Golden Globes cancelled : (- Page 3

[hermionejuliet]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 8:55pm

I agree- I'm not a huge fan of television, but I have my favorite box sets for when I'm in the mood for a good show. There's nothing like a season of Little House or Will and Grace to make me smile.

As for actors moving on, what will they move on to if there are no new projects? They could do what they do in the UK and replace the actors. I have several favorite British series, and it has happened often. It's quite odd, but you actually get used to it!

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 9:08pm

FlyingMonkee, it's getting harder and harder to resist the urge to tell you to go take a flying leap.

I have visited your MySpace page and you seem to be sincerely in love with the movies. Those films were written by people who could be your brothers or sisters, parents, friends. They have worked their butts off for years to get the attention of Hollywood and they did this with talent and tenacity and they deserve SO MUCH MORE than they get now. Our film industry has been taken over by big faceless corporation who think their film employees are as expendable as the cheap labor they abuse overseas. We are not going to let that happen.

If you really do love film, hang in there with us. If you're in New York, visit one of our picket lines. I guarantee you that some of the people there are just one or two paychecks away from the homeless shelters you volunteer in. I have friends who are hanging on by a thread or less. I have slept on many a friend's couch and that was during the good times.

[FlyingMonkey1223]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 12:43am

If they are that close to being in a homeless shelter I would suggest they get another job....seriously.

[mallardo]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 3:25am

As a WGA member it's gratifying to see so many supportive posts in this thread. And Allofmylife's posts are outstanding, as always. But the misconception some of you have over the big bucks "most" writers are pulling in must be allayed.

An overwhelming percentage of WGA members are barely getting by, depending on whatever residuals come their way. Residuals, btw, are reduced sharply after the first rerun. Most TV shows now are entirely staff written - meaning maybe five people (at most) write the season. Sit coms have bigger staffs but the same rule applies. Free lance assignments are few and far between and those who don't catch on with a show are left in spec land writing on their own and desperately hoping to penetrate a market saturated with other people's scripts. This is harder to do the older you get because the writing profession, like all areas of show biz, inclines to age-ism.

The average writer goes through long periods of unemployment when he or she is living off whatever was made on that "big payday" a few years ago. If you have a family and a mortgage and all the rest of the accoutrements of middle class life it can be tough. Then there's the health benefits, which only come your way if you earn so much per year on WGA jobs - around 30 grand. Otherwise you're uninsured. So, for MOST writers, it's a struggle.

It's not fun being on strike and out of work and knowing that you're putting a lot of other people out of work too. But the issues currently being negotiated are incredibly important to us and to the entire industry. Most of you understand it and I thank you for that.

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 3:35am

The big wigs at most jobs make huge earning compared to the smaller wigs. Even by working at McdDonalds...selling fast food for a small wage you are helping the big wigs of McDonalds make billions! But that's life.

This isn't a valid comparison at all. The writers aren't the "smaller wigs." They're creating the content, for crying out loud.
They deserve to be compensated for that properly.

To the WGA folks on this board, please hang in there. Much support to you!

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 7:33am

I don't even know why I keep watching the Golden Globes. All I get out of it is an idea of who probably has a foothold in the Oscar race. So we don't have a big lavish ceremony this year. Save a few million dollars as well as any disappointment concerning the host (Ellen Degeneres, anyone?)

[nealb1]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 11:33am

It's pretty obvious that FlyingMonkey has an agenda...not sure what it is. But, something is bugging him. Maybe, he's a frustrated writer and hasn't gotten his big break? Maybe, he's jealous of other successful writers, who knows? He's hung up on the fact, that some writers make a very, very good living at it, and make more money than he does.

Paging common sense.........

[BVR24]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 12:01pm

Shouldn't writers be well paid? A List actors make tens of millions of dollars for a few weeks work. Why shouldn't us writers? It, nine times out of ten, starts with us anyway. I'm what a lot of people would consider "a successful writer," but I struggle to make ends meet. And it infuriates me to NO END when ignorant people like you, Flying Monkey, come along and belittle what it is we're doing. Is it really any of your business? Do we come to your work and tell YOU what to do? No. So piss off.

And y'know what, sport? Get comfortable in your income bracket, because people with bad attitudes like yourself rarely rise out of it.

