Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007: strike day 10

Quote of the day: "Without writers, I’m standing here talking to you like a dummy. And as fascinating as that is, no one will watch it."

Rebuilding Hollywood in Silicon Valley's Image (via Marc Andreesen)

...there are a lot of historical precedents even in the media industry for the model of talent as owners, going all the way back to the original United Artists in 1919. Some of those precedents worked great -- George Lucas, for example. Some flamed out. Of course, they were all up against the bottlenecks.

But here we are, living in a world in which the bottlenecks have suddenly become irrelevant.
Carson's Secret Deal (NY Post)
DURING the last writers' strike in 1988, Fox News entertainment guy Bill McCuddy wrote for Johnny Carson. The late-night king famously crossed the writers' picket lines saying he would pen his own material. But McCuddy and other comics sent Carson lines, through agents who secretly put out the word that non-union scribes could send in pithy punch lines.
Why Newspapers Love the Striking Screenwriters (Salon)
Why the journalistic fixation on the strike? The national impact of the strike (even a lengthy one) won't be great. But dailies such as the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, whose bottom lines depend on movie advertising acreage, will feel the pain if Hollywood closes shop.
Sympathy for the Drivel (Mother Jones)
"Won't somebody think of the pundits?"

No comments: