Here’s What I Think…

Everyone’s on pins and needles as the WGA and the big studios hunker down this week and try to hammer out a deal.  No one’s sure if the studios are just using these talks as a PR move since public support is decisively on the side of the writers, or if they’re serious about making a fair deal.  I really hope this strike ends soon because the cost is enormous to everyone.

Meanwhile, I’m in Maine visiting friends and family.  My home town of Bar Harbor is a picturesque tourist spot on the coast packed in the summer with visitors from around the world, mostly here to see the incomparably beautiful Acadia National Park.  As the winter months close in, the town empties out and only the locals remain.  Most of the restaurants and shops shut down, but a few diehard establishments keep their doors open and heaters humming.  I love it here this time of year because it’s so quiet.  People here have known me since I was a toddler, some even longer, and nowhere else in the world do I have such a sense of belonging, a sense of peace.  With my short attention span, I need constant stimulus only a major city can provide so I can’t imagine living here year round, but one day I hope to spend two, maybe three months out of the year, in a quaint ocean front house, a glass of red wine in my hand, watching the snow fall.  Bliss.

I was lucky enough to be in attendance at the Jefferson Jackson Dinner in Des Moines Iowa a couple of weeks ago.  It was the Democrats’ official kick off for the upcoming primary.  It was truly a star-studded affair (in political circles anyway).  All the major Democratic candidates were there to speak, and the whole affair was hosted by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.  Hillary and Obama’s speeches were saved for last, much like the Academy Awards which saves the big trophies for the end of the evening.  John Edwards was first up to bat, which struck me as a nod to the “Best Supporting” categories which usually happen early in the evening to keep the audience engaged.  Then there was the parade of the other candidates who aren’t as visible or well known including Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden (who I had the pleasure of meeting before we sat down to scarf down some truly awful rubber chicken).  These guys are like the technical and animated short awards.  By the time Hillary and Barrack took to the stage, everyone was getting tired, it was closing in on midnight.  But I have to say, there’s a reason these two are the frontrunners in the polls.  They both have such star power.  I also got the chance to meet Obama earlier in the evening and he was as gracious and warm as you could expect a politician to be.  Obama also took home the prize for most vocal supporters and there is no denying his speech was mesmerizing.  If only we could see this passion and focus and inspiring style on the campaign trail.  Although, as I write this, he’s pulled ahead in the Iowa polls.  Hillary was much more calculating and polished, but hell, I love her.  And I think she’d make a great president.  And yes, I really, really want to see a woman elected president.  But I would also be happy with Barrack.  As for the other side, Mitt, Rudy, Fred, Mike and yes, even the outspoken and feisty Ron Paul, I can definitely live without.  I’m anxious for the YouTube Republican debate to see how they fare answering real questions from real people.  Should be fun.

Neither side seems to be budging in the ongoing Writers’ Strike.  I was at Universal Studios on Tuesday for the big and hugely successful ”Bring a Star” rally.  Many actors showed up including Jay Leno, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, the cast of Desperate Housewives, Kathy Griffin, Sarah Silverman, among many others.  The Screen Actor’s Guild is demonstrating a strong allegiance to our guild because they know whatever happens with us will seriously affect their own talks scheduled for next spring.  Public opinion also seems to be on our side for the time being.  But I’m guessing as the strike drags on as most analysts and industry experts predict, the lack of scripted shows and the onslaught of reality and repeats may cause a backlash against the writers.  I do feel in my heart this is a battle we must wage and win in order to see any semblence of a fair deal.  The hardliners on the other side are splashing false information in ads all over the trade papers and high profile newspapers, hoping to turn the tide against us, but so far their fictional claims haven’t got any traction.  But that could always change as well.

I arrived in Maine yesterday, my hometown of Bar Harbor, to see family and work on a few projects outside the WGA jurisdiction including an animated series, a book outline, and to develop a few other ideas.  I’ve put all of my other projects, including a 90 minute pilot script for USA, in the drawer until further notice.  I was closing in on a couple of new deals days before the strike, but those too are on hold or may just fall apart altogether.  Time will tell.

I know a lot of people believe that writers are rich fatcats who are just whining about wanting more money (as someone referred to it, the haves and the have jets), but it’s about so much more than that.  First, most writers make an average of $60,000 a year.  There are some who rake in millions to be sure, but not the vast majority.  And just because a corporation makes a lot of money, should all of it automatically go to the CEO, or is it so wrong to spread a tiny portion of it to the people who created and nurtured the project, not the company just financed it.  In my mind, it’s a no brainer.