[FlyingMonkey1223]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 4:23pm

Wow. First of all, I'm not a writer. As for "coming to my work and telling me what to do.." that does that have to do with anything? If not for all the non-writers who watch scripted programs then you wouldn't have a job. And the last time I checked the majority of the stuff on TV and in the cinema is not very well written, so maybe the WGA members should do a better job of writing. As for my agenda-I have no agenda. I am not a writer, have no desire to be one, and have no desire to make tons of money by working in the entertainment industry. I support the writers in wanting to get paid like everyone else is getting paid, 100% support them...but I think there might have been a better way to work things out besides striking for so long. And I don't feel bad for them, because as stated before...like it or not...most of them make a good amount of money per year. If they are not making enough money to get by then they should find another job like everyone else has to do if their current job isnt paying the bills. It's sad that studio big wigs are greedy, but that's the business of being in business I guess. And do I think writers should be well paid? I do. But I also think other people should be well paid. People who work with disabled people should be well paid...but they arent. I think people who do various jobs and are paid very little should be well paid because they help the community, but they aren't. I do understand that writers obviously are in a different "business" where money is made from their work, etc. but sometimes feel that the whole industry thinks they are above everyone else.
Updated On: 1/8/08 at 04:23 PM

[nealb1]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 4:30pm

Again, FlyingMonkey.........you just don't get it. Maybe, you don't want to.

The current salary of any writer on strike........a writer at the bottom of the totem pole, or one at the top of his payscale.....has NOTHING to do with the strike. You keep saying over and over and over and over again how they all ready make enough money.

That has NOTHING to do with the strike..........zip, nadda, zilch, nothing...........

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 4:36pm

FlyingMonkey, it has nothing to do with how much money they make. The writers simply want what they deserve. If they have to strike to get it, so be it.

[nygrl23]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 5:02pm

Take it from someone who labored nonunion for years and got royally screwed while suits made billions, Flying Monkey. This strike is not about greed on the part of the writers.

[EganFan2]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 5:09pm

Well, hell, if there's no Globes, what IS Ryan Seacrest, et al going to report on?

*sarcasm*

[BVR24]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 7:56pm

Flying Monkey, should thou be so quick to dismiss writers? Your MySpace page is crammed with SCRIPTED things that you love in and amongst the vainglorious pictures of yourself mugging VERY MUCH ALONE to a camera. (Yup, I had to see if you were for real or just masquerading as an idiot.)

One of these days, God willing, you'll have to fight for something and times will be hard and you'll have to deal with losers like yourself tossing out dismissive epithets. I can only hope you get as frustrated with them as I am with you at this very moment.

[FlyingMonkey1223]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 9:26pm

BVR-- you do not know me, and have no idea what struggles I have pesonally dealt with, nor would you based on my Myspace page. I do not appreciate your personal attacks because I hold a different opinion on the matter then those posting here. To call me an idiot and a loser and make personal assesment on how "vainglorious"(?) I am based on pictures on my site really shows what character YOU have.
Updated On: 1/8/08 at 09:26 PM

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 10:17pm

Monkey-you absolutely do not get it. Each time you mention salary, how much writers make, etc. you prove you don't get it.

Whether a writer makes two thousand dollars per year or two million doesn't factor in. What this is about is that THE WRITERS DESERVE THEIR SHARE OF INTERNET EXPOSURE OF THEIR WORK. Now that share could be two cents or two million dollars-it doesn't matter. A writer may not even make as much money as you do, monkey, and even after he/she gets what they deserve, they may STILL not make as much as you do, but they will be getting what they deserve. Get it?

As for the theory that writers make more than the average person-let's say they do. They SHOULD. Does the average person create what hundreds of millions of people watch? Does the average person's work generate millions and sometimes more, for the entertainment industry?

Updated On: 1/8/08 at 10:17 PM

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 11:00pm

FlyingMonkey, I don't think you are stupid. I do think you are an enormous dickhead, but luckily, there are very few people who share your opinion. You have no concept of the world on which you are commenting, but you blithely go on dispensing your synthetic pearls of wisdom.

But since I am a WGA member and a strong supporter of the ACLU, I will fight to my last breath for your right to spout your incredibly stupid comments ad nausea. Go right ahead, pal.

The main reason this thread has stretched to this many pages is that those of us who write for a living didn't want to give up on you. We've gone to your profile, then on to your MySpace page and seen your impressive list of personal favorites and, I dare say, most of us have probably hoped we could turn you toward the light.

