The Writer's Weekly

Good morning to everyone.

It's Tuesday and the day I like to talk about pertinent news items related to writers.

Two weeks ago I talked about the writers' strike and how the media didn't seem to cover the writers' side of the story. I then came across an article in the Montreal Gazette shortly thereafter and would like to thank Brendan Kelly for his article.

Kelly highlights Jeff Abugov, an LA-based TV writer, who was born and raised in Montreal. Apparently Abugov was just about to pitch a pilot when the strike began. Abugov says that "this pilot season is pretty much dead, and that means there won't be new shows in the fall."

However, there is hope if the writers' strike ends soon. And I have read recently that they are getting close to an agreement. So the studios may be able to rush a few pilots through by the fall.

Apparently the strike began because the writers are being hit hard in the pocketbook, according to Abugov. They simply had no other choice but to strike.

That doesn't surprise me at all. I find writers (myself included) are often expected to work for very little. Even editors aren't expected to work for as little as writers and editors aren't the ones coming up with the original ideas, they are only cleaning them up (remember I'm an editor too).

The writers are trying to protect their work that goes into new media forms, such as the Internet and mobile phones. Fair enough. With new technology comes new challenges.

But the writers don't want to be on strike. Abugov says "No one likes this. It seems to me that a lot of what (the studios) do is to try to make us look bad." And that was one of my points two weeks ago. If the studios are trying to make the writers look bad then it's going to make the negotiations more emotional and therefore longer. Hurt feelings never made a compromise easier to come by.

Abugov says that their demands are reasonable and I believe that. The Internet is the way a lot of people get their entertainment at home so it must be covered in their contract, just like anything else.

I want to thank Brendan Kelly for running the piece and I stand behind the writers.