. . . just hold a WGA strike. The Golden Globes press conference just finished, and instead of 1hr of red carpet fawning, and 3hrs of self-congratulatory ceremonies, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association managed to announce all the winners in just about 30 minutes.
I prefer the half hour version, myself.
You could probably get the Academy Awards done in only 15 minutes, that'd be awesome.
Glad to see Extras won for best Comedy Series, can't believe Ricky Gervais was beaten by David Duchovny (turns out, bemused detachment and fake humping starlets is brilliant acting), and sorry to see that Ellen Page didn't win, otherwise couldn't care about any of the other results.
Showing posts with label WGA Strike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WGA Strike. Show all posts
13 January 2008
04 January 2008
Late Night Shows: The Returnination Part II (The Rest, Belatedly)
I posted the first part quickly since I watched it at broadcast. The rest I watched the DVR saved versions the following day, and since I mentioned Jimmy, might as well mention the rest.
First up, Letterman, he sucked. Writers don't help, as predicted, everything was about the strike, and the jokes weren't funny. Also, Robin Williams was as unfunny as he's been the past 25 years. I seem to remember a time when he was funny, but it's fading so far into the distant past, that it might just be an echo of a fond memory not really associated with Robin Williams.
Next up Craig Ferguson, he was goofy. He talked the solidarity game, but he also mentioned the horror that was Great Britain in the 70s and the endless, pointless, and violent strikes. Sounds to me that he's not fully behind the WGA in this matter.
On to the scabtastic NBC line-up. Leno was dancing as fast as he could. He was loose, and dumb, and mostly unfunny, but really sincere. He's one of the hardest working men in show biz, and it shows. Huckster came on and was his usual huckstering self. I really loathe him, but he's good at what he does, and that appearance probably did him a lot of good (it was one of the highest rated Tonight Shows in years, so much for labor solidarity).
Finally, Conan, he was absurd, and I liked it. Especially the little Rockband part in the segment embedded above. Who else but Conan would do Edith Bunker singing Beastie Boys? Saget was his usually Saget-y self. He's a really disturbing presence, which isn't entirely a bad thing.
The fact that this is up on YouTube, and will be seen by more folks that way then watched it as it aired is part of the problem with the negotiating stance of both sides. The producers will most likely get this pulled at some point, NBC has their own video service, but they don't let you embed it cause they want to force your eyeballs to their site and their banner ads. But consumers don't want that, consumers want what they want, and a low res replay of a segment that aired on free TV shouldn't be something that is unshareable in most people's minds. So you have the studios fighting to keep this stuff under their control, you have the writers demanding to get paid on a per viewer basis for this sort of use, and you have the producers saying that there aren't any satisfactory ways to count viewers or ensure profitability if they start dividing up revenue in that manner. The producers are right, they should pay the writers more up front, and in return benefit from more cost certainty as their product ages. That way, they could relax a bit about copyright issues, and be able to let consumers share low res versions all they want, however they want, while retaining control for sale or advertising revenue of the higher res versions. That's a business model that could work, but not if they have to worry about all the crazy residuals rigamorale as they do with TV and foreign rights. That's a model that doesn't fit the internet, and can only stiffle innovation and creative risk taking. If artists really want to reap the rewards available from the internet, then sell direct, don't do it through the studios, if you want to play with studio money, then you need to accept studio rules. The WGA doesn't have a monopoly on artistry, and the producers no longer have a monopoly on distribution, there's room for everyone to make money, and once the WGA caves on most of these issues, they will get back to making money again (though whatever deal is struck, the writers on strike now will never make back the money they've already lost, that's what you get for living your Eugene V. Debs dreams).
First up, Letterman, he sucked. Writers don't help, as predicted, everything was about the strike, and the jokes weren't funny. Also, Robin Williams was as unfunny as he's been the past 25 years. I seem to remember a time when he was funny, but it's fading so far into the distant past, that it might just be an echo of a fond memory not really associated with Robin Williams.
Next up Craig Ferguson, he was goofy. He talked the solidarity game, but he also mentioned the horror that was Great Britain in the 70s and the endless, pointless, and violent strikes. Sounds to me that he's not fully behind the WGA in this matter.
