Strike Striking Struck

So you may have heard that some writers are making a lot of noise, and the world holds its breath lest it be forced to endure life without TV shows.

There is a very good WGA-produced video explaining what it's all about that can be found here on a MySpace page...

And the best reporting I've seen on the strike, on a day-to-day basis, is definitely Nikki Finke's LA Weekly column, which can be found at her Deadline Hollywood Daily site...

As a writer, I'm (almost) completely on the WGA's side. As the above video demonstrates, the issue at hand is one that will only get larger as time passes--and the pay inequities, already pretty outrageous, will become intolerable. Since I plan to have a nice long future writing for media including film and television, this is a fight whose worth is self-evident.

So why did I say (almost)? Well, you know. Self-interest takes its toll. And just a week before the strike began, Marc and I pitched City of Truth to several production companies, getting enthusiastic responses from every one of them. Three companies, to date, have asked for copies of the script, so it is now being read in some lovely places. But with the strike, even though I'm not a WGA member, I still can't sell anything to a signatory company (and all the interested parties are signatories). I can't pitch to anyone new, can't have a meeting with anyone from any of these companies. So if we get a call next week from someone saying he loves the script and wants to pay me money, I have to say no. This is whattayacallit--frustrating.

Why am I not a WGA member? Partly because playwrights aren't covered, and partly because I have tried to keep away from unions for as long as possible, ever since seeing what happened to some actor-friends in Chicago who joined Equity too soon--suddenly they couldn't work for the non-union theatres anymore, but they didn't yet have a solid enough reputation to get steady work at the union theatres. End result: an endless string of dayjobs.

Plus there's a whole discussion we could have about when unions are essential, and when they overstay their welcome. But that's for another day. For now, writers are on strike over something they need to strike about, and I'm behind them for this fight--hell, I may even go out and hold up a picket sign once or twice.

Even so... like every other writer, I really hope this one can get settled soon. It won't, but I sure wish it would.