Dear-oh-dear how can I be positive when it’s been a shitty week. Okay so I’m going to try and be positive. The film I wrote, WASHDAYS, which has already picked up some awards, including the Rushes Soho award for BEST FILM, has been nominated for a BIFA. This is a big deal and I am extremely pleased.

So what’s the problem?  I still have all my teeth, the sun has shone for most of the day and we’re having chilli con carné for supper. But it’s still been a shitty week because, well (apart from shelling out £185 for three new tyres on the car) because I’m a screenwriter. Yes, because I’m a screenwriter.

There is a perception in the UK film and television industries that we writers are, yes essential in some way, but also a bit of an inconvenience. I remember when I first started writing for soaps, the producer of an episode I had written invited me to the set. I duly arrived and someone with a clipboard pounced on me with a “And who are you?”. “Er.. the writer” I replied. “Right” said the clipboard person. “Stand over there, keep out of the way and don’t make a noise”.

What many seem  conveniently to forget is that without writers there would be no film or television  drama. Directors cannot direct from blank pages, neither can actors perform without character or dialogue. Last year, film and TV production in the US ground to a halt all because the writers stopped writing. WGA writers went on strike and the media industry haemorrhaged billions of dollars. Directors had nothing to direct and actors had nothing to act. That demonstrates the true power and worth of the screenwriter.

Okay, so what’s my beef? My beef is that I can’t afford to go to the BIFA awards. Why? Because the tickets cost over £400 inc VAT and I have earned less than £400 in the last three months. Ah you say, but surely nominees get invited for free don’t they? Yes they do. But they send the  allocated tickets to the director, because directors are more important than writers, and my director gave the second one to the producer. Now I don’t blame him particularly for buying into the whole “director is king” perception, as this has been prevalent in the film industry for decades (‘though I am trying to educate him out of it). But it does amaze me , in the light of the above demonstration of writer power, that such a blatant travesty of a myth can continue to survive. Writers and directors are creative equals, they are the unique yet symbiotic elements in the creative process of making a film : Directors need screenwriters to provide stories for them to film, and screenwriters need directors to bring their stories to the screen (unless of course the two roles are combined in one person). So there you have it, I am pissed off because the director and producer of the film are going to the Bifas for free whereas I who wrote the screenplay, created the story and characters, must shell out £400 (which I don’t have) if I want to be there. Which of course I do.

The mess I make just about every day.

This week I went back to Bob’s Big Boy for the first time since the Writer’s Strike of 2006/2007.

The graveyard shift servers were all new.   The guy who brought me my coffee was in his early 20s, with his hair combed back in a duck’s ass style that worked perfectly with the new uniforms: shirts designed to remind you of 1950s gas station attendant.  I settled into my old booth and got down to writing.

I stopped going in partly because I’d gotten a bit over involved with the other regulars, who were always asking me about the strike, or telling me stuff that was way too distracting.  And then, well,  after a few months passed I didn’t really want to explain how work picked up and faltered and picked up again and I had this idea that when I returned I’d have lost 20 pounds or published a book. You see the problem.

Then D came in at six o’clock to take over the section I was sitting in.  “Hey, haven’t seen you in a while!”

We had a nice chat, catching up a little bit.   It was really nice.  He told me his  17-year-old daughter wants to be a writer.  I gave him a card and wrote the address of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) on it, and said she might want to give it a try.  I think students only have to do 30,000 words in a month. For the rest of us, it’s 50,000 words.

I asked about the new uniform shirts, which D doesn’t like a lot.   I didn’t ask yet about the Three Musketeers or if Grumps ever came back after leaving in a huff one morning.  Lots of water under the bridge by now.

I did see a guy come in and look at me in that way that said I was in his spot.  Hmm.  I really like that booth.  You can see the whole front of the restaurant from there.  Which I probably shouldn’t be looking at anyway, right?

Anyway, NaNoWriMo 2006 is what got me started coming to Big Boy in the first place.  The only wiggle room in my schedule was getting up earlier.  So since November of 2006, when I did write a 54,000 word novel called Basura Canyon in 30 days, I’ve mostly been getting up at 3:50 in the morning and trying to get out of the house by 4:30 so I can get to a diner near work by 5:15 and write for a little more than an hour.

No, you can’t buy that novel.  It’s on my external hard drive, I’m pretty sure.   It was a very different kind of book for me and I had a good time playing with it for the next year or so.

Now I’m working on something else.  And feeling very superstitious about it, so I’m not going to say what.

The backside of Bob’s Big Boy at 6:25 a.m.

This week I’ve been trying to get some big things in order in preparation for the wonderful madness that is NaNoWriMo.  I am really looking forward to it.  Yeah, don’t worry, that’s probably all I’ll blog about for the next  month.

If anyone is joining me in this endeavor, my screen name on the National Novel Writing Month site is Sundry.  We could do a word challeng!