On to the scabtastic NBC line-up. Leno was dancing as fast as he could. He was loose, and dumb, and mostly unfunny, but really sincere. He's one of the hardest working men in show biz, and it shows. Huckster came on and was his usual huckstering self. I really loathe him, but he's good at what he does, and that appearance probably did him a lot of good (it was one of the highest rated Tonight Shows in years, so much for labor solidarity).
Finally, Conan, he was absurd, and I liked it. Especially the little Rockband part in the segment embedded above. Who else but Conan would do Edith Bunker singing Beastie Boys? Saget was his usually Saget-y self. He's a really disturbing presence, which isn't entirely a bad thing.
The fact that this is up on YouTube, and will be seen by more folks that way then watched it as it aired is part of the problem with the negotiating stance of both sides. The producers will most likely get this pulled at some point, NBC has their own video service, but they don't let you embed it cause they want to force your eyeballs to their site and their banner ads. But consumers don't want that, consumers want what they want, and a low res replay of a segment that aired on free TV shouldn't be something that is unshareable in most people's minds. So you have the studios fighting to keep this stuff under their control, you have the writers demanding to get paid on a per viewer basis for this sort of use, and you have the producers saying that there aren't any satisfactory ways to count viewers or ensure profitability if they start dividing up revenue in that manner. The producers are right, they should pay the writers more up front, and in return benefit from more cost certainty as their product ages. That way, they could relax a bit about copyright issues, and be able to let consumers share low res versions all they want, however they want, while retaining control for sale or advertising revenue of the higher res versions. That's a business model that could work, but not if they have to worry about all the crazy residuals rigamorale as they do with TV and foreign rights. That's a model that doesn't fit the internet, and can only stiffle innovation and creative risk taking. If artists really want to reap the rewards available from the internet, then sell direct, don't do it through the studios, if you want to play with studio money, then you need to accept studio rules. The WGA doesn't have a monopoly on artistry, and the producers no longer have a monopoly on distribution, there's room for everyone to make money, and once the WGA caves on most of these issues, they will get back to making money again (though whatever deal is struck, the writers on strike now will never make back the money they've already lost, that's what you get for living your Eugene V. Debs dreams).
03 January 2008
I'm as Sick of Blogging About This Topic as You Are Reading About It, but One More Thing . . .
More WGA related nonsense here. It beats writing about the Iowa Caucus, anyway.
So WGA members think they've got Jay Leno in trouble since he admitted to writing jokes to give in his monologue.
Ohhh! The Horror! The Horror!
Clearly, the WGA rules do state that a WGA member can't write, even material they perform themselves, if they choose to perform during the strike, they can only do so from scripts prepared before the strike, or only material such as anecdotes or extempraneous interviews and observations.
Jay Leno admitted to violating this when he said he discussed the jokes he was going to tell with his wife, just like he always does. Somehow the WGA is going to try and convince the public that a working comic doing his own material on his own show is doing something awful by wanting to actually be entertaining while fulfilling his contractual obligations to the studio that employs him.
I've got news for the WGA, you'll look like a bunch of major league asses if you push this issue. If you go on, do your best, that's what the public expects, outside of the public sector, most people work non-union jobs and don't care if their late night comedy comes with the union label or not, they just want funny (which doesn't really explain why Leno continues to be so highly rated, but whatever).
Reminds me of the RIAA (Pastor Jeff has a good post on this mess, here), they think just cause a badly written law is on their side, that when they push the issue, folks will change their behavior and fall in line.
So WGA members think they've got Jay Leno in trouble since he admitted to writing jokes to give in his monologue.
Ohhh! The Horror! The Horror!
Clearly, the WGA rules do state that a WGA member can't write, even material they perform themselves, if they choose to perform during the strike, they can only do so from scripts prepared before the strike, or only material such as anecdotes or extempraneous interviews and observations.
Jay Leno admitted to violating this when he said he discussed the jokes he was going to tell with his wife, just like he always does. Somehow the WGA is going to try and convince the public that a working comic doing his own material on his own show is doing something awful by wanting to actually be entertaining while fulfilling his contractual obligations to the studio that employs him.
I've got news for the WGA, you'll look like a bunch of major league asses if you push this issue. If you go on, do your best, that's what the public expects, outside of the public sector, most people work non-union jobs and don't care if their late night comedy comes with the union label or not, they just want funny (which doesn't really explain why Leno continues to be so highly rated, but whatever).
