Strike Report Photo Essay by Daniel Calvisi
I had the privilege of joining with the men and women of the WGA at some of their picket lines as they fought for a fair contract to protect them in the digital age. And I am happy to say they WON! They fought long and hard and won a victory that will have ramifications for years to come. Good for them.
As for me, I am what some might call "Future WGA," that is, I'm a serious screenwriter whom aspires to be in the guild someday. And I recognize that the rights and rates they're fighting for today will invariably affect me in the future. So I felt behooved to join in the fight, if only in a small way.
I joined pickets at the gates of Disney, Fox and Paramount, and in each case, the people on the lines were friendly, passionate, and just normal folks. It really wasn't about the slick "Hollywood" writer who makes $200k+, as the studios would have had you believe, but about normal folks like these...
This fight was about health benefits and pensions. Children's education and daycare. Not about which class of Mercedes to buy this year.
But of course these are creative types, so it wasn't all boring parents. You got some interesting looking folks, as well...
I wonder if the guy who wrote "Honk it out, Bitch" above is a writer for Entourage? That may be Larry Charles on the right, of Curb Your Enthusiasm, so it would make sense if this were an HBO contingent.
One of the best things that has happened with the strike is the solidarity with SAG, the Screen Actors Guild. They were out in force at the big rally at Fox...
Hey, is that Kal Penn (Kumar!) on his cell and Linda Cardellini (E.R., Freaks & Geeks) behind him? Methinks so. I wasn't even trying to photograph them, and didn't notice them until a friend pointed them out.
I was also thrilled to meet Jason Bateman (The Kingdom, Juno), no pic, sorry, and I even pitched him on my million-dollar idea: It's Your Move: The Movie!! Don't remember It's Your Move, his 80s sitcom when he was a child actor? No? Okay, let's move on, like Bateman did after he heard my amazing pitch...
ACTORS AND WRITERS
It's usually easy to tell the actors from the writers. The deciding factor is usually a shower, a shave and a ball cap. But sometimes the lines can blur. Here, you can still tell it's Katherine Heigl even though she's hiding under the cap and WGA shirt over her scrubs...
I didn't take that shot of Heigl, actually, but this one I did, after meeting these amazing folks...
But this one's not too tough, huh? Not that Damon Lindelof, co-creator of Lost, and Bill Lawrence, creator of Scrubs, aren't handsome blokes, but I'd bet on Sarah Chalke and Zach Braff as being more likely to shower on a work day.
Speaking of actors, here's Sally Field (Norma Rae herself!) giving a passionate plea in support of the writers to end the strike. My shots of her are grainy, the cell phone camera again...
Back to the writers. This is Michael Tabb, my friend and a dedicated Strike Captain, leading a bullhorn chant on the picket line, even with his broken foot...
PARAMOUNT
I had the honor to attend the "Independent Film" picket at the Paramount gate, where I met such writers as Harlan Ellison, who wrote a very creative sign and had the scowl to back it up...
...and the great John August was gracious enough to give his time to chat with me about the technical aspects of his directorial debut The Nines.
This is a horrible pic from my camera phone, but I kinda like the pixellated look of it, considering much of The Nines was shot on digital and John has quite the web presence with his fantastic website JohnAugust.com...
During this whole process, I also had the pleasure to meet talented WGA writers like Robin Swicord (Memoirs of a Geisha), Iris Yamashita (Letters from Iwo Jima), Robert Nelson Jacobs (Chocolat), Stephen De Souza (Die Hard, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life), Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) and an actor whom I've admired for years...
The indomitable Curtis Armstrong (Moonlighting, Better off Dead, Revenge of the Nerds). I grew up on this guy's comedic stylings and he couldn't have been nicer... and he doesn't seem to have aged, either!
And finally, one day I can show the grandkids the incontrovertible proof that I was there during this historic strike. I made it into a photo on a major news website...
See, kids, that's my back! In the red sweater, behind Lindelof, that's me, on the far right, see the bushy black hair...
...okay, not very impressive, and I honestly can't remember if it was from Variety or just someone's blog, but hey, it's something so don't rain on my parade!
So, I've got more pics from the lines, but I don't want to bore ya. In closing, I just want to say that I had a blast participating on the lines with fellow writers; this was the highlight of my time in L.A. so far and really inspired me to write better, so I'd like to say...
Congratulations to the WGA in winning their fight for a fair contract! Thank you for your struggle so that "future WGAers" like me will enjoy the benefits you have sacrificed for.
Sincerely,
-Daniel Calvisi
www.actfourscreenplays.com
copyright © Daniel Calvisi 2008
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