30 Rock Wins Big at the WGA Awards

On Saturday night in both New York and Los Angeles, the Writers Guild of America simultaneously handed out its annual awards.  The East Coast ceremony boasted such big names as 30 Rock's Tina Fey, Judah Friedlander and Jack McBrayer; Law & Order's S. Epatha Merkerson, Alana de la Garza, Linus Roache and Sam Waterston; comedy legends Jerry Stiller & Anne Meara; Curb Your Enthusiasm's Susie Essman; Ugly Betty's Ana Ortiz; The Daily Show's Aasif Mandvi and John Oliver; Gilbert Gottfried; Bill Irwin; Doubt screenwriter John Patrick Shanley; former thirtysomething star Polly Draper with her kids, "Naked Brothers" Matt and Alex Wolff; VH1's Paul F. Thompson; Oz creator Tom Fontana and Mad Men stars John Slattery and Talia Balsam.

As a "celebrity wrangler," my job was to pluck many of the presenters out of the audience and usher them backstage at just the right time.  It was a great excuse to share even a few moments with writers and actors I admire, and in the case of such greats as Stiller & Meara, have admired my whole life.

As far as winners, 30 Rock and Mad Men defeated all comers.  Early on in the night, Anne Meara referenced Tina Fey in the audience, begging for her to employ Jerry Stiller on her show, to get him out of the house.  (Although Meara let the audience know that that was merely banter scripted on her cue cards.)  Later, Tina was there to applaud as two of her writers, John Riggi and Andrew Guest, won the Best Episodic Comedy award for the episode entitled "Succession."  Tina was then up on stage with all her writers when 30 Rock took the trophy for Best Comedy Series - - and then again, accepting on behalf of Saturday Night Live, the Comedy/Variety series winner.  She was only involved on the periphery of SNL this fall, she said, when the show produced 8 live episodes (including those Thursday night specials) in the space of 6 weeks.  "It was great to see those f---ers have to work that hard," Tina had to admit.

And of course the other show which continues to have writers -- and everyone else -- abuzz is AMC's drama Mad Men.  We got to see one of that series' handsome stars, John Slattery, on stager twice on Saturday night:  first, as he and wife Talia Balsam presented the awards for Long Form Adaptation and Long Form Original, but more excitingly a second time, as Slattery again took to the stage on behalf of Mad Men, the winner for Best Drama Series.

In other "wrangling" news from my viewpoint, Ana Ortiz looked spectacularly beautiful, at I think 4 months pregnant, in a vintage gown with just a hint of baby bump under her pink skirt.  Jack McBrayer turned out to be adorably like his character, 30 Rock's NBC page Kenneth:  when I introduced myself to him and told him I'd be coming to get him later, his answer had a very Southern, very friendly and formal "sir" in it.  "Yes sir."  And of course, then there's Susie Essman (who by the way says things are going "very well" in the filming of this newest season of Curb, which started back in December.)

I had brought her backstage a little early, and so Susie was given her cue cards of her category's nominees while John Patrick Shanley was accepting the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for lifetime achievement in writing, with a speech that harkened back all the way to the drama of the ancient Greeks.  At the end, Susie, who had been studying her cards, looked up and asked me, "What the f--- did he say?"  THAT's why I love her!

Fremantle Media: Speak of the Devil

Wow, Ozzy Osbourne's album titles just lend themselves perfectly to titling this post about Fremantle, the company about to produce Ozzy and family's new variety show. I went with "Speak of the Devil," but "No Rest for the Wicked" was a close runner-up.

Take a look at this latest press release from the Writers' Guild, about how Fremantle is trying to chip away at hard-won fair wages for writers across the entertainment industry -- and let me know if I made the right call on the title.

To Our Fellow Members,

Last week, you may have become aware of our ongoing dispute with Tyler Perry's production companies, which fired four writers because of their efforts to organize Perry's series, House of Payne. Pickets were up at his new studio's grand opening Saturday night in Atlanta.

Now, we write to inform you of another labor dispute.