Reminds me of the RIAA (Pastor Jeff has a good post on this mess, here), they think just cause a badly written law is on their side, that when they push the issue, folks will change their behavior and fall in line.
Statute of Limitations on Deeds
I propose a statute of limitations on deeds, both good and bad. Just because a movement may have done some modicum of good at the turn of the last century, doesn't mean that the folks who claim they are part of the same tradition have some greater moral authority than those that oppose them.
Likewise, if people who share a faith, or creed, or political affiliation with a group that may have expressed itself in really bad ways decades ago, doesn't mean that folks within those organizations now are cupable for past foulness.
To be more specific, the WGA strike supporters tend to fall back on the tired old line, 'but you'd still be working 70 hours a week and making 50 cents a day if it weren't for the good and glorious unions' (just peruse this comment section for example). First, that's a load of crock, and besides, given my proposed statue of limitations, even if what the union supporters claim is true (a point that I am unwilling to concede), so what? The WGA has nothing to do with Eugene Debs (not that his authoritarian anti-free market populism was anything to strive towards), comfortable overpaid scribes in a pampered, wasteful, and well compensated industry aren't going to starve if they remain locked out, have options out their lazy butts even if they could never write again (folks like to say LA is a 'company town' but that's far from the truth), and can thank the expansive and varied global economy for all the wealth and prosperity that's available to them for the asking.
Meanwhile, some folks demand that Mitt Romney answer for some of the past whackiness of his chosen faith. Latter Day Saints have made peace with their past, and changed with the times, anybody who uses doctrine from decades ago for their own political purposes are jerks (and I'm no fan of Romney in general, but I get tired of all that guilt by association business).
Likewise, if people who share a faith, or creed, or political affiliation with a group that may have expressed itself in really bad ways decades ago, doesn't mean that folks within those organizations now are cupable for past foulness.
To be more specific, the WGA strike supporters tend to fall back on the tired old line, 'but you'd still be working 70 hours a week and making 50 cents a day if it weren't for the good and glorious unions' (just peruse this comment section for example). First, that's a load of crock, and besides, given my proposed statue of limitations, even if what the union supporters claim is true (a point that I am unwilling to concede), so what? The WGA has nothing to do with Eugene Debs (not that his authoritarian anti-free market populism was anything to strive towards), comfortable overpaid scribes in a pampered, wasteful, and well compensated industry aren't going to starve if they remain locked out, have options out their lazy butts even if they could never write again (folks like to say LA is a 'company town' but that's far from the truth), and can thank the expansive and varied global economy for all the wealth and prosperity that's available to them for the asking.
Meanwhile, some folks demand that Mitt Romney answer for some of the past whackiness of his chosen faith. Latter Day Saints have made peace with their past, and changed with the times, anybody who uses doctrine from decades ago for their own political purposes are jerks (and I'm no fan of Romney in general, but I get tired of all that guilt by association business).
Late Night Shows: The Returnination Part I (Jimmy Kimmel)
For really detailed WGA strike stuff, Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily has been a popular site. She's put up a breakdown of all the shows and how they handled their return. But just cause someone else did this bigger and better, doesn't mean I won't subject you to my ramblings.
Watching Kimmel. He's been low-key, no stand-up monologue at the top of the show. He did pretty much call the writers a bunch of brats for picketing Leno and Conan given that they've been paying their writers and staff from their own pocket for many weeks (Kimmel wasn't picketed, the WGA is planning on hitting him Thursday or Friday night, probably figuring they can make news twice this week, and again when they hit the return of Stewart and Colbert next week).
Kimmel didn't tell too many jokes, just sort of told some anecdotes, and did the usual kidding with the security staff.
A shockingly sober Andy Dick talked about being sober and other stuff, not the best segment ever, but really no different from most other "star" chats with host moments.
Race car driver Helio Castroneves (and current Dancing With the Stars champion) is the 2nd guest. Kimmel continues to seem really interested in Dancing With the Stars. He and Helio take a moment to drool over his dance partner, nineteen year old Julianne Hough for a bit. Again, this part of the show is essentially unchanged.
