3,800 Writers, No Trauma

The following recounting is written by Michael R. Perry, who was a guest on the Writers' Strike Chronicles podcast a few weeks back. I met up with Perry today for the WGA's vote on whether to lift the strike earlier this afternoon. I asked him to share with me what happened on Saturday night when the leadership of the WGA took the proposed contract to the membership and so he sent this to me. It was first featured in Remy Aubuchon's strike blog entitled "Walking the Line".

Last Tuesday I was mentally debating whether to take one last road trip before the strike ended, or go to the big WGA meeting at the Shrine and attend what was certain to be the Woodstock of self-unemployed writers, when Kim Hoffman from the Guild called.

"Michael, are you going to be at the Shrine this weekend?" she asked.
I hedged. "Probably. I think maybe."
"Can you be on-call to do first aid at the meeting Saturday?"
"Sure, of course," I said. In the next nanosecond all my little little reveries about driving up 395 to Lone Pine, or Highway 1 to Big Sur, or taking Old Route 40 out to the Trilobite Wilderness in the Marble Mountains popped like a soap bubble.

During one of my sabbaticals I took about 100 hours of first aid training, and in a moment of indiscretion revealed that to the W.G.A. Since then, they have asked three times if I could be on call for first aid, and I said yes all three times. It's not much for them to ask and I'd always rather be a participant than a spectator.

Saturday, I met Kim from the Guild, who handed me off to Seamus from the Guild, who gave me a headset and ID pass and a facility tour: backstage, where the Guild officers and committee members were gathering; Tunnel 9 where the disgustingly ancient Shrine first aid room is; and upstairs to the Ladies Lounge, where the Guild had set up a child care area. Everyone else at the place was thinking, "I wonder what the deal is going to be?" and I was thinking, "What will we do if someone has a heart attack, head injury or loss of consciousness?"

Seamus took me everywhere. Backstage, none of the Guild officers looked like they were about to succumb -- good! The child care area had more than enough adults to handle the number of children -- good! The child care volunteers were level-headed and sober -- good! The Shrine doesn't have an Automated External Defibrillator -- bad! (They ought to.) I did one last tour before the meeting began, making sure the child care people had working phones and instructions to call 911 before doing anything else if there were an emergency.

The Shrine employs a twentysomething man in a suit to operate the automatic elevator. I saw him four times in ten minutes; as I was riding down the last time I said something like, "looks like the place is going to be full. That's a lot of writers in there, don't you think?"

"What writers?" he asked.
"All those people are writers."
"What kind of stuff do they write?" he asked.
"Pretty much every television show and movie you've seen."
"No way."
"Seriously."
"What about Lord of the Rings? Are the guys who wrote that movie here?"
"They might be."
"Wow. That's cool."
I left for the meeting, pondering what a crappy job it is to operate an automatic elevator. Or a great job, I suppose, if you want to be totally oblivious to everything around you.

There were no emergencies of any kind, but the headset gave me an alternate audio channel for the duration of the meeting, and what I was hearing was -- there were a lot of us. More than anyone expected. The Guild staffers kept reporting, long into the meeting, that lines of cars were still streaming in from Jefferson and 32nd street. They unexpectedly had to open the balcony and put a microphone up there for questions; and that filled up, too. The tally was 3800 writers, the biggest Guild gathering, ever.

And, mercifully, it was all business. Verrone and Young and Bowman ticked off the proposals one after another, registering which they were pleased with, and which disappointed them. And we listened. And at the end of the reading, they had a quick round of thank-yous to behind-the-scenesters like Chuck Slocum, and people started to file out, even before the question period. They'd heard what they'd come to hear. We had a deal, not the best deal in the world but the one we could secure in February of 2008 after three months of striking.

I stayed until almost eleven o'clock, when 90% of the auditorium had cleared out, and the questions were growing repetitive. I figured, if there were no more small children in child care, the staff could handle any first aid issues that might arise, and I could go with my friends Rusty and Darrin to House of Pies to debrief.

I went to the Ladies Lounge Child care area, where there were two babysitters and two remaining children. One was a girl of around eleven years old, who was about to leave with her parents. The other was a preternaturally composed twelve-year-old boy, a neat kid in a blazer holding a stack of papers. I wanted to make sure he would be around people, so that if there were any first aid issues (I didn't think there would be) someone else would be there. I asked the adults on call if it would be possible to close down child care and have this last kid sit in the main auditorium for the duration of the meeting. They weren't sure.