Landry and Devin, guitarist and bassist for Crucifictorious; image courtesy of twolia.com

So, I’ve been devouring Friday Night Lights recently. I’ve got four episodes left of season three, so don’t tell me what awaits the Dillon Panthers and their surrounding small-town Texas community.

I was pleasantly surprised this weekend while watching season three. I didn’t realize that Crucifictorious, a Christian death metal band formed by Dillon High’s Landry Clarke, was getting a new female bass player named Devin Corrigan. A good female bassist who proved a needed asset to the band, no less. 

As an aside, I have now rewatched the season two episodes where my friend Brea played brainy, metal-fan music geek Jean Binnel. Now that I’ve watched almost the entire series thus far and know its larger context, I can say 1) I really like Jean and think I’d be her friend, 2) I want her to make me a power pop metal mix CD, 3) I think her small part might have been one of the best things about a sporadically brilliant but uneven season plagued by network tampering and the writer’s strike, and 4) Landry did her wrong, even if I like the girl with whom he briefly reunited.

Sorry, couldn't resist posting a picture of music geek Jean Binnel; image courtesy of blogcdn.com

I was also stoked that Devin was played by Stephanie Hunt, a back-up singer in T-Bird and the Breaks.

And I thought it was rad that the girl who seemed to be a too-perfect rebound girl for the recently spurned lead singer was actually a newly out lesbian teenager, as she reveals in “Keeping Up Appearances.” While she does kiss Landry before coming out to him, she does so to make sure of her orientation, perhaps suggesting that Landry is the first person to whom she has come out. I was impressed by a) her confidence in identifying herself as a lesbian, as I don’t imagine too many girls I grew up with felt comfortable owning their identity like that at that age in our small Texas town and b) Landry’s maturity about the situation. The episode ended with the band jamming to The Flaming Lips’ “She Don’t Use Jelly,” which Devin sang to Landry earlier to help him with a broken heart.

The next episode for me is “The Giving Tree,” which seems to focus on Crucifictorious’s first gig with Devin. I’m hoping for a good turn-out. I’d be there. My only hope is that we see more of her, hopefully with a girlfriend to boot. I don’t know if she will be appearing in season four, which premieres on DirecTV this Wednesday, much less the rest of season three, but I like her.

Work and technology possibilities are open-endedly explored in Aronowitz’s “Technology and the Future of Work” and yet Sconce’s “Tulip Theory” seeks to deconstruct the hype and velocity of digital dependency. Both deal with issues surrounding efficiency and excess brought on by our adoption of technology in more and more of our lifestyles. Sconce’s ‘digital divide’ explains that, as Althusser and Lacan describe, the subjective reinforcement of technology is an important relationship to address. Whereas, Aronowitz describes how work is made easier and yet so is the ability of the managing structures of control.

A recent example from the Writer’s strike, both in Canada and the U.S., demonstrates well how technology altered working conditions to  include more work while remaining under the old work terms. The Internet provided a way for audiences to interact with their weekly programs via blogs, forums, or interactive websites such as ‘Dawson’s Desk’ from the teen-show “Dawson’s Creek“. In this example, viewers could log-on to the web minutes after an episode to discover insights or hints as to what was to come. Also, the ability to comment on aspects of the show, from over 1 million teens, proved a challenge and necessitated a contractual agreement  review. The duties of writers had changed and included finding content for the narrative that also came from the audiences weekly banter, comments and requests. Add to this the fact that revenue generated from cyberspace was not being treated by the royalty system applied to television revenues. In the end, protection provided by Unions does not protect members ability to provide for themselves in the same way that Freelance work can dry up as quickly as it can grow.

Another interesting development, and growing online profit margin, arises from the process stages of writing — and story boarding narratives — graphic novel/comic book phenomenon explored at filmbaby.com demonstrates the changing landscape. Online graphic novels such as this, these, and this gives the Freelance animator/writer an international audience. Self publishing is made easier as outlined at Absolute Write.com, and gives agency to freelancers. The growing attendance to Comic-conventions and star power appearances is another opportunity for freelancers to get exposure.

“Ex Machina” (2005) deals with issues of political work and technological super-aptitude. Playing well into the hero’s dual persona, demonstrates the anxieties between managing a city and physically saving it. Tech-savvy super skills will only help to a point, as Mr. Hundred, the mayor of a post 9/11 New York, faces social forces that find remedy not in technological arenas. Not unlike points brought up by Aronowitz and Sconce. Identity is created by dominating, with unions or technology, and by being dominated by greater social forces or systems of control.

The television academy is scrapping its “time-shifting” plans and will present all 28 Emmy Awards during the September telecast.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced last month that it would pre-tape eight awards presentations and acceptance speeches, including some in the writing category. Members of the Writers Guild of America blasted the academy for the plan in a letter signed by some of the top TV showrunners.

