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Blogs Go Dark: The Fan Revolution Gains Momentum

As of this posting, twenty television-focused blogs have announced they are going dark tomorrow in support of the strike. This action was organized by the charming Liz Pardue of Glowy Box, on whose site I found that picket graphic. Earlier, Liz wrote about why she is supporting us. Check out all the sites Liz has organized and give them a bookmark why don't you! I particularly like the graphics on Ducky Does TV's strike page. Good stuff.

Darling Nikki was all over this earlier today. (She blogs like it's her job or something!) And TV Week ran a piece as well.

The blackout is part of an amazing and growing groundswell of fan support for this strike. Have you seen the numbers on that petition? LiveJournal has a WGA Supporters community. And they've been busy creating icons and graphics you can use to show where you stand. Iloveyourspace.com has designed these MySpace layouts using our black-and-red theme. Well done!

To all the fans and viewers, your support means a lot to us. Don't forget, you are why the companies exist. They listen to you, and you matter in this strike. You can impact it for the better. The most important thing to do right now is KEEP SPREADING THE WORD. We know you're engaged and writing about us. Soon, there will be some more concrete actions you can take. Very soon...

Writer Carol Tenney sent an email to a few captains that I hope she won't mind me sharing (or my minor edits). "Saturday's LA Times had a picture of the strikers outside Fox Studios on Friday -- with the angle on a retired school teacher. It made me wonder -- why is a retired teacher coming out to picket with writers? The idealistic answer is that our actions are striking a chord with people who have been fighting unwinnable battles with unchecked corporate greed. And I think there's something to that, beacuse I'm hearing from a lot of people who are saying 'Go get 'em! I hope you writers get everything you're after.' But another possible reason is related to changes like reality tv and the Internet. The fourth wall has been smashed, and the audience is flooding into the frame." Welcome to the frame, guys. Now let's make the conglomerates hear you.

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  • It's Thanksgiving week, and in the spirit of that we hope all our readers will take some time to help those in need to whatever extent they can.

    The excellent LiveJournal community wga_supporters recently ran this note from David Rambo of CSI:

  • The LiveJournal group Fans for WGA / wga_supporters has launched a "call the big wigs" campaign. They've really thought it out and written a very polite script for fans who want to call the heads of the big six companies. "On Monday the WGA and AMPTP will recommence negotiations. The FFWGA wishes them Godspeed. However, our support cannot waver. I must stress: we will not stop campaigning on the writers’ behalf until the contract is signed, sealed, delivered, and serenaded by Stevie Wonder."We're honored by the passion of this group and thrilled that they're articulating the issues in a POSITIVE way. Check it out.

  • FireDogLake has launched a web site that makes it click-through-easy for a fan to email the studios behind their favorite shows.

    Other sites joining FireDogLake in the campaign are Daily Kos (4,050,000 hits/week), Raw Story (2,833,500), Crooks and Liars (1,850,000), AlterNet (1,500,000), and Democratic Underground (1,500,000). Carried on all those sites, almost 12,000,000 visitors/week will have the opportunity to click and send a complaint to the studio of their favorite show.

  • We're continuing to post interviews with writers, directors, and actors, in support of the strike. Please check in at Voices4Action! to hear Billy Ray talk about the emotional and financial toll the strike has taken on the community.

  • We're told that the long strike of 1988 had two far-reaching consequences: the audience discovered cable and reality shows grew in popularity.

    What will be the legacy of the 2007 strike?

    Hard to say. The negotiations are still ongoing. But one fact is abundantly clear even at this point.

    Writers love the internet.

    Given that the AMPTP was trying to control the internet, there is something ironic about the way writers have taken to the web as the place to try out ideas or vent or be funny about issues that can seem simultaneously enraging and arcane, like the DVD formula with its string of percentages: 1.5% (or 1.8%) of 20% of the studio’s gross on DVD sales.

    By various accounts, after only a few weeks, striking writers and their supporters have put between 750 and 1,000 videos on YouTube.

  • Liz Pardue, Editor of Glowy Box at http://www.glowybox.blogspot.com/ writes this synopsis:

    Adopt A Writer is a project organized by TV bloggers in support of the WGA, in association with United Fandom and United Hollywood.

    Each participating blog will interview a TV writer about their life as a writer —and as a striking writer— with the goal of putting a human face on the WGA for our readers

  • (We want to welcome SAG Member Justine Bateman as a regular contributor to United Hollywood. We hope to continue opening the site up to more voices from SAG and other unions. Justine reminds us that this fight belongs to all of us. We're all on the same page.)

    Attention all SAG Actors:

    I believe it's appropriate at this time to call all actors into action in support of the Writer's Guild on strike.
    I know many of us have been walking the picket lines and attending the rallies, but I want to challenge ALL SAG members to see if they can commit an HOUR-A-DAY to walking the picket lines.
    The AMPTP has been jerking the Writer's Guild around.
    1. They offered nothing but insulting Roll-Backs to the WGA in the negotiations that caused the strike.

  • Picketing with the Stars: More Great Photos
    Photography by Hamilton is one of the best online photo galleries I've seen, and it's a great source for pictures of strike events.

