I’m going to weigh in on something that I feel strongly about.

But before I do, I want to point something out that should be obvious, but maybe isn’t: every story that Fabiani and Lehane are shilling for the AMPTP right now has the words “reality and animation” in the first couple of sentences. It’s there for a reason; they know this is a wedge issue for writers, and they want to create dissent within the membership to weaken us.

But in some ways they’re doing us a favor. Because we needed to have this conversation sooner or later, as a membership, so even though I’d prefer we had it together where we could hash things out privately, it doesn’t look like that’s what’s going to happen.

In his Huffington Post article, How Big Media Breaks The Law On "Survivor" Island, Jonathan Tasini writes:

It now appears that Big Media has been routinely breaking wage-and-hour laws, pocketing piles of money it should have been paying to writers who work in reality television. Here's the story. Turns out that reality television is a sweat-shop for the writers who make those shows happen: long hours with no overtime pay, no health insurance, and no pension.He points out that this is a broader problem for all American workers, not just writers:

The WGA Negotiating Committee, on behalf of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), today issued the following statement regarding Contract 2007 negotiations:

“The Writers Guilds met today with the AMPTP and discussed issues of jurisdiction for original content for the Internet, Reality TV, Animation, and Basic Cable. The talks also were focused on contract enforcement. For the last two days, we have had substantive discussions of the issues important to writers, the first time this has occurred in this negotiation. However, we are still waiting for the AMPTP to respond to all of our proposals, including Internet streaming of theatrical and television product and digital downloads. Bargaining resumes tomorrow at 10 a.m.”

• Paul Haggis: The Reality of Reality and Animation

• The First Delivery of Pencils2MediaMoguls. UPDATED with report from Jeffrey Berman.

• Laeta Kalogridis Weighs in on Reality and Animation

• David Milch: "The Idea of the Writer" Business Model Discussion

• A Reality Writer Responds to the AMPTP

This was submitted by WGA member Michael Seitzman. It also appears in the Huffington Post.

A producer once told me that when the writer is working, the script is the gun that holds everyone else hostage. When the writer stops typing, he hands the gun to the producer and director and immediately joins the other hostages against the wall.

On November 1, 2007, The Writers Guild of America typed

(From WGA Member Ed Decter.)

I was walking the picket line with a young television writer who worked on THE UNIT. He was explaining to me that David Mamet always asks three things about a scene:

1. What does each character want?
2. Why now?
3. What happens if they don't get it?

Since I don't have an MBA, CPA, JD or any other degree my father wanted me to get, the only way I can look at our current labor situation is through the eyes of a screenwriter. If I was writing a screenplay, let's call it "The Big Strike of 2007," and the two main characters were the WGA and the AMPTP, before I would start writing I might ask myself the three Mamet questions. When thinking about the WGA "character" things seem very clear:

What does the WGA want?

This was submitted by WGA member Christopher Trumbo, member for 40 years, and son of WGA member Dalton Trumbo. His insights into the history of the guild are especially valuable now, as the strike continues and the AMPTP tries to divide us.

(The following is a post from WGA member Kevin Droney. The man made it through the '88 strike, and he knows his facts and figures.)

Why Production Crews Should Be Cheering On the Writers

I’ve talked with a few IA guys over the past few days, and they were generally unaware of a few things in their own contracts with the Alliance. To whit:

1) Their unions, including I.A.T.S.E., IBT Local 399, Studio Utility Employees Local 724, IBEW Local 40, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 78, and the Plasterers & Cement Masons Local 755… ALL RECEIVE RESIDUALS.
2) These residual payments go directly into their PENSION AND HEALTH FUND.
3) RESIDUALS earned working on shows CONSTITUTE 55% OF THEIR P & H.
4) If there are funding surpluses from residuals, retirees receive a 13th and a 14th check in that year, instead of the normal twelve.

The following is letter from Paul Diamond, son of I.A.L. Diamond (Billy Wilder's writing partner, "Some Like It Hot", "The Apartment"). This message was initially meant only for members of his strike team, but with Paul's permission we reprint it here for our readers.Dear Mick -- if you would, pass this on to the other Barham Gate Strikers...