The academy says the decision was made to “mend relationships within the television community” and allow the telecast producer to focus on “creative elements” during the live show.

The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards will air at 8 p.m. Sept. 20 on CBS.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Video from the writers  strike in 2007. Replace  the word  writer with photographer.

As someone states in the Voices of Uncertainty video “content is going  to be more  and more and  more  important”.

We (photographers, writers and other artists ) are the content providers. The media corporations/publishers are making money  hand over fist with digital content, CONTENT THAT WE CREATE,  yet they  don’t want  to pay  us for  the use of our work.  Use their product without paying them and you’ll find  yourself slapped with a copyright infringement suit. The hypocrisy  and greed of  these corporations is astounding.

YouTube – Not The Daily Show, With Some Writer.

YouTube – Voices of Uncertainty.

Related Photography Workshops:

• Business Of Photography
• Webinar – Business Of Photography Primer
• Photojournalism

I have been following a very interesting discussion on LinkedIn this past week.

It started off as a question about an average going rate for web content work, and it evolved into a whole discussion about the issues and roadblocks that freelance writers have been dealing with lately. Economy aside, how many times have you as a writer had to put up with someone saying to you, “Oh, you’re a writer?  Me too!!” just because they wrote a story that their mom liked.  (Not saying that it wasn’t necessarily a good story, or that mom has bad tastes, mind you. Just saying that it doesn’t necessarily make that person a professional writer.)  It’s frustrating to be in a profession that everyone thinks they can do.  And fact of the matter is, not everyone can!  There are many aspects to writing as a craft that most people just don’t understand.  As one gentleman stated, “Just because you can read, doesn’t mean you can write.  No different than:  just because you can eat, doesn’t mean you can cook.”  I believe that he stated it perfectly. We may not have fancy software to use like the designers, but that doesn’t mean that just because a person knows how to open up a Word program they can do what we do.

There are many facets to writing. It’s not just about writing stories, or poetry. Writing is knowing your target audience and how to write to appeal to that target. Writing can be creating a well-crafted letter, adding attention grabbing headlines, publishing articles, blogging, or even doing product description in a catalog (just to list a few). It takes training and a knowledge of people in order to be able to draft some of these projects. It takes practice to be able to properly string words together in a way that will not only make sense, but will also achieve a higher purpose. 

Unfortunately, there are many people out there that are so desperate to make money “writing” that they will work for a very meager rate. And by meager, I mean rates that no person could ever hope to live on.  Not to mention that as a freelancer, a writer also needs to cover his/her own taxes, insurance, expenses, retirement, etc., etc., etc.  The list goes on and on. As a group of professionals, how will we ever be able to make a consistent and successful living when there are so many people trying to undercut us and producing mediocre work (at best) in the process? Many designers are freelance as well, but they are paid MUCH higher, and much more stable rates than we ever get, and are also viewed with much more respect. How do we make sure that our profession has a standard as well?

There are no easy answers to these questions and there are many other questions that pop up as well. But our first step is to unite.  Let’s come together in a supportive environment. Let’s show all the companies out there that we are a united front and that we deserve our fair share. Without writers, these companies would have no customers, and thus no money. Look what happened when Hollywood went through the latest writers strike. It practically closed down and the consequences are still being felt today. Hollywood may have more exposure, but the same thing would happen in any industry.  Like it or not, this world cannot survive without writers.

And there is absolutely no reason why writers need to feel like we are constantly in competition with each other. The more we support each other, the more we receive in return.  It is a win-win situation. I have met many writers that are firm believers in this support system. It is obvious on just about any discussion on LinkedIn. And it is also obvious that everyone is equally frustrated with the situation. 

So now there is a call out to all freelancers – Let’s unite and form an organization that will prove our worth and help us to stabilize our incomes. A new group has been forming on LinkedIn – the Certified Professional Writers Association. This is a group that is interested in bringing together the top minds in our industry and hopefully finding a way to improve the situation.  If you are interested in being involved in this discussion, find them on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=1973734&trk=anet_ug_grppro  or just search for the Certified Professional Writers Association.

We can do this!

Find me on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jenna-caputo/9/92/934

I gently borrowed that headline from our dear friend over at The Three S’s.  She gave a rundown of the favorite shows that will be returning for a sophomore year and wondered if maybe the networks are catching on.  I think I’m going to have to disagree.

This morning I woke up to a tweet about a campaign to save Samantha Who and while I do love Barry Watson we have to draw the line somewhere.  Fans have seen that they have power, finally.  Fans of shows like Chuck and Jerrico have made big statements to the big wigs and they’ve at least been noted if they were not successful.  It’s our one way to get through beyond blogs and forums.  The biggest movement of this was probably during the Writers Strike when truckloads of pencils were dropped off at network headquarters in the name of shows we love but much like the fund-raising industry, this will eventually get old.