Apparently, that is impossible.

Oh, and as to your sillyass comment that if we're not making enough money we should pursue another field of work, tell that to Van Gogh, or Mozart, who both died penniless (in fact Mozart is buried in a paupers graveyard). Being a writer is not a job, it's an identity. We are not asking for any more than our fair share and, in a just world, the respect of people like you.

[FlyingMonkey1223]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 11:07pm

You support the ACLU? The same group that supports Shirley Phelps-Roper's right to picked funerals with hate speach. Interesting. I once supported the ACLU until I saw what an over-the-top group it was. I do, however, support most free speech without any organization telling me to. And what's with the personal attacks on me? How old are you guys?



Updated On: 1/8/08 at 11:07 PM

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 11:29pm

Aw, I'm old enough to realize it's pointless to waste my time on you.

This thread is done.

[nealb1]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 11:54pm

FlyingMonkey, you have to realize that when you say something so outlandish, people will call you on it.

[FlyingMonkey1223]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 12:07am

I don't find my opinions outlandish, and I am all for people disagreeing and "calling me out" on my views, that's only fair. Calling me an idiot, stupid, dickhead, making comments about my pictures on my personal website etc....that is not okay. Thinking that doing that is okay is outlandish, childish, rude, and proves no point on a different opinion. It simply shows a lack of character and respect for others. But that doesn't surprise me one bit coming from this message board, which seems to be filled with more and more rudeness on a daily basis.

Updated On: 1/9/08 at 12:07 AM

[EdmundOG]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 12:45am

And now, a FlyingMonkey greatest hits compilation.

"Even by working at McdDonalds...selling fast food for a small wage you are helping the big wigs of McDonalds make billions!"

Yeah, if every burger made was a unique and original burger that had never been made before and could make money in perpetuity, your comparison might make sense.

"And the last time I checked the majority of the stuff on TV and in the cinema is not very well written, so maybe the WGA members should do a better job of writing."

If it's no good, people won't watch it online or buy DVDs. So the quality's not really an issue here, is it? In fact, wouldn't more residuals be a reason to write better?

To call me an idiot and a loser... shows what character YOU have.

And you're calling writers stupid and greedy. No difference there.

You support the ACLU? The same group that supports Shirley Phelps-Roper's right to picked funerals with hate speach.

Isn't the fact that they do that the best reason to support them? Proof that they will defend free speech to the end? Or do you only support free speech you agree with? The ACLU will also defend your right to go shout down the WBC, you know.


Updated On: 1/9/08 at 12:45 AM

[sondhead]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 1:03am

It's the reason actors are so overpaid. At one point, they stopped wanting to sign studio contracts because they knew their names specifically were bringing people into movies and thought they deserved more money because of it. They said you're making x amount of money on these movies and you're using (successfully) the fact that I'm in it to bring people in, and that means you NEED me to make your movie a success. And if you NEED me so much, you're going to pay for it.

And they did. Well, now they don't think they need writers. But they'll get it sooner or later.

As for these "overpaid" writers, let us think on Marc Cherry who was once on the writing team for The Golden Girls, one of the most successful TV shows of all time that has never left syndication, who was forced to move in with his mother because of lack of money after the show's end until being unbelievably lucky enough to have dreamt up Desperate Housewives. And now he's on the picket lines. He thinks that's more important that getting to shoot more episodes of his baby--because he remembers what it was like to be a poor bottom-of-the-totem-pole writer.

[FlyingMonkey1223]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 1:21am

Defending someone's right to go to a funeral with hurtful anti-gay signs and degrade not only every homosexual in the United States but also every service member who is currently serving this country and those who have died serving our country...no, sorry...just can't support a group of people who do that. It has nothing to do with difference of opinion. Everyone should have the right to say what they believe, but spreading hatefulness should not be "supported" in any way, and esp. not by the ACLU which also supports cgi child porn as long as not "real' children are involved.

Updated On: 1/9/08 at 01:21 AM

[EdmundOG]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 1:29am

So you think free speech should be limited and you think that people getting screwed by their bosses should pipe down and take it as long as they're making 'enough'. I hope you appreciate how much that says about you.

EDIT: I hate the Phelps family, too. But I'd never tell them they have no right to speak. I would go to where they are and speak just as loudly. Updated On: 1/9/08 at 01:29 AM