Fox has ordered a primetime comedy-variety show featuring Ozzy Osbourne and his family, and has engaged FremantleMedia North America, the company behind American Idol, to produce it. Because they wanted to hire WGA members to write the show, Fremantle contacted the WGAW to see if we would agree to a sub-standard contract. Attempting to pay as little as possible to the writers on the show, Fremantle asked to treat it as "half-scripted" and pay greatly reduced writing fees to those writers who wrote skits, interview material, intros, and "outros." Although all of the writing on the show is of a type traditionally covered by our MBA (in such shows as The Carol Burnett Show and Laugh-In), Fremantle wanted to treat certain portions of the show as "reality content," not cover the writers who create it, and lower the compensation of the WGA-covered writers, arguing that they would only be responsible for writing part of the show.

We refused to agree to such a deal because it would drastically undermine hard-won minimums and standards. While we have covered some shows produced by Fremantle, they insist that other shows, including American Idol, The Price is Right, and Million Dollar Password, do not have writers and should not be covered by a WGA contract.

Now it is clear that Fremantle's intention is to bring their low cost, non-union business model into traditional genres – first game shows, then comedy-variety. Soon, no WGA-covered writing will be safe from their aggressive undermining of our contract. We cannot allow this encroachment to continue.

Accordingly, WGA East and West members may not write for the Osbourne variety show (working title: The Osbournes: Loud and Dangerous). Any members who perform writing services on that show do so at their own peril as they will be violating WGA Working Rule 8 and could be fined up to 100% of their compensation for that work. Both Guilds notified agents and other representatives of this development through an Action Alert issued yesterday.

The alert also reminded agents that they cannot send clients who are members of either Guild to write for Tyler Perry's production companies. The WGAW has filed unfair labor practice charges based on the unlawful discharge of the House of Payne writers and continuing bad faith bargaining. Members who accept these jobs will also be in violation of Working Rule 8.

We believe that denying Fremantle and Tyler Perry members of the Writers Guilds East and West may convince them that they will be unable to produce professional quality entertainment content and that they will see the wisdom and creative advantages of signing a WGA contract.

There is already far too much writing done in our business by men and women without WGA benefits. We cannot let writers of sitcoms and comedy-variety programming join their ranks, as we also work to reduce the amount of animation, reality, nonfiction, and other so-called "non-scripted" writing not covered by a WGA contract.

Thanks for your attention and your continued support.


Best,


Patric M. Verrone
President, WGAW

Michael Winship
President, WGAE

Tyler Perry's "The Studio That Preys"

Or maybe I should have gone with my alternate title, Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Fire My Writers?"

Just received the following press release. Although I've said on the air that I respect that Perry has become a one-man TV and film powerhouse, I certainly don't admire that he's apparently done it at the expense and exploitation of his workers. Some pretty harsh stuff here, including allegations of racism. Read on:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2008

Writers at Tyler Perry Studio to Take Strike Action –
Will Picket Grand Opening and Ask Invited Guests Not To Attend

Los Angeles – The Writers Guild of America, West is taking on the fight for justice of writers who were fired when they tried to get a union contract with Tyler Perry’s production company, House of Payne, LLC. The Guild today filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging that House of Payne unlawfully fired four writers in retaliation for their union activity. The charge also alleges that the company bargained in bad faith with the Guild, which is seeking to negotiate a contract covering the writers on Perry’s cable television series House of Payne and Meet the Browns.

The four writers, Kellie Griffin, Christopher Moore, Teri Brown-Jackson, and Lamont Ferrell, as well as supporters from the Writers Guild and the community, will be picketing during Saturday’s opening of Perry’s new studio and they’re asking invited guests to respect their picket line. Together, these writers have written over one hundred episodes of House of Payne. Since April of this year they have been involved in a union organizing campaign with the Writers Guild of America, West so that their work on that show and the upcoming Meet the Browns would be covered by a Guild contract. Despite the enormous success of House of Payne, Perry has refused to agree to a contract that would give the writers health care, pensions, and residuals. On Tuesday of this week he fired the writers, after warning them some weeks ago that they should “be careful about pushing the WGA deal or you could be replaced.”

“We’re asking all those who had planned to attend the opening of Tyler Perry’s new studio not to cross our picket line,” said writer Christopher Moore. “It’s very disheartening considering that this is a studio run by African Americans. What Tyler Perry is essentially saying to us is that ‘you’re black and there’s not a lot of
opportunities for you so you’ll take what I give you’ – whether it’s fair or not.”

“I feel like I was slapped in the face, like we were used” said writer and WGAW member Teri Brown-Jackson. “We were good enough to create over a hundred episodes, but now when it comes to reaping the benefits of the show being syndicated and having other spin-offs from it, he decides to let us go unless we accept a horrible offer.”