I’m over people running and walking to raise m0ney for everything they can think of and like wise, eventually if tv fans continue to petition and organize behind just any show the impact will be lost.

Woo! I got a little side tracked there.  Are they getting it?  No.  They’re learning exactly what we’re learning, as we’re learning it.  They’re seeing that when they let us have a little bit of power they get really excited, we rally behind them and hand them all kinds of good press for their shows.  So why not lean back on programs, tell people you’re going to cancel them to round up some noise.  Some great shows were kept going this year, Castle and Chuck to name a few but some good ones were canceled too.  Reaper and Eli Stone, SCC, The Unusuals and Kings were never even given a chance.  Then you’ve got stuff like One Tree Hill being given another season, 90210 and Melrose Place? ick.  Heroes was handed a silver spoon renewal they didn’t deserve.

I’m rambling, but what I’m trying to say is that they’re getting it, but not the it that we’re hoping for.  They’re learning to work the new hyper-involved audiences better than they know how to manipulate their line-ups.  I expect to see this make some both heartbreaking and insulting moves in the future.

-DoubleBitch aka DebbieDowner

Bring back the cast, we’ll have a blast

Discussing the days of yore

Moments like these…

Sell DVDs!

The words above are taken from the commentary of Dr Horrible: Sing-Along Blog. Dr Horrible is a special case, and not just because the commentary happens to be a commentary on the movie industry rather than on the making of the film. Dr Horrible is a hit movie that was never shown in a cinema or on a television. It was released, became a hit, developed a cult following all on the Internet. The actors and crew all worked for free and the movie was released for free online in three ‘acts’, two days apart.

Five days after the original act went online, they were all pulled down. The soundtrack was then realeased on itunes and the episodes made available for download (at a nominal fee). A little while later the DVD (including a commentary) went on sale on Amazon. Eventually everyone was paid, and looking at the show’s popularity one would believe paid well.

It is an example of an alternative way for the movie industry to function, and was intended to be just that. Joss Whedon (better known as the man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer), the show’s creator, came up with the idea during the writer’s strike of 2008.

“The idea was to make it on the fly, on the cheap – but to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way.”

Catch and release

I call this method the ‘catch and release’ method because it involves two steps:

1. catching the clientèle (or “audience) by giving them something for free
2. releasing something they have to pay for to an already-established fan base

In the digital age the cost of distribution is so low that, provided you have the equipment and can get talented people to work for you for free, the initial investment is minimal and the eventual pay-off can be huge because your production is automatically shipped world-wide. Welcome to the global movie cinima.

The global cinema

Dr Horrible may be the most famous example (especially because it includes big names such as Whedon and Neil-Patrick Harris of How I Met Your Mother fame), but it is far from the only example of this method of making money out of media.

Rooster Teeth, creator of an animated action series called Red vs Blue was possibly the first to use this method. He put together a few episodes in 2003 as a parody of a computer game genre. The show surprisingly developed a following of millions, found sponsorship and is still selling DVDs.

Now the “webisodes” number in their hundreds varying from award-winners such as The Guild to the tributes of adoring fans such as Star Trek: Phase II. Some are great, some are terrible, some only appeal to very specific markets. But it doesn’t matter because they release their productions to the entire world, and in the whole wide world it is likely they will be able to find a few fans.

The future

If webisodes and movies like Dr Horrible gain in popularity, the future looks bleak for the big media conglomerates. How can they charge so much for movies and series if people are getting them for free online?

The catch and release method can hold appeal for them too, however. Instead of charging for the initial release of media, they can charge for the DVDs, merchendise or make the cinimatic experience one to remember. Already we are seeing the beginnings of this kind of thinking with special feature DVDs, movies like Highschool Musical (I’m sure I saw HSM Shampoo the other day) and 3D movies like Monsters vs Aliens.

Perhaps in the future we will see blockbusters released for free download? In the digital age  almost anything is possible.

Good news everyone, the writer’s strike that was affecting this blog has been called off as both parties have resolved whatever petty differences they once had. Now, it our pleasure to bring you, without further ado…gabe’s rantings, and meaningless drivel…brought to you by the maker’s of ‘axe body spray’… ‘axe’, it smells like crap, but guys still buy it because of our marketing campaign. ‘axe body spray’…ha, ha, we got you, suckers!

(just spray this stuff on guys…same thing)

Hello, dear readers. The world is a much different place when we last had a conversation. Allow me to recap: Your fearless and deeply flawed heroes had wrapped up a tour of the northeast…highlights included performing for amazing people in New Hampshire, Maine, Delaware, New York, New Jersey and Indiana, eating pizza in times square, and writing new circleslide tunes.

Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts and other varieties of coffee were consumed by the gallons.

An old van died with 386,000 miles causing our faith to be tested…a new one was miraculously purchased, causing our faith to be bolstered… and, already less than a month old… it already has 5,000 miles.

