Sophia KercherYesterday, one of NBC’s head writers marching on the picket gripped his high-tech cell phone and waved it in frustration.
“Someone at NBC screwed with my Blackberry,” the writer said, explaining that he hasn’t been able to e-mail anyone. “They messed everything up on my Blackberry—I can’t even use it any more.”
As the networks are upping their ferocity, the writers are becoming just as fierce. Today, an estimated 3,500 protesters marched in the street and blocked off the Avenue of the Stars (how appropriate) and Pico in front of FOX Studios in Century City on LA's tony Westside. WGA members, families, friends, member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Teamsters (the guys who drive the trucks in Hollywood who have a history of striking) rallied together.
I rolled up to the scene after a hectic search for parking and just missed Tom Morello’s (from Rage Against the Machine) rendition of “Fight the Power.” But the strikers were still out in full-fledged regalia.
One writer said he went to pick up his daughter from school and she handed over her Christmas list to him. On the bottom of the wish list for a teddy bear and kitty cat was “contract for writers”—so he enlarged it for his sign.
Kids were getting in on the action too. This little girl was here to support her mama.
Cast members from Reno 911 came out to support the strikers.
With all the fun – a sax player jamming out for the crowd, free fried churros being handed out, celebrity sightings (Tom Arnold was also in attendance) and striking participants lining up on the sidewalk to spell “WGA,” writers were still focused on what brought on the march.
“This is about a level of corporate greed that’s reached its capacity … there’s something inherently socio-pathetic about it,” a writer who asked to be identified as Guy Fox said.
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