HFPA's Official 65th Golden Globes: Big Show Cancelled & Replaced By NBC Newscast of Foreign Press Announcing Winners
In yet another twist in the long-running Writer's Guild (WGA) strike, the fate of the 65th annual HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association) Golden Globes Award Ceremony and Dinner has been decided. Monday was a day of twists and turns for negotiations between the HFPA, Globes producer Dick Clark Prods, and the WGA. They tried to broker a deal that would allow the event and telecast to take place in some form.
Actors refused to cross the WGA picket lines and with the chummy set-up of the Globes (it's a sit-down dinner and tons of fun for all) the show would never work without the stars that illuminate the Hollywood universe.
Insiders say that NBC PTB came up with the idea of announcing the winners at an hour-long new conference at the Beverly Hilton hotel that would be covered live by NBC news - a unit with writers that do not work under the WGA contract. NBC writers are covered under a TV-specific NABET contract and are not on strike.
Late on Monday, January 7, 2008 the HFPA confirmed that the Globes traditional dinner had been scrapped and is being replaced by a simple announcement at 6p, PST by a live NBC news conference to simply announce the winners in the 25 film and TV categories.
From the HFPA official press release:
"We are all very disappointed that our traditional awards ceremony will not take place this year and that millions of viewers worldwide will be deprived of seeing many of their favorite stars celebrating 2007's outstanding achievements in motion pictures and television," said HFPA prexy Jorge Camara. "We take some comfort, however, in knowing that this year's Golden Globe Award recipients will be announced on the date originally scheduled."
The WGA has been promising for weeks that it will picket the Globes and that threat prompted a declaration last week by SAG and PR reps for the top stars that virtually all of the town's name-brand thespians would rather be a no-show for the dinner rather than cross the WGA picket lines.
Under normal circumstances the Globes would bring in a tidy profit of $15-20 million in ad revenue for NBC, but producers there obviously think it makes more sense to them to refuse the writers .04 cents more on their DVD residuals. Go think.
Parties all over Hollywood are now being cancelled. Get ready for American Gladiators, The Amazing Race, Survivor, and other reality shows to be on air 24/7.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
© 2008 by Digital Dogs
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
--- Digital Dogs is gather's Los Angeles Movie Correspondent ---
Digital Dogs' column, HOLLYWOOD POV, published every Thursday to Gather Essentials: Movies is an insider's look at the art, people, and product of Hollywood.
Digital Dogs is an opinionated writer, editor, and digital designer who lives and works in the entertainment capital of the world. DigiDogs' writes critiques, opinion pieces, and news stories that focus on the business, people, and places of Hollywood. DigiDogs' unique film reviews are usually written well before a film's release date, and definitely worth the advance look at the films that influence the world.
You can find all of Digital Dogs' HOLLYWOOD POV columns by using the unique tag of "digidogs" or "hollywood pov." Keep up with Digital Dogs' other postings and Gather activity by joining their Gather network -- just click here - digitaldogs.gather.com - and select the orange "Connect" button on the left-hand side of the page. To see a complete listing of articles by Digital Dogs, click here.
You'll find Digital Dogs and other Movie Correspondents, plus celebrity content and plenty of other movie buffs at Movies.gather.com
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 27
The Producers are about to lose two TV Seasons over about $200million (spread over 5 years) This is an amount even the business press considers entirely inconsequential to their bottom lines - of around $25 billion annually.
The Writers still have on the table demands that the Producers contractually are unable to meet i.e. jurisdiction over Reality and Animation writers who are already covered under agreements with other unions.
I completely understand and support the Writers' demand for payment from internet downloads etc and their stand to maintain the current residual structure. Unfortunately their leadership - IMHO - is playing hardball where they should be compromising (they're going after Leno for his monologues now!) ands caving where they should stand firm (they already withdrew their demand for an increase in the DVD residual.)
Full disclosure - I'm a Board Member of a Hollywood IATSE Local - my opinions not those of the IA.
It's too bad that now bean-counters have become the de facto decision makers in so many industries. Think about health care, where the bean-counters are telling people who are insured whether or not they can have a needed medical procedure (think about the case of Nataline a few weeks ago who died because she was denied a needed liver transplant by some bean-counter without a medical degree.
And now we have the same mentality of bean-counters (accountants responsible for upping the bottom line of profits) making rules for the creatives in Hollywood.
IMHO this bodes ill for the entire industry. Things are changing rapidly, and perhaps not for the good.
As to Leno, even though he has returned it is without his writers, so Leno is reportedly writing his own monologues. But that is a problem for the WGA because Leno himself is a WGA member. So he is crossing his own picket line to write his monologues. That's why the WGA has a problem with him, he's scabbing.
Congratulation on being featured.
10*
The state of "popular" entertainment is not in very good shape. All anyone has to do to prove this is scan the dial. There's 90% filler and 10% meat. In order to make money from this situation, the suits in charge have been repackaging everything in as many ways as they can think of to repackage it.
