Check out CAG West Side
Stories:
Michael De Lepine from the front line of
the writers strike!
WEST SIDE STORIES
CAG Musings from the California Coast
By Michael De Lepine
Hello, my friends. CAG’s west coast chapters are forging
ahead and breaking new ground on many levels, and as I write to
you now, Thanksgiving Week has come and gone. We at CAG assuredly
have much to be thankful for. However there is an issue that I
want to address with you that for many creative people could not
have come at a worse time. It is an unfortunate circumstance in
which those involved are divided on what should be the proper
outcome; it involves analyzing aspects never before considered,
and agreeing to fair compensation regarding such aspects. With
each passing day that the stalemate continues, there is yet another
casualty to bring the entertainment industry that much closer
to its knees. If you haven’t deduced by now, I’m talking
about the Writers Guild of America strike.
Why is the Writer’s Guild
striking, you might ask? In case you were unaware of the particulars,
the gripes the WGA has against the Alliance of Motion Picture
and Television Producers revolve around rapidly-changing technology.
It has definitely proven to be a much more complex series of issues
that did not exist when the last writers strike took place almost
two decades ago; a costly debacle back then, lasting a devastating
22 weeks. The issues that fuel the fires now are fair pay for
“new media,” basically digital downloads and streaming
content on the internet. As it stands now, all computers can double
as televisions; if you want to watch hit shows like “Heroes,”
“Lost” or “CSI: Miami,” you can watch them
from your Dell or IMac monitors for free. Want to watch episodes
of “The Office” on your IPod? It’s as easy as downloading
your favorite songs, all for a nominal fee. And included with
streaming video downloads of your favorite TV shows are sponsored
commercials, paid advertising you won’t be able to bypass.
The networks and studios are obviously making money. The writers
want only their fair share, although they clearly deserve much
more than the percentages they’re asking for.
When you look at it closely, what they do creatively isn’t
really that far removed from what we do. Before we put our talent
to paper as sequential art, we must first put it to paper in the
form of a story, be it in plot or script form. The writer/artist
relationship is a symbiotic one; each feeds off of the best that
the other brings to the table, and vise versa. Although there
is a bit more latitude given when the writer and artist in the
comics medium are one and the same person, the basic principle
is the same for the television and motion picture writer’s
relationship with their respective producers.
The thing of it is — the writers strike may not affect us
at CAG directly at this time — but you never know when it
could.
So, with that train of thought in mind, I went ahead and did something
I never imagined I would do. I’m not cut from the activist’s
cloth, but this was something I felt was too important to just
sit on the sidelines and be silent about.
I joined the WGA strikers on the picket line.
It was Wednesday,
November 14th, Day 10 of the strike. I took a vacation day from
my day job (monitoring school buses for the Los Angeles Unified
School District), mapped out which production studio I would visit,
and off I went. With three dozen Krispy Kreme assorted doughnuts
in tow, I found the picket line in front of Paramount Pictures’
main gate, presented my offering of goodies to the strike captains
there, told them that even though I wasn’t a WGA member,
I appreciated what they were doing and expressed a desire to support
them by marching with them. Their appreciation was almost beyond
words, responding to me with a series of heartfelt handshakes
and hugs.
“The more, the merrier,” they told me. “Just sign
in, grab a picket sign, and hit the pavement. And thank you so
much for supporting us!”
This is not an embellishment or exaggerated account I’m giving
you. These people were genuinely warm and friendly to me, and
were unanimously thrilled that I was there to support them.
It was already 10:30 AM, the sun was beating down on us, and I
was walking back and forth across Paramount’s double-arched
gate, shoulder-to-shoulder with about 30-40 strangers, all carrying
cardboard picket signs with wood handles. I don’t know about
anyone else there, but my sign was heavy! I would find out later
that my picket sign was used in the previous strike 19 years ago.
The strike captains would lead us in periodic chants: “When
I say ‘union,’ you say ‘power!’ UNION!”
“POWER!” “UNION!” “POWER!” “When
I say ‘corporate,’ you say ‘greed!’ “CORPORATE!”
“GREED!” “CORPORATE!” “GREED!”
I was taking action behind something I believed in. And I was
having the time of my life.
During my day on the picket line, I managed to strike up a few
conversations with some interesting people, WGA writers and SAG
actors alike. I spoke with comedienne Judy Tenuta, who showed
up with a friend who was a writer for ABC’s MY WIFE AND KIDS.
I talked with a writer from CBS’ new series CANE starring
Jimmy Smits. I chatted with John Pleshette, a character actor
some might remember as part of the ensemble cast of KNOTS LANDING
from over 20 years ago. Writers from shows such as 227, THE PARKERS
and NIP/TUCK conversed with me. I had a lengthy dialogue with
the writing team of the hit Jim Carrey movie DUMB AND DUMBER.
The general consensus I encountered was that since they discovered
I wasn’t just an outsider there to lend his support to the
cause, but someone actually working as a creator in the comic
book industry, I was suddenly the long-lost favorite cousin everyone
was glad to see. I guess things have changed, after all. At the
time of the last writer’s strike, only die-hard comic fans
thought people that worked in comics were cool. Now everyone thinks
people that work in comics are cool. There’s nothing like
a picket line to bring people together, huh?
But on a serious note, I am so
glad I did what I did. It was important, it happened to also be
fun as well, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Which is
why I offer this idea to every one of you in the New York and
Southern California areas that’s reading this: support the
strikers any way you possibly can. This strike has gone on for
about a month now by the time I’ve written this. The first
WGA strike lasted a staggering 5_ months! Not everybody is equipped
to handle being out of work for that length of time. These people
are fighting for their livelihoods. So get out there and support
them. Visit the WGA website for updated strike information and
picketing locations. Anyone can join the picket march; the strikers
are happy to have you join them. No need to be a writer or a member
of the WGA. That’s not necessary. Take them some food: doughnuts,
cookies, sandwiches, pizzas, a case of bottled water. Anything
you can spare. I, for one, appreciate their creativity, and they
deserve to make a decent living cultivating that creativity; they
deserve to feed their families from what they create, and they
deserve to be able to work freely without fear of having their
compensation threatened, or worse, undervalued.
Well, that’s my two cents. Remember, it’s so easy to
take creativity for granted. If the day ever comes when I have
to fight for my own creativity’s survival on a comic book
industry picket line, I would want someone to support and appreciate
my talent the way I supported the WGA strikers. And in case you
didn’t know, the Screen Actors Guild’s contract ends
in June 2008. So what we’re seeing now with the WGA could
very well happen all over again with SAG. Doesn’t give you
a warm and fuzzy, does it? I only hope that we of the comic book
industry never, EVER are directly faced with the same dilemma.
Thanks for reading, and stay creative.
Michael De Lepine,
Los Angeles Chapter Coordinator,
The Comicbook Artists Guild