The strike is over. The WGA contract has been ratified. SAG and AFTRA are now center stage and there is still a lot of work to do before the town gets back to normal. At this moment it's useful to look back at our own history. There are lessons to be learned about how the process can move forward even against what seems like overwhelming odds.

There are many who labored behind the scenes to support the writers' strike. At United Hollywood we worked with people who put their energy on the line but wanted to stay off the media's radar. Not content to just talk a good game, these are members and supporters who knew that if they wanted to make a difference, they had to work at it.

One group in particular came of age during the early part of the strike: the writer-directors. Nicknamed the WD-40, forty writer-directors met to search for ways they could help facilitate the negotiation.

From the beginning of the strike, most journalists accepted the AMPTP's lead and described the DGA and WGA as antagonistic to one another. Nicholas Counter was frequently quoted in the trades as preferring the DGA as a negotiating partner. The writer-directors objected to that characterization and felt that the AMPTP was doing what it always did in positioning the Guilds against one another to diminish each union's power.

Robert J. Elisberg, who writes the regular WGA Strike Primer columns on The Huffington Post, responds below to Michael Cieply's recent article in the New York Times entitled, Writers Strike Tests Mettle of 2 Outsiders.

Last week, Michael Cieply wrote once-again about his perception of “fissures” in the Writers Guild. It’s a theme of his. Back during the 1988 WGA strike he specialized in writing

This article was submitted by WGA member Michael Arkof. It runs today in Writers: On The Line, a weekly print newsletter distributed at picket locations.
AND A CHILD SHALL READ THEM

Sabrina Batchler didn’t write the book on supporting the WGA strike, but she is reading one. Lots of them, actually. The eleven year-old is conducting a Read-a-thon to raise money for the Writers Guild Foundation, to

(The following is from Teamster Member, John Jabaley. The opinions expressed are not the IBT's point of view, but John's.)

Where I grew up in the deep south in the 1970's, union was a dirty word. Even in my family, conspicuously liberal (in our neighborhood, at least) for our attendance of public schools, unions were considered a way for workers to loaf on the job without being punished. Coming from the management side of the equation, most people I knew were happy they didn't have to deal with workers who stuck together.

I sailed through childhood with this belief essentially unchallenged.

It always seems to be raining when I write a blog.

(WGAw President Patric M. Verrone released the following statement a short time ago)

December 13, 2007

To My Fellow Members:

The AMPTP and each of its member companies have a legal obligation to bargain in good faith with the WGA. Their unilateral walkout from negotiations last Friday and their on-going refusal to bargain is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act. Therefore the WGA today filed Unfair Labor Practice charges against the AMPTP with the National Labor Relations Board.

The DGA’s announcement today that it may begin negotiations with the AMPTP in January in no way relieves the AMPTP of their legal obligation to negotiate with us. The only legal way for the AMPTP to remedy the Unfair Labor Practice charge we have filed is to return to the bargaining table.

We shouldn't get all misty-eyed at the revelation that the studios are happy the strike has happened.

Jeff Zucker picks up an easy $40 million by terminating overall deals. Peter Chernin is the face of reality when he boasts, "We save more money in..., you know, story costs and probably the lack of making pilots than we lose in potential advertising."

We shouldn't be surprised that a cable network told a tv-writer last week that her movie will go into production, but before they green light her project, they need the tiniest of rewrites before they green light. They know the WGA doesn't want her to do the work, but maybe she could 'supervise' someone else who could. Wink, wink.

LOS ANGELES – The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have issued the following statement regarding Contract 2007 negotiations:

“The Writers Guild has reached a binding independent agreement today with Worldwide Pants that will allow Late Night with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return to the air with their full

WHY WE WRITE is a series of short essays by prominent TV and Film writers. Conceived by Charlie Craig and Thania St. John, the campaign hopes to inspire and inform during the strike, and perhaps beyond.

Today’s piece is written by Greg Garcia, Creator and Executive Producer of My Name Is Earl. To read it, go here.