“Disrespected, betrayed, saddened…it’s hard to describe,” said writer and WGAW member Lamont Ferrell. “The actors and a majority of the production crew on the show were working under union contracts and they received the pay and benefits that you need to survive on in this business. But after all those episodes and success when it came time for us to get a fair contract, we’re told on a conference call ‘sorry, you’re fired.’”

The show’s head writer, Kellie Griffin, added, “A lot of people who fought for civil rights and social justice never really saw what eventually came out of their work. While I’d like to see something positive come out of this for us, if this fight helps future black writers get what they deserve, that’s a good thing.”

The writers and their supporters will be picketing at the grand opening of Tyler Perry Studios on Saturday, October 4, starting at 4 pm, and on Sunday, October 5, starting at 9 am.

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) is a labor union representing writers in the motion picture, broadcast, cable, and new media industries in entertainment and news. Founded in 1933, the Guild negotiates and enforces the contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of its members. It is involved in a wide range of programs that advance the interests of writers and their craft and is active in public policy and legislative matters on the local, national, and international level. For more information on the WGAW, please visit: http://www.wga.org/.

Contact:
Gregg Mitchell
Ph 323.782.4574

The American Idol Truth Tour

In the eloquent style of American Idol judge Randy Jackson, this afternoon over 150 writers and union supporters marched in front of the show's production company FremantleMedia North America to let them know that substandard wages and working conditions just ain't right, "dog."

Although Randy might say our chants were a bit "pitchy," we were there to deliver an important message: as the producer of TV's top-rated show, which makes them over $1 billion annually, Fremantle should do the right thing when it comes to its talented writing and production staffs.

In addition to Idol, Fremantle produces many other network primetime programs, including Million Dollar Password for CBS, Farmer Wants a Wife for the CW and America’s Got Talent for NBC. In 2007, Fremantle produced more than 1,000 hours of television in the United States. And while Fremantle profits so handsomely from Idol and other shows it produces, the writers and other workers who make these shows successful do not. Workers on Fremantle shows have reported serious workplace issues such as the withholding of overtime pay, and failure to provide meal or rest breaks. Many Fremantle workers do not receive benefits that are standard in the entertainment industry including minimum compensation, health insurance or retirement benefits.

It's all part of the sweat-shop atmosphere fostered by many producers of reality TV -- as they routinely work their employees round-the clock, they make one message clear: complain, and you'll simply be fired. One rally speaker today, former Idol production assistant Justin Buckles, calculated that, as he routinely worked 17- or even 20-hour days, his $550 per week flat fee salary worked out to about $4.50 per hour -- well below California's legal minimum wage.

Another speaker, Ro DiSalvo, said it was particularly fitting to return to New York, where her Italian immigrant grandmother had worked as a seamstress in a sweat shop; as a writer on Fremantle's game show Temptation, she experienced the 21st Century equivalent. DiSalvo was refused even meal breaks, as she and her coworkers rushed to film 170 shows in 8 weeks. "Remember what it was like in college to pull an all-nighter," she explained. "Now imagine doing that every day for months."

All four of Temptation's writers eventually walked off the job -- and were quickly replaced. But in April of this year, eight former employees of Fremantle, the majority from American Idol, filed more than $250,000 in wage and hour claims with the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement alleging failure to pay overtime.

With the "American Idol Truth Tour," the Writers' Guild is taking a much more fun approach in appealing to Fremantle to end workplace practices which are, let's face it, more wrong than William Hung's version of "She Bangs." In a thankfully now typical show of solidarity between the two branches of the Guild, East president Michael Winship and West president Patric Verrone appeared together at today's rally, after Verrone traveled the entire route of Idol's audition tour for the upcoming season, bringing the Guild's message to all of the show's tryout sites this season, in San Francisco, Phoenix, San Juan, Jacksonville and East Rutherford, NJ.

Today's stop in front of Fremantle's offices in New York City represented the end of the line -- for now. The funk band which had played throughout the rally on this sweaty afternoon wrapped its last number, and it was time to temporarily deflate the giant rat which has become de rigeur for any well-appointed picket line these days. Symbolically staring up at the 9th floor of the Ziff Davis building on 28th Street, we protesters vowed to continue the fight.

But for now, "Writers Guild... OUT!"


For more information, or to get involved, please visit http://www.truthaboutfremantle.com/.