More than 125 executive producers, a.k.a. showrunners, joined striking writers on the picket lines in front of the Walt Disney Studios yesterday. The showrunners know whose talent makes it possible for the studios to rack up the big dollars, it seems odd that the moguls don’t.
The strike has already forced the talk shows into reruns and production has shut down on some television series. Soon all that will be left are game shows and reality TV (although we all know those are scripted anyway). Eventually the advertising revenue will drop and the studios will be forced back to the table by the stockholders. Meanwhile, I’m looking for a striking writer who is picketing the Disney lot for an interview and perhaps regular updates, if you know anyone drop me a line.
If you aren’t reading Nikki Finke’s coverage of the strike you’re missing out on some great coverage. But I’m left wondering where the writer’s presence on the web is? Yeah, there’s the WGA site (which hasn’t been updated since the 6th), but that’s not where the people who are most likely to support the strike, the fans, hang out on line.
- Come on, add daily videos of stars, showrunners, writers speaking out about the strike to YouTube. (Here’s one from LOST”s and Desperate Housewives producers.(Damon Lindelof and Marc Cherry)) Show us your wittiest chants from the picket lines.
- How about a flash/slide stack presentation comparing the salaries of the studio executives to the average WGA and exactly how big a bite the proposed bumps in residuals would take (we fans are curiously uneducated about the inner workings of Hollywood, so keep it fairly simple).
- Invade the fan websites with daily updates (this is already happening and producing good results).
- Is there a twitter channel? a writer’s blogroll? Etc.
Sure an internet advertising campaign is a good idea, but don’t neglect the social media channels either. Look just south to see how it was being used during the San Diego Fires, ping Nate Ritter with a tweet.\
Update: here’s United Hollywood – a blog set up for the purpose of reporting from the front lines of the writer’s strike.