I hopped over to Starz/Film Roman on business today. While there, I took the opportunity to amble through the rows of cubicles assigned to "The Simpsons," many of which remain empty ...
I found a few yellow family artists scattered around and about. One hearty soul who told me:
"We're working on show number 22, last of the season. We're supposed to be finished by June 25th, then back on July 2nd for revisions. Hopefully after that there'll be new shows to swing over to ..."
Down the next aisle, a few designers were in their first week of employment working on Show #1 for the upcoming round ... which apparently sports two less episodes than usual. An artist told me:
"I was off work two and a half months, and I was lucky. Others were off longer. I like to think we're getting back into a regular flow again."
One designer said he was glad the actors had signed a new deal. "It locks them in for like, four years. That's good. And I hear the writers are trying to get as many shows ready as they can. The directors are doing table reads around here this week."
I said that sounded like a fine idea, since if SAG goes out next month, the actors on "The Simpsons" will be hitting the bricks, new deal or not. He gave me a concerned look.
"They'd still strike? Even with the big new contract?"
"Afraid so," I said. "SAG doesn't have a deal yet. And the voice actors aren't going to buck the Screen Actors Guild. Fox had better record shows before SAG's contract runs out July 1st. Otherwise, there won't be much work stockpiled around here, I don't think."
He looked thoughtful at this.
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4 comments:
Did you guys come to work today and notice the street sign bent at the base? During our class on Wednesday evening, a truck came and slammed into it and hit a parked Nissan. It took off right afterwards.
Steve - You need to post about the Sit Down, Shut Up fiasco with Sony. WGA is bashing IATSE yet AGAIN, blaming us for crap deals, as SAG bashes AFTRA. Brothers, my arse. The issue is with Sony, not IATSE, but sure enough, they bash us, just like SAG is dumping on AFTRA.
No writers? Then give it to the artists. They can write just fine, IMO.
Um...what happened to your post about Sit Down Shut Up, Steve? Could it be that the corporate overlords at Sony didn't like you writing a post that was sympathetic to the writers?
Nothing happened to the post. It's still up above, just as I tapped it out on the keyboard.
And the WGA is doing what it's done before: If there's a long-standing collective bargaining agreement that blocks its desires, then that C.B.A. has got to get the hell out of the way.
If the writers don't like writing under an IA agreement, nobody forces them to. They can pack up their laptops and move on to more pleasing assignments.
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