my thank-you note (written in pencil)
The AMPTP has announced it will return to the table. Since walking off, they had maintained they would not come back unless the Guild ended the strike (how do strikes end if people don't talk?).
On the one hand, this is but a baby step. Remember, the AMPTP started negotiations by taking away what residuals we had -- rather like someone who begins by punching their opponent in the face, then backpedals to simply slapping them. Both sides were pretty far apart, and negotiations had been ongoing for a while, without noticeable success. Talks will re-start on November 26, but they could continue for months; the congloms could walk away again; and with sharp-eyed correspondents pointing out the advantages to the corporations in keeping this going (using their force majeure clause, they can fire a great many people, basically), any celebration would be premature.
But I'm going to celebrate a little anyway. In the first couple of days of the strike, I took a call at HQ from someone at fans4writers.com. At the time, I wasn't familiar with that site, but as soon as the caller explained what it was, I asked, "Are you originally from Whedonesque?" When she said yes, I was delighted. "You people really are taking over the world, aren't you," I said.
I was probably the only person taking phone calls that day who would have asked that question. I'm one of the most fannish writers I know; I may be one of the only people in the world who can point out that the public-domain image of the fist holding the pen that's on some of the strike t-shirts matches the icon used on winning stories in an X-Files fan fiction awards event about ten years ago. (Slash awards, by the way. You see, it's not just Hollywood history that I appreciate.)
But even I was caught by surprise at the level of fan awareness and support of the WGA strike. Since the first day of the strike two weeks ago, the fan sites have been brought front and center into the consciousness of a lot of writers, and I have to say, we have been blown away. I knew that fans can organize; I knew they had opinions; I knew many of them were well-read and believed in a world with good writing. But I was still thinking in terms of the 1988 writers' strike. When the writers were alone. When nobody really seemed to care or understand -- when writers were just funny people doing things for crazy Hollywood reasons that didn't have much to do with actual life, or so it seemed from the news coverage.
You work in Hollywood, especially behind the scenes, and you just don't think anybody's going to ever hear about you or take you seriously. I am… really, I'm gobsmacked. I cannot tell you how wildly impressed I am with the fan response. And I always knew you could do stuff like this! Imagine how blown away the people at the Guild are who don't know fannish history. They're still vibrating with shock and awe.
In fact, I think the AMPTP are, too. I seriously believe that the fans are the x-factor in this negotiation; that there are now three sides, not two, and the viewers are being heard. How great an effect that will have, I don't know; but I also don't know that the conglomerates would have agreed to return to the table without things like this:
http://fans4writers.com/
and this:
http://community.livejournal.com/wga_supporters
and good lord, this:
http://criminalmindsfanatic.blogspot.com/2007/11/criminal-minds-partial-advertisers-list.html
Not to mention http://thefanunion.com/, and the many pockets of support threaded into individual show sites.
I was in a strike meeting last week, when all these things were coming to the boil, and the level of Big Fan Love in that room would make trees grow and rocky soil fertile. We are enormously grateful, and were you here in my dining room right now (where my laptop is on the table) I would hug every one of you in an embarrassing display and then take you all out for margaritas.
Now, I began this post by being realistic and saying that the fact the other side has chosen to show up at the table is not enough. The truth is, I worry that it could even boomerang against us if it's in the nature of a PR stunt; you know, "Here we are at the table, see what nice guys we are?" "But you're not actually offering anything." "But we're at the table -- that's taken the heat off us."
Our dream is to have a short strike, but the only way to achieve that is to keep the heat on. Please don't stop. And I'd ask for something else: it's been pushed off the headlines by the announcement negotiations will start again, but United Hollywood has put up a pencil campaign page to make it easier for fans to send pencils to the CEOs of the conglomerates:
http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/2007/11/pencils2mediamoguls.html
Fans began the pencil campaign, but this makes it simpler: no need to do anything but push a button. And the poor guys in the mail room don't have to go through a sea of envelopes with pencils in them; instead, when a truck is full, it'll pull up to GE or Viacom (or whichever CEO is first on the list), hopefully making a greater impact. What happens if they refuse delivery (or even if they don't)? The WGA is ready with suggestions on where to donate the pencils to teach kids to write. The point isn't that the moguls use the pencils, obviously; it's the message.
The WGA has been asking for two things from the AMPTP: Please return to the table. And please make a fair deal. They've agreed to the first one, but without the second, it will be meaningless. That's the message of the pencils: Make a fair deal. It's not going to happen unless they know people are watching.
The pencils are from a sustainable source, and anything left over from the costs will go into the Union Solidarity Fund, which was created to help non-WGA members (other unions, office assistants, etc.) affected by the strike.
The fannish universe is a scattered place these days, with a lot of isolated planets; there aren't that many central gathering spots any more. If you have a journal or blog, and you want to help, I'd ask you to treat this like a meme and put up the pencil link in your journal, along with a suggestion that other people do the same. (If you want to include an explanation of the strike, you could link to my last post, or to United Hollywood.) Potentially, this could be a historic moment; fans have gotten together to support a show, but so far as I know, there's never been a pan-fandom movement to support writers. I'm hopeful, and I'm excited, and boy do I want to see how this turns out.
If enough pencils arrive, then maybe, by the time November 26 comes around and the AMPTP sits down at the table, they'll be serious about negotiating. And everyone can go back to work.