It’s grueling walking a picket line.  Luckily I chose Sunset-Gower Studios, which is close to where I live, and there is a Starbucks a half a block away.  I’m meeting a lot more fellow writers than I normally would in my home office where most of the time I toil away writing on my laptop alone, desperate for someone to call me up and suggest lunch.  Yes, there is a fun, social aspect to the strike.  But the stakes are serious.  And we need all the help we can get.  Today, two fellow writers, who also happen to be actors, from the television show on Comedy Central, Reno 911, dressed up as their characters and waved to passing motorists, who honked their horns in support.  Then, later two more actors from the NBC hit show Heroes also stopped by.  It means so much when they show their unity and support.  No one knows me.  I stand on the corner, frantically waving my picket sign, yelling and giving the thumbs up to the commuters zipping along Sunset Boulevard, and most of the time they’ll honk their horn, give me the thumbs up, a big smile, a solid show of support.  But I’m just an unknown writer with a sunburned face.  However, when they see the stars of their favorite TV shows wave at them, it makes all the difference in the world.  And I thank them from the bottom of my heart.  Michael Eisner, the former CEO of Disney, said at a Dow Jones conference that our strike is “stupid”.  I’m not surprised he would side with management.  He’s never respected writers, who created all the wonderful animated characters and hit Disney movies he cashed out on when he got fired a few years back.  Some people just don’t get it, and never will.

I used to like you, Tim.  I had a season pass for Meet the Press on my Tivo, and I always enjoyed listening to your political analysis on The Today Show while trying to roust myself out of bed and start my day.  You got me excited about politics.  But after Tuesday’s Democratic Presidential Debate on MSNBC which you moderated, alongside NBC news anchor Brian Williams, I can no longer be counted as one of your fans.  I’m not sure if you and Williams arranged beforehand to play Good Cop Bad Cop, but you seemed to relish in your role as a partisan journlist hack.  Really, Tim.  A question about UFOs aimed at Dennis Kucinich?  Why not ask the rest of the candidates?  No, you had to go after Kucinich with a question designed solely to humiliate him and amuse you.  And it’s not only the Republicans who are obsessed with Senator Hillary Clinton.  You too seem to be on some crusade to not only take her down, but bat her around like a kickball.  You practically ignored the other candidates standing on the stage with her as you tried to assassinate her with your little game of “Gotcha”.  She did stumble, yes I admit, and she should have been clearer on the question about driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, but most of her answers made a lot of sense to me.  But you were like an pit bull who just heard a high pitched signal to attack.  Clinton’s campaign said you bordered on unprofessional.  I wouldn’t say bordered.  You were unprofessional.  It was bad enough that Edwards and Obama let loose a barrage of personal attacks.  They reminded me of the two simple minded thugs working for ice skater Tonya Harding back in ‘94 who took clubs to Nancy Kerrigan’s knee in a half-assed effort to remove her from Olympic competition.  But I expect that from Edwards and Obama.  They’re politicians.  That’s what they do.  But the moderator of a debate?  There was nothing moderate about you last Tuesday night, Tim.  No, I’m definitely no longer a fan.

Sorry it’s been a while since my last post.  I was in Florida visiting my family and then when I returned to LA I had to rush through a story pitch at USA for my pilot script The Nanny Files.  Usually after you pitch the story over the phone, the network sends you off to outline, to flesh out the scenes and characters, so they know what they’re getting when you proceed to script.  Not this time.  At the end of the call, after some smart notes from the executives, they told me to immediately start writing the script.  Wow.  That’s never happened in my 19 years writing film and television.  It all stems from the anxiety around Hollywood about the impending Writers’ Strike.  The networks are desperate.  And now talks have broken down, predictably, over the New Media issue, and the union is on the brink of a walkout.  I knew this would happen.  There was too much posturing from both sides in the press.  Now we just have to wait and see if a last minute deal can be brokered or we take to the picket lines.  I’m not a fervent supporter of a strike, and I’m certainly not in favor of rolling over for the networks and studios.  I just feel bad for the caterers, restaurant workers, and other local businesses that will inevitably suffer from a prolonged strike.  Those are always the people who always get hit the hardest and the fastest.  And it saddens me.