DGA Deal

United Hollywood has a pretty good breakdown of the DGA tentative agreement -- in that they seem to understand it roughly the same way I do, so caveats all 'round -- here.

Short answer: this is not a bad deal for a Guild that doesn't really give a crap about residuals. Which, for a variety of reasons, is precisely the DGA. Note the candy up front for production.

Now, "distributor's gross" definition of "gross", that's magnificently important, if it's indeed enforceable.

Yet there are a multitude of traps in the ad-supported streaming/rerun sections, in that shifting definitions of terms and tech can strand the writers with worst-case/0% situations. Personally, I'd stay on strike until we get internet payments based on percentages rather than sliding flat fees. How hard is this? "If you make money, we make a wee tiny bit. If you make no money, we don't make any either." That offer from the WGA is patently a better offer than flat fees ... unless, of course you're a company that knows through intensive market research that you're going to make boatloads of cash on the internet. Ahem.

Also, the .7% bump after first window in electronic sell-through -- depends on how TV shows are packaged. If I download a full season of LOST, does that roll the counter on each individual ep's dowload, or will they count downloads of "LOST Box Set" and "LOST epsiodes" separately? (This leads to another dicussion. Will get to that in a post in a bit)

.7% is still crappy, and the fact that the .3% is even still on the page ticks me off. If it were .7% flat, I could live with it (grumbling and pissy, but live with it), and personally I'd stay on strike until 1% flat is somewhere in there. .3% is based on an outmoded production model. Distributions costs for the studios on electronic sell-through will asymptotically approach zero as tech progresses. I don't care what "facts on the ground" are. If every contract negotiation were defined -- not constrained but defined -- by "facts on the ground", there'd be no purpose to them, in any field.

At the very least, if this is what the AMPTP is willing to start with, we're in a good place. If they are indeed willing to negotiate in good faith.

And this is a sticking point worth mentioning, particularly to some people now crowing "See, you aren't negotiating. so you're stuck with the DGA deal." The WGA weren't the ones who walked out of the negotiations. The AMPTP Negotiating Team has not negotiatied in good faith up to this point, and they walked out of negotiations without provocation. This situation we're in was the AMPTP's doing, and indeed I believe their fundamental negotiating strategy.

Personally, I believe the strike gave DGA leverage (the agencies in LA seem to hold this view also, according to a couple phone conversations I've had). Also, the strike gave SAG cover to support us, implying that they will also take a hard stand in June in a way that forces the AMPTP to take a strike threat seriously in a way that they wouldn't before. This is actually important -- you have no idea the number of times I heard in July/August, from mid-level executives "Oh, come on, there's no way you'll really strike", even as we were buying duct tape, posterboard and markers.

Assuming that rumors are true and this is the starting point for new negotiations with the WGA, not bad.

Operation In The Zone

It'd be easy to just believe it's all a massive flameout. But as you know, I've accumulated some interesting friends out here in the blogosphere, some Army Intelligence guys, some counter-insurgency consultants and when I was sent this ... it just makes a lot more sense.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
Date: [REDACTED]
NSA INTERVIEW ROOM #[REDACTED]
PRESENT: AGENT [REDACTED], ASSET CODENAME/TOXIC
Preliminary Interview
Interview already in progress, see Transcript #194BSZ

Toxic: So what am I looking at here?
Agent: Osama Bin Laden's cave headquarters near Tora Bora. Footage was shot by a Marine Recon Team. Would you like some soda or coffee?
Toxic: Just water please. Hmm, that's Qutb's book on that table.
Agent: ... you can read ...
Toxic: No, I recognized his picture on the back cover. (LAUGHS) Had you goin' there for a while, huh?
Agent: Indeed. Well, as you can see as we enter Osama's personal chambers ...