Each time it is repackaged, more palms need to be greased to makes things fly. Because of this, they ( the suits) have determined that writers and actors are now no more entitled to a cut of the "new money" than a farmer is once the food they grow and sell is processed, packaged, and resold.
The really sad part in all of this is that it drives home the point of how little the public appreciates good writing anyway. Take away a well-written show and substitue a reality show about Baltimore Meter Maids, and the public tunes in in droves.
The writers are noble to stay out on strike, because they should get paid, but the longer they stay out on strike, the more the public will get comfortable with shows that don't use writers. How long before we see a feature-length reality movie or play ?
Re Leno
It's a complicated situation, but Leno and the WGA did meet, & it was understood that Leno would "do" his monologue. I'm just saying that it's counterproductive for the WGA to be getting in a p*ssing contest w someone who is supporting his writing staff out of his own pocket over whether or not Leno "wrote" or "ad-libbed" his lame routines.
They need to pick their battles better - and making the deal with UA was very smart since it serves to divide AMPAS. Leno is a battle they didn't need without any real pay-off if they win.
Thanks for the coverage of an issue that affects every one of us who earn a living in the Film and TV business.
Even though I called Leno "scabbing" when he writes his monologues (I believe the deal was for him to NOT write, but ad-lib his monologue) the issue is much more complicated. Leno (and all the talk show hosts for that matter) is responsible for appx 125 staff & crew members who are all out of work until his show returns to the air. So not only does Leno have himself to worry about, he is also concerned about his staff & crew members. All of the talk show hosts are. That's why Letterman & Conan paid their staff & crews their regular salaries through the end of 2007 out of their own pockets. And that's why Worlwide Pants (Letterman's company that owns both The Letterman Show and The Craig Ferguson Show) made a deal with thhe WGA so they could return to the air legally.
OTOH, Leno's show is owned outright by NBC so Leno does not have the same control over his show as Letterman has.
I'm glad to see these talk show hosts care about the many people who make it possible for them to do their show each night. It's too bad that the suits 'n ties who are refusing to pay the creators of their work a fair price don't give a darn about the many people who make their lavish lifestyles possible.
So then, does a writer who has written a film or TV show deserve nothing for his work? While people like Clive Cussler, Anne Rice, and JK Rowling deserve a fair price for their writing? A TV or film writer might only sell 1 script a year... if they're that lucky to make a sale at all. Then they could be out of work earning nothing until their next sale. Which might not be for a number of years. How can they pay their bills? Their mortgages or rent? That's why residuals are so important to so many people. Hollywood is a freelance town, their are very few staff crew jobs. When the project you are working on is cancelled or the film has finishing shooting and post then you have no job and are out beggin for work once again. Residuals provide just a teensy bit of an income for many people.
Remember folks, we're talking about a measley .04 cents per DVD sold here.
Tell me please, on what planet does this make sense?
And you say:
> "How long before we see a feature-length reality movie or play?"
I love TV & films & I shudder to think about this! Scary!
Another indication of how decades of poor reading habits and more watching habits have ruined our abilities to read. And tell good writing from bad. Poor. Whatever.
If enough "consumers" stop watching the re-runs and reality programs, the pockets of the sponsors will have a change of heart about where they distribute their propaganda. Oh, how nice it would be to watch a good tale without the interuption of what pill to take, which gas-guzzler to buy, what life insurance I can get without a medical examination, and how to have a happy period and reduce my cholesterol level all in the same 30 minutes!
Let's hope the WGA gets it done SOON
I would like to say sorry for taking a while to get to your article. I have been away from gather for a while and I am finally getting to the 3000 plus emails I have awaiting me on here to go through. so I am starting from the most recent received to the first I ever received.... So now I am finally able to read your piece. Thank you for sending me the link to this article.
Now second thing:
Honestly I can careless these days... Sadly it feels like all these award shows the money can go to something else... you know how about a portion of the money go back to the films and movie industry and as well as a lets say ooo how about keeping the world green...
Rich as some are, I suspect most of the writers are like the rest of us, just getting by, or just doing okay.
Well to do or not, I do feel that the writers are entitled to what they are asking for.
But if Digi Dog had tickets and now can't go, I feel that is an atrocity!
Yay Digi!
(I actually watched some movies lately: The Waitress, that cooking rat movie, Rush Hour 3 and The Simpsons. Enjoyed them all, but hoping to see I Am Legend!)
Here in LA, business have been laying off people for a while now, and I'm talking about the businesses that depend on the TV & film industry for their clients, not the entities that are making those shows, but those that support them. Places like the cleaners, restuarants, caterers, gardeners, cleaning ladies, yoga studios, therapists, all those businesses that support the people who work in the industry.
Things look pretty glum here in tinsel town right now.
Digi, is there anything we non-West-coasters can do to help the WGA?