And now we are at the commercial break before the musical guest, Kid Rock, comes out. This is where I check out, there are somethings I'm willing to do for this blog, but watch Kid Rock perform isn't one of them. His time was quite a few years ago, he ain't my bag, as the kiddies would say (or at least they will say when they pick up beatnik/hippie lingo again sometime in the near future).
Watching Kimmel. He's been low-key, no stand-up monologue at the top of the show. He did pretty much call the writers a bunch of brats for picketing Leno and Conan given that they've been paying their writers and staff from their own pocket for many weeks (Kimmel wasn't picketed, the WGA is planning on hitting him Thursday or Friday night, probably figuring they can make news twice this week, and again when they hit the return of Stewart and Colbert next week).
Kimmel didn't tell too many jokes, just sort of told some anecdotes, and did the usual kidding with the security staff.
A shockingly sober Andy Dick talked about being sober and other stuff, not the best segment ever, but really no different from most other "star" chats with host moments.
Race car driver Helio Castroneves (and current Dancing With the Stars champion) is the 2nd guest. Kimmel continues to seem really interested in Dancing With the Stars. He and Helio take a moment to drool over his dance partner, nineteen year old Julianne Hough for a bit. Again, this part of the show is essentially unchanged.
And now we are at the commercial break before the musical guest, Kid Rock, comes out. This is where I check out, there are somethings I'm willing to do for this blog, but watch Kid Rock perform isn't one of them. His time was quite a few years ago, he ain't my bag, as the kiddies would say (or at least they will say when they pick up beatnik/hippie lingo again sometime in the near future).
02 January 2008
NBC Is SCABTASTIC!!!
Letterman is back on CBS tonight (Ferguson tomorrow) with a WGA approved contract while Leno and Conan on NBC and Jimmy Kimmel on ABC are back and are going to wing it without (supposedly) written material.
Kimmel leads off with Andy Dick, Helio Castroneves and Kid Rock. Leno has a big booking with Gov. Mike Huckabee (which may not sit well with Iowa Caucus goers that he's flying out to LA the day before the vote), Letterman is leading off with Robin Williams (?) and Hillary Clinton (showing how she's full of solidarity, or something), and Conan will wiggle around and make goofy faces for the entire timeslot (OK, that may or may not be true).
Should make for interesting viewing.
Jimmy should do the best, Letterman had checked out of his show long ago, and his writers will be too obsessed with taking digs at the AMPTP to actually bother and create funny material. Ferguson might be lively, though. Guests over the next few weeks will lavish praise upon Letterman for caving into the WGA's demands (which given that Letterman doesn't own the internet rights he gave away, was making a pretty empty gesture).
I plan on watching all the shows tonight, thanks to the miracle of having two tuners in my computer (I'll record CBS and NBC, watch ABC).
The producers are prepared to hold out until the SAG contract comes up, and if the public doesn't shun NBC and ABC in favor of the union approved CBS content, then that will be a big blow to solidarity. Booking will be difficult at NBC and ABC, but the producers will put all sorts of pressure on celebrities to show up and cross the picket lines. I expect some resistance to begin with, but as the strike drags on, the promo machine will march on like the strike wasn't on.
It should get interesting next week, also, with Stewart and Colbert going back to work, and given their lefty darling status, it will be difficult to square their picket line crossing with their "progressive" credentials.
UPDATE:
AP has an article up (via Drudge), here's some details as to the picketing, and the politicking surrounding the late night shows. The article is slantedly pro-union, but that's to be expected.
Kimmel leads off with Andy Dick, Helio Castroneves and Kid Rock. Leno has a big booking with Gov. Mike Huckabee (which may not sit well with Iowa Caucus goers that he's flying out to LA the day before the vote), Letterman is leading off with Robin Williams (?) and Hillary Clinton (showing how she's full of solidarity, or something), and Conan will wiggle around and make goofy faces for the entire timeslot (OK, that may or may not be true).
Should make for interesting viewing.
Jimmy should do the best, Letterman had checked out of his show long ago, and his writers will be too obsessed with taking digs at the AMPTP to actually bother and create funny material. Ferguson might be lively, though. Guests over the next few weeks will lavish praise upon Letterman for caving into the WGA's demands (which given that Letterman doesn't own the internet rights he gave away, was making a pretty empty gesture).
