'United Hollywood' Blog Launches
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Some of the contract captains have setup a blog at Blogspot to write about the things happening over there as we near the expiration of the WGA's contract with the AMPTP. Captain, working writer, and now blogger Kate Purdy explains what her job as a contract captain on United Hollywood:
I attend union meetings, and report back to my team of writers. They ask me questions. I get answers. It’s a grassroots, member to member dialogue. Several of us captains huddled, and decided to create this website. Why? Because we want to share our perspectives to, and beyond our membership. Considering that the corporate conglomerates that comprise the AMPTP (the studios and networks) own the newspapers we read, we know we won’t win our battle in the press. However, while the AMPTP is great at PR and spin, we are great at communicating with each other.
You can expect this site to be as pro-WGA as you could possibly get, above and beyond what you'd get from Craig Mazen and Ted Elliot who know a great deal about what's going on, because these people are really what amount to activists within the union. They aren't just being good vocal members and will be doing more than pulling their hours on the picket line.
There's a post with a picture showing WGA members camped out in front of the studios, handing out fliers to the teamsters who have already expressed support for any potential strike and their individual commitment to honoring the picket lines - which is just a huge help. I wouldn't have seen this elsewhere so I can see the value on this site already - Alec Baldwin wrote a post on The Huffington Post (powered by Movable Type, as is this site) supporting writers in their journey to receive fair payment for the reuse of the movies and TV shows that they helped to create.
What it all boils down to is that a lot of peoples lives are going to be negatively effected if the studios and networks don't come back down to Earth and stop being so damned greedy.
October 31, 2007 4:42 PM | Reply