Circleslide returned to Nashville and began recording with Salvador’s Keyboard player/producer Chris Bevins. A fine, fun time was had by all. The result was three new songs: “Ever going to win”, “Gone”, and “Looking UP”. The songs were recorded at Chris Bevin’s studio and at my house, which I’ve decided to call, “reveal” studios…it’s actually just a room above my garage…but I’m going to insist on telling my wife, “hey, I’m heading up to ‘reveal’…be back in a second”…and wait for her to blow her bangs up and roll her eyes at me. Yay!

Recently, Nic Gonzales, (Salvador) invited me to join his band and his lovely wife, Jaci Valasquez on a couple of shows in Austin and Corpus Christi, Texas. The only thing is that there wouldn’t be room on the bus for the rest of the guys…would I mind opening the show by myself? Hmm. I thought about saying no… It’s a bit terrifying to be up on a stage, alone, when you are so used to having a full-fledged rock band that’s got your back, night after night. Circleslide is a band, after all…and it just felt a bit weird.

However, it might be good for me to be forced to open the show, just me and an acoustic guitar…get back to my roots…the coffee house days…trying to stop the conversations in the back of the room…try to let the baristas hear a lyric …try to get all of us to share a moment together. So I’m doing it. The bus leaves on Thursday…I’m excited, nervous, scared and I might fall off the stage…so, I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, thanks for sticking with me as I took a break from blogging. There was no ‘real’ writer’s strike…and yet, there kinda was. Once we got back from the road, my mac died on me. The hard drive just quit. Thankfully, I had backed everything up…and I had Apple Care. But I went without the computer for about a week…and it felt kinda good. But, I’m back…and the hiatus has allowed me to think of some cool ideas for this place…and once, again…I’ll be at the computer…over sharing…and trying to have some kind of dialogue with you…some of the coolest people around.

Despite slumping ratings, NBC has decided to bring back Heroes, but there’s a catch.

Season four of the series will be shorter. It will air between 18 and 20 episodes, without interruption, instead of its usual longer season. It could be placed as a mid-season replacement, like ABC’s LOST and FOX’s 24.

The once ratings hit has taken a hit over the years. Since the 2007 Writers Strike, Heroes has never quite recovered. Season two of the series was widely criticized by fans.

Currently on its third season, it is averaging over 7 million viewers every week. That’s compared to the 14 million viewers it attracted during the first season.

Another hit against Heroes is that next season NBC will be losing its 10 pm ET timeslot due to Jay Leno’s new primetime show. This means that five scripted show will be moved or cut.

But despite slumping ratings, and a shrinking schedule, Heroes will be back for season four. But who will make it past next Monday’s season finale?

Okay, I really am not sure why I haven’t written about this sooner.  But I’m happy to have been reminded today upon hearing this internet smash may become a full-length feature film.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is one of the most fantastic things to hit movie-making in quite a long time.  First off, it’s hilarious.  Secondly, it’s by Joss Whedon, who is a god in my book.  Third: NPH.

If you haven’t seen it, trust me–you’ll want to take a look.  All 3 episodes (written during the writer’s strike last year) are available to view online at DrHorible.com.  But since I love you, dear readers, I’ll even give you all 3 acts right here on my blog:

Or, you can purchase the episodes from iTunes or the DVD from Amazon (complete with musical commentary), which I would definitely recommend.

If you have decided not to trust me enough to go ahead and watch, I’ll give you a short synopsis of what you would be in for:

Dr. Horrible, played by the marvelously hilarious Neil Patrick Harris, is a wannabe super villain, who is arduously trying to get into the “Evil League of Evil.”  He’s a lovable character that has his share of mishaps and is, for the most part, a screw-up in his evil endeavors.  He video-blogs about said endeavors to his online readers, which include his arch-nemesis: Captain Hammer (played by Nathan Fillion, of Firefly fame).  Captain Hammer is a pompous ass but never fails in kicking Dr. Horrible’s ass in their every encounter.  When Dr. Horrible isn’t “horribling,” he spends his time at the laundromat, attempting to talk to his major crush, Penny (played by Felicia Day).

And as I say, he’s quite lovable.  Not gonna lie… I might have fallen in love with Neil Patrick Harris during the course of watching these episodes.  Sorry though ladies; he’s just not that into you.

Now I’ve admitted my love for musicals before, but this will be amusing even to those of you not quite as into song-and-dance.  Especially with all the superhero flicks coming out lately, it’s a great spoof.

But really the best thing about this whole production is that it was made just for the love of making movies.  This is what happens when genius gets bored.

