Huju callin' a Producer, man?

WOW. THIS is unbelievable.

Today, a group of over EIGHTY independent Hollywood Producers sent a letter to Variety complaining about one key editorial choice in this strike.

Specifically, they don't want the AMPTP to be referred to as "producers" anymore.

November 12, 2007

Dear Editors,

The public has been led to believe that we independent producers are sitting opposite the writers at the bargaining table (or across the picket lines). It is not true.

We respectfully ask that your publications and reporters cease referring to the ongoing negotiations between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers as between “writers and producers.”

The Alliance represents the studios, the networks, and the international conglomerates that own them, not working producers. Creative producers are not directly involved in this dispute: we do not receive any residuals, nor are we stakeholders in the studio profits (excepting where some powerful producers do have back-end holdings in particular studio shows and films, just as do powerful actors, writers, and directors). We do not dispute the need for residuals, including those from DVDs and new media. Residuals are important and significant revenues. It is only fair that the creators of films and television share in the proceeds from all of the ways the product they create may be exploited. We support our wonderful writers, directors, and actors. We are also happy to pay benefits to the fantastic tradespeople on our films.

It is entirely inaccurate to equate us with the entity (or entities) in negotiations opposite the writers. Stories and opinion pieces in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, on television, and on NPR have almost all referenced “the producers” when they should, in all accuracy, refer to the studios, networks, and conglomerates. Independent producers have been inaccurately referred to as represented by AMPTP (by almost all publications, television, and radio outlets). We have been further characterized as “greedy” (a letter in the Los Angeles Times), and even “Scrooge-like” (a reputable columnist in The New York Times. These last characterizations are particularly galling. The work of independent producers is typically a creative endeavor that is widely understood to be an enormous financial gamble.

It serves the studios’ interests to pretend to represent individual producers instead of corporate entities. We would ask that you, as responsible members of the media, stop abetting this charade and call upon your reporters to cease equating independent producers (who are not negotiators or direct stakeholders in this process, and the vast majority of whom side with the writers) with international conglomerates.

Sincerely,

etc etc.

It's official. The studios are losing the P.R. war, and they are losing it badly. First the showrunners, then the public. The AMPTP took out full page ads in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter today, trying to make their case. This, while polls show public sympathy in Los Angeles and elsewhere starting to shift dramatically to the writers. Sixty-nine percent support the writers in a town that's going to be hardest hit by the strike. That's astounding.

TV blogs call for a "Dark Tuesday Day of Action" support. There it is -- the new medium everybody's fighting over is taking sides. And surprise surprise, it's not with the big media conglomerates.

But while a lot of the house organs like Variety and the L.A. Times try to float stories about the below the line crew who are starting to feel the pinch, other stories leak out about blackmail tactics the conglomerates are trying to use -- like threatening Jay Leno with the layoff of his whole staff if he won't cross the picket line and return to work.

NBC is trying to strong arm Jay Leno back to the “Tonight Show,” the very same program they are basically forcing him to leave against his own will in a year and a half.
The funnyman with the heart of gold has been supporting his writers by walking out in solidarity and not crossing the picket line.
But NBC has informed all non-writing staff that they will be fired at the end of next week if Leno doesn’t return.
“I talk to Jay every day, and he will not be the first [late-night host] to cross the picket line,” said Tonight Show head writer Joe Medeiros, a strike captain for the Writers Guild.
So, in an attempt to save people’s jobs and lure Leno back, NBC is “looking into” the possibility of having guest hosts fill in while Jay is gone.

Nice. Nice. (Remember, if you want to help below-the-line people hurt by the strike there's a way to do that.)

But to my mind that little bombshell of a letter above is a watershed moment. If you can't hide behind the "producer" title -- if, in fact, even the Producers think the writers are getting a raw deal -- then who's left on your side?

Oh sure, there's batshit Joel Surnow. Look what he said to the Washington Times:

"Hollywood's not being held hostage," Surnow told the Times. "I think (the studios) are going to break the guild.

Ohhhh, I get it. It's about Union Breaking! Wow, way to make the subtext text, with that usual 24 style subtlety. Well, Joel, your fellow Producers don't have your six on this one. And your show has sucked balls for two whole years now, so pipe down.

Who else? Well, I guess if Joel and the AMPTP want real producer-cover for support, they could always turn to all those Canadian producers who see nothing but opportunity in the strike. Though, uh, I wouldn't advise it. (Guys, seriously, Just stay out of it. You don't have to give a quote every time.)

So, if Variety goes with the request, and starts talking about "The Alliance," instead of "the Producers" is that really the best image? Oh, sure, if you're a Star Wars fan, maybe you think Rebel Alliance and not, you know, fascism. But FOX looks a lot less like Luke Skywalker and a lot more like, well, NewsCorp!

Heyyyyy.

You know what, the hell with it. I'm not calling them "the Producers" anymore -- the Producers' Guild is right. And the Alliance definitely doesn't work, either.

Let's call them the Axis. You know, the 6 big powers. The..Axis. It's got a nice ring to it, don'tcha think?

No?

Okay, okay. Hey shareholders, Ad agencies -- you like the way this is going? Pick up the phone. Tell the AMPTP (NOT the producers) -- to get back to the table and start talking real.