With television and film writers calling off their strike and production returning to sound stages around the region, the time now arrives to review what came of the three-month walkout. The obvious result was the new three-year contract that the Writers Guild of America membership is expected to ratify later this month. Along with that came new friendships made on the picket line, strengthening ties among the writers and creating solidarity among those working in the other crafts. For one writer, what the strike did was to awaken the labor movement not only in the Guild but also in the other unions representing workers in the industry. “It’s going to be tougher to deny us our fair share,” said Steven Falk, a television writer from Agoura Hills. Fairness to the writers became a common theme on the picket lines, especially as applied to payment for work distributed through new media, the main sticking point in the negotiations between the Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The other common theme was that the strike was never about short-term gains but the future of the entire entertainment industry as more distribution takes place through online streaming and downloads to home computers and mobile devices. That new media distribution is the future in Hollywood was best seen in mid-January when the major studios including Warner Bros., The Walt Disney Co. and NBC Universal agreed to make their feature films available for rental through the iTunes for viewing on Apple devices. “The nature of technology is changing enough that for those who make films if they don’t pay attention, they will lose money,” said Michael Hoggan, of the Department of Cinema and Television Arts at California State University, Northridge. The proposed contract covers writers exclusively for the Internet and for those whose television and film work is reused through new media. The writers began their walkout Nov. 5, less than a week after their contract with the AMPTP expired. As the strike continued and television work dried up, it was not only the writers feeling the financial pinch. Thousands of crew members and employees at suppliers and vendors saw their main source of income dwindle away. Jeff Greenstein, a television writer from Studio City, felt it was important to be on the picket line to show these below-the-line folks that being on strike did not mean a vacation. “They see the writers are … getting blisters on their feet and making sacrifices,” said Greenstein, whose writing credits include “Desperate Housewives.” Twice during the strike, History for Hire turned its parking lot in North Hollywood into an outdoor rummage sale so that prop houses, costumers and set designers could sell excess goods to make money during the down time. Proceeds from the Feb. 9 sale went to help the relief fund of the Motion Picture Costumers Local No. 705. Even after the strike is settled, financial difficulties faced by the membership will not vanish overnight, said Judith Halle, a costumer. “A lot of it is the day-to-day living expenses,” Halle said. Dena Allen, a set decorator from Studio City, and Robin Kennedy, a costumer from Pasadena, used their strike-induced unemployment to start the Women’s Guild of America, an organization offering their talents and those of other women working below-the-line to the public. In the first weeks after starting the group, Allen did a makeover at a home in Long Beach and arranged two consultations. Another member did a “decluttering” of a house in Mission Hills. Even with the strike settled, this other WGA will continue, Allen and Kennedy said, as additional work is helpful if when a television series goes on hiatus or not picked up. “We’ll go back to work,” Allen said. “There will be 10 other women at home because their shows didn’t come back.”