Joss Whedon:

Well, we don’t want to be beholden to anybody,” Whedon said in a group interview on Tuesday in Hollywood at a Paley Fest panel on the show. “We want to do the product the same way we did the first one, which is out of our hearts, and then go to people [and say], ‘OK, if you’re interested in this, this is what it is.’ Besides, it could be something theatrical. It could be something on the Internet again, where it’s done on the fly and it all comes from us. We don’t know how we want that to be. The best thing to do is to write it. Then we can start deciding a business model based on the script.

Who knows what will actually happen, but I’m excited nonetheless.  This, to me, is what entertainment should be.  It’s just so fun to watch. (In fact, I re-watched it during the process of writing this post.)  And I love NPH… sigh.

••  ••  ••  ••  ••  ••  ••  ••  ••  ••  ••  ••  ••  ••  ••

Read More:

• DrHorrible.com – there’s tons more than just the video
• The Dr. Horrible Fan Site
• If you can’t wait to get your DVD before you see Commentary! The Musical, you can find it on YouTube.  (They’re not in order, so be sure to watch from 1 to 14.)  But hey, don’t be lame–buy the DVD and support this masterful creation.
• The SciFi Wire article about the possible sequel
• Dr. Horrible Wikipedia entry

When Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof originally set an ending point for Lost back during season three, their plan called for three more seasons that would each be sixteen episodes long. The writer’s strike messed with that a little bit, as season four ended up with just fourteen episodes. To make up for that, the last two seasons are going to be seventeen episodes each. To the best of my knowledge Lost is the only show that’s extending later seasons to make up for the episodes lost to the strike.

Should more shows have done this, adding episodes to make up for the strike?

Of course this does depend on the willingness of the network to order extra episodes, but let’s leave that out of the equation here.

-Jerk

“Every place has a completely different personality, like, Sony is kinda angry, Fox is where all the really cool people hang out and [CBS] Radford gets started at, literally, 5 am…” Stephen Scaia said last Wednesday.

The Jericho writer was giving picketing pointers to Joshua Jackson (the dreamboat from Dawson’s Creek) and Ashley Scott (the hottie patoddie in Jericho). The group had just retired from striking at Universal Studios, where the star power of SAG along with WGA marchers made the studio hip for the day.

Today was “Below-the-Line Picket Day” and Fox had a high potential of being “uncool” for the day. Assistants and more assistants were out marching as well as a few teamsters.

Along with them were these folks, who rumor has it will give it up for only 8 cents.

“My boss had me get him water,” Kacey Arnold laughs.

The beverage gofer works as an assistant for writing partners Jeff Ventimilia and Josh Sternin of Touchstone T.V. Ventimilia joked to Arnold, “Are you gonna bring me my lunch?” on his way to the strike.

The writer’s assistant says she’s lucky that Disney has been kind enough to continue to pay half of her salary. Fox’s assistants got laid off the first week of the strike.

At Fox’s main gate at Pico and Motor, the strikers did not disappoint the “cool” status. The uppities were out to support the lowlies and Larry David (Seinfield), Eric Roth (Forest Gump), Steve Zalilian (Schindler’s List), James Brooks (As Good It Gets) and Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) were all spotted among marchers.

Absent to the march were more below-the-line employees, including make-up artists, camera crew and other production staff.

A WB assistant explained there’s a mixed response from other below-the-lines who are out of a job. Several are frustrated with the strike because of the halt of their paycheck, while others realize it’s the writer’s creation that’s responsible for their position.

Adam Dasilva, a writer’s assistant for K-Ville, said that his show is filmed in New Orleans and that the locals are feeling hurt by the stop of production. The strike is not as visible in “The Big Easy” and out of state staff do not fully understand the impact of the strike. Still, Dasilva hoped there would be more below-the-lines – he’s surprised there aren’t more people out.

One writer disagreed, “I’ll get trampled like a Who concert in there!” she shouted, leery of taking her first steps to join the march.

Today was Bring-Your-Kid-to-Picket Day at the WGA strike, and the three-foot-and-under marchers were in abundance proudly waving their signs. A favorite among strikers was a little cutie with a sign that read, “I’m little but I know how to share.” She looked so tired from all that marching in the sun I didn’t ask for her photo. But this guy was glowing with enthusiasm:

“Seeing the kids with their signs really raises the morale of the writers,” Melinda Corazon Foley, the diversity coordinator for WGA West, says.

Strikers’ spirits have also been boosted by the influx of goodies donated to the movement. While scoping out the action at the gates, I’ve been offered hot cocoa, McDonald’s cheeseburgers, bottled water and Girl Scout cookies — the WGA strike captains are generous.

Jay Leno has donated donuts, Ellen DeGeneres’ editors have offered In ‘N Out to picketers, the producers of Entourage have sent full meals to the marchers at CBS, and Jimmy Kimmel sent a burrito truck around. The list goes on.

“P.F. Chang’s brought lunches and French 75 brought lunches, Dakota’s brought tri-tip sandwiches. That was everybody’s favorite–they were like Holy Crap,” Foley says.