This is excerpted from the email that Warners strike captain Brian Hartt sent to other captains this week, with permission. Brian is an Emmy-nominated writer who coordinates all of the Warners picket teams, as well as being the showrunner on Mind of Mencia who helped get 4 West Coast and 2 East Coast shows on Comedy Central covered by the WGA contract . His tireless work and dedication are inspiring.

As I'm sure you all know, the AMPTP walked away from the table Friday.

You all should have, by now, gotten John Bowman's response to the "nice try" press release by the company's lap dog. Let me stress something that John mentioned - their press release came out minutes after they walked away.

Deadline Hollywood Daily has put up a story that Jay Leno has been given a special dispensation by the WGA, or "pass," to write his monologues for his show.

It's not true.

We've spoken to our WGA sources, and here's what we have: The Guild talked on the phone with Jay today. They discussed the strike rules and how they apply to him. As a WGA member, he can't write anything, including monologues

Ok, so we've finally got some answers from our sources. We'll have more as the day goes on, but here's the beginning of it:

Why aren't the writers still in the room negotiating? Why are we waiting until Tuesday to continue?

When they presented their proposal, the companies said it was incomplete. The Negotiation Committee still hasn't received the rest of the proposal, and they're waiting on the AMPTP to actually bring it. However, it's kinda hard to get excited about anything they may be bringing to the table, given the unimpressive track record they have so far.

December 16, 2007

Dear Writers Guild of America Members,

I am writing to you on behalf of 120,000 proud members of Screen Actors Guild who stand with you in solidarity as your strike continues. We believe that now more than ever, we must remain strong and even more committed to achieving our common objectives. We are proud to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with you and SAG will be there for as long as it takes.

Your fight is our fight. Our National Executive Director Doug Allen and I are working around the clock with Patric Verrone and David Young to coordinate our strike support efforts. I'm sure you have seen some of the thousands of Screen Actors Guild members who've been walking the picket lines in Los Angeles, New York and around the country for the last six weeks.

This is the letter that was just sent to the membership:

AMPTP BREAKS OFF NEGOTIATIONS

Today, after three days of discussions, the AMPTP came back to us with a proposal that included a total rejection of our proposal on Internet streaming of December 3.

They are holding to their offer of a $250 fixed residual for unlimited one year streaming after a six-week window of free use. They still insist on the DVD rate for Internet downloads.

They refuse to cover original material made for new media.

(From Writer's Assistant, Ed Fowler)

Saturday I went to my mailbox and discovered a very plain envelope with the return address of NBC Universal. Inside it held a simple, single page letter. At the very top, centered in some kind of Helvetica or Ariel font (at least it wasn't Comic Sans) was the very business like heading of:

Within every despondant nine-to-fiver, theremay be a Superblogger waiting to burst forth.
Clark Kent job (klark kent jahb) noun. The sports blogger's "day job." That is, whatever form of employment -- be it full or part-time -- that allows the blogger to pay the bills until he can land the job of his dreams: Sports writer. No, wait: Paid sports writer.

Usage example: I work for as a technical writer for a global computer software firm. That's my Clark Kent job.

Today, Tuesday, 11/20/07, Los Angeles will experience a labor rally in support of the WGA strike. Marching west on Hollywood Boulevard from Ivar and gathering in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, thousands upon thousands will join together to celebrate the importance of labor unions in American life.

And how will you know about this momentous occasion? You'll have to be there.

At the last rally in front of Fox Studios, 4,000 writers and their supporters marched and rallied, but when you watched the evening news, you'd never know it . There was plenty of time that night to talk about lost kittens but nothing about the peaceful march that closed down Pico Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars.

Today's rally marks a crucial juncture: a mass demonstration of our strength before the negotiations restart.

The following two WGA press releases were sent to media today to announce that Lionsgate and Marvel Studios have both signed interim agreements with the Writers Guild.

LIONSGATE SIGNS INTERIM AGREEMENT WITH WRITERS GUILD

LOS ANGELES – Leading independent filmed entertainment studio Lionsgate is the latest company to sign an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America. The company is one

Steve Levitan may embarrass his kids, but he makes writers proud in the new essay from the "Why We Write" series organized by Charlie Craig and Thania St. John. (Steve welcomes your comments on the Why We Write site.)