Many Shows Hault Production Due To Strike By Writers Guild of America ...

[Tanjential]

Fuck unions, and fuck these writers. When's the last time a quality network show hit the air? 95% of new shows suck. AND the ratings have sucked for years. I garauntee if Networks just came out and told the public to email ideas for new shows and for storylines on current shows we'd get a better product than the crap we're dealing with now. Comedies aren't funny. Dramas are filled with stupid cliches and plot by numbers tactics and the rest is Reality TV and game shows. I hope this strike goes long enough and the Networks hire new unionless writers just to stick it to these whining fucks. Give me six figures a year to throw shit at a wall and hope it sticks and you won't here one complaint out of me.

Fuck Unions? How about Fuck Shallow that Payton Manning Cock sucking whore?


Haha...sall good

Nah, I just like the way he passes the ball. I refuse to suck the dick of anyone in a union.








Tanj; don't undersetimate the generosity of the big brands or other creators. Any creator that created something worth a damn will get a helping hand. Marvel was ready to give Cockrum a big hand before he passed. The hero initiative is great. I have no problem with people willingly donating money to people in need, but a union will cause so much damage to the industry quality wise I don't ever want to see it. You'll see artists behind on their schedules filing greivances when they get bumped from a book. Writers and artists on salary taking their sweet time. Prices go up while paper quality and coloring go down. Think about how bad network TV is right now. That's how bad it would get.

And indy creators still wouldn't get a dime. Indy publishers wouldn't be able to afford it and most would end up going under.


As for Bendis isn't selling that much. What does New Avengers pull in every month? Just over 100k? Marvel as a whole sells 3 million issues. Uncanny, Xmen, and Amazing Spridey sold more than that 15 years ago just the three of them combined. These days nearly 100 books can't do what 3 used to be able to do. The 6 or 7 Image books alone in 92 sold almost as much as the whole current industry. If Bendis sold 100k in 92 he'd be bumped off the book. The industry is already gone and needs to be revived.

no question there have been brighter times for comics, but Quesada has pulled Marvel out of bankruptcy and into the stratosphere. I saw their profit margins this year on newsarama, they made millions more this year than the las...and that's just the comics.

Marvel is doing better all the time, but certainly you're right that book sales today don't compare to the early 90s speculators boom. but how many people were just speculating and how many were actually reading back then? with that into account, right now may be a great time for the amount of readership in comparison to other times. especially when you consider the diverse demographic comics reach now.

-T

[Shallow]

Fuck unions, and fuck these writers. When's the last time a quality network show hit the air? 95% of new shows suck. AND the ratings have sucked for years. I garauntee if Networks just came out and told the public to email ideas for new shows and for storylines on current shows we'd get a better product than the crap we're dealing with now. Comedies aren't funny. Dramas are filled with stupid cliches and plot by numbers tactics and the rest is Reality TV and game shows. I hope this strike goes long enough and the Networks hire new unionless writers just to stick it to these whining fucks. Give me six figures a year to throw shit at a wall and hope it sticks and you won't here one complaint out of me.

Fuck Unions? How about Fuck Shallow that Payton Manning Cock sucking whore?


Haha...sall good

Nah, I just like the way he passes the ball. I refuse to suck the dick of anyone in a union.








Tanj; don't undersetimate the generosity of the big brands or other creators. Any creator that created something worth a damn will get a helping hand. Marvel was ready to give Cockrum a big hand before he passed. The hero initiative is great. I have no problem with people willingly donating money to people in need, but a union will cause so much damage to the industry quality wise I don't ever want to see it. You'll see artists behind on their schedules filing greivances when they get bumped from a book. Writers and artists on salary taking their sweet time. Prices go up while paper quality and coloring go down. Think about how bad network TV is right now. That's how bad it would get.

And indy creators still wouldn't get a dime. Indy publishers wouldn't be able to afford it and most would end up going under.


As for Bendis isn't selling that much. What does New Avengers pull in every month? Just over 100k? Marvel as a whole sells 3 million issues. Uncanny, Xmen, and Amazing Spridey sold more than that 15 years ago just the three of them combined. These days nearly 100 books can't do what 3 used to be able to do. The 6 or 7 Image books alone in 92 sold almost as much as the whole current industry. If Bendis sold 100k in 92 he'd be bumped off the book. The industry is already gone and needs to be revived.

no question there have been brighter times for comics, but Quesada has pulled Marvel out of bankruptcy and into the stratosphere. I saw their profit margins this year on newsarama, they made millions more this year than the las...and that's just the comics.