NBC marchers have been showered with caramel apples, rice crispy treats, chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, popcorn, bagels with cream cheese – and tuna fish sandwiches from a nearby neighbor.

One writer picketing at CBS was relieved that the food has gotten healthier this week. She said there’s been more fruit, Luna bars and string cheese — and a truck dropped off a massive amount of Glaceau VitaminWater. The health-conscious striker laughed at the irony that a conglomeration of corporations were donating food when that’s who the writers were up against. Still, she’s appreciative of the freebie grub.

Despite all the food donated to the strikers and the commotion they’re causing on the sidewalks, neighboring eateries of NBC say they haven’t seen business slow down.

“For us it’s no problem,” a cashier at Choza Mama says with a grin. The award-winning Peruvian dig is directly across from NBC, where honking by passers-by in support of strikers is so loud it can be heard several blocks away.

Neighboring Wienerschnitzel is also unbothered.

“We’ve been really, really busy … we can hardly hear it over here,” the wiener-toting cashier shrugs as a number of people wait in line.

Two frosted haired ladies walk stiffly through the ebbs and flows of sidewalk traffic on West Alameda Avenue in Burbank. The street is lined with WGA strikers circling the Disney, NBC and Warner Bros. studios. The ladies, residents of the O.C. are here to enjoy their recent retirement. Tops on their tourist to-do list is to join audiences at a few of their favorite NBC shows. Their plan nearly went awry yesterday when Ellen: The Ellen Degeneres Show was canceled along with Jay Leno’s Tonight Show – until the pair got a call today to come on down to see NBC’s funny woman. With all the strikers hitting the streets, the two are still unsure if the show is actually going to go on.

Brent Bradshaw, a writer for Last Call with Carson Daly confirms that the Ellen show is still happening. Tourists – gleaming in their I’m-gonna-be-on-TV outfits – line up behind the fence near Bradshaw and his fellow protestors. A number of the NBC-based strikers are disappointed that Ellen’s program is up and running. However, Bradshaw says the strikers have been able to convince some of the show’s attendees to join their side.

Friends Stacey Loera, Prince Villa and April Lopez from Sylmar have been marching with the WGA strikers for over six hours. The trio played hooky from school to see Chris Brown (the easy-on-the-eyes, 18-year-old, hip-hopper who sings that song that goes “she want that lovey-dovey, kiss-kiss”) on Ellen’s show. But after talking to a number of passionate members of the rally, the three decided to join forces with the writers.

“We understand. If we were in their position we would be out here too,” Loera says, looking older than her sixteen years and blinking behind her bangs.

They’re not the only non-WGA members supporting the strike. On Alameda Avenue, Bob Oedy, an electrician and Union member/supporter, enthusiastically waves his “W.G.A. STRIKE” sign. Alongside Oedy, Phil (bashful about giving his last name) joins the protest simply as a fan of NBC shows who wants to support the writers.

Richard Eagon, head-writer of Last Call with Carson Daly, wishes everyone in the union was as enthusiastic. He’s disappointed that Ellen DeGeneres, a WGA member, has “crossed their picket,” not joined in on the march, and continued to host and write for her weekday episodes.

“She has seven writers and all seven writers walk this line every morning. She will not drive through here either, she drives through an underground gate,” a disappointed Eagon says between honks in support of the struggling strikers.

Almost all the other show runners called in sick for the week including Carson Daily, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel and Steve Carrell – who said he was ill with an “enlarged testicle” Eagon explains. Nearby, a red-haired writer can’t help but taunt the Ellen-goers, “dancing, get ready for dancing.”

“Be sure to tell people,” a WGA colleague says with a Valleyspeak inflection, “that Ellen is guh-aay!”

For more coverage on Networks/Studios vs. Showrunners and the W.G.A. Strike go to Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily.

Protestors rally as the audience gets reigned in for Ellen DeGeneres’ show.

Soaps.com

Photo Credit: Soaps.com

A year after the Writers Guild of America strike ended, the fallout is still being felt, as conglomerates continue to cut costs and writers face reductions in post-strike script fees, Daily Variety reports. Other effects of the strike include a primetime development business that’s still recovering from the disruption and the uncertainty facing the Screen Actors Guild, which has slowed down this year’s film business, the trade publication says. The Writers Guild of America West also continues to review taking disciplinary action against Jay Leno for his “Tonight Show” monologues delivered while the guild was on strike, Variety reports.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117999957.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

(Originally posted Thursday, January 03, 2008 )

2 CBS
A WGA screenwriter in Buda, Texas walks alone holding a placard through the middle of town, across the street from the pie shop, in lieu of another “Without a Trace” repeat.