"His parents are downstairs at the meeting, right?" I asked.
"His father is, yes."
"Well he's old enough, he could just sit in the auditorium until it's over, right?"
"It's supposed to be Guild members and staff only at the meeting," was the reply.
"Who's his father?"
"Patric Verrone."
"I think we can make an exception."
I walked across the Ladies Lounge and shook the hand of the last boy in child care. "Your father has done a great job."
"Thank you," he said.
"Thanks for letting us have him for so long."
"That's okay."
"This is an historic night. And your dad is a big part of it. You should go down and watch him for a little while."
"Thanks. I think I will."

As I turned in my headset and prepared to leave I tried to imagine how this strike will be remembered when this twelve-year-old is eighteen years old; thirty years old; forty years old. I think we'll come off well. I believe this is a contract for the future, for the transition to the world before us. And from that perspective, I came to realize -- this was an historic night. And I'm glad I was there, even if it meant I didn't get to go collect trilobites in the Marble Mountains. And I was glad that no one, of any age, suffered any traumatic injury.

WSC Show #96 *SPECIAL EDITION* - Press Conference with Patric Verrone, President of the WGA West

In this special edition of the Writers' Strike Chronicles podcast, we’ll hear Patric Verrone, President of the WGA West, speaking at a press conference earlier this evening at the Writers Guild Theater. The press conference took place around 7:00 p.m. following the vote by the WGA membership on whether or not to lift the strike. Please note, there is some interference with the recording from an unknown source but my guess is somebody left their cell phone on (and it wasn't me). Recorded Tuesday, 12 February 2008.

Credits
Producer/Host: Tanja Barnes
Music: "Ay Mambo" by Falik
available on Magnatune.com

WSC Show #95 - Interviews with Brooks Wachtel, Bill Taub, and Steve Leiva

In today’s episode I meet up with writers Brooks Wachtel, Bill Taub, and Steve Leiva to hear stories about what happened at the "Big Meeting" they attended this past Saturday. Then we'll hear how they felt about the proposed contract. Recorded Monday, 11 February 2008.

Credits
Producer/Host: Tanja Barnes
Music: "Ay Mambo" by Falik
available on Magnatune.com

Hulu Opening Up To More Users

The website Hulu -- the so-called YouTube killer (not!) -- is opening itself up to new users. It's still in beta but who cares? Personally, I haven't given it a second thought after checking it out over the holidays because it features ad supported programming of NBC and News Corp content. I think it's obvious why I've been ignoring it. At any rate, I have 9 invitations to give away. Hit me up with an e-mail (see masthead) for an invite. First come, first served.

WSC Show #94 - Interviews with Michael Tabb, Bill Taub and Garrick Dowhen

Today's episode is a wrap up of a series of recordings made at the last big picketing event in front of Disney Studios. Here we’ll talk to strike captain Michael Tabb and writers Bill Taub and Garrick Dowhen. Recorded Thursday, 7 February 2007.

Credits
Producer/Host: Tanja Barnes
Music: "Ay Mambo" by Falik
available on Magnatune.com

Breaking News!

United Hollywood is reporting that the WGA is having a press meeting in about 4 minutes. God damn it! FFS!

Oh well. ...

What happened? What's the story? What's the deal?

Wow, did I get an insight from writers and strike captains who e-mailed me to tell me how it went down at the Big Meeting last night! Go read what professional writers and story tellers have to say at United Hollywood. They can tell it so much better than any crappy ass cut and paste job I could do in this blog.

So, since I wasn't there, I can only blog about what I did last night instead. For those of you who care to know read on. But I swear it's not as exciting. Really. I urge you to go to United Hollywood and get the scoop.

While writers met at the Shrine Auditorium last night some friends of mine helped me put together party to celebrate my birthday and we kept our fingers crossed. The theme of the party was an 18th-century-style literary salon in which all my guests were encouraged to participate by presenting or facilitating a discussion lasting no more than five minutes on the topic for the evening: "Intellectual Property: Art vs Ethics In An Era of Mashups". The talks were followed by a screening of the The Dark Side of the Rainbow which is the mashing of the 1973 Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon with the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

I got home around 2:00 a.m. and went to record the lede of the next podcast. Like I said, I received a fuckton of e-mails from writers and strike captains as to what happened at the Big Meeting, so I was going to report that it was pretty positive EXCEPT that I had differing reports as to whether picketing was over. Rather than pull a classic Nikki Finke and go "I'm told that...bla bla bla", I decided to hold off and point my listeners to look for official word from the WGA. So I recorded the voice over, mixed things down, put it up on the Internet, typed a few words in the WSC blog and went to bed at 6:00 a.m.

