A friend of mine who lives in Florida, came out to L.A. today and she wanted to picket in support of The Writer's Strike. Roobaby and I walked for Autism back in April of this year and since she asked, I went along with her. Some of the writers picket at the Television City location of CBS and this is where we went today. My first job in L.A. had me working at a photo lab on Melrose (back in its pre-trendy days), so I knew my way around and we got a parking space at the Farmer's Market...yay team.
We called the Strike Captain from the car and he told us where to go, to meet them. So we walk over to the Fairfax gate and there is "Huggy Bear", our contact. We are given our picket signs and begin to walk. Huggy is a very cool guy, who spends the next hour picking our brains about the different characters and our views of them. At the same time, we were picking his brain about where they see characters going and why they wrote what they wrote. Max and Tiffy were obviously a hot topic of conversation and he said that the writers love writing them, because of all the controversy they generate. No writer wants to write about a happy character, there is just no fun in that. He also told us that when they are hashing out stuff in the writer's meetings, he is usually the one with the most "out there" ideas for plot lines. I found that very funny. About an hour into our picket 2 other writers appeared and Huggy gave one of them to each of us and the conversations continued. The writer on the right side of the group photo tells us that he wrote "Exposure" and "Inside Out". The writer on the left side in the photo tells us that he wrote "Play 16 (Here Lies)" We immediately shun him for being a part of the killing off of Demore. :-)
As the 2PM hour approaches, I take out my camera and a photo session begins. Then it's time to give back the picket sign (darn, I really wanted to keep that) and say our goodbyes.
The writer on the left, gives us a cool Unit shirt as a souvenir. I was so happy to receive it, but it was only a large and I knew someone would take it from me, when I got home. My son did exactly that, as soon as I showed it to him. :-)
I droped Roo back at her hotel and we made plans for lunch on Friday. It was a good day for us.
Unfortunately, the writers are not so lucky. They are seeing no progress on the negotiations and that is truly tragic, because everyone is loosing big time here. From what I heard today, there will probably be no more talks until after the new year.
More to come on this subject, in the future.
Despite the "why" of the circumstances behind it, sounds like a cool experience. Neat. I look forward to future installments...
ReplyDeleteDim Skip!
ReplyDeleteWhat I forgot to say on the main article, was the fact that the Writer's talent is just so apparent. It was truly a thrill to hear them speak and interact with each other and the other writers walking the line. If you ever had any doubt that a writer has talent, just walk with them for a while. They so deserve compensation for their work.
OOOOhhhh Angel! What an experience! I wish I could have been there with you guys. I would have felt like I'd died and gone to heaven. Thanks for representing all of us on the line.
ReplyDeleteCindy!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had more notice then 24 hours, too. It would have been great to have you there, being you write and all that. They truly appreciate the fact that their fans care about what happens to their show.