Writer's Strike: Fair Shares For Writers' Wares

It's unbelievable - the unity I’ve seen. Since I’ve been a member of the Writer's Guild of America, there were difficult negotiations in 2001 and 2004. Both times there were rumblings of a strike and dissenters who stood up in general meetings. Not one person in any of the meetings I went to this year did that. We had a 90 per cent 'yes' vote on the strike, and that’s great.

A studio’s accounting can be very creative. 350 million dollars later, they’re claiming Forrest Gump didn’t make any money. Frasier ran for 11 years and they claimed that they were millions of dollars in the red. Peter Jackson, after finishing Lord of the Rings, had to sue because the studio said it didn’t make money. It's one of the highest grossing trilogies of all time!

That's why we have a guild to look out for all of us.

A lot of shows have already 'gone dark' because of strike action. The Daily Show and Colbert Report, both of which I love and watch every night, are not doing any new shows. A lot of shows have ended their seasons early.

I believe The Office was planning on closing up shop until the strike is over. So many of their writers are in the cast and walking the picket lines, and it's tough for them. Certain actors were calling in sick and managed to close down production for the day. That was a bit of a victory for us. God bless them, they were all out there yesterday.

We formed a little fly-in squad on Monday night.