I plan on watching all the shows tonight, thanks to the miracle of having two tuners in my computer (I'll record CBS and NBC, watch ABC).
The producers are prepared to hold out until the SAG contract comes up, and if the public doesn't shun NBC and ABC in favor of the union approved CBS content, then that will be a big blow to solidarity. Booking will be difficult at NBC and ABC, but the producers will put all sorts of pressure on celebrities to show up and cross the picket lines. I expect some resistance to begin with, but as the strike drags on, the promo machine will march on like the strike wasn't on.
It should get interesting next week, also, with Stewart and Colbert going back to work, and given their lefty darling status, it will be difficult to square their picket line crossing with their "progressive" credentials.
UPDATE:
AP has an article up (via Drudge), here's some details as to the picketing, and the politicking surrounding the late night shows. The article is slantedly pro-union, but that's to be expected.
07 November 2007
Screw The Writers!!!
That's right, I'm on the side of management in the current work outage (big surprise?).
First of all, residuals are dumb, and probably should be dumped all together. Get paid more up front, the studios assume a lot of risk in funding projects, they should reap the majority of the rewards.
Secondly, the idea of a union or guild for writers is antiquated and doesn't benefit writers to begin with. The guild functions to service the needs of the guild, not rank and file writers. Past work actions have resulted in concessions that benefitted the big earners more than the little guys, and to top it off, because they are unionized it artificially inhibits the entry of many talented people into the industry. If hiring and firing was free of union interference, writers could be judged on their individual talent, and not on the strength of a union contract. All writers should be independent contractors and negotiate the best individual deal they can, screw solidarity, this ain't a shipyard in Poland, this is the Westside, people.
Thirdly, this crap about the internet being this huge future cash cow for studios may be true, but so what? What's preventing writers and talent from getting together and putting up stuff on their own, free of the studios. Seems like that's the model that has propelled Funny or Die, and if they wanted to sell a DVD compilation of their best bits, or offer HD downloads of their better produced clips, the infrastructure is relatively cheap, and the bar for entry very low. If you really feel the studios are screwing you, then circumvent them completely, if you have the chops. Also, if you are making smaller character driven pieces, then a studio (and the various unions that represent "talent") is a hindrance rather than a help. At some point, folks will realize this. When it comes to the internet, there's no such thing as an economy of scale, if anything, scale=inertia which equals an inability to react nimbly, and in the terms of the internet, a lack of nimbleness=death.
Fourthly, I can buy stock in the big evil media corporations, but I can't buy stock directly in JJ Abrams, or Joss Whedon, or any of the writers going on strike. So as a consumer, my vested interest (or at least my potential interest) is more with the studios rather than the talent. This strike could be a huge boon for smart traders. Most likely, it will drag on between 10-20 weeks (the last major writers strike lasted 22 weeks), with the WGA folding like a cheap tent, and SAG and the Directors following suit in short order. The conglomerates are diversified and can survive this much better than individual union members. Nevertheless, their shares will get beaten down artificially, the longer this strike lasts. Companies like Disney and News Corp could see their stocks drop by as much as 10-15% just based on irrational speculation regarding an exaggerated sense of the effect of this strike (fueled by a media sympathetic to the strikers). Buy on the dip, and watch that stock rebound like crazy once the unions cave in to the studios demands. Smart traders will probably be able to get themselves a 20-25% return over a six month period if they time the dip and the bounce correctly. Plus even if they are buying to hold the stock, the artificial dip created by the negative press surrounding this strike will create a great bargain.
Fifthly, freakin' red shirts, stupid slogans, and chants, these assholes are living their hippie-dippy Woodie Guthrie-lite, Eugene V. Debs, populist fantasies all the while sipping on their Starbucks lattes. It's enough to make me puke, and I don't vomit easily.
First of all, residuals are dumb, and probably should be dumped all together. Get paid more up front, the studios assume a lot of risk in funding projects, they should reap the majority of the rewards.
Secondly, the idea of a union or guild for writers is antiquated and doesn't benefit writers to begin with. The guild functions to service the needs of the guild, not rank and file writers. Past work actions have resulted in concessions that benefitted the big earners more than the little guys, and to top it off, because they are unionized it artificially inhibits the entry of many talented people into the industry. If hiring and firing was free of union interference, writers could be judged on their individual talent, and not on the strength of a union contract. All writers should be independent contractors and negotiate the best individual deal they can, screw solidarity, this ain't a shipyard in Poland, this is the Westside, people.
