Well, as you probably know by now, movie and TV writers have gone on strike.
And more power to 'em, I say. Writers are always the most under recognized and underpaid group, whether we're talking Hollywood or the publishing industry.
I've only worked in the most tangential way in Hollywood (had a screenplay I wrote with a couple others optioned and one of the other writers did all the dealing with the producer) but from what I hear, it is much like publishing.
Which means, even though neither industry could exist without writers, even though every single aspect of each industry is reliant on the words writers' craft, we are still the low men/women on the totem pole. Which also means we grovel and shuffle and bow in order to get an agent or a producer to work with us, when in truth their jobs do not exist without us.
It's a strange world. And Hollywood is even stranger than publishing, which is why I gave up on it. Besides the fact that I am incapable of writing a screenplay that is not laden with description and the interior thoughts of the characters. Which makes it then not a screenplay but a novel.
Anyway, the other thing the Hollywood writers want is a cut of internet profits. As we all know, the internet is practically the world brain right now, and who knows what it will evolve to in the future. (Is it possible for something that only exists in cyberspace to rule the world?) So the Hollywood writers are smart to hold out for their profits.
It's interesting to me the way the studios have spun this. Last week they were saying it wasn't an issue, that all the networks had plenty of episodes in the can. Yes, the late night shows would have to cease production immediately, but oh well.
Today its a different story, with Desperate Housewives ending production this week (and Eva Longoria made me like her a little bit when she took pizza to the strikers and said she'd be joining the picket line). And other shows, like that new one with Kelsey Grammar and a few others, too (I watch TV so rarely I forget their names) wrapping up production because of a lack of scripts.
So they truly are feeling the pinch. There's a good round-up of blog posts about the strike at the Huffington Post, which you can read here.
Oh, and by the way, because of the writer's strike I can't work on my Make Money Writing Online Ebook. NO, I'M JUST KIDDING. I'm working on the next few chapters and will be posting them soon.