    Flickr continues to feature lots of strike scenes as well. Kudos to Flickr user ground_glass for her arty black and white shots. Nice!

  • UPDATE: The Fremantle picket and rally on Friday will feature a performance by Tenacious D. Also scheduled to appear: Writer Boi. We are told more bookings will be announced.

    Most Recent UH News

    • Info on the Holiday Harvest Food Drive at picket sites
    • E-mail from John Bowman on the current WGA proposals
    • Financial details of the WGA proposals, analysis of the AMPTP's partial proposal

  • We've been hearing from supporters around the world about rallies and picketing in solidarity with our strike against the AMPTP.

    An email arrived today from a good friend, Randa Haines (the director of Children of a Lesser God, Something About Amelia, and The Ron Clark Story), describing a very French demonstration of support:

    Hello from Paris!

  • - Garth Brooks Rocks
    The best-selling solo music artist in US history refused to cross picket lines and appear on "The View" or "Ellen" last week to promote his album. Reports cited this quote from Brooks' publicist: "Garth is proud of the position he has taken since he hopes to be a writer in the not too distant future."
    Garth, I'll bet you now have several thousand writers who will happily look at drafts for you. Thanks for your support.

    Many outlets carried this story, but when one is called CountryStandardTime.com, well, that's the one getting the link.

  • Jamie Masada has offered to host a weekly show at the Laugh Factory (8001 W Sunset Blvd at Laurel, 323-656-1336) to benefit the Writers Guild Foundation Industry Support Fund. The first show will be held tomorrow, Wed. Dec. 19 at 10pm. Entrance to the show is free for anyone who makes a contribution to the Fund. Checks made out to the Writers Guild Foundation will be accepted at the door. The shows will continue for the duration of the strike. Donations of new toys and/or new winter clothing will also be accepted and distributed to those affected by the strike.

  • Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler released this statement in the wake of IATSE president Tom Short's letter to Patric Verrone, president of the WGA. Wexler is a legend, and when he evaluates the state of our unions, he does so with authority. Without minimizing the difficult decisions that everyone faces in a strike, we found this note stirring and wanted to share it. -JA I walked the WGA picket line along with 6000 film workers demonstrating in front of Fox Studios.

    The spirit I saw in that demonstration is exciting to me, it gives me hope. These strikers are resisting further concessions, concessions which compromise all our futures.

    I caught the eye of a couple of grips and electricians driving through the line. Although I understand why our guys go through the line, it saddens me.

  • A quick reminder that the Councilmembers are meeting in committee tomorrow -- send your emails today to tell them you support the WGA, and want the conglomerates to come back to the table and negotiate in good faith.

    Go to the post for cut and paste emails and addresses to send them: http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/2007/12/call-to-action-email-los-angeles-city.html

    And come with us to the meeting tomorrow morning --
    7:30 am at Los Angeles City Hall Main Chambers (3rd Floor).
    200 N. Spring Street Los Angeles, CA 90012.

    Wear your strike t-shirts or red shirts -- come help us pack the room!

  • The WGA just sent out an official email listing a few local businesses that support the strike. We captains have been encouraged to approach businesses in our neighborhoods, tell them what is going on, and ask for their help.

    I'd like to expand upon the idea though: If you are a business owner who wants to offer discounts to striking writers, please consider offering discounts to IATSE members and Teamsters who may have been thrown out of work by the conglomerates' refusal to offer a fair deal. We're all in this together.

    - Silverlake Yoga is offering a 20% discount to WGA members while the strike lasts.

  • (The following is from WGA Member Joshua Beckett regarding the SEIU Rally that took place in downtown LA this past Thursday.)

    Just wanted to brief those of you who missed the SEIU rally today. It was heartfelt...and loud!! There were many, many WGA members there -- it looked like there were almost as many WGA folks as SEIU marchers! And what a great feeling that was! Truly.

  • UH News
    • Contract Update from Verrone and Winship
    • UH Live for 12/5

    Upcoming Events
    From the WGAw
    THURSDAY, 12/6THREE GENERATIONS OF WGA MEMBERS: Sherwood Schwartz, (creator of "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch"), his son Lloyd, (writer and producer of "The Brady Bunch" feature films and many television comedies), and Lloyd's son Andy, a story editor on "Scrubs" -- will picket together at the main gate of CBS Radford from noon until 1 p.m. Sherwood Schwartz, 91, was a founding member of the Television Writers of America, which merged with screenwriters to become the WGA.

  • Lots of good stuff to share.

    - Patrick Goldstein of the LA Times is a sharp and skeptical columnist. He took a few shots at writers before the strike began. But in his most recent column, he argues that the companies are dead wrong to use fear of a digital future as an excuse not to cut in content creators. "If the studios really believe they can't share a sliver of profits with the people who create what they sell, they'll be the losers. If you don't believe in the future, you shouldn't be in show business."As Patrick writes, entertainment is a business built on optimism. Writers believe in the future. CEOs only seem to when investors are listening. Which is it going to be, guys?

  • Pickets and rallies all over the states and the world are popping up in support of the writers' strike.

