Sunset Boulevard: Writers Strike more crippling than expected

Every morning, coming into work, I cross a picket line. On Monday, they were full of enthusiasm, happily munching donuts. By today they are tired and haggard, sick of walking the same ten steps for four hours straight in what, for us Southern Californians, seems like bitter cold. I try to honk my horn in support, but then feel small and hypocritical the moment I then turn my wheel into the studio lot and hope that they get out of the way. Already I’ve heard of two instances of writers being hit by cars. I hope that they realize by looking at my dinged up and dirty ’97 Honda Civic that I’m not the enemy.

I support the writers. At the same time, I resent them – and then in the same breath feel guilty. But truthfully, I know of two writers that have been hit by cars (softly, nothing to write home about), and I know of tens of assistants and crew members that have lost their jobs in the mere five days that this strike has been going on for so far. Those are the ones I can count, although I wouldn’t be surprised if the number by now was closer to a couple hundred.

Meanwhile, the insular snow-globe economy of Los Angeles is such that the writers striking means cut expense accounts and paychecks which mean no more business lunches and drinks…which means even the restaurants are feeling the squeeze. This means that should I lose my job because of this strike, I won’t be able to get a job elsewhere…everyone from Dry Cleaners to Dog Groomers are feeling the effect of this strike, and praying for it to end soon.

There seem to be three schools of thought on this, so far as I can tell. One is, this strike is crippling and everyone knows it, so the studios are waiting a bit for the writers to have sore feet and cold noses from all the hours picketing, and will return to the table to contrition won’t happen until after the new year, when producers and studio execs see their bonuses have a couple too few zeros at the end. Another group believes that the writers will hold out until SAG and DGA contracts expire next summer so that all groups can strike and negotiate more or less together (they all want the same thing in terms of new media residuals). The final, and perhaps most depressing thought, is that negotiations are useless and that the union will inevitably collapse. After all, even stripped bare, the studios have enough money to trundle through these lean months ahead, while many writers can’t afford more than a few months out of work.

Meanwhile, several shows (even ones that had scripts prepared) have shut down production because the showrunners and some actors have decided to join the picket lines. Amongst the casualties are hit shows '24' and 'The Office' and more are sure to follow. Are you guys ready for reality tv 24/7?! 

Questions for you: How is the rest of the country perceiving the strike? Is it just another example of how silly us movie-folk are? Do people see it as a big deal, or are people unaware of it?

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Alex M., Movie Correspondent

Alex's column, Sunset Boulevard, published every Friday to Gather Essentials: Movies, is a weekly summary of the movie industry's biggest stories.

Alex is a film school grad working at a production company in Hollywood. She's been passionate about movies since she knew what they were and always has an opinion (for better or worse).

You can find all of Alex's Sunset Boulevard columns at gather.com/SunsetBoulevard

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