Labor Day salute to the WGA!
What better way to celebrate Labor Day than honor the Writers Guild of America, fresh off a non-defeat (some would day “victory”) work stoppage against the AMPTP. Unlike ’88, where I was living in LA and had to sell my stake in a house in order to survive that strike, this one impacted me very little. In fact, the only evidence of my direct involvement is this photograph of a strike event in Asheville, NC last December (I’m the dude on the far left).
That said, I stayed in touch with my WGA friends in LA during the work stoppage and by all accounts, this was a masterful effort on the Guild’s part. One area where writers excelled was in using media to control the messaging and frame the argument. There were some fantastic videos produced during the strike and I include some of my favorites here.
Yesterday, we honored Paul Mazursky. Here he is starring as a producer in a very funny video:
This one was written by the Family Guy’s Seth McFarlane:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMl4kYmkx94
This is a great one using Star Wars as a template for the WGA vs. the AMPTP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AlrevdBF4
Finally, this may be the best of the lot “Murder Unscripted” starring, well, you’ll recognize the actors:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_igKSYspPs