See? I told ya. It's way more exciting on the United Hollywood blog.

Oh, and thank you WGA for the bestest freakin' birthday present evarrrr!

WSC Show #93 - Interview with Roy Barnes (Pt. 2)

In today’s episode, the second of a two part series, I have a conversation with my late father Roy Barnes in which he discusses the collaborative process in filmmaking from the perspective of the art department. We’ll also hear stories about what it was like to work with Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and Sylvester Stallone. Recorded Monday, 16 October 2006.

Credits
Producer/Host: Tanja Barnes
Music: "Dunya Salam" featuring Baaba Maal
from the album "1 Giant Leap"
Used with permission by Jamie Catto

Dedicated in loving memory to Roy Lee Barnes
9 Feb 1936 - 29 October 2006
Ars Gratia Artis

WSC Show #92 - Interview with Roy Barnes (Pt. 1)

In today’s episode, the first of a two part series, I have a conversation with my late father Roy Barnes who served in the entertainment industry for close to 30 years as a member of both the Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) and the Set Designers & Model Makers Guild (IATSE Local 847). Recorded Saturday, 14 October 2006.

Credits
Producer/Host: Tanja Barnes
Music: "Dunya Salam" featuring Baaba Maal
from the album "1 Giant Leap"
Used with permission by Jamie Catto

Dedicated in loving memory to Roy Lee Barnes
9 Feb 1936 - 29 October 2006
Ars Gratia Artis

Today In The NY Times TV Decoder Blog

TV Decoder, the New York Times blog covering all things television, recently cross-posted the Michael Cieply piece.

Since I knew about the conversation regarding this on United Hollywood, I posted a comment to the TV Decoder blog with a link pointing back to the UH post and asking the Grey Lady two questions: in light of the media blackout, where is Mr. Cieply getting his information and has the NYT done a thorough fact check?

FWIW, the New York Times edited out my back-link to the UH post and I'm curious as to what their standards and guidelines are for deleting that.

Moreover, I'm also curious if I will receive an answer from the TV Decoder bloggers. In the world of Web 2.0, the idea is to create a dialogue between readers and publishers. So, will the NY Times respond? We'll see, won't we?

Check out the TV Decoder post here and be sure to leave a comment.

I Call Bullshit

DSC_6175, originally uploaded by NoHoDamon.

< BEGIN RANT >

I'm jonesing for a bitchfest. Here we go:

I believe it's plain bad journalism for CNBC news to report that Michael Eisner said the strike is over. This is just as reprehensible and irresponsible as when the esteemed Nikki Finke blogs and says "I'm told that...."

It's crap. There's no fact checking. It's all hearsay.

Hello, Operator? Is Michael at the table? Is he in the room? All CNBC is doing is allowing Eisner to say the "I heard it from a friend" and we know that game. We played it in elementary school.

And as I just read on United Hollywood: "Michael Eisner is completely uninvolved and irrelevant to the strike."

True that. Interestingly, the real facts are coming from a blog rather than an accredited news source. Just sayin'.

Consider that yesterday was a huge ass picketing event at Eisner's old stomping ground at Disney Studios in Burbank. So, the timing of this so-called "news" is questionable. I believe it was a vindictive measure on Eisner's part to take aim at the writers and he used his buddies -- the media monopolies -- er I mean -- conglomerates that control the flow of news and information -- to do it.

And while I'm having a bitchfest: having walked the line yesterday I can tell you that the Team Disney building by Michael Graves? It's fugly. It's even fuglier inside. How do I know this? I temped in that God-awful building. I'm the daughter of an architect-cum-art-director. When I told my dad I thought this building was shite, he told me he thought I'd be tricked into thinking it was cute by its facade. Needless to say, he was proud of me. And I'm proud of him. My dad knew his stuff!

Until there is a deal in place look to WGA or United Hollywood for official news and information.

< /END RANT >

WSC Show #91 - Interviews with Joss Whedon and Monique Darling

In today’s episode I speak to Joss Whedon and follow up with Monique Darling, a huge Whedon fan, and her sister Heather Griffith. Both recordings took place at the Sci-Fi Channel Day for Fans and Writers picketing event in front of NBC Studios. Recorded Wednesday, 6 February 2008.

Credits
Producer/Host: Tanja Barnes
Music: "Ay Mambo" by Falik
available on Magnatune.com

Joss Whedon Talks with a Fan, originally uploaded by NoHoDamon.

