Reminder: I’ll be at Paramount’s main gate for a gathering of indie film writers from 11-2 today.
Strike
Strike, days 33-36
On Friday night, I went in to WGA headquarters to help load up vans for the coming week.
Part of my motivation was banking hours; loading vans is a four-hour shift, and actually counts as two normal shifts. But my larger goal was to learn more about the infrastructure behind the strike.
Ever since picketing began last month, I’ve been curious where everything comes from, and how all the systems operate.1 After all, the WGA doesn’t normally function as a field organization. It’s mostly people at desks, registering scripts, checking residuals, and dealing with the bureaucracy of running a guild. But suddenly, there are thousands of picket signs, and phone banks, and white vans full of supplies.
Clearly, someone had to set up these logistics. I assumed it was some outside contractor, but no. It’s basically just writers and re-deployed staff. Case in point: Jerome, a blog-reader I met during the first week. On day 13, he oversaw the sign-making session in which I got to demonstrate my facility in duct-taping. He was also in charge of Friday night’s van-loading.
Basically, there’s one van per studio being picketed. There’s a list of what each location needs: X number of signs, X number of insulated orange water coolers, X boxes of snacks, etc. It’s very straightforward. Most nights, you’re really just re-filling supplies, since the same basic stuff should have been returned to the van after picketing.
Last Friday was the big rally at Freemantle, after which stuff got thrown into vans pretty haphazardly. So everything had to be emptied out, then restocked from scratch. No biggie. Honestly, it was nice to have a job that had clearly defined objectives. Unlike picketing, you could see what you’d accomplished. You knew when you were done.
We were midway through the job when word came down that negotiations had broken off. Disappointing? Certainly. But it was strange to be getting this news while readying the vans. No one wants this strike to drag on for months. But I can tell you firsthand: on a systems/process level, it’s surprisingly well-run, with really good morale. No one was ducking out early.
This morning I went back to picket with my usual crew at Paramount. It was the fastest shift so far. I didn’t check the time until 8:20 a.m., at which point I was nearly done. A lot of the conversation centered on preschools, since half of us have kids in that zone.
Tomorrow, I’ll be taking the day off (the second of my two banked days from Friday). Thursday, I’ll be picketing (and speaking) at the Indie Gate at Paramount from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. After that, there are only two more days of picketing until the winter holidays.
- I’m a process nerd at heart. At dinner parties, I’ve been known to interrogate strangers working in interesting fields, as if trying to construct the database for an expert system to replace them. ↩
Tuesday picketing
I’ll be back at Paramount’s Van Ness gate Tuesday morning, beginning at 5:30 a.m.
Strike, day 32
Picketing at Paramount was unremarkable, but further reinforced my theory that any session is greatly improved by two in-depth conversations. Yesterday, that was with Aaron Peters, with whom I discussed Tom Green, Andy Dick and other MTV personalities, and Tracy, who came all the way from Houston to check out the picket line. That’s dedication, but not nearly as much as Alexa, an aspiring screenwriter (and young mom) who’s been out at Paramount at least 10 times, just because she believes in the cause.
Tonight, I’m loading vans at WGA Headquarters. I have no idea what that will really consist of, but I’m curious to see as many aspects of the process as possible.
There are some special events next week worth noting:
Monday is Star Trek Day at Paramount, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Windsor Gate.
Tuesday is student picket day, with film and screenwriting students joining the picket line at Sony’s Overland Gate from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Since film students are a significant portion of this blog’s readership, I hope to see many of you at the event.
Thursday features an Indie Gate at Paramount, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I’ll be one of the one of the speakers, along with Howard Rodman, Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, Robin Swicord and others. If you’re an indie writer or director, plan on coming. (And if I know you, plan on getting an email from me reminding you to come.)
I’ll confess that I was mildly skeptical about theme gates when they first started, but it’s been great to mix things up. Going into the strike, I never anticipated how many more writers I would get to know through picketing. Because feature screenwriting is a largely solitary career, there’s not the opportunity to develop colleagues the way you would in other professions — or in television writing, where you have staffs working together. I’m not so Pollyanna-ish to predict that we’ll all stay so tight and supportive once the strike is over. But for now, it’s a nice change.