Xena Day on the Picket Line

It was freaking freezing out there on the strike line today -- well, maybe not like it was on the East Coast or Midwest during winter, but freezing for us. And at times raining. But still it was fun to meet up with writers from Xena and Hercules, some of whom I hadn't seen for a few years.

The highlight of this day for me was meeting and talking with actor Tim Omundson, who is pictured with writer Andy Dettmann to the right here. Tim played Eli in Xena, but I've seen him in many series and I always have loved the characters he creates. They are not always good guys, but they have heart and feelings and manage to make me sit up and take notice. Some of the shows I've enjoyed his work on is currently on Psych and Jericho and formerly on Judging Amy and Deadwood. Plus a slew of one-shots on many of the series I watch.

Andy Dettmann was partnered with Dan Truly when they worked on Hercules, the Legendary Journeys. They wrote three of the movies and were on staff for the first year. During that year, they managed to 'torment' their poor innocent script coordinator, me. How? Well, one time they borrowed a two-foot stuffed rat which was in the Evil Dead movies and hid it under my desk. I was so busy, I didn't look down, so I didn't see it. Dan and Andy both came sauntering one by one into my office -- apparently to check on whether it was still there since I didn't react to it, but when I'd ask what they needed, they'd say, "Nothing," and confuse me as to why they were walking into my office.

Eventually, my foot banged against it and I looked down to see what I had kicked: This big rat staring back at me. You can't help but be startled and yelp. And from those two offices came gleeful cries of "Finally!"

For Halloween, they positioned a disembodied prop arm to hang out of one of my script boxes, but by then I knew their wicked ways and didn't react quite the same way.

They eventually went on to write Nash Bridges and you guys, Andy and Dan, can deny all you want that those Betamax remarks weren't teasing me, but I know better. Just because you two didn't write that script doesn't mean that you guys didn't suggest the lines in the Writers Room and talk the writers into using them. Andy is now on Numb3rs 'tormenting' some other poor script coordinator and Dan is on Big Shots doing the same. All kidding aside, they are great guys. And so is David Grae who is with Andy here to the left. We worked together on Joan of Arcadia, but he's also done Gilmore Girls and of course, a Xena.

It was great to see R.J. Stewart, the showrunner of Xena again. In this picture, he is standing between writers Gene O'Neill and Liz Friedman. Liz is currently working on another favorite show of mine, House -- a show I'd dearly love to work on.

In the picture to the left, Gene is standing with writer George Strayton and Noreen Tobin. Noreen and Gene are husband and wife as well as writing partners. And they did not 'torment' their script coordinator when they were on staff of Hercules.

Paul Robert Coyle (below) worked on both Hercules and Xena and he was kind enough to lend me all the Xena and Hercules DVDs so I could see the various commentaries he and others did. Shea Butler, a mutual friend, worked with Paul on Crazy Like a Fox. The pink hat was worn by a group of female writers, to distinguish themselves in the crowd as female science fiction writers.

Steve L. Sears, co-executive producer of Xena, took to the microphone to thank everyone for coming and to remark that with the fan presence (in town for a Xena convention that weekend) on the line, TPTB (The Powers That Be) should take note and make a Xena movie. Note his miniature WGA on Strike sign propped up in his hat. This handy way of carrying the sign was so innovative and freeing that I begged him for one... so kudos to Steve for thinking of this.

And last, but not least, our uber boss (pictured here with Nora Kay Foster, who with her writing partner, Adam Armus, is now on Heroes), Rob Tapert -- the guy who, along with his partner, Sam Riami, made Hercules and Xena both happen. I have other photos and memories, but one can't post everything. But I also want to thank all the fans who came out and walked with us. Maybe if I'm lucky, they'll be kind and share their photos with me.

What Film & TV Writers Actually Make for Their Work

I don't often put quotes from other articles on this blog of mine because it is supposed to be about what I'm doing. However, MELANIE McFARLAND had some very interesting data which might surprise many of you about what writers actually make for their work. Please read the full coverage in Melanie McFarland's "On TV: Forget Hollywood; writers strike is a blow to locals, too" in Seattlepi.com on January 8, 2008 (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/346583_tv09.html):

"Out of some 10,500 film and television writers who are members of the guild, the WGA estimates that 46 percent did not work within the past year. Among those who did work, about 25 percent made less than $37,700. Half don't clear six figures. And when you look at a writer's average annual income over a five-year period, it comes out to about $62,000.

"What people need to realize is that it's not just about the people who are making six figures," said Bainbridge Island-based strike captain Sara B. Cooper. "It's about the people struggling to break in. It's about the people who write that one script, who are working reality shows with no benefits, who work insane hours and get abused by their employers and have no one to intercede for them. It's about a lot of people who just want to get a taste."

