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They're off to join the picket line

Three of the original Munchkins from THE WIZARD OF OZ will be joining striking writers on the picket line Friday morning at NBC Studios in Burbank. Among them will be Jerry Maren, the original Lollipop Kid who uttered the famous line, "We represent the Lollipop Guild."

Unfortunately for Jerry and his co-stars, the Lollipop Guild didn't have any better luck than other Hollywood guilds of the era in getting the actors or its screenwriter any residuals for their creation which has earned an untold fortune in the years since.

The actors, who will be receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday, will be bringing Dunkin Munchkins at 9 a.m. to writers walking the picket lines outside the home of THE TONIGHT SHOW.

On Monday night at 7 p.m., there will be a benefit screening of their classic film at Grauman's Chinese Theater - the very same place the movie premiered in 1939.

A sincere thank you to these actors for their show of support and a hearty congratulations on their much deserved honor.

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    We are grateful to our brothers and sisters in SAG for their continued solidarity and support.

    The entire awards show season is

  • The WGA just announced a new picket event, Bring an Actor Friend to the Line Day, for Tuesday, December 11. I like this event idea. SAG and the WGA have been partners in this from the beginning, and actors have been joining our picket lines every day of the strike. But the focus of this day is a little bit different.

  • (News Release from the Writers Guild of America)

    Hundreds of Screen Actors Guild Members Join Picket Lines Outside Universal Studios

    on Day Nine of WGA Strike

  • United Hollywood Live (12pm Pacific/3pm Eastern) will be joined by Robert J. Elisberg, whose excellent article on The Huffington Post questions why the AMPTP - made up of competitors - is allowed to negotiate as a single entity against the WGA. The show will also feature a live remote from the Trekkie Day rally at Paramount Studios where the writers of all Star Trek Incarnations will join us on the picket line.

  • BALTIMORE:
    Photo from Associated Press: Actors Sonja Sohn (left) and Jeffrey Pratt Gordon (center) from the TV show "The Wire" joined striking screenwriter Rafael Alvarez at a Writers Guild protest yesterday in Baltimore.

    WGAe employee Karen Young sent us links to articles from the Washington Times and the Baltimore Sun about the picket in Baltimore - attended by members from many different

  • 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.

  • Brought to you by Fans4Writers. As always, we are inspired by their generosity and solidarity, and deeply grateful to them for their support.

    On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Monday, January 21), fans will be joining the picketing writers at NBC Burbank. All fans in the Los Angeles area (and beyond) are urged to join in on the picket.

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  • Update: The "Family Guy" at Carnegie Hall event is Thursday 1/31. The incorrect date has been fixed.

    TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY JANUARY 30:
    NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS WALK THE LINE: Northwestern University Alumni (otherwise known as the "NU Mafia") are cordially invited to join their fellow writers, actors and other supporters on the picket line, Wednesday, January 30, from 11:30-2:30 PM, at NBC Alameda.

  • 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.

  • For the past month we've been filming interviews with writers, directors, actors, futurists, DPs, and people on the picket line, asking them to talk about the strike. Oliver Stone looked back at his years in the business, remembering how it used to be before the corporations' greed overwhelmed the movie business. Maria Maggenti told us about the importance of residuals to her career. Tony Gilroy

  • 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 )
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    speechless

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  • Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg announced today:

    "After considerable outreach to Golden Globe actor nominees and their representatives over the past several weeks, there appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross WGA picket lines to appear on the Golden Globe Awards as acceptors or presenters. We applaud our members for this remarkable show of solidarity for

  • (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.
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    1. They offered nothing but insulting Roll-Backs to the WGA in the negotiations that caused the strike.

  • 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

  • Tune in to hear writer/director/producer Joss Whedon (Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly) who joins us on United Hollywood Live today (12pm Pacific/3pm Eastern). We'll be talking to Joss about the "Mutant Enemy Strike" in which fans of Joss' shows will picket outside Fox's Pico Gate this Friday.

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  • 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.

  • Tomorrow at Raleigh Studios, home of ABC's "Ugly Betty," C. Jay Cox, Chad Darnell and Michael Medico are inviting WGA, SAG and all friends of the L.G.B.T. community to join them at the 10am-2pm picket. Silvio Horta, creator of "Ugly Betty," will be in attendance as well as cast members from the show. Raleigh is across the street from Paramount at 5300 Melrose Ave, and for more information you can click through to C. Jay's blog post.

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    From the WGAw
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  • Tune in for another edition of the only show in Hollywood that actually hopes every broadcast is its last, United Hollywood Live (12 pm Pacific/3 pm Eastern).

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  • An analysis by United Hollywood's Jeffrey Berman. -JA.

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  • The LA Times carried the story this morning of the "debate" staged by striking WGA writers, held for the benefit of politicians in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. The writers came to educate and inform D.C., in the way that only these guys can.

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  • Oscar-nominated writer-director and WGA board member Phil Alden Robinson will be the special guest today, November 28th, on United Hollywood Live (12-1:30PM Pacific/3-4:30PM Eastern). Robinson has been an articulate voice on behalf of writers during the current strike.

    Today's show also features live reports from the various picket lines, video clips and a surprise guest or three.

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  • (Breaking news from the WGA - the AMPTP has agreed to come back to the table on November 26th. Now, let's hope they are prepared to make a fair deal. This is progress. Everyone wants to go back to work. Everyone wants fair compensation for their work.)


    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    November 16, 2007

  • (With all the best to Frank Pierson and thanks to Jon Avnet)

    The latest AMPTP offer, Thursday's "groundbreaking" proposal, certainly wasn't what any of us hoped for. If we assume the AMPTP sincerely wants to end the strike, then everything they've done so far is counter-intuitive. Given the stakes, their behavior is crazy-making. Most members were shocked and demoralized that the offer was so inappropriate.

    But when has anyone enjoyed a negotiation?

    Personally, I hate negotiating. At first it feels good when I'm thinking about what I want. My mind's racing with the possibilities. But when the process starts and the first counter-offer comes in, I go through the seven stages of grief. If I want a deal that I can live with, I have to tough it out.

  • 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.

  • On this Turkey Day, the writers of United Hollywood wish to extend our thanks to everyone across the world who has offered so much help, support and encouragement. We invite you all to watch "Speechless," a new campaign featuring dozens of actors who want to see creative talent get a fair deal. "Speechless" will run exclusively at Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily through the Thanksgiving weekend. Three new videos are scheduled each day. Read the full press release here.

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  • On Monday, February 11 from 2-6pm, United Hollywood and Strike Swag invite all members of the United Hollywood community to be photographed for a PR campaign to promote the new United Hollywood site.

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  • Compiled from WGA and United Hollywood emails. -JA

    TUESDAY DECEMBER 11TH:

    PENCILS2MEDIAMOGULS: It's here! The first delivery of pencils will take place today. Over 500,000 pencils have been shipped. Please join us as we deliver the pencils to NBC CEO Jeff Zucker, Robert Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and to Universal Studios for GE's CEO Jeffrey Immelt. Writers slated to appear include: Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica), Joss Whedon (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly), Carol Barbee (Jericho), Alfred Gough (Smallville), Miles Millar (Smallville). We will meet at 11:30 am at Johnny Carson Park, 400 Bob Hope Drive in Burbank.

  • Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who has actively sought union support during his campaign, crossed WGA picket lines outside NBC studios in Burbank Wednesday in order to appear on the Tonight Show, all while offering several (often lame) excuses for his actions.

    Before heading to LA for his appearance yesterday, according to the AP, Huckabee told reporters traveling with him that he