMPTP has been peddling that WGA leadership is ?intractable? and ?incapable? of making a deal.

We?re showing our own membership, the town, and the public at large that the WGA leadership can make a deal, quickly and rationally -- when we?re dealing with rational people on the other side of the table.

We?re not the problem. The AMPTP is the problem.

They want a world where unions don?t exist, where they don?t pay any residuals, health insurance, pensions, overtime or benefits to anyone. That?s why they?re willing to try and break our union at horrific cost to everyone who works in entertainment, even though the money they?re saving is minimal by everyone?s estimation. They hope if they break us, the other unions will fall into line, and they?ll be able to eat away at all our benefits piece by piece until union protections are gutted.

This is the kind of behavior that Wall Street often rewards. But that doesn?t make it actually good for business, much less for the people who make the product the business relies on for its profits.

We want to go back to work, and we want the town back to work ? with a fair deal for everyone. Personally, although I know there will be frustration for some members that we made this deal, I think it was the right thing to do.

When one of the majors comes to the table and makes a deal ? and I hope they will ? odds are that I won?t be one of the writers who gets to go back to work. I won?t like it, because I have a movie in preproduction right now that I've had to walk off of. But I?ll live with it, if it serves the larger good of all of us getting coverage.

Nothing about this strike has been easy, because the AMPTP started with one goal and they haven?t wavered ? keep the Internet to themselves. It?s a ridiculous idea, and probably will result in them making themselves obsolete, but they still cling to it. We can?t be any less determined or resolute than they are.

This was a good choice for our leadership to make, the right choice even though it?s painful for some of us, and I hope we?ll stay united behind them.

The Letterman Deal from Down South[/b]/teamsters-perThis comes from John Jabaley, a UH contributor and Teamster.

This comes from John Jabaley, a UH contributor and Teamster.

I was at a Christmas party the other night, the kind we have down South where you see three generations of one family that you?ve known forever and you eat cheese straws and roast beef and sushi. (We?re getting cosmopolitan down here.)

Everybody and their brother asked about the strike. The big question was this: Did the late night hosts going back on the air mean the writers were getting their butts kicked? (This was framed in different language by each generation.)

I explained how it was unfortunate, but the hosts had contracts they could get sued over, and in some cases were being hit pretty hard because they?d been paying staff out of their own pockets. I said there was hope Letterman would sign a deal with the WGA, but this argument was somewhat hampered by the fact that no agreement had been announced.

When I go to the next party I?ll see a lot of the same people, and maybe even eat some of the same food. I know I?ll hear the same jokes, and get the same questions. But this time I?ll have a better answer: The Writers Guild is willing to make a fair deal. The Writers Guild is capable of making a fair deal.

The guild just made a fair deal with a businessman?s businessman, and it?ll set a precedent. That will lead to more deals and then to agreements for independent films, and then we can all start getting back to work.

A lot of people I wouldn?t have expected to told me they're planning to watch TV on January 2nd, just to hear what the late night hosts have to say. When they turn on the television they?ll find Craig Ferguson back on the air... with the Late Late Show writers. They?ll find David Letterman back on the air... with the Late Show writers.

They'll find Worldwide Pants back on the air, and I bet I know what the first top ten will be about . Yee haw.

[Hurmoth]

WGA Strike Primer: Doing a Favor for the AMPTP Corporations

In the spirit of good harmony at year's end, I am going to tell the AMPTP corporations how it can save a great deal of money. Few writers would be willing to do this, I know, but maybe a kindness will be rewarded by their returning to the bargaining table.

Here's how the AMPTP can save several million dollars:

Drop your publicity campaign. It's not working. The public figured things out really early and made up their mind. It's over. All that money you're spending for your Washington operatives -- ka-ching, save it. All that money you're spending on trade paper ads and your nifty website (the real one, not the funny parody) and on Web banner ads (the Web! It makes money! Cool!) -- ka-ching, save it. Save it all.

And you really should save it, since all your TV networks may be shelling out huge bucks in February, for "give-backs" to advertisers after ratings plummeted. CBS alone may have to return in the neighborhood of one billion dollars. (Ouch! That's some snazzy neighborhood. Even for Les Moonves.) And that billion is just CBS.

(Note: the WGA offer would cost the AMPTP corporations together around $150 million over three years. The many billions you'll lose on give-backs in February doesn't seem like good business sense. You might want to have someone double-check your books. I suspect that a decimal point might have gotten misplaced. Just another kindness I pass your way. You're welcome.)

So, forget about doing PR trying to convince some sap that offering zero for Internet content is a rallying cry for poor General Electric and Sony. The public gets it. Zero is not hard to figure out.

How badly have you lost the PR effort? Pull up a chair.