Cooper, who says she has been a guild member since 1990, offers her career as an example of that struggle. She lived in Los Angeles until 2001 and has been on the writing staffs of a number of series including "House," "The X-Files," "Chicago Hope," and "Homicide: Life on the Street" (writing under her former married name, Sara Charno).

"I'm not going to lie," Cooper said. "Sometimes we do get paid an obscene amount of money for what seems like very little work. When I was on staff, I was doing really well." During that time, she said, she was supporting a family and saving money for the children she planned to have.

Cooper also wrote the script for 2001's "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," for which she was paid the guild minimum at the time, $95,000. That was before her agents, lawyers, business managers and the government got their cuts.

Since 2001, however, she's been living the life of most WGA members, pitching stories and reaping peanuts. Recently, she said, she came up with several story ideas and pitched them. Then she waited. The studio came back months later and asked her to pitch again, and ended up buying one story. For a little more than six months of work, she says she grossed $16,000."

Picketing to Support Laid Off Workers As They Are Pink-Slipped by the Studios

As I approached Warner Brothers for the solidarity with those workers the studio was planning to lay off that day, I noticed this statue in front of one of their off-lot buildings. This is so much what our industry is supposed to be about. The filmmaker who shoots the script written by his writer partner in filmmaking and acted out for him to capture the visuals and audio by his actor partners, who say the words and do the actions, their writer partners laid out in the script.

The idea of studios was to facilitate those people coming together to make product with the money to make that happen. Yes, those owning the studio had to make money to pay back their financial outlays and to have money for future projects and to support themselves. But the moguls were also people, despite their not-so-nice reputations, who walked among their creative community and had bonds with them. Today studios are just one more money-making division of multi-national companies whom I fear only care about posting profits in the short term and not caring what happens to studios or the creative community or entertainment in the long term. When the profits fall, or the system teeters, or entertainment finds a way around the oppression of the studio system, the multi-national companies will simply divest themselves of the studios and leave the creative community to deal with the fallout.

Last time I mentioned that I was walking the line in the rain, unsuccessfully holding onto both an umbrella and a strike sign and how STEVEN SEARS had his little strike sign stuck in his hat band which freed up his hands. Before he left, he kindly gave me his little strike sign, so here is a picture of it on the line at Warner Brothers.

To show support for the workers scheduled to get laid off today, the WGA pulled its picketers from all studios except NBC Burbank where the Jay Leno Show was still going on without a WGA contract. Hence, there were not only more people here, but we got to reconnect with people we haven't seen in a long time. One such person for me is LIZ FRIEDMAN, whom I worked with on Hercules, the Legendary Journeys and who is now a writer on House. She told me she has written the episode scheduled to air following the Superbowl. She also told me that the Xena Day, Jan. 24th, has been moved from Disney to NBC Burbank, which makes more sense, since Xena was a Universal show and NBC Burbank is the only part of NBC Universal that's being picketed now.

I also managed to walk the line with a very cute blond actor named Alex (part of SAG solidarity) and a writer CAROLYN OMINE from The Simpsons show. They made the time fly by. And I learned a lot about how the writers dealt with the fact that for the first nine years of the very successful Simpsons franchise, the show was not part of the WGA Guild and hence not entitled to its benefits of health insurance and pension, to name a few.

Picketing Leno in the Rain

When we left for Christmas holidays, the word was that picketing would resume on January 7, 2008. But unlike other years, when things in the industry slow down to a virtual crawl during the holidays, things were happening this time. Letterman signed an interim deal with the WGA for his own company, WorldWide Pants, which owns his Late Night Show with David Letterman -- a smart move by a smart man -- and owns The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson -- after assuring the WGA that his company is the one that would be paying the residuals.

And Jay Leno continued to threaten to come back to his job without his writers, citing how he was forced to do so. Guess he wasn't smart enough to own his own show. Most likely, Letterman had foregone some rich payoff some time in the past to keep ownership rights.

As soon as I heard that Leno was planning to do his show again, starting on January 2nd, I wondered why the WGA wouldn't be picketing him then. Why they would wait for the 7th to resume picketing. But the WGA website still touted the 7th for picketing to begin again.

Because I'm not on any strike captain's phone list, I didn't get the call that they were indeed picketing the Jay Leno show, so I didn't know until it hit the news. Hence the first day I could join them was today.

And today was a great day to choose -- because it was raining!!! And I learned that it is nearly impossible to juggle an umbrella and a strike sign. There were some people with umbrellas, but they didn't have their strike signs up or didn't have them at all... and that wasn't good.

Anyway, I tried to juggle both, but if I had the umbrella covering me, the strike sign angled and jabbed people. And if I angled the umbrella and held the strike sign proudly, the umbrella jabbed people. Into this no-win situation, I finally gave up, closed the umbrella, got wet, and risked getting sick.

I was informed that we had hot coffee and I eagerly went to the bus stop bench to get a warm drink. As I stared at the pot, I realized that I didn't have a third hand for the coffee. With a sigh, I knew I'd be forgoing the coffee. And that was even more alarming than the fact that I couldn't take pictures either.

