Strike!

The writers strike is on. I know because Tina Fey was outside 30 Rock with a sign in her hand and a frown on her face. She was not acting. I'd say I'm totally behind the writers on this one and I think they're entitled to a cut of the internet revenue but it might get me in trouble with management.

More importantly, what does this mean for me? I'm a producer. Producers are writers too. Tina's a writer. Writers are striking. Shouldn't I be striking with Tina? Afraid not. For some reason when I wear my producer hat and I write for news, reality and non-fiction shows, I'm not part of the Writers Guild of America (WGA).

I also write screenplays, and on that glorious and hopefully not-too-distant day when I actually sell one to a WGA signatory producer I will officially become a WGA member. Now, because of the strike I cannot sell my "art" to a producer because then I'd be a rat, and Tina wouldn't like me.

So now the studios are scrambling for "non-scripted" reality shows. The joke here is that reality shows like Dog the Idiot, I mean, Dog the Bounty Hunter are all heavily scripted. I know of so-called reality shows where producers are setting up scenes and in some cases writing dialogue for the characters. That's the reality folks. When Larry David shoots a scene of Curb with Steve Coogan, they know the plot, they know the situation in the scene, but the dialogue is actually fleshed out on the fly. The only difference between Curb and some "reality shows" is one of the two uses professional actors, and Larry David is a total genius.

Anyway, that's about all I have on the strike. Word is it's going to be a long one. Might be a good time to turn the tube or plasma or lcd off and read a book. Or, even better, start writing a screenplay, the studios are going to be starving for material by the time this is all over.

Best,

David

P.S. You must watch this satire of a pitch meeting. It's almost perfect.