Just had to share this one from WGA member Bob Elisberg on the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/writers-strike-primer-f_b_80877.html
Namaste- 01-11-2008
According to Deadline Hollywood, NBC has now canceled the "newscast" of the Golden Globes, supposedly because NBC News still would have had to pay the Foreign Press writers millions for the rights to the broadcast, even if it was called a "press conference."
ETA: Here's the confirmation announcement from the HFPA:
Golden Globe Awards Press Conference Set for Sunday to Be Produced by Hollywood Foreign Press Association With No Media Restrictions: HOLLYWOOD, CA (January 11, 2008) -- After discussions with NBC, Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Jorge Camara today announced that the HFPA will have complete control of its 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards Announcement that is scheduled to take place Sunday, January 13 at 6:00 p.m. PST in the International Ballroom of The Beverly Hilton. Under the new arrangement, there will be no restrictions placed on media outlets covering the press conference.
misanthropicobs- 01-11-2008
United Hollywood has posted the text of the press release announcing the Weinstein Company & WGA have signed an agreement, Press Release. This one is similar to the other agreements signed earlier.
amysusanne- 01-12-2008
According to Deadline Hollywood, NBC has now canceled the "newscast" of the Golden Globes, supposedly because NBC News still would have had to pay the Foreign Press writers millions for the rights to the broadcast, even if it was called a "press conference."
I'm not sure I follow her post at all. The headline implies (and I took the same thing from a blurb that came through my email last night) that the broadcast hasn't been cancelled, only the "exclusivity" of it, i.e. it's a free for all wrt credentialed media but the actual post does sort of imply that the telecast has been cancelled.. As far as I can tell, it'll still be on NBC and nothing's been cancelled, it's just now also (most likely) going to be aired on E! and TVG as well and, you know, I'm assuming anyone else that wants it. If the other networks didn't have actual broadcasting that night this would be the time to use the strike to fuck around with each other, I guess.
Namaste- 01-12-2008
amysusane the thing that's been canceled is the NBC News event. It can still be shown on NBC, but NBC can't control it, as they would have an "exclusive" get like an interview or "Dateline" kind of thing.
Picture the Barbara Walters specials before the Oscars for a comparison. That's a news event with an entertainment angle, but Barbara decides what questions to ask, who to interview, etc. She has exclusive interviews. NBC News, if it was an exclusive, could have control over when there would be commercial breaks, what clips would be shown, etc. Now, basically NBC is just another news team at the press conference like any other and the HFPA controls the content.
amysusanne- 01-12-2008
I understand the difference and the distinction. NBC's been playing fast and loose with those distinctions anyway. That isn't what I was questioning, though. I was questioning the implication that it had been cancelled all together, which is what I took from both Nikki's text (though not her headline) and your post. Clearly I didn't realize that you *were* making the distinction, but I still think Nikki's post was (possibly purposefully) vague about it. The report did seem to imply that the newscast (which will still be a newscast, really, now that other networks are involved) was over and done with while other reports are more cut and dry about how it'll just be just about anywhere that it's wanted.
Boffle- 01-13-2008
Just after the GG awards, Sara B. Cooper was interviewed on the local Seattle news station about the writers' strike. She's a Seattleite and House writer, in fact wrote one of my fave House episodes "Damned if You Do". She also wrote Lara Croft Tomb Raider and gets about $4000 a year in residuals from that. She's now working as a medical transcriptionist till the strike is settled. She played a scene from Damned If You Do on her laptop and commented that, as we all know by now, she now gets nothing for online downloads, gets 4 cents on a DVD and they're striking for 8 cents on a DVD and some degree of payment for online downloads. I liked her and by no means did her lifestyle look extravagant. Hope that story gets picked up by other stations: it was a good clip that made a lot of WGA points effectively, with no posturing, just straightforward, clear and reasonable.
marykir- 01-13-2008
Boffle, was that on the Seattle NBC station? If so, hopefully it will be on a later broadcast, because I stopped the 6pm recording when it was clear it wasn't showing the GG announcement live :)
Boffle- 01-13-2008
Hi marykir it was picked up by the local Portland station in the news starting after the GG announcement, but sorry, I didn't notice which Seattle station it was: the Seattle anchor woman had medium length dark hair, that's all I remember. (I also don't remember which local station it was. Oops.)
Also found this about the 60-plus Seattle writers including SBC. Says Sara B.:
"Yes, a lot of the WGA's message is, 'Please help us poor writers.' But it's not just about that," she said. "It's not just about having to watch reruns. It's about who controls the content of television, the Internet and the entertainment industry."
houserocket7- 01-13-2008
I just visited the Late Night LineUp page and found that the following shows will not be publsihing the names of their guests until the strike ends:
Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, and Carson Daly
amysusanne- 01-14-2008
I'm assuming that they're booking guests day to day at this point.
filex1410- 01-14-2008
Also with no advance word it means people have to actually tune into the show to see who (anybody of note) is on. They may hope that gives them a chance to hook some viewers before they head over to Dave and Craig.
Entertainment Tonight "reported" on some writers losing their production deals. They said:
...and consider Sally Field and Calista Flockhart victims of the 3 month old strike. The head writer/producer of Brothers & Sisters lost his production deal with ABC. It is the same story at House.
I'm assuming that the people they are referring to are Jon Robin Baitz (even though his role on B&S was apparently reduced months ago) and Lawrence Kaplow for House (even though he was working on K-Ville this year). Or is there some news about David Shore/another key House writer that I missed?