4 NBC
The “all cancer patient” version of “The Apprentice” (Repeat)

7 A&E
All our shows tonight will start with a decomposed body (Repeat)

9 Bravo
Brady Hunt (repeat)

10 VH-1
“Will It Blend?” and “America’s Next Top Model” Are Combined Into a Highly Satisfying Reality Series

11 Lifetime
Sad, mealy mouth female nerds honor all-powerful TV icon Xena, who unknowingly serves as an symbol of their inability to express themselves in day-to-day life

12 E! Entertainment Television
True Hollywood Story Investigates the Shattering Drama of Rock Stars with Crohn’s Disease and Psoriasis

13 History Channel
Anarchists, Communists and Terrorists Remembered For Their Scapegoating Usefulness As Our Celebration of Two Centuries of American Imperialism Continues

14 CNBC
In the midst of a discussion of the discount trade window, Jim Cramer goes on an extended digression about his sexual prowess, finally screaming “I could cock block half the men in this city from this tiny TV screen.”

15 Showtime
Passive-Aggressive Suicide Girls Versus Bipolar Suicide Girls Dance-Off

16 MTV
A stripper would really take this show to the next level.

17 HBO
Wait, is that … no, not “The Sopranos.” Damn.

18 Logo
Eddie Murphy explains gay sex in a compassionate and thoughtful lecture.

19 CMT
Trick My Planned Parenthood Clinic

20 Spike TV
Extreme Tattoo Removal

21 We
End That Awful Marriage, Now!

22 Disney Family
That Mother Fucking Cat

23 PBS
In a continuing series of educational specials, Sesame Street’s lovable Elmo explains in easy to understand language how to potty, tie your shoes, wash your hands, masturbate, kill your own meat, cut open somebody’s trachea, perform a foreign body retrieval, hotwire a car, cheat on your SAT, build a roadside plastic explosive with nails, sheet metal and other debris, engage in homosexual lovemaking, perform euthanasia on an ailing loved one, deliver a bloody foal, and escape to Cuba.

24 CNN
Extra Cute Mike Huckabee Wins the Highly Amusing Iowa Caucuses

(Originally posted Saturday, December 15, 2007)

2 ABC
Everyone on “Lost” has gills

3 CMT
Everyone in Chattanooga has a prehensile tail

4 NBC
Suspended during the writer’s strike, “30 Rock” is pre-empted by a writerless show where people do nothing but grunt and shove, groom and eat lice off each other

5 Fox
America’s Got Rickets

17 History Channel
The History of Nudity

18 A&E
Gene Simmons ends all fights by wagging his enormous tongue lubriciously at his family

20 Democracy Now
Remembering The Free Love Sensibilities of the Totally Unfuckable Anarchist Emma Goldman

21 Discover Health
The Vagina Speaks

22 Oxygen
Your Daughter Just Got Her First Period. Now Slap Her.

23 Discover
Let’s get a tooth pulled in the border town of Reynosa

24 CNN
Repeated loops of lone gunman on a videotape keeps your mind off the sorry state of health care

25 Headline News
Nancy Grace, in the delivery room with twins, screamingly indicts man who did this to her

26 Bloomberg News
It’s nothing but crawls and numbers and blinking lights and a little man talking in the corner, an experience that could be likened only to schizophrenia

27 Logo
Right Girl, Wrong Sex Parts

28 BBC America
Cheek, Dignity, Cheek, Dignity

29 Sundance
Depressing Ken Loach marathon followed by depressing global warming marathon

30 IFC
Kevin Smith: How to overcome incompetence with insufferable cleverness

31 VH-1
You might want to boil this show after you watch it

32 MTV
“The Real World” is off the air after being clumped together and rolled away on the hind feet of shit beetles

33 Food Network
Making the Japanese fat enough to fit into our clothes

34 Univision
I think the man with the beard is the bad guy

35 Fuse
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black

36 VH-1 Classic
The Voluptuous Horror of the Starland Vocal Band

37 C-SPAN Books
The Voluptuous Horror of Christopher Hitchens

I confess – I’m a House fan. Weird when you consider I have to avert my eyes each time one of those long silver needles stabs into a patient’s back for yet another lumbar puncture (which seems to happen every friggin’ show) because I’m kind of a girl that way. It makes my stomach clench just thinking about it.

At any rate, one of the show’s writers/producers, Doris Egan, just knocks my socks off. I first stumbled onto her work while getting up to speed on the writer’s strike last year. Everyone seemed to have something to say about it, one way or another, but it wasn’t until I followed a link, then another, and finally another, that Egan’s blog appeared in my window and I started to really wrap my mind around what was going on.

I know the strike is over (although the issues clearly aren’t) but if the topic is at all interesting to you take a few minutes and read her post about it here. It’s not short, but I promise you’ll come away thinking.

Months later, and well into the presidential campaign, she wrote about audience participation and the political process. Don’t worry – it’s not a political post – but rather offers some really interesting questions and observations through the lens of television production. You can find that post here.

That covers House. Smokin’ kitties and a long-awaited film to follow…