(PAUSE / 10 SECONDS)

Toxic: Oh my.
Agent: Yes.
Toxic: I mean, a lot of people have "... Baby One More Time", but --
Agent: On that shelf next to the poster for the Onyx Hotel Tour, those are bootleg tapes. Of your Mickey Mouse Club appearances.
Toxic: Oh.
Agent: Mmm-hmm.
Toxic: That's just gross, y'all.
Agent: Our official judgment as well.
Toxic: Wow, he's even got "And Then We Kiss".
Agent: Based on this evidence, our profilers believe you have the best chance of getting close to Osama Bin Laden. He is utterly obsessed with you.

(PAUSE / 8 SECONDS)

Agent: Miss [redacted]?
Toxic: Anything for my country
Agent: We're not going to lie to you. You're America's pop princess. There's no way he's going to believe you just decided to "hook" up with him. No way he's got a chance with you at the height of your fame and power. We need --
Toxic: -- to ruin me.
Agent: A downward spiral. Very public, very messy. This is deep cover, Miss [redacted]. Not everybody comes back.
Toxic: What's the timetable?
Agent: To make it convincing? Years. At least. Sham marriage. Alcohol and drug abuse, multiple psychological problems. We need to go completely over the top, too, to make it convincing. And then ...
Toxic: Then what?
Agent: You contact any one of these paparazzi we've had under surveillance. They're all of Middle Eastern or Muslim descent. Begin a relationship. Our profilers feel that at that point, Bin Laden will figure he has a chance, and will make the call.
Toxic: What do I do when that happens?
Agent: You'll receive weapons training.
Toxic: I understand.

(SUBJECTS RISE)

Toxic: Hey, if Lindsay Lohan can do it for whatever mission she's on, I can tough it out.
Agent: I'm sorry. Who?

INTERVIEW ENDS
TRANSCRIPT ENDS


You believe your tawdry world. I'll believe mine. Mine is far, far more romantic. I believe in heroes, mister. I. Believe. In HEROES.

Lawyering and the AMPTP

Former corporate lawyer and now screenwriter explains why the Studios seem to be acting, well ... kinda crazy. Strikes are Lawyer Games, the way frolicking in the snow and stringing thin chain across snowmobile paths are Reindeer Games.

Although I think he underestimates the hard-assery of several of the involved executives, it's a good chat about how these things tend to go in the corporate world, and how this one's going to go. In a nutshell: hang tight, don't take a bad deal just because the directors do, and put DVD residuals back on the table. (yeah!)

DVD clipping software bleg

How much more effective would that previous post have been if I could have just tossed up that clip from Miracle? But damn, the only way I can figure out how to grab such footage is to rip the DVD and then just clip it out with editing software. That CAN'T be right. Is there no decent clip-grabber program for DVD play?

Kurt Russell and Hillary Clinton

I won't be hitting the primaries on a regular basis, but one thought occurred to me as I watched Clinton's team of highly trained pros thrash around dealing with the unexpected Obama bounce going into NH.

That moment in Miracle where the American Olympic Hockey team has grabbed a slim lead over the previously unbeatable Russian Team.

Kurt Russel as Herb Brooks, despairing, waiting for the Russians to shut them down ... and he suddenly realizes that the Soviet Team doesn't know what to do when they're behind. Russell, boggled, hoots in amazement that the juggernaut just has no Plan B.

Clinton may well pull it out tomorrow. But this experience has been ... informative.

Also for discussion -- the number of American actors who can string together the performance in Miracle, then Sky High, then Death Proof, can be counted on one hand, and that hand is Kurt frikkin' Russell's.

Bonus -- did you know about Super-delegates? Wow. I thought I hated the Electoral College ...

El Orfanato

We could do worse than a school of Guillermo del Toro influenced film-makers. Lord knows how much psychic damage the Tarantino School did. El Orfanato definitely echoes del Toro's own Devil's Backbone, although Backbone is the better film.