Thirdly, this crap about the internet being this huge future cash cow for studios may be true, but so what? What's preventing writers and talent from getting together and putting up stuff on their own, free of the studios. Seems like that's the model that has propelled Funny or Die, and if they wanted to sell a DVD compilation of their best bits, or offer HD downloads of their better produced clips, the infrastructure is relatively cheap, and the bar for entry very low. If you really feel the studios are screwing you, then circumvent them completely, if you have the chops. Also, if you are making smaller character driven pieces, then a studio (and the various unions that represent "talent") is a hindrance rather than a help. At some point, folks will realize this. When it comes to the internet, there's no such thing as an economy of scale, if anything, scale=inertia which equals an inability to react nimbly, and in the terms of the internet, a lack of nimbleness=death.
Fourthly, I can buy stock in the big evil media corporations, but I can't buy stock directly in JJ Abrams, or Joss Whedon, or any of the writers going on strike. So as a consumer, my vested interest (or at least my potential interest) is more with the studios rather than the talent. This strike could be a huge boon for smart traders. Most likely, it will drag on between 10-20 weeks (the last major writers strike lasted 22 weeks), with the WGA folding like a cheap tent, and SAG and the Directors following suit in short order. The conglomerates are diversified and can survive this much better than individual union members. Nevertheless, their shares will get beaten down artificially, the longer this strike lasts. Companies like Disney and News Corp could see their stocks drop by as much as 10-15% just based on irrational speculation regarding an exaggerated sense of the effect of this strike (fueled by a media sympathetic to the strikers). Buy on the dip, and watch that stock rebound like crazy once the unions cave in to the studios demands. Smart traders will probably be able to get themselves a 20-25% return over a six month period if they time the dip and the bounce correctly. Plus even if they are buying to hold the stock, the artificial dip created by the negative press surrounding this strike will create a great bargain.
Fifthly, freakin' red shirts, stupid slogans, and chants, these assholes are living their hippie-dippy Woodie Guthrie-lite, Eugene V. Debs, populist fantasies all the while sipping on their Starbucks lattes. It's enough to make me puke, and I don't vomit easily.
05 November 2007
Three Things . . .
. . . to note about this incident as reported by Defamer.
First, the local TV news, and the local newsrag with its heavily declining readership, are decidedly pro-union and anti-producers, which is unsurprising, given that media is a heavily unionized industry in of itself (plus they hate their corporate paymasters, sort of like rebellious teenagers, sulking around spending their parent's money).
Second, don't mess with Element drivers, we don't take crap from nobody.
Third, it's funny because it's true:
(Heroes has been awful, yet I haven't given up on it yet, hope springs eternal...)
I hope the person hit wasn't seriously injured, and I hope the person doing the hitting didn't do it on purpose as one of the eyewitnesses is proclaiming loudly to anybody with a camera and a microphone. Picketers who block access to workplaces are assuming a risk, and should act accordingly, doesn't mean they have a right to be assaulted, but they also don't have the right to prevent people from exercising their right to ignore their work action.
First, the local TV news, and the local newsrag with its heavily declining readership, are decidedly pro-union and anti-producers, which is unsurprising, given that media is a heavily unionized industry in of itself (plus they hate their corporate paymasters, sort of like rebellious teenagers, sulking around spending their parent's money).
Second, don't mess with Element drivers, we don't take crap from nobody.
Third, it's funny because it's true:
BY CATHERINETRAMMELL AT 02:29 PM
I drove past that lot this morning and what's sad is there were only eight writers picketing at that gate at 9:30.
I assume the writers for Heroes are still in hiding.
(Heroes has been awful, yet I haven't given up on it yet, hope springs eternal...)
I hope the person hit wasn't seriously injured, and I hope the person doing the hitting didn't do it on purpose as one of the eyewitnesses is proclaiming loudly to anybody with a camera and a microphone. Picketers who block access to workplaces are assuming a risk, and should act accordingly, doesn't mean they have a right to be assaulted, but they also don't have the right to prevent people from exercising their right to ignore their work action.
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