Marvel is doing better all the time, but certainly you're right that book sales today don't compare to the early 90s speculators boom. but how many people were just speculating and how many were actually reading back then? with that into account, right now may be a great time for the amount of readership in comparison to other times. especially when you consider the diverse demographic comics reach now.

-T

Most of those buys we're coming from kids with an extra 2 bucks in their pocket. With 5 or 6 variants and 10 million issues shipped  X-Men #1 was never gonna be worth anything. Spawn maybe but that didn't pan out. There were books outside the top 50 that sold more than the number 1 spot these days.

Quesada did a lot to save Marvel from what it was a few years back but the medium as a whole is nothing compared to what it was. The industry is built on children and it always was and no kid is going to collect a universe at 2.99 an issue. They need fresh ideas, lower prices, and better marketing. Are the books better than ever now? Absolutely yes. But there still needs to be a new wave of kids books or 25 years from now you'll see a real slump in the business. Right now they have 10% of the audience that grew up on them. In a generation or two they'll have ten percent of what we have now if they don't do something to change it.

[Tanjential]

i would be happiest if the medium switched to only graphic novel format. i'm tired of waiting on delays.

-T

[Shallow]

i would be happiest if the medium switched to only graphic novel format. i'm tired of waiting on delays.

-T

As an adult sure, but I have such fond memories of rushing to the comic store early Wednesday Mornings in the summer and waiting outside the store with nearly a dozen other of the same kids every week hoping the new Gen 13 finally comes and getting into heated arguments over whether MacFarlane should return to pencilling and get rid of Capullo. Or wonder why Top Cow left Image then returned when Lobdell was given the boot. Those were great times that I wouldn't want to take away from the kids.

[Tanjential]

shit, I'm one of those kids on wednesdays outside of comic shops (except with me it's after work, as opposed to the mornings) but I'd still prefer full stories in a decent format in one package.

-T

[Shallow]

shit, I'm one of those kids on wednesdays outside of comic shops (except with me it's after work, as opposed to the mornings) but I'd still prefer full stories in a decent format in one package.

-T

Nothing beats being 13 years old on a summer morning waiting for the Daimond Distribution truck to come.


We can have both you know. Not everything works as well in novel form. It's like preferring all TV series to be movies. I'm glad All in the Family and Seinfeld were on-going series.

[Tanjential]

true^ but I prefer even seinfeld in DVD format, episode after episode

especially when an 'arc' is made of subplots and such a la george's impending marriage

-T

[Shallow]

true^ but I prefer even seinfeld in DVD format, episode after episode

especially when an 'arc' is made of subplots and such a la george's impending marriage

-T

Yeah but if it were created that way it never would have made it to that season. I prefered tuning in at thursday at 9 years ago and several times a day in syndication rather than waiting for a DVD box once a year every year.

[The Watcher]

ll shows are going to be affected pretty much come mid december

smallville has 3 repeats in january and one new episode, then thats it until the strike is over
the dec 3 (i think) episode of heroes will be the last until the strike is over. the reshot the episode to make it a season finale if need be (if the strike goes that long..)

[Shallow]

If I were the networks I'd raise their DVD percentagew then lower prices so in the end they end up ith less money per sale just to spite them and make the actors and directors turn on them. Well, if I were really the networks I'd just fire them all and rehire.

[Elano]

Writers strike could cost $21.3 million a day

As thousands of TV and film writers marched along Hollywood Boulevard in the third week of their strike, film officials put a price tag on the potential economic toll of the walkout. Los Angeles' economy will lose more than $20 million a day in direct production spending if the writers strike extends into next month, according to FilmL.A. Inc., the nonprofit group that handles film permits and promotes the industry.

"If the strike continues it's going to have a huge impact on the local economy and middle-class jobs," FilmL.A. President Steve MacDonald said Tuesday.