Who Owns What v2.1

Blogger Amy Webb from MyDigiMedia just posted this great post:

In the wake of Microsoft's proposed $44 bil takeover of Yahoo (and all the subsequent chatter), I've updated my Who Owns What chart. Because I think this topic is so important to all journalists, regardless of whether they work in traditional media or even in the United States, I'm going to launch an RSS feed and a widget soon that will roll constant updates on who owns what.

In the six months since I first created the chart, there are a handful of notable updates:

• - AOL's list has grown tremendously, while Google, News Corp and IAC have remained relatively unchanged.


• - AOL is heading strong into behavioral targeting and various ad network options.


• - Yahoo's buy early and large strategy toned down considerably in Q3 and Q4 of 2007.


• - Google's last acquisition was Postini early last fall.


• - Though I'm not tracking this on the chart, News Corp has also been selling lots of assets - namely local television stations.

Download the PDF file here.

Better Than Free

In closing my interview with Ronald D. Moore from Battlestar Galactica, Moore voted for the printing press over the Internet.

I've been predicating the queston of Internet v. Printing Press with the phrase "legacy notwithstanding" because the fact that the printing press came first fails to really capture the spirit of my question. It's like saying the wheel was the more powerful invention than the car because it was first. I mean, if you really believe the answer is the printing press, then please come up with an original and creative answer.

Like Moore did.

Moore's answer was one of the few that I felt to be somewhat original and made a great deal of sense. To paraphrase his response (it's probably better to listen to it in my podcast) he felt that the printing press gave more monetary value to the act of copying information and ideas in manuscript form whereas the Internet, by its very nature, is the endless flow of ubiquitous content that devalues the worth of the original product.

Blogger Kevin Kelly makes some really good points about the Internet being a massive copy machine in a post entitled "Better Than Free". Here's a snippet:

The internet is a copy machine. At its most foundational level, it copies every action, every character, every thought we make while we ride upon it. In order to send a message from one corner of the internet to another, the protocols of communication demand that the whole message be copied along the way several times. IT companies make a lot of money selling equipment that facilitates this ceaseless copying. Every bit of data ever produced on any computer is copied somewhere. The digital economy is thus run on a river of copies. Unlike the mass-produced reproductions of the machine age, these copies are not just cheap, they are free.

This is a great post and worth a full read here.

WSC Show #90 - Interviews with Shawn Ryan and Ronald D. Moore

In today’s episode I speak to Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield and executive producer of The Unit. Then I talk to Ronald D. Moore from Battlestar Galactica. Both recordings took place at the SciFi Channel Day for Fans and Writers picketing event in front of NBC Studios. Recorded Wednesday, 6 February 2008.

Credits
Producer/Host: Tanja Barnes
Music: "Ay Mambo" by Falik
available on Magnatune.com

Ron Moore, originally uploaded by NoHoDamon.

BTW... does anybody have a photo of Shawn Ryan at this event that I may use (with attribution, of course).

Kindle vs. Books

OK...so y'all listening to my podcast know my shtick with my last question being a poll as to whether the Internet or the printing press is the more powerful technology. But it's still fun to throw that curve ball out to my interviewees who don't see it coming.

Lately a lot of writers have stood firm with the printing press. And many of them cite the main reason as being the reader's experience of actually sitting down and opening a physical book. They talk about the "hand", they talk about the smell, they all talk about the act of reading a book as being akin to a sensual experience. And they follow up these points as reasons as to why the e-book will never succeed as a medium.

Perhaps those in favor of the printing press and the merits of the physicality of books may be on to something. But what if they're wrong? What if books go the same way that e-mail replaced letters and penmanship has become a dying art? I'm not saying that the Kindle will replace the book, because I really don't know and don't care to hazard a prediction. I honestly don't know. I mean, I think actual books are pretty cool, virtual books are kinda... well... weird. But I also think actual books can be heavy and cumbersome in my backpack but virtual books can be light and fluffy.

FWIW, as magazines and newspapers go on-line so too it would seem that comic books are apparently crossing over to an electronic medium. Comic books? At any rate, I just read an article in favor of the book and thought to share it with you. Read all about it here.

WSC Show #89 - Interviews with Steve Leiva, Alan Kirschenbaum and the Mud Baron

In today’s episode, I speak to strike captain Steve Leiva and revisit with Alan Kirschenbaum at the picket line in front of CBS Radford studios. I’ll also receive a bouquet and have a chat with the Mud Baron. Recorded Monday, 4 February 2008.

Credits
Producer/Host: Tanja Barnes
Music: "Ay Mambo" by Falik
available on Magnatune.com