Sunday, November 18, 2007

KEEPING THE STRIKE TOP OF MIND

I'm skipping my newly adopted "Lazy Sunday" post of internet content you'll never experience offline in the interest of keeping the WGA Strike at the forefront.

It's great that the AMPTP and WGA are heading back to the bargaining table after the Thanksgiving holiday. But returning to the room does not mean that an agreement is imminent. In fact, some of what's happened in the last couple of weeks may force the parties to become far more entrenched in their positions.

Here's WGA writer and negotiating committee member Marc Norman ("Shakespeare in Love") in discussion with former studio heads Peter Bart and Peter Guber on AMC's always fascinating series "Shootout", describing how things look from the inside.

Of particular interest to me was Peter Guber's reaction about 20 seconds in. This guy is a real producer, not one of the corporatized big media executives who've been pulling the strings in this dispute. He gets it. He understands what's really going on.

It's a candid discussion epitomizing that it's time our business was returned to the control of people who know how to make movies and television and removed from the influence of those who follow other corporate models.


1 comment:

Jason Chesworth said...

Wow...thanks for that. I've recently posted on the fact that the strike is only weeks old, but the question of just getting by is already front and center.

Fascinating to know that they were willing to drop DVD's in order to broker a deal.

'Tis a long steep hill ahead....