VQTV - Don't Strike!

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To the Writers' Guild of America: For the Love of God, Don't Strike

by Will Doslovski

What are you guys, a bunch of communists?

No, really. You're Hollywood screenwriters. Based on what I heard about the upcoming Writers' Guild of America strike when it was on Access Hollywood, I understand television producing god John Wells has rallied the writing troops into refusing to create any more television unless there's some sort of concession made by movie directors. Apparently, the writers want their name on movies too.

Now, I don't know too much about fancy Hollywood deals and all. But I do know from strikes -- having been part of the Scranton Municipal Walkout of 1998, the labor stoppage of which was, in a way, indirectly responsible for my leaving the electrician's business and becoming a television advocate -- and I can tell you this: there is always a way out of a strike. Some plants will vote to sit out a strike. So why can't some groups of writers opt to keep working through the strike?

It would be easy. From what I understand, the sticking point is the movie credit thing: apparently, some screenwriters are tired of directors putting only their name on movies and not giving the writer credit for actually writing the thing. I'm sure it's frustrating -- I can't tell you how many homes in Scranton I wired, only to have the Nyland corporation step in and claim they were the ones responsible for the whole subdivision -- but let's put a little perspective on the situation here:

If the movie sucks, the public only remembers the director's name right now. You don't want people to stop you in the street and tell you how much Bethoven XII: The Unfinished Litter sucked, do you?
Your beef is with the movie people. Leave television alone.

And that is the point of my argument: if you write for television, you got no beef with the movie director union. You can continue to turn out those great dramas and lighthearted comedies that help us all feel as though we are part of the human family experiencing universal emotions and situations.

So here's what I'm proposing: the television writers just sit this one out. If that's going to present too much of a problem, then sit it out show-by-show. Half a network schedule would be better than none, and your union still gets leverage.

But now you, the reader, must be wondering because you are probably not a screenwriter who's about to strike. You must be wondering what happens to you in this terrible time of labor unrest.

In the event that this strike goes forward, here's what you do:

Begin videotaping your favorite shows immediately. Organize a tape exchange online if necessary.
Fund local theatre groups to perform reenactments of your favorite shows' pivotal episodes. Be sure to stipulate that the funding is contigent upon the performance being filmed in front of a live studio audience.
Spearhead a letter-writing campaign imploring John Wells to please, please call off his leftist guerillas and make the writers get back to work.
Begin researching the broadcast schedules in Europe and Australia. American television shows are often shown months after they debut in America, and if you hook into a super-powerful satellite package, you can see your favorite shows again.

A proud member of the Brotherhood of Electrical Contractors, Will Doslovski would never cross a picket line but he sees nothing wrong in trying to persuade people not to picket at all.