Writers walked out more than two weeks ago in a dispute with major studios over pay for work that is distributed via the Internet, video iPods, cellphones and other new media. Writers and major studios are set to resume talks Monday, although the guild has vowed to continue striking until a deal is finalized.

On Hollywood Boulevard on Tuesday afternoon, striking writers were joined by members of such unions as the Screen Actors Guild, Teamsters and Service Employees International Union. The solidarity march drew 4,000 people, according to the Writers Guild of America.

The 1 1/2 -hour rally, which moved along the historic stretch of the boulevard, kicked off with an appearance by R&B singer Alicia Keys. "I'm here in support of this cause," she said amid deafening cheers. "I want you to know I am a writer, too."

Depending on how long it lasts, the strike could end up inflicting more economic pain than the previous writers walkout in 1988, which lasted 22 weeks and cost the entertainment industry an estimated $500 million. That was the equivalent of a little more than $3 million a day.

Hollywood is a more dominant force in the region today, with studios and networks that are part of global media giants such as Time Warner Inc., Walt Disney Co. and News Corp. Los Angeles also is more dependent than ever on television production, which has taken the biggest hit in the strike. The walkout occurred in the middle of the fall TV season, before networks had a chance to stockpile all the scripts they needed.

Already, at least two dozen shows have stopped production, including dramas such as "24," "Cold Case" and "Desperate Housewives," late-night shows and several sitcoms including "Till Death," "The Office" and "My Name Is Earl."

Most TV shows are filmed in L.A., so the effect is especially acute here. If the strike continues into next month, virtually all of the 44 one-hour dramas and 21 situation comedies that are shot in Los Angeles will stop production entirely as the shows run out of fresh scripts to keep crews filming, industry officials say.

That will translate into a loss of 15,000 jobs and $21.3 million a day in direct spending, according to FilmL.A. The estimate is based on the average number of employees on these shows, and their typical budgets and shooting cycles.

For example, a single episode of a drama costs about $3 million to produce, employs 300 people and takes eight days to shoot. An episode of a half-hour sitcom costs $1.5 million, employs an average of 88 employees and has a five-day shooting cycle.

Sitcoms were the first to take a hit because of the shorter lead times in writing them. During the first two weeks of the strike, filming for sitcoms outside of studio soundstages dropped nearly 50% compared with the same period a year earlier, according to FilmL.A. Activity for TV dramas has been virtually flat, while on-location reality TV shoots jumped 23% recently.

FilmL.A.'s estimate is conservative because it only takes into account jobs in the industry, not the scores of jobs at restaurants, hotels and other businesses that service Hollywood. The entertainment industry accounts for almost 7% of Los Angeles County's $442-billion economy.

Nor does it factor in job losses from the feature film sector. Studios already have scripts in hand for their 2008 slates, so only a few feature films have delayed production, including Ron Howard's "Angels & Demons" and Oliver Stone's "Pinkville."

The level of disruption was underscored by Tuesday's march. Streets connecting to Hollywood Boulevard between Ivar and Highland avenues were closed to traffic for the march.

After Keys performed two songs, the crowd -- led by a small fleet of Teamsters trucks -- marched to the sound of drumbeats, waving signs and chanting, "Contracts! Now!" and "On strike, shut 'em down -- Hollywood's a union town!"

Creative messages dotted the sea of signs. One marcher took the opportunity to seek an eligible bachelor, waving a sign that said, "Looking for Mr. Write."

Helicopters and a small plane pulling a banner that said, "WGA -- on the same page," circled overhead. Representatives from Creative Artists Agency walked through the crowd serving scones and hot apple cider.

"The writers are fighting the fight that we have coming up next year, so we're staying with them every step of the way," said Pamm Fair, deputy national executive director of the Screen Actors Guild. The actors contract expires June 30.

The commotion drew attention from curious onlookers. Residents in apartment complexes along Hollywood Boulevard cheered from open windows, while store owners stood in their doorways, some handing out coupons to marchers.

The march came to an end in front of the Chinese theater, where "A Beautiful Mind" writer Akiva Goldsman, actress Sandra Oh of "Grey's Anatomy" and Writers Guild negotiation committee Chairman John F. Bowman took to the stage.

"Pay us and we'll shut up and go back to work," Bowman said during his speech. "Show some soul, we'll show some flexibility."