Comments on: WGA Strike Watch: The AMPTP Fires Back

By: steve adams

steve adams — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 22:29:30 +0000

I second that notion!

Support the Writers and don’t watch reality tv !!!!

By: shanna

shanna — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:38:10 +0000

I enjoy the parody sites etc, because it’s exactly how to get public attention. To me it’s no different from enjoying an episode of The Daily Show, which I sorely miss.

Let’s face facts, the congloms are trying to control everything. When indies started getting big, they came up wth indie “divisions” to control people trying to get around the studios, they attempt to control radio stations, tv stations, news, films basically how we get all our information.And on top of it all, they aren’t even fairly compensating the people who keep the wheels turning. And when this strike started their first tactic, beyond media spin, was to fire below-the-line workers to pressure showrunners into coming back.

These are not nice people. And if the writers want to crack a few jokes, and stage some exorcisms at their expense, I say whatever helps you dig in your heels until the AMPTP caves.

Btw, it’s their own fault about that mock website. What kind of idiots don’t buy the similar web domains to their own (.org, .net, etc) Oh right … cheap idiots.

By: Rajeev Iyer

Rajeev Iyer — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:12:09 +0000

The “pay” thing comes off as one of the most imnportant considerations. Writers like actors/ actresses, and other high payday jobs, may get paid large quantities for a function/service performed now, but like any product lifetime, eventually, the writers will live off the royalties for their work. The growing influence of DVDs, and the re-release of classics on multiple new media ensure that even the oldest members of the Guild will benefit from this agreement. Even the lowest paid writer who writes a movie for home release will benefit from this agreement. The AMPTP however needs to own everything, and dont really care for the writers.

Writers build franchises, the AMPTP profits from them, and the studios, and the executives.

It helps that the writers rarely wear suits

By: WonderJew

WonderJew — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:23:39 +0000

Oh PLEASE! You’re saying that the AMPTP is ‘just a business’ is a crock of shit. Without the writers these people wouldn’t have any business and vice versa. It’s a classic case of one side taking the other for granted. The WGA has been pushed around for too long and it’s time they take a stand for the next generation of writers.

Support the writers… DON’T WATCH REALITY TV!

By: KaeDee

KaeDee — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 04:07:35 +0000

Hil – I’m with you. Both sides are skewing their PR reports (its so completely obvious), and I don’t understand why all the AMPTP hate. Just because its a huge conglomeration? Hating the big corporation: can people get any more cliched? The writers signed their last contract, so obviously they liked that compromise. Both sides needs to quit the tiresome grandstanding and come back to the table and do their JOBS, which is reach a compromise.

By: Hil

Hil — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:24:08 +0000

I guess the parodies and jokes, rank and file or not, just don’t come off well on me. Especially when people who don’t get the wages the writers do are losing their jobs because production has stopped. Comes off a bit childish to me, not creative. It would be one thing if it was passed around among friends but a lot of it is public. Thanks for explaining some things more though.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:59:37 +0000

I’ve been paying attention to the strike since the day it started, and it was NEVER about “just the pay thing.” The stuff the AMPTP is dredging up now has been on the table since the beginning of negotiations. When the strike was announced, reports were that there were about 30 items at the time that the two sides had not come to terms on, but the CORE items, the ones that caused the biggest stumbling block, were the DVD residuals and pay for new media (downloads and Internet streaming).

When you read the actual proposals by the AMPTP, it’s pretty obvious they are all about winning, not meeting somewhere in the middle, which is what the WGA negotiators are trying to do (they have submitted counterproposals on certain items between what they originally requested and what the AMPTP proposed).

As for the parodies and jokes, come on. These aren’t coming from the negotiators. These are coming from the rank and file–creative people who are finding an outlet for their frustration in the way that suits them. I would rather see these than molotov cocktails and rotten eggs tossed during strikes in other industries.

By: Hil

Hil — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:29:48 +0000

And no, I am not a fan of AMPTP either. I just really don’t get all the WGA love when they’ve been acting childish as well. It is all rather embarrassing they both can’t act like adults and take this seriously.

By: Hil

Hil — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:18:24 +0000

Meh. I think the writers are just as bad as the suits. Sure, they need a raise, but they are making it out to be some kind of epic injustice. They won’t starve if they don’t get their raise in the near future. Sorry if I don’t shed any tears over their predicament. Both sides have made a public joke out of this. Maybe if either of them took it seriously and *gasp* did not try to leverage public sentiment with their little skits and press releases and the like. It just pisses everyone off and makes it harder to compromise. AND the people who are really suffering are the people who don’t have much money to begin with and now don’t have jobs at all at Christmas time. I’ll be sad for them. As for the other two, sort it out like adults, quit making skits and publicity stunts and insider info, and do it fast because I am really sick of this.

I really don’t know why everyone is siding with the writers. Sure, we love the shows and the writers are a big part of it, but this is a business thing and while they need a raise I really don’t like how public all this has been. Not “public” as in facts and figures but as in mocking and jokes.

By: Roberto Orci

Roberto Orci — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:15:59 +0000

the AMPTP should not take a parody of their website personally. They should, however, see it for what it really is: a part of the ongoing effort to keep morale high among striking writers who are facing a holiday season filled with great uncertainty.