Seen, heard and observed on the picket line in Los Angeles as the Writers Guild of America strike enters its second week:
Too much enthusiasm:
Writers picketing in Che Guevara T-shirts
Too little enthusiasm:
Writers picketing with Blackberrys and cell phones
Too much fun:
Walking the line with everyone you’ve ever worked with
Too little fun:
Walking alone back to your car, with no work in sight.
Too literal for showbiz insiders:
“We write the story-a for Eva Longori-a!”
Too obtuse for showbiz outsiders:
“More money, Les Moonves!”
Too too:
CAA interns walking the line with chirros on serving trays
Tutu:
On the buxom boxing ring babe working a DAY 5 sign at the Fox Rally
Too little perspective:
“I’m really making an impact by getting cars to honk”
Too much perspective:
“I’ve spent more time picketing outside this lot than I’ll ever spend working inside this lot”
Too much compensation:
Big movie stars
Too little compensation
: Cable TV staff writers
Too predictable:
Jesse Jackson joining strikers on the line
Too little too late
: Bill Clinton offering to negotiate
Too familiar:
Union members trying to hold onto middle class lifestyle
Too remote:
The chance of that happening
: Engaging filmic view of life in Los Angeles scripted by WGA member John Herzfeld
: Inane episodic view of life in Los Angeles unscripted by Haim and Feldman on A&E
Two for the price of one
: Writing content for televsion and Internet “promotional” videos
Two for the price of one:
Sagehand strike forces closure of Broadway shows on Saturday, spreading the industry pain to both coasts
Too good to be true:
Rumors that the strike will end quickly
Too terrrible to imagine:
The strike lasting until Screen Actors Guild contract expires in June
To be or not to be
: Next year’s pilot season
Tomorrow
: and tomorrow and tomorrow WGA members creep in this petty pace from day to day assembling at studio gates in four hours shifts from 6 am to 2 pm
Annabelle Gurwitch Writer and actress Annabelle Gurwitch currently prognosticates on both politics and pop culture on National Public Radio's Day to Day. Her column Fired Up appears regularly in The Nation, and her essays have appeared in publications including the Los Angeles Times, Glamour, Child, Premiere, and Penthouse. As an actress, her 2003 work Off-Broadway earned her a place in the New York Times top ten performances of the year list. Other appearances include years of co-hosting Dinner and a Movie on TBS, films like Melvin Goes to Dinner and The Shaggy Dog. On television, she's appeared on Boston Legal, Seinfeld and, most recently, on Lifetime's State of MInd and The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman on IFC. Fired!, her collection of stories about being made redundant, published by Simon and Schuster, was deemed "a merry compendium of failure" by the Washington Post is now available in paperback. The movie version of Fired! earned kudos from the Chicago Tribune, Oprah, Business Week, and continues to be shown in screenings sponsored by AFL/CIO, SEIU. The AP pronounced it, "a frank and funny look at downsizing and job loss" and the New York Times called it "ramshackle," which surprised Annabelle as she had always thought the word was "ramashackle."