Paramount has reshuffled its 2008-2009 release calendar, and the big headline is the move of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek from December 2008 to Spring 2009, in order to position the film as a summer tentpole instead of a Christmas/awards offering. Which seems like a no-brainer, but this project has been so slow getting off the ground that we’re sure SOMEONE will cry red flag. But really, isn’t the bigger red flag the bumping of Eddie Murphy’s Nowhereland from Sept. 26, 2008, to June 12, 2009? I guess the fate of Eddie Murphy projects is not at the top of the list of nerd concerns.
The middling-to-good post-strike news: most writers whose deals were terminated by the strike will now find themselves “free agents,” and the spec script market is apparently expected to shortly be on fire. The bad news: TV networks and studios are planning to be extremely frugal about pushing projects into development and signing long-term deals.
Major stars like George Clooney and Tom Haks pitched in on an a full-page ad in today’s Variety, encouraging SAG to come to the negotiation table as soon as possible before the actors’ contracts run out on June 30.
In a think piece on actors who “thrive on the ambiguity of their multiethnic heritage,” Peter DeBruge informs us that “there’s a new kind of hero in town”––typified by none other than Vin Diesel. Is he even still in town?
AdLand points to this print ad, purchased by Turner Classic Movies, which backhandedly “supports” the striking writers. A mock-up of a crumpled screenplay cover page, the ad encourages striking screenwriters to “keep it up” because, “After all, the greatest movies have already been written.”
It’s only surprising that TCM, a brand built on heavy fetishism of the old studio system, would so blatantly taunt the WGA, in that it’s a surprise to see ANYONE express an AMPTP-sympathetic position these days. But the ad has sparked an interesting conversation over at LAist. Of course, the ad is condescending. But is it actually more sinister than that?
John Edwards hijacked the pulpit to make campaign promises, Tim Robbins rocked a new pair of hipster glasses and a sort-of Lynchian haircut, and Gilbert Gottfried made a half-way decent joke about Jews. What more could you want from a writer’s strike rally? Eat the Press has it on video. And if you can find a better clip of Tuesday’s WGA exorcism at Warner Brothers, do forward it along–the one embedded above is not nearly sensational enough for my tastes.
Nikki Finke says “a very reliable source” has passed along word “that there appears to be a deal seemingly in place between both sides” of the writers strike. But don’t expect to hear about it anywhere but Deadline Hollywood Daily for awhile. Noting that she was “told not to expect an agreement this week,” Finke says no one else will be covering the story because “the negotiations starting today will have a news blackout.” Though she cautions that in Hollywood, “defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory nearly every time,” she seems pretty confident that she’s revealed a story that may not break elsewhere for weeks.
I’m sure Finke’s source is reliable, and I’m certainly not going to knock her strike reporting, which has been amazingly thorough, if not exactly impartial. But you have to admit, this is lovely timing for an exclusive–if this news hadn’t come out until next week, there may be room to doubt that the Speechless series of WGA propaganda videos (which Finke hosted on her site and which I wrote about in semi-depth here) played a significant part.
There’s gotta be a whole panoply of emotions swirling through Hollywood in advance of the strike–anger, frustration, exhilaration–but here on the internet (ironically, one of the contested spaces from which the writers want a larger cut), we’re pretty much all looking from the outside in. So that means it’s business as usual…which means snark and opportunism. Here’s some of the best:
AMC’s Future of Classic blog has a post about strike movies. There’s a poll where you can vote for your favorite, but seems to be busted, because my vote didn’t register. For the record, I chose Matewan.
Also from FoC: A warning that the longer this goes on, the higher the probability of a Jackass 3.
“I’m Brian Williams, and I’ll be hosting Saturday Night Live this week. And if the threatened writers’ strike takes place, I’ll be hosting My Name is Earl.” [Lost Remote]
The masters of non-scripted content at World of Wonder use their latest podcast to, um, wonder if a strike could actually happen. But then Fenton Bailey remembers, “I was like, ‘War in Iraq? What war? There isn’t gonna be one!’ Don’t take my word for it!”
Kent Nichols is the creator of Ask a Ninja, a web series produced independently by a crew of three that has become so popular that you can buy a DVD of its first 30 episodes at Urban Outfitters. Nichols is not in the WGA or any other guild, so he’ll be able to continue to work regardless of what happens with a strike. He’s written an interesting post about this at Metroblogging Los Angeles:
The current studio system is based on work for hire — which is fine since it gives predictable income in exchange for ownership of your work. But you end up losing out if you create a hit. Talk to Mike Judge about Beavis and Butthead.
I’ve successfully crafted a show that lives in it’s own channel that I create with a small team (my writing/producing partner and a freelance editor) that is not only popular on the net, but is also financially successful.
I did this by applying principles of Indie Film financing and creating a show that was easy and fun to produce with only two people.
Sure, my site AskANinja.com, doesn’t pull in the sweet dough of Pirates of the Caribbean, but I’ll probably make as much cash over its lifetime as the writers and director on that film did.
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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Paramount has 
