Writer’s Strike – No “joke” to “below-the-line” crew

I watched Letterman again the other day and he yet again, as he does everyday, jokes about the writer’s strike.  Yes, it is nice that he was able to negotiate a separate deal for his own writers with the WGA but it is no joke to the hundreds of thousands of “below-the-line” crew members that work on TV shows and those people that make a living working with the studios in assisting to put a show on the air. They are still out of work and have been for many, many weeks now. Think of every person and company that get a show on the air…from truck drivers, carpenters, electricians, set people, catering companies and then all the businesses that supply and work for the studios. No work for anyone. No paychecks. No strike fund checks. Nothing.

Think of when this strike started, 10 weeks ago. Christmas fell into that time frame. “Clever” timing. Now think about all the savings accounts drained, vacation weeks eaten into, unemployment checks applied for, sacrifices being made by all the NON-WRITERS so their families can keep a roof over their heads, the heat turned on and food in the ‘fridge and yet the Producers and The Writers refuse to sit down and negotiate????

The DGA (Directors Guild) has now embarrassed the WGA and like mature adults have put together a contract long before they needed to (June) and had their membership vote on it. They did their homework, started the talks and got what they wanted. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=4151979

The self-centeredness of the Writers and Producers astound me.  That they can wake up every morning, look at themselves in the mirror, and not think about the crew members that they used to work with struggling to pay their bills because they aren’t pressuring their union leaders to sit down and talk again. How dare you all put everyone in debt that will take months and months to crawl out of so YOU get those few extra pennies on DVD sales??

You better take that DGA contract, use it as your template, AND SIT DOWN NOW! It has never been funny, Leno, Letterman, Conan, etc. that crew members of all those TV shows (and now movies that won’t start) toss and turn every night thinking about groceries for the coming week. Want to talk about the Strike in your monologue? It’s time to talk about the no so funny reality that the rest of us are dealing with! 

So will the Writers share their $$ with the rest of us???

It has been a month of highs and lows. The high? I had a great time at the swearing-in. The lows? The TV series that my husband works on ran out of scripts and now we are in the midst of the Writer’s Strike. To the “civilians” it means more reality shows and re-runs.  To the tens and tens of thousands of people on the East and West coasts that work behind the scenes it means no more work, dipping into the savings account and unemployment checks. They laugh on the Late Night shows. Ha, Ha. Guess you have to cut back on your Lattes, you writers.  Very clever. What is not so clever and less publicized are those workers who try not to turn on their heat and buy groceries as these spoiled brats (both sides) stare each other down.

I wrote a letter today to a NY Post reporter  who mentioned todayin her article about the hundreds of companies shut down and the 75,000 people here in the NY/NJ/CT are that are currently out of jobs.  Here is a copy of my letter to her and her response…

Thank you for taking the time to write. I just wanted to express how sorry I am to hear about your family’s hardship.  For your sake and others whose livelihoods depend on the entertaiment business, I’m hoping for a speedy resolution to the stand off. All my best, Holly

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 Mon 1/7/2008 11:44 AM
To: Holly.Sanders
Subject: Writer’s Strike…Not a “joke” to us…
Holly-

Thank you for stating in your article this a.m. the amount of local companies and businesses that are affected by the Writer’s Strike. As a spouse of one of those “below-the-line” employees the jokes that the late night shows make about the situation is no joke to our family and all of those families that have been thrown out of work due to the inability of the Writers and Producers representatives to sit down and hash out a deal.

The timing? Just perfect. Right before the holidays. It was just great to have to look at your Christmas budget and think, “Gee, am I going need this money to keep the heat on later this winter?” So you cool it and cut back.  Do you know what the max is for NYS unemployment? Just a little over $400 a week (NJ is $100 more, but it is based out of where you work, not live). Stll, pathetic. We have some money saved, but we are going through it quickly. Strike fund? Our Union isn’t the one on strike. My husband is so down now and the kids see that.  I feel terrible for him and as much as I try to cheer him up and keep the bills away from him, he sees.

Every expense in our home has to be weighed as to the importance to day-to-day living.  

And you know what pisses me off? That my family and thousands of other families are now starting to go into debt, that could take months to get out of so that some WRITER can get his/her piece of DVD  and New Media sales. Where is OUR piece for our suffering?

My husband was on a TV series. They filmed until they ran out of scripts at the beginning of December.  I know we have been more fortunate than others who have been out longer but the outrage is still the same.

We have been married for 20 years and have been through some of the other strikes and production issues of the years but the difference between than and now is how the TV and movie industry has changed in the tri state area.  There are so many more studios with TV production going on than ever before. The state and city governments have done a terrific job to encourage companies to invest in NY/NJ and CT production only to have it closed down by a group of people that apparently have no sympathy for those that they worked with. It’s all about “them”.

I read an article the other day that stated that the writers and producers need to be closed off in a hotel room and not be allowed to come out until they have a deal, no matter how long it takes.  I would go one better. I would do that and leave in one plate of deli food and a six pack of water for everyone in the room.  When that runs out, that’s it. Too bad. Stay hungry. Maybe then they will understand how the thousands of others on both coasts scrambling to stretch their resources to pay their bills feel.

 http://www.nypost.com/seven/01072008/news/nationalnews/wein_if_you_must_714749.htm

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080106/FREE/864798462/1008