El Orfanato (The Orphanage) gets props for not just fine directing and some super creepiness. but for its really lovely script. Unlike a lot of horror thrillers where the reveal is some random tragedy unspooled at the end of an investigatory chain, the fair-play end (not twist, just end) of the mystery in in El Orfanato is one of those cascading "Oh God I just figured it out" vertigo moments. Blair Witch, if seen in the proper atmosphere, had one of those. The proper atmosphere of course NOT being on a TV screen where you've fast-forwarded through all the talking yokels who are actually laying some pretty cunning pipe, because after all you are a busy movie/tv executive with things to do.

I saw Blair Witch with the Lovely Wife on opening weekend with a packed audience that was very, very into it. The ending worked with alchemical perfection, the audience pulling the elements of the opening out of their memories at almost the precisely correct pacing to both realize what was happening and then, shudderingly, anticipate what was coming next. The movie is one of those that falls without fail into the "That was amazing"/ "No, that was pants" camp among friends. I think it kind of has to. It's a delicate little trick, that flick -- you either miss the sleight of hand and get sucked in, or you laugh when Criss Angel makes the fat tourist disappear under the tablecloth, eventually spiralling down into a nitrous-oxide like paroxysm every time your buddy waggles his hands and stage-whispers "MIND FREEEEEEEAAAAAK!"

You get what I mean. So, in the comments, your recommendations for horror movies to be viewed in The Proper Horror Flick Manner -- past 10 pm, lights off, and no goddam kibbitzing. Exorcist automatically gets the by. I'll toss in Session 9, and again will toss a nod at the not "great" but sure as hell "very fine" Salvage. I promise the Crook Brothers a bottle of Scotch when we cross paths.

AMULET

See, fresh links already. I don't know much about the graphic novel, Amulet, this site covers but it's a fascinating look at the process of producing a graphic novel, not to mention some spiffy insight into just what a bear the creative process is in general. (h/t el Gabo at PA)

Note to self -- the Scholastic program's acceptance of graphic novels is worth checking out for both future business and an article.

New Year's Resolutions

-- Less whinging about snow. Although, seriously, people ...

(EDIT: Fuck that. It's -17 C with a windchill of -30. I call FOUL, suh!)

-- Tagged articles. "Conversations with Tyrone" may be its own tag. Hell, just those entries alone would probably support more blog traffic than everything else combined ...

-- More pilot/tv blogging. I was waiting to see if we could recover more of the shots I took during the shoot, but no, the drive's fragged. So we return picture-less soon.

-- More cackling over Huckabee and Ron Paul. And despair over the prospect of a Clinton caucus win. So that balances out.

-- Notes on transferring from hardware dependency to an information cloud. That is, more writing as I'm doing now on my damn liquid sex Asus Eeepc, with scripts and documents composed with online/open source programs, and less reliance on gadgetry and tech-clutter. At the risk of sounding filthily pretentious, I'd like to see if it's possible to just be a floating... information node rather than a discrete bit of walking data and chips. For what it's worth I've written the previous two issues of Blue Beetle on Google Docs. Can I run a TV show on such software? Write scripts, or a novel? I don't know. Let's find out.

-- More agitating for the end of The Clown Show, also known as the Bush Republican Theory of Governance. We get it -- you don't like the government *. So stop trying to run it, and leave it to people who will actually use it in a constructive manner. Oh, and there'll be more Baby Boomer slagging in there for you.

-- More screenwriting program/book reviews. And answering reader questions. So send 'em.

-- More alt media articles, including a few I'm tuning for publication.

-- Excerpts from the Doomed (pulp sci fi) Novel. If only so Geoff and Wil can keep me honest.

-- More success stories about people reclaiming storytelling and physical production from Hollywood. C'mon people, a mid-sized Midwestern college probably has more and better film equipment than half the Canadian industry, and they managed to make Corner Gas. Knock our socks off and steal our jobs. Nothing would delight me more. As ever, the central mantra of this site is: "COME GET MY JOB." You know you'd be better at it. So sack up and ride.

