Batten down the hatches

[astri13]

I know it undercuts writers position but for the tiny, struggling CW I`d have wished our writers to be a bit more on the ball. We are said to have 12 completed scripts, shooting 11 will begin tomorrow.
From the looks of it now this might be the end of this Season. GoGi has 13 eppies, Smallville 15, about Reaper I don`t know. And yes, one ep give or take doesn`t seem like much but I`d rather they do the "Heroes" thing and have a mini-resolution and that they`d use as many eps for that as possible. A 15 eppie Season would still be better than a 12 eppie one.

Well, I guess every show will run out in equal time since they`ll all hold back their last horses for Feb sweeps. And our semi-serialized format has always led to decent rerun rates. Maybe we could even pick up viewers, strange as it sounds since Grey`s repeats for shit and The Office is near stopping production already.

This is all one massive bruhaha and I can`t see it ending well. Now some people posit the strike to last 9-10 months though I can`t imagine the WGA having the financial set-up to pay their members this long. Let alone that in June actors and directors would probably segue right into the strike. Even if the studios have the money to sit it out that long, then what? They have stuck it to the writers but emptied their pockets in the process? I so, so hate short-sighted business planning.

Comments

[legoline.livejournal.com]

Uhm, last news I read were:

Supernatural: Have aired 5 episodes to date from their third season and word is they have 11 episodes completed and as many 5 scripts that are ready to film. We fully expect Supernatural to be able to show two months of new episodes during the strike.

From here.

[astri13.livejournal.com]

Yup, that`s from the LA Times. Sera Gamble in her interview and recent set-visiters said they only have 12 scripts so either they lied or the paper got it wrong. Sigh.

[legoline.livejournal.com]

*shrug* No point in fussing over things we can't change :-/

[astri13.livejournal.com]

But you know, it`s me. I fuss, therefore I am. :)

[legoline.livejournal.com]

I know :-p

[katikat.livejournal.com]

Hm, I don't know what to make of Kripke's comment to Sera that they - he and Bob - will respect the every writer's personal choice to join or not to join the strike. Does that mean that they - he and Bob - joined too or does it mean that since they are executive producers too, they decided not to join? Boggles the mind X(

[astri13.livejournal.com]

Does that mean that they - he and Bob - joined too or does it mean that since they are executive producers too, they decided not to join? Boggles the mind X(

I think Kripke joined too - I`m not sure if Singer is a member of the WGA? - but I don`t know how far he would do producing duties. A lot of showrunners right now do nothing at all even though the studios pressure them to do anything non-writing. But from the writer`s side of course the sooner the backlash is felt, the better.

Since they still shoot at the moment and will probably shoot two more episodes somebody has to oversee production right now. Probably Singer and Manners, maybe with a touch Kripke. I wish they`d give a definite statement. Lots of other showrunners already have.

[andromakhe001.livejournal.com]

I have to admit if I found out Kripke didn't join, I'd lose some respect for him. I really think the writers deserve support on this issue because the last time they listened to the studios saying "we need to wait and see how this goes" pm a ne technology they got cheated out of a decent deal on recorded media(at the time VHS which in turn turned into DVDs which are an even much bigger market). They'd be idiots to fall for the same line this time, especially when they showed they were willing to give up their request for a larger percentage on DVD's and the studios still said, at the very last minute, "nope still not giving you anything."

[astri13.livejournal.com]

I`m fully on the writer`s side of the issue but I do see how difficult it is for showrunners/producers of small, low-rated shows. Shonda Rhimes won`t get fired for giving the studio the finger now because they are nowhere near ready to lose Grey`s. Ditto for Heigl and Oh picketing.

All the CW shows? They`d probably scrap them without further notice if they don`t follow their contracts and do producing duties or produce whatever they have which I think will be for two more weeks and then finito. I don`t envy Kripke right now. I don`t think he would write or do anything writing-related. My best guess is that really Singer or Manners handle stuff at the moment.

They'd be idiots to fall for the same line this time, especially when they showed they were willing to give up their request for a larger percentage on DVD's and the studios still said, at the very last minute, "nope still not giving you anything."

That was an asshole move of the studios. In general I feel that while giving up on DVD residuals would be painful for a few more years, in time it won`t matter because DVD as a format will be dead. What they really can`t allow themselves to get screwed over is new media. Oh boy, that is looking so ugly.

Ironic how once upon a time a studio got screwed when a young moviemaker said "oh, keep the gains, I want merchandise rights" and studio felt like they would never amount to much. But at least that was studio stupidity. They`re now freely trying to screw the writers out of what they all know will be be valuable.