The other day, my friend Phil Caruso wrote me from Albany. Not quite the hot-bed of Hollywood insiders. (In fairness, Albany is not the hot-bed of anything in late-December.) Apparently, his seventh-grade daughter, Sarah, was talking with her friend, Andrea, about the strike. (Either they're precocious or just big TV watchers). Andrea was uncertain why writers were upset, so Sarah explained that they had wanted four extra cents for selling a DVD, plus some money for the Internet. And Andrea replied, "Oh, just give them a nickel and get on with this. So the producers won't be able to buy their second hot tub or have their mocha latteccino with the EXTRA whip cream, big deal."

When you've lost the seventh-graders over designer coffee, you're really in serious trouble. It doesn't help that they're also upset that you took Ugly Betty off the air.

Okay, that was only a parable. And you're numbers-people. So, just for you, here are some hard numbers to show how your PR forays are pointless, that it's over, and you should save your money.

When Pepperdine University did a survey, the public favored the writers by 63%-4%. Given that margins of error are about +/- 4 points, it means potentially 0% of the public supports you. This includes your families. And you.

The Gallup Poll did a study. Americans favored writers 60%-12%. Though this may appear slightly better, it's the equivalent of drowning in a huge lake rather than the ocean.

And then there was the recent TNS poll. Here, the public sided with writers 34%-2%. (Sorry, that's not a typo. With the margin of error, you might be negative-2%. So, you've got give-backs there, too.)

Now, your most rosy-eyed might say, "Hey, this is good! Only 36% of Americans even care about the writers striking!" (Actually, you already took out an ad that said this. I'm telling you -- save your money!!) But it's very bad. You see, during the last general national election, 41.3% of Americans voted. That means about the same percentage of Americans care about the writers strike as care who their senator and congressmen are.

And they favor the writers over you 34%-2%.

It's that terrible in every poll. The public gets it. Seventh-graders get it. Whenever you read someone defending how strong and handsome and clever you are, remember: they're in that "2%" group. Save your money, it's not working.

In fact, all that time you're wasting thinking up sad PR ads that only serve to reinforce your 2% support -- you could use it getting back to the negotiating table.

That's right: every ad you buy, every press release you put out about how much the strike your forced is costing -- it only reinforces that You Are Not At the Negotiating Table. You. The AMPTP corporations.

Do yourself a favor. Save your PR money. Save all of it. Instead, get back to the negotiating table. You'll feel better about yourself, and your families may even start supporting you, too.

You're welcome.

I've added a poll to the thread to get a feel for how Neowin members feel about the strike, so vote away :)

[Rappy Veteran]

I actually forgot this was still going on!

[Mathachew Veteran]

It's really amazing at the lack of common sense that is in this whole ordeal. The above letter makes it painfully clear that they're losing so much more money with the current actions than tey would ever lose on making a new deal with the WGA. Pure stupidity. I nominate them for 2007's Darwin award.

[Rappy Veteran]

The WGA West is abandoning pickets at all other locations the rest of this week in order to focus on NBC Studios because Jay Leno returns to The Tonight Show tonight. But will the Secret Service contingent surrounding GOP presidential candidate Muck Huckabee allow the strikers to even get within the city limits of Burbank? The striking writers will start their four shifts of protests at 8 AM Pacific Time and continue until 6 PM. "Please come out to the lines and show NBC that they might be able to put a show on the air, but it won't be a good show until the writers return, and talent can appear without having to cross a picket line," the WGA's website says.

But the WGA also admits that the decision to set up picket lines was "difficult" and "painful" and that it "will not be of the hosts themselves but the companies for which their shows are produced," a WGAE statement said Sunday. That's because Leno aided picketers in the early days of the strike and his writers have been regulars on the line as well as helpful to the WGA cause. There's a rift right now between them and the guild because of the WGA's decision to make an interim agreement with David Letterman's Worldwide Pants enabling The Late Show and the Late Late Show to return to the air with scribes. "Our purpose is to continue awareness of our strike and the media conglomerates against which we strike, and to encourage performers, politicians and others to honor our picket line and not appear as guests on these struck programs." The guild also pledged that "nothing at all personal or defamatory is intended" -- obviously a real worry among SAG members.

Right now, agents and publicists are in a quandary over whether to send A-list and even B-list actors onto Jay's show because of the controversy. But some of the locals and out-of-towners who line up for hours outside NBC for a chance to sit in Leno's audience may also get intimidated by the labor action. One big question is whether striking writers will manage to infiltrate the crowd and disrupt any of the show's tapings, like they did when Carson Daly went back to work.

The regular studio and other network pickets will resume beginning January 7th.

[Hurmoth]

^ I fully support them picketing at the taping tonight. It will get the most news attention since Huckabee will be there, so good for them!

[Viserov]

I am curious to see how Leno and Conan will perform tonight since they will have no material to work with.