i'm an independent producer in hollywood. as such, my livelihood depends on my relationships with both the studios (identified here on Kos as "evil" or "those bastards") and the writers (identified here on Kos as "saints" or "those giants who walk among us"). i hope by the end of this diary i will be able to turn the phrase "you'll never work in this town again" into a personal formula for success! more likely i'm just screwed, but there has been nothing but bullshit on kos so far about the strike, so i'll try to correct that. i'll take on the studios tomorrow--today let's destroy my relationships with the scribes.
first of all, let's get one thing clear. neither the writer's chosen representatives (who were chosen quite specifically on a platform of being the hardest possible tough negotiators by the rank and file) nor the studio's reps (led by Nick Counter, a relatively low level guy in the evil corporate scheme of things) have covered themselves in glory.
in fact, they've both been total utter incompetent assholes. not to put too fine a point on it.
the writers chose, despite the imprecations of everyone in hollywood, and of rational people universe-wide, not to negotiate for 6 months (starting last january). it was the beginning of a strategy they took to act as much like my 4 year old when she's fighting with my two year old as possible. those six months meant serious negotiations did not begin until basically there was a month left before a strike call.
the producers chose to give a proposal that, had it been 5 months prior, would have been a terrible starting point but with time to make better. but to make the offer they did (essentially a huge rollback on residuals "balanced" by telling the writers to go eat shit otherwise) when they did--into the teeth of a strike threat by a bunch of whiny babies--was just idiotic.
The writers, those proud union members who care about nothing so much as their fellow working men and women, took the opportunity to write as many scripts as possible leading up to the strike. in so doing, the writers a) made a ton of money while b) undercutting their position in a strike while c) telling other writers who make less or no money to stand firm, while d) also making sure that the teamsters (the IA) would not cross the picket line so that people like me or grips or gaffers or script supers could not actually work on shooting those scripts for which they had been paid.
stay classy, san diego!
but wait, there's more! there is this creature called a "show runner". you cannot get a show on the air without one. this creature is strange hybrid--half producer, half writer. well, they get paid for doing both, thus making more than other "pure" writers. of course, they also suck up the credits (and money) that would be due to people like me who are "merely" producers. well, funny story: it turns out that they will respect the picket line because they are more writers than producers. so again, no shows get made. do you think that they will be giving back any of those credits or any of that money? do you think they will still call themselves writer/producers after the strike? is the pope jewish?
of course, there is substance here as well. the writers want a bigger piece of the pie which is the record setting (every year) entertainment biz. and they are entitled to it despite all of the above. more on that in a future diary.
and for today's most disingenuous post, i present you with...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
a classic example of the writers-covering-themselves genre--see jon robin baitz both insult all of the studios while praising the one that pays him to be a writer/director (disney). would it surprise you to learn that they pay him handsomely? so handsomely i'm sure he will survive the strike mortgage intact?
huh.
oh, and a last thing. "producer" can for the purposes of this discussion mean mean bob iger or robert green. but obviously we are in two different positions. bob iger runs a giant company and is management. i'm work-for-hire and share my office with my dog. he's terrible at answering the phone but his demands (food, affection, a nice warm place to lick his balls) are reasonable. disney/abc will rumble on just fine through the strike--people like me will scramble to make our mortgages/rent/child support/internet porn payments. life is tough all over.
tomorrow--i put the stake in the barely beating heart of my career by talking about the studios! good times.