“Lost” exec producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse joined other writers picketing in front of the Walt Disney studio’s front gate, holding up “WGA on Strike” signs and joining a few pro-union chants.“Everybody’s a little saddened and surprised and shocked to be out here,” Lindelof said. “A lot of these people weren’t here in 1988 and don’t know what the word ‘strike’ feels like.”
Lindelof and Cuse hit the picket line at 8:30 a.m. with plans to spend several hours. The scribes said the spent much of the weekend putting the finishing touches on episode eight of “Lost,” submitting the script to the network on Friday and tweaking it over the weekend.
“We finished writing by mid-afternoon yesterday,” said Cuse, who noted the script was ready to be shot.
Lindelof and Cuse said the episode happens to include a small cliffhanger – although not enough to end a season on, should the strike progress and the show not resume production this year.
“It will feel like an incomplete season,” Lindelof said. “It will be like putting down a ‘Harry Potter’ book in the middle, at the end of a chapter.”
Will those eight remaining segs be rolled to next year – making for a 24-episode season, as opposed to 16?
“It’s just too early to say,” Cuse said. “It all depends on whether there’s a quick resolution or not.”
Meanwhile, a WGA staffer made the rounds, dropping off a bullhorn and a list of suggested chants – which the strikers (some of whom wore shirts that read, “Unfair is Unfunny”) promptly used.
“When I say ‘union,’ you say ‘power,’” one strike captain chanted. “Union” – to which the marchers responded, “Power!”
Feature film scribe Matthew Goodman stood on the curb in front of Disney, passing out yellow fliers to interested motorists highlighting the WGA’s position.
“I didn’t know I’d be here until 48 hours ago. Not surprisingly, we’ve gotten a lot of local support,” he said, as cars honked their horns.
Also joining the Disney picket line: SAG members, also handing out fliers.
SAG organizer Seneca Cheyne Scott noted that the actors guild will be dealing with many of the same issues when their contract expires next year.
Source: Variety
Well, what an interesting first day on the picket line. There were no problems or issues at my location (I was at the main gate in front of Disney), but I did hear about an incident at Sunset Gower Studios where a writer was hit by a car driven by someone who apparently wasn't a strike sympathizer. I heard that strikers surrounded the car and wouldn't let the driver leave until the police came. Yikes. The most that happened at our location is people gave us a thumbs down signal.
If you guys would like to do something, I would suggest writing to studio presidents and asking them to resume fair negotiations. Other than that, I don't think there's anything fans can do.
Hey, seems like my comment about us having only eight scripts written has caused a little "war of words" between Kristen and me. That's so funny and completely unintentional. I think the comment from Kristen came from something Damon said but has been taken out of context. It seems like Damon told Kristen that when we started airing episodes in February, we would have written 14 out of the 16 scripts at that time. Of course, that number doesn't take into consideration the work stoppage of a strike, so that number may not apply by the time February rolls around now that a strike is in effect.
So see? We were both right. So speculate away about what it all means.
That's it. More dispatches from the front lines later. Hope you guys are doing well.
Source: Gregg Nations@The Fuselage
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