The members of the Writers Guild of America have something new to be thankful for as they announced they will resume negotiations with film and television producers next week.
The WGA, which will continue picketing as negotiations commence, is on strike for an increased share of the profits from DVD sales. They are also fighting to start receiving compensation for internet sales, such as those made through iTunes, and free reruns of television shows on Web sites such as ABC.com.
Morale among television and film writers seemed surprisingly high as the strike surpassed the two-week mark, even as negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers seemed uncertain at best.
Friday marked a big boost for the WGA to celebrate, as Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards visited picketers at NBC studios in Burbank.
Miranda Banks, a graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and a professor who has written on gender and labor within the Hollywood industry, cites a number of reasons for the renegotiations.
She credits the unity of the WGA and the new technologies in media, such as blogs and YouTube videos, that have given faces and voices to those usually behind the lens as reasons for the strength of the strike.
“White-collar labor is its own strange beast; America has an understanding of blue-collar workers, but it’s very rare that you see white-collar workers striking, and that’s part of the struggle the WGA has right now in creating their voices.
“What’s compelling is their opportunity for visibility,” Banks said.
The resumed negotiations are not just a surprise to those following the strike but for both sides involved.
Earlier last week, television studios had already begun to pursue alternative methods to get some of their key programming back on the air. Reruns for late-night shows continued, and daytime scripted television slowly began to run out of fresh content, but it seems that both may return to original programming sooner than expected, whether or not both sides are able to finally come to an agreement.
Should talks fall through, producers for late-night shows such as “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Night with David Letterman” are reportedly in talks to get the hosts to return to their desks sometime within the next few weeks.
With their writers still on strike, these hosts would have to write their own material, as Johnny Carson did when he went on-air during a 1988 strike and as Ellen DeGeneres has been doing since the beginning of the current strike, with the exception of one day off.
Hosts such as Jay Leno have shown their support for the strike, but many of these hosts are in talks to return, out of fear for their lower-paid nonwriting staffs, which include stagehands and make-up, hair and wardrobe staff. Networks such as NBC considered letting these employees go last week, though they have now extended those contracts to Nov. 30.
While there may be many famous faces among the striking writers, including show creators and head writers, such as “Family Guy’s” Seth MacFarlane, it is the less-famed and -fortunate crew members whom are being hit worst by the strike.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union for nonwriting entertainment staff members, includes 50,000 members in Hollywood who are now at risk of unemployment.
The alliance went so far as to write a letter to WGA West President Patric Verrone about resolving the strike.
While those within the WGA are sympathetic toward their co-workers, the guild is firm in its position for renegotiated compensation.
“Obviously, we really hate the fact that so many people are out of work because of this. It’s not anyone’s goals to shut down this whole town,” said UCLA alumna and WGA member Marina Alburger.
“It’s really regrettable to just kind of blame the writers. … If they really knew what was being offered to us, they would understand that we had no choice but to strike.”
Just as late-night shows on major networks are borrowing strategies from the 1988 strike, with hosts such as Conan O’Brien returning to late-night with their own material, daytime soap operas may find a way around the picket lines as well. But the costs will be much higher.
Josh Griffith, for one, a nonwriting producer on “The Young and the Restless” before the strike hit, is part of a group of members that have gone “financial core” from the WGA.
In this process, a member permanently gives up his guild membership in order to cross picket lines and go back to work. Financial core members retain their health plans, pension funds and continued residuals even after leaving the guild.
A number of producers did the same back in 1988, writing with scabs to keep their previously planned story lines alive, but financial core writers are not taken lightly in Hollywood, since they are no longer union employees.
“It means legally that people can cross the picket lines and pick up their pencils without fear of retribution from the guild,” said Alburger, who is still on strike along with the rest of the pre-strike writing staff of “The Young and the Restless.”
“It’s career suicide because, in this business, writers hire other writers, and many, many people feel very strongly about financial core and many people wouldn’t hire someone who went financial core. It’s a sticky situation to put yourself into.”
As for prime-time television, studios are still trying to do everything they can to keep viewers entertained, even if the strike continues through the new year. For example, “quarterlife,” originally a Web-only series that premiered at UCLA’s James Bridges Theater earlier this month, has now been picked up to air full episodes on NBC in 2008, in addition to the mini episodes being released now on MySpace.
Beyond just the effects of a long strike on students’ and staffs’ television routines, Banks cites the huge impact the strike is having ““ and will have ““ on Los Angeles as a whole as the worldwide mecca for all things entertainment.
“Because we’re in Los Angeles and it’s not only our television that is being affected, but our city ““ it’s our friends’ and neighborhoods’ livelihoods at stake,” Banks said.
“That’s why the next few weeks are really critical in building that support, and the strike will hopefully end soon. It will become even more painful if it keeps going,” she added.