However, there was a couple of bright spots on the picket line. I found Steve Sears, writer of Xena: Warrior Princess, Sheena, Riptide, and many other TV shows, walking the line with his camera. The other prop that Steve is never without is his signature hat.

However, the clever Steve had a small, 4" by 6" strike sign sticking out of the headband of his hat. This left his hands free and yet, everywhere he went, he was displaying his strike sign. Because of the rain, he had it covered by a plastic sandwich baggie, how clever is that? And how cool. He told me he had made them for children's day on the picket line.

I told him I wanted one and he said that he planned to make more. I told him to let me know when he had more, because I really wanted one.... that would be so good for me as well. Steve told me that they were going to have a Xena Day on the picket line at Disney Studios on January 24th. Apparently, the fans have been going out there bringing water and food to the writers there. Not sure what Disney has to do with Xena, since the show was done out of Universal, but maybe Sam Raime/Rob Tapert's company is there these days. I forgot to ask.

Steve left before I did, so he gave me his little sign, saying he could make more. I was very pleased, however my Hercules baseball cap doesn't have a hat band to stick it in. No worries -- once I get home, I will pin it to the cap, for next time. However, wherever I carried it, people remarked on how cool it was.

I also got to walk the line with a very nice sitcom writer, Don Foster, Two and a Half Men. He said he usually is at Warner Brothers, too. So I'll probably see him there.

By the time I got home, I was soaking wet, jeans, shirt, jacket, even socks. Did I mention that I hope I don't catch cold?

Our Star Trek Webisode Garners an Award & I'm Too Busy on the Strike Line to Say So

As I write this, I'm watching Craig Ferguson's show. I don't usually watch talk shows, except in very rare occasions when I have nothing to do and one of my favorite actors is the guest. Not that I have anything against them, it's just that there's never enough time for me to do all the stuff I need to do, so I'm usually catching up on prime time shows this late at night.

Except that now that David Letterman and World Wide Pants respected writers enough to negotiate a deal with the WGA before coming back to work and they cared enough about all workers to be brave enough to break away from the pack, I'm going to show my support of their shows from now on. I love that both Letterman and Ferguson used the time to showcase the strike. And even more I'm happy to hear that their writers are planning to donate a portion of their salaries to the strike fund dedicated to help those in need due to the strike.

I especially enjoyed when Ferguson was composing a letter to his boss, David Letterman, complaining about bringing him back to work. He went on to say that if any of their writers didn't see the irony in what he was saying, then perhaps they were in the wrong profession... they should try the profession without humor or soul, and become a producer.

The one criticism I have is that he said he spent his strike 'vacation' learning to ski. Craig, you should be on the picket line. This is serious business, not a time to have fun.

However, this post was not intended to be about the strike, but about my life interruptus due to all the strike writing I'm doing and all the walking back and forth on the sidewalk carrying a sign like a street urchin. With pride I'd like to mention that our online webisode of Star Trek: New Voyages, "World Enough and Time", starring George Takei, which I've written about on this site, TVGuide.com and WordPress.com recently won an Online Video Award from TVGuide.

Well, when the nominations first came out and I was linked to vote on the awards, it was our episode "World Enough and Time" that was nominated and it was up against series like Battlestar Galactica, and I can't remember what else. It did seem odd to have a webisode up against series, but we were very proud that our little web episode was up against actual TV episodes which cost around $5 million each. A few weeks later, and I'm sure after many protests, the category was changed so it was the online series Star Trek: New Voyages up against the other series. No doubt that was the right and consistent thing to do, but my objection was that it was done midstream and not everyone who voted for the episode would have voted for the whole series. Many would, but you can't assume all would. You can view all the winners here: http://www.tvguide.com/Special/OnlineVideoAwards/default.aspx

Kudos to everyone who has worked on any of the Star Trek: New Voyages webisodes. You all deserve it for your consummate dedication, love and hard work. And I was very excited to be a part of it. I'm also excited and gratified that our webisode has garnered so much love and support. It's exciting to be part of a winning episode and a winning series. You can see the webisode I and my friends worked so hard on here: http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/

Also, our director, Marc Scott Zicree, wrote a guest column for TVGuide which I suppose serves as an acceptance speech for the award. You can read his thoughts here: http://www.tvguide.com/news/star-trek-voyages/071214-04

Exciting times to be part of an Internet adventure. Especially with the writers strike on. Many writers are looking for new avenues to reach audiences with the storytelling they love rather than submit to the stranglehold the studios would like to have on them. Star Trek: New Voyages and our webisode "World Enough and Time" demonstrates what can be done and how good it can look.

And if we could only get this strike over with, with a fair deal for the writers, then we can all go back to doing what we do best and what we love, and I can be more timely with my posting of these adventures.