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Posts with tag WritersGuildOfAmerica

More signs of the product placement apocalypse

Psych - Jeff Fahey and Mercedes Mcnab
Ah, product placement. It's a subject that's come up before. We have an award for it, and even as far back as those care free days of 2005, Karina was writing about the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild Of America protesting it. The telling quote from that piece, "Our writers are being told to perform the function of ad copywriter, but to disguise this as storytelling." And isn't that where most of us have always drawn the line in the sand? The placing of products into sets was kind of an understood cost of doing business, but having the writers change scripts to incorporate them was a whole other ball of (Turtle) wax. Unfortunately, those (Foster Farms) chickens have come home to roost.

Continue reading More signs of the product placement apocalypse

It's the WGA versus American Idol

American IdolWith the WGA Strike as ancient history, the guild is now pushing to have reality shows join its organization. In an effort to do this, the WGA is specifically targeting the show American Idol.

They're calling it the Truth Tour and it begins with a Wednesday morning press conference in front of WGA headquarters following by a set of fake auditions at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, where auditions are held for the actual American Idol. They call it "the version they don't want you to see".

Continue reading It's the WGA versus American Idol

WGA ends strike; writers back to work by Wednesday

WGA StrikeWGA leaders voted unanimously Sunday to endorse the proposed deal with studios, effectively ending the three month writers' strike that has crippled the television industry. While they do feel that the deal falls short, it still makes key gains in dealing with the new media; remember that it was this area of downloads and internet streaming that was one of the most important issues to the guild.

While the strike is ended per union leaders, writers won't return to work until the membership itself has had a chance to vote on the new deal. They are expected to vote "yes" on Tuesday and be back to work by Wednesday. The timing of this resolution means that some of this season can yet be salvaged and there's still time for pilot production for new series next year. For details on how this will affect your favorite shows, Keep up to date with Mike Ausiello's nearly comprehensive list of when your shows will return. And now things can get back to normal, and we can all go back to needlessly hating on According to Jim, the way God intended.

Writers Guild may block the Grammy Awards

This may be the scene in front of the Grammy Awards ceremonyThis year's awards season, barely a month old now, has not been a good one for Hollywood. First, the Golden Globes ceremony was reduced to an Access Hollywood special after members of the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild boycotted the show. Now, it looks like the Grammy Awards ceremony may also be in trouble.

It is being reported that the striking guild will probably bar its members from working on the February 10th Grammys telecast. Grammy organizers have yet to ask for a waiver allowing for writers to work on the show. However, according to a WGA spokesperson, a waiver grant would be unlikely. There is no word if the WGA will picket the ceremony. If it does, then SAG members will not cross the picket line. This potentially means another exciting 1-hour infotainment special.

I'm sure members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are sweating a bit now.

WGA to seek individual deals to break impasse with AMPTP

AMPTPAs the strike lingers on and the Writers Guild of American (WGA) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) seem no closer to bridging their philosophical and monetary gap, the WGA is set to try a new tactic. According to Variety, the WGA is going to make a "legal demand" today for individual members of the AMPTP to schedule bargaining meetings with the WGA. However, at this point it isn't clear if the companies are legally obligated to do so, and if not, will they?

Continue reading WGA to seek individual deals to break impasse with AMPTP

WGA Strike: week two updates

WGA strikeWe've entered Week Two of the WGA Strike, and although we're not getting any closer to a resolution, there's still plenty of WGA Strike news to report:

Brothers & Sisters creator asks Governator to do something about WGA strike

Governor Arnold SchwarzeneggerThe WGA strike continues. And it doesn't look like there's an end in sight (as all negotiations have stopped). The longer the strike lasts the greater impact it will have on the economy -- especially the California economy. So what is California's Governor Schwarzenegger doing about it?

Nothing, according to Brothers & Sisters creator Jon Robin Baitz. In an open letter to the Governator, on yesterday's Huffington Post, Baitz basically accuses Schwarzenegger of "fiddling while California burns."

Continue reading Brothers & Sisters creator asks Governator to do something about WGA strike

Will writer/actors from The Office strike?

The Office
What would Ryan do? B.J. Novak, who plays Ryan on The Office, is also a writer for the show. So, will he show up for work today? He belongs to competing unions: The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has stipulated that actors must show up for work. However, as a member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), he could be fined by his union if he crosses the picket line.

Continue reading Will writer/actors from The Office strike?

Ron Moore may not make any more Battlestar Galactica webisodes

No more BSG webisodes.Waiting for new Battlestar Galactica webisodes on SciFi.com? Well, you may be waiting for a long time because executive producer Ron Moore said he won't be delivering any more of them, including the ten episodes that have already been completed. Why? Because SciFi's parent company, NBC Universal, is being a bit tight with the purse strings.

Universal executives are witholding residuals and credit from the writers of the BSG webisodes, claiming that the three-minute episodes are 'promotional materials'. When Moore heard this he halted delivery. In turn, NBC Universal seized the webisodes and filed charges of unfair labor practices with the Writers Guild of America. The WGA then went back to Moore and told him not to deliver any more Internet content until their was residual deal.

Last month, nearly six million people streamed BSG episodes within two days of the premiere. Compare that to the 2.2 million people who watched the third-season premiere of the show. This goes to show that the Internet is beginning to draw more and more television viewers into its gaping maw, and that the industry is going to need to work together with the WGA to determine the best course of action.



The union deals with reality (TV)

The Writers Guild of America, the union which represents over 12,000 people working in the entertainment industry, wants to allow writers, editors, and producers currently working on reality television productions into the union. However, networks and studios are refusing. This gets into a lot of jargon and rhetoric that neither you or I really care much about, but the bottom line is that reality television is produced and "written" in a much different way than a scripted series, and the WGA has to figure out how to make such an inclusion work without a complete overhaul.

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