-- Links. Like this one to Gawker media's surprisingly unsucky sci fi site i09. It, stunningly, feels like real geek, not just condescending fan service. Go forth.

-- It's the 21st Century. Break more stuff.

Happy New Year to you and yours. See you soon.



* (and gays. and brown people. and the FUCKING FUTURE.)

Merry Frikkin' Christmas

Yes, it was one of those "I'll post tomorrow, right after I figure out what's wrong with this computer" weeks, terminated only by said computer finally winding up in the shop and me dragging out the old Windows box backup. We should be back up to speed momentarily.

In the meantime, because Tyrone demanded it:

Tyrone: On the roof?
John: Yeah, with rain coming Sunday, just didn't want that much snow up there. So I climbed up and shifted a couple -- hmm, snow's between 10-30 lbs/cf -- yup. A couple tons.
Tyrone: So you shoveled.
John: Beth's done a bunch too, but yes, almost every day since end of November. Why do you sound surprised? I'm very handy.
Tyrone: I've known you ten years. I don't think I've ever seen you actually hold a tool.
John: My pen is my tool.
Tyrone: Exactly.
John: You sonuva -- Fine.



Happy Holidays to all. Bloody Hell.

Oh, and again, just so it's not a post of naught but whinging -- my new personal hero:

Blue Beetle #25

Just because I'm too angry to blog about the government right now -- seriously, they would come and get me if I actually typed what I'm feeling -- doesn't mean I'm not writing non-screenplay material. Second Year arc of Blue Beetle closes out with issue #25. Here's the solicit cover for #25, out in March. I'm posting it just because I think Rafael hit this one with the fat of the bat. This year ends with a three-parter which wraps up Beetle's origin mystery -- and a couple mysteries in the Beetle legacy that are something like thirty years old, now that I think about it. That's a full two years spent on Jaime's origin, and as opposed to the "Hey, you've got powers now!" bang-off intro most characters get. Some people found this a little off-speed. Giff originally envisaged taking this much time, and I think it makes a difference. Our guy has a (small but) devoted following, and is an actual character who reads in an identifiable, consistent manner when he pops up in other titles. I'm just happy DC gave us the time to do it this way.

For those of you still pissy over Ted's death -- actually if you're reading the book, you've long since forgiven all. But let's just say that line up on the cover ain't a coincidence.

And for those of you who are still concern-trolling over Jaime being Hispanic, and hey you're not a racist but that might alienate other readers ... bite me. Seriously. It's the 21st Century. Get over it, go in the basement and rend your garments over Sodom Yat references and leave those of us who want to have a little fun alone.

For the other twelve of you who read the book or care about comics -- Year Three stories will be in a slightly different format. It's been interesting, learning how to write comics while an actual readership watches and comments. Year One was "Who is the Jaime Reyes", where we spent an entire year hashing out his supporting cast, mainly hanging about in El Paso. Trying to make him a full character with a life. Family, friends, actual life goals that don't involve cape stuff, just a teenager with an otherwise full life who happens to have a homicidal bug suit welded to his spine. Year Two -- really starting with #11 -- was "How Does Jaime Fit into the DCU?", where we integrated Jaime -- and his family, of course --


-- into the general superheroing business. In Year One, Keith did all the plotting and pacing, while I learned to script and work with the artists. In Year Two we went from the long intro to a series of one-and-dones. This was to both capitalize on the new folks coming to the book after we started getting shiny reviews, but also just so I could learn how to write one-offs. They're tricky as hell, but they really force you to boil down the essence of the character and conflict. A bit like writing wind-sprints. Year Three will be one long story but broken up into three or four distinct adventure arcs of three-four issues each. This is the more traditional storytelling pacing right now, and it'll be interesting to try that structure.

Every writing you do, in whatever format, informs all your other writing. Somewhere along the line I'll wind up using some trick I picked up scripting comics while writing a TV show or movie. Never assume any medium or even genre has more or less intrinsic worth than any other, when it comes to adding wrenches to the toolbox.