Brothers in Arms

I have to be honest. I’m shocked by the support in the media. Remember, the media is owned by the same conglomerates that own the companies we are striking against. Hard to win a war when your enemy controls the news. But so far the reporting has seemed mostly fair. I keep expecting that to change. Maybe it won’t though. It’s a brave new world where every writer has a blog and every PA has a Myspace. Guess we’ll see down the road. Hopefully this thing will end soon though and we can all get back to work.
I would also like to take a moment to say a thanks to all those who have shown support on a personal level through emails and phone calls. Thank you.
I hate that it has come to this but I’ve yet to talk to any writer who was all boned up about a strike. Strikes hurt everyone. And below the line will be the first to suffer, those men and women who work their butts off daily as the essential engine that brings TV shows or movies to life. They don’t get residuals. They don’t get their faces on the covers of magazines. They too have families and they will suffer as we move into the Holidays if this thing doesn’t come to an end.
The studios would have you believe that the average screenwriter makes 200 thousand a year. You know, I was more moderate in the beginning of this thing but my tasty blood is starting to boil. I’m way above average and I’ve never had a 200 thousand dollar year. Don’t get me wrong. I’m thankful for what I have and what I’ve received. But I’m not rich. I pay my bills, I love my wife and kid. I really did trade in my Audi for a Bugaboo. A rich guy would have both. I recently went nearly two years without a job and had ICM dump three days before Christmas. Oh I did the work. I wrote every day on scripts and assorted development projects…but none of them resulted in a paycheck. Until recently. Suddenly I found myself with three jobs. Writers get paid in steps. I’ve done at least one step on each project, which means there’s more work to do and more money for me to make. But now my pencil is down. And it will stay down until this is over.
So basically, workers will suffer. writers will suffer. Staffers will suffer. It’ll trickle down too. Groceries, Malls. Joe and Martha will hold off building that extra bedroom thus construction will suffer. Near as I can tell and please let me know if I’m way off base here, but the only one who won’t suffer will be the studio guy making 20 million a year. Or his bosses running the conglomerate that owns him.
So, why fight a battle when so many will suffer?
This is why.
Why We Fight
In closing, the word is out. The writers are…writing. But the writing is personal. They are writing their blogs. In ’88 there was no way of getting the writer’s side of the story out there. Now there is. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of sites by writers and journalists following these stories. I couldn’t possibly list them all but here are three of my favorites.
Deadline Hollywood Daily
Remi’s Blog
Artful Writer
Following is a support petition I snatched from a Steve Niles myspace bulletin.
Support Petition
Again, thanks to everyone who has shown us support. And let’s hope this thing comes to an end, sooner than later.