    In New Mexico, on the College of Santa Fe campus, writers and supporters gathered.

    Here's a link to the news video of the Phoenix picket of local Fox station sent to me by strike captain Teena Booth (who is on camera in the video).

    Striking writers and supporters made this video of rallies and pickets in Australia.

  • As Veterans Day draws to a close, we've got a group of links with some of the latest news and analysis:

    • We quoted from Damon Lindelof's contribution to the NY Times Op-Ed earlier today. The full text can be found here.
    • Here's another excellent and concise YouTube explanation for what the writers are asking for. It's called Fade to Black.
    • TV writer Ken Levine wrote a Simpson's parody on his blog.
    • Commentary from reviewer Barbara Barnett, who had been linking to Amazon Unbox episodes of "House" as part of her reviews.

  • WGA WRITERS THANK OUR COMMUNITY
    FREE EVENT AT SHERMAN OAKS CASTLE PARK
    FOR ANYONE OUT OF WORK BECAUSE OF THE STRIKE
    As the WGA strike moves into a second month, we, a group of writers, want to recognize the members of our community who are out of work or otherwise impacted. While we support our union’s actions, we feel badly that the strike is taking a toll on so many people who are not writers. We know that many in the industry have been going through a tough time…and at this point we probably could all use a dose of levity.

    To that end, if you are not a writer and are out of work because of the strike, we invite you and your kids to a free afternoon of mini-golf and arcade games at the Sherman Oaks Castle Park. We will provide pizza, ice cream and lots of fun.

    The Details:
    WGA writers thank our community
    December 11, 2007
    4pm-7pm

  • John August maintains one of the essential blogs on screenwriting and Hollywood. In a post from a few hours ago, he frames the current situation with typical wisdom:For any writer — WGA or otherwise — tomorrow would seem an especially important day to be on the picket lines. If the strike is ending, it’s your last chance to be part of the picket line. If it’s not ending, then a big showing on

  • What we have been calling the "Union Solidarity Fund" is now officially called the Writers Guild Foundation Industry Support Fund. Our friends at the Foundation have stepped up to coordinate the tremendous outpouring of generosity from businesses, fans, writers, actors, directors and the public to help non-WGA professionals affected by the strike. We will link to information on how to apply for assistance as soon as it is on the Foundation site.

    The Foundation is accepting donations now. Send them to 7000 W. Third St. LA 90048, and indicate "Industry Support Fund."

  • MONDAY DECEMBER 17th:

  • STRIKER’S STUDIO WALK-A-THON: A 7 mile walk beginning at Disney’s main gate at 9:00 am. For more information, please contact Josh Singer at jsinger10@gmail.com
  • DAYTIME UNITED: The writers of Daytime Dramas, Telenovelas, and Internet Serials are hosting a special picket event on Monday, December 17th, from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm at CBS Television City, on the Fairfax side. This will coincide with a similar event in Manhattan, organized by WGAE. With the enthusiastic support of AFTRA, the actors from our favorite Daytime Dramas -- plus directors, staff and crew -- will join the picket line in solidarity with the writers. For more information, please contact Karen Harris (poainc@sbcglobal.net) or Sara Bibel (sarab@earthlink.net )
  • The last day of official picketing ended with a high point at Fox.

    Writers were joined on the picket line by many supporters. The honking at the Pico gate reached new decibel levels as crowds of picketers filled the sidewalk and waved their signs at the passing traffic.

    The signs told the story: "WGA-DGA-SAG", "The House is Not Divided," "DGA-WGA Member," "Union Solidarity".

    The appearance of so many SAG and DGA members made the point that even though the AMPTP spin machine works hard to create the impression that there is dissension between the unions and in the ranks of the WGA, the opposite is true.

    Of course the strike has created tensions. How could it not?

    There should be tensions when so much is at stake and so much has been sacrificed in the fight with the congloms. But our common interests outweigh that tension, and our solidarity is real.

  • Could tomorrow be the final mass picket of the strike? One way to help make that a reality is to show up at what could be the final mass picket of the strike!

    Send a signal to the companies: If you want to make sure no last-minute legalistic monkey business derails the progress toward a fair and reasonable WGA deal, take a few laps around Disney tomorrow. We even made you a map.

    View Larger

  • (This just in from the WGA... I've heard similar sentiment from friends and family all over the nation. The temperature I'm reading -- the whole country is fed up with corporate conglomerates caring only about the bottom line, and not about the welfare of their workers.)

  • Robert J. Elisberg, WGA Member and contributor to The Huffington Post, wrote a piece excerpted here called, "WGA Strike Primer: Settling a Final Debt."

    It's not officially over yet, of course. There still is the matter of approving the contract. It's a 10-day process, a blink by strike standards, but long enough. Arguments of all views will be made, we do know that -- these are writers after all

  • 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.

  • Strike TV is an Internet fundraiser. It's an online "channel" featuring original video shows created by working professionals in the TV and Film Industry. These shows are self-funded and owned by their creators. Funds raised by ad revenue will go toward the Writers Guild Foundation Industry Support Fund, assisting union directors, actors and below the line members who are affected by the strike.