The Strike, Day 17: Trading Picket Signs For Turkey Legs
The picketers (and, we suspect, pretty much everyone else who works in Hollywood) are off for the day and en route to wherever they're celebrating Thanksgiving, but we've still got enough links for one last pre-holiday round-up:
· At yesterday's Solidarity March of 4,000-plus WGA writers, sympathetic members of other unions, and various Hollywood Blvd. vagrants swept up in the spirit of protest, Guild negotiating committee chair John Bowman invited the studios to be more Santa Claus than Scrooge. (Cute!) Notes of cautious optimism officially have been struck: "We're entering the holiday season — a season of charity and of Scrooge. Please, AMPTP, don't be typecast. Let's get this done by Christmas." [Variety]
· Also on the "cautious optimism" (the buzz phrase of this holiday weekend) front, CBS's Les Moonves and the heads of Warner Bros. were the first to issue easily customizable AMPTP form letters expressing a warm, publicity-friendly desire that the warring factions can finally achieve peace: "These differences are substantial, but we continue to believe that with hard work, patience and understanding from both sides, they can be overcome." [Scribe Vibe]
· If the strike drags through the end of the month, it could deprive the L.A. economy of $200 million. However, we're not sure if that estimated amount accounts for revenues from the bulk purchase of baked goods by local talent agencies that could offset some of the financial hit. [THR]
· On the other hand, if you think of the hit to the economy as just $21.3 million per day, it really doesn't sound that bad, does it? [LAT]
· Some writers are conflicted, according to the LAT: should they secretly be working on scripts so that they're not at a disadvantage when the strike ends, or should they embrace this Guild-enforced period of procrastination (ah, the sweet release of not-writing!), no matter the personal or creative cost? [LAT]
· CBS Paramount Network TV prefers the term "hiatus" to "layoffs" when temporarily putting employees of its struck shows out on the street. [THR]
· Strike FashionWatch: The hottest trend at yesterday's rally (OK, it's just one person, but these sensations get started by a single, bold tastemaker): Solidarity ass-stickers:
[Photos: Barbara Green]