ETA: The Criminal Minds link no longer works; it originally went to a page of advertiser addresses. But for a similar illustration, you could go to community.livejournal.com/consumers4wga/.
On the one hand, this is but a baby step. Remember, the AMPTP started negotiations by taking away what residuals we had -- rather like someone who begins by punching their opponent in the face, then backpedals to simply slapping them. Both sides were pretty far apart, and negotiations had been ongoing for a while, without noticeable success. Talks will re-start on November 26, but they could continue for months; the congloms could walk away again; and with sharp-eyed correspondents pointing out the advantages to the corporations in keeping this going (using their force majeure clause, they can fire a great many people, basically), any celebration would be premature.
But I'm going to celebrate a little anyway. In the first couple of days of the strike, I took a call at HQ from someone at fans4writers.com. At the time, I wasn't familiar with that site, but as soon as the caller explained what it was, I asked, "Are you originally from Whedonesque?" When she said yes, I was delighted. "You people really are taking over the world, aren't you," I said.
I was probably the only person taking phone calls that day who would have asked that question. I'm one of the most fannish writers I know; I may be one of the only people in the world who can point out that the public-domain image of the fist holding the pen that's on some of the strike t-shirts matches the icon used on winning stories in an X-Files fan fiction awards event about ten years ago. (Slash awards, by the way. You see, it's not just Hollywood history that I appreciate.)
But even I was caught by surprise at the level of fan awareness and support of the WGA strike. Since the first day of the strike two weeks ago, the fan sites have been brought front and center into the consciousness of a lot of writers, and I have to say, we have been blown away. I knew that fans can organize; I knew they had opinions; I knew many of them were well-read and believed in a world with good writing. But I was still thinking in terms of the 1988 writers' strike. When the writers were alone. When nobody really seemed to care or understand -- when writers were just funny people doing things for crazy Hollywood reasons that didn't have much to do with actual life, or so it seemed from the news coverage.
You work in Hollywood, especially behind the scenes, and you just don't think anybody's going to ever hear about you or take you seriously. I am… really, I'm gobsmacked. I cannot tell you how wildly impressed I am with the fan response. And I always knew you could do stuff like this! Imagine how blown away the people at the Guild are who don't know fannish history. They're still vibrating with shock and awe.
In fact, I think the AMPTP are, too. I seriously believe that the fans are the x-factor in this negotiation; that there are now three sides, not two, and the viewers are being heard. How great an effect that will have, I don't know; but I also don't know that the conglomerates would have agreed to return to the table without things like this:
http://fans4writers.com/
and this:
http://community.livejournal.com/wga_supporters
and good lord, this:
http://criminalmindsfanatic.blogspot.com/2007/11/criminal-minds-partial-advertisers-list.html
Not to mention http://thefanunion.com/, and the many pockets of support threaded into individual show sites.
I was in a strike meeting last week, when all these things were coming to the boil, and the level of Big Fan Love in that room would make trees grow and rocky soil fertile. We are enormously grateful, and were you here in my dining room right now (where my laptop is on the table) I would hug every one of you in an embarrassing display and then take you all out for margaritas.
Now, I began this post by being realistic and saying that the fact the other side has chosen to show up at the table is not enough. The truth is, I worry that it could even boomerang against us if it's in the nature of a PR stunt; you know, "Here we are at the table, see what nice guys we are?" "But you're not actually offering anything." "But we're at the table -- that's taken the heat off us."
Our dream is to have a short strike, but the only way to achieve that is to keep the heat on. Please don't stop. And I'd ask for something else: it's been pushed off the headlines by the announcement negotiations will start again, but United Hollywood has put up a pencil campaign page to make it easier for fans to send pencils to the CEOs of the conglomerates:
http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/2007/11/pencils2mediamoguls.html
Fans began the pencil campaign, but this makes it simpler: no need to do anything but push a button. And the poor guys in the mail room don't have to go through a sea of envelopes with pencils in them; instead, when a truck is full, it'll pull up to GE or Viacom (or whichever CEO is first on the list), hopefully making a greater impact. What happens if they refuse delivery (or even if they don't)? The WGA is ready with suggestions on where to donate the pencils to teach kids to write. The point isn't that the moguls use the pencils, obviously; it's the message.
The WGA has been asking for two things from the AMPTP: Please return to the table. And please make a fair deal. They've agreed to the first one, but without the second, it will be meaningless. That's the message of the pencils: Make a fair deal. It's not going to happen unless they know people are watching.
The pencils are from a sustainable source, and anything left over from the costs will go into the Union Solidarity Fund, which was created to help non-WGA members (other unions, office assistants, etc.) affected by the strike.
The fannish universe is a scattered place these days, with a lot of isolated planets; there aren't that many central gathering spots any more. If you have a journal or blog, and you want to help, I'd ask you to treat this like a meme and put up the pencil link in your journal, along with a suggestion that other people do the same. (If you want to include an explanation of the strike, you could link to my last post, or to United Hollywood.) Potentially, this could be a historic moment; fans have gotten together to support a show, but so far as I know, there's never been a pan-fandom movement to support writers. I'm hopeful, and I'm excited, and boy do I want to see how this turns out.
If enough pencils arrive, then maybe, by the time November 26 comes around and the AMPTP sits down at the table, they'll be serious about negotiating. And everyone can go back to work.
ETA: The Criminal Minds link no longer works; it originally went to a page of advertiser addresses. But for a similar illustration, you could go to community.livejournal.com/consumers4wga/.