Willow ,'Bring On The Night'
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls, The Inside and Drive), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Peter Chernin, president of Fox parent News Corp., said the Writers Guild of America strike will probably save his company money.
"We save more money in term deals and, you know, story costs and probably the lack of making pilots than we lose in potential advertising," Chernin said, adding the walkout that started last week is "probably a positive" for the company.
In the short term he is correct, Kevin. However, 2009-10 will complete suck.
Yeah... He missed that bit off what he told reporters. (You could almost suggest there's spin going on here from both sides!).
I'm going to love seeing The Simpsons when it returns after all this.
Fox will come out ahead because of American Idol. It will absolutely dominate in the spring, and holding 24 might even be a plus for them.
I'm not saying you have to believe what the management of publicly held companies say, but I want to point out that there's an extensive legal regime governing what officers say about company prospects. So he has to have a reasonable basis for his remark, even if proved wrong.
I don't think he's wrong, looking at it. 24 was sinking anyway, nearly all the other networks will be out of drama by then, and America loves American Idol. Net can kill off a few of their lagging shows with the strike, too.
It sounds like News Corp's immediate focus isn't immediate. It's long term revenues, which indicates they will dig in to not budge as their position. Which is sad.
I think Fox is better shape than most because a) Idol and b) they have fewer hours to fill.
And $2.7M for each 30 second ad during the Superbowl doesn't hurt either.
Man, professional football players are such scabs.
Man, professional football players are such scabs.
Don't forget the college football players since Fox has the Cotton, Sugar, Fiesta, and Orange Bowls as well as the Championship game.
What the hell? The Writer's strike wasn't bad enough, now they are trying to piss off SAG?
There is no way SAG can let this stand. If the producers can make the actors not work (due to exclusivity) and not be paid, SAG is broken.
Hopefully some accountant somewhere did this without consulting his contract lawyers, and Sony will fix this before the SAG lawyers paratroop in. Because if the SAG doesn't respond by dropping rabid wolverines onto the Sony lot, by this time tomorrow all of the production houses will be dumping their actors but still locking them down in exclusivity.