Apparently there's some sort of strike going on

Every other writer with a blog is talking about the Writer's Guild strike, so I guess I should talk about my feelings on the strike. It's such a huge issue, it's difficult to get all my thoughts down like this and sound coherent without rambling. But my big problem is-

I don't know.

I've been asked how I'm going to be affected by the strike.

I don't know.

I've been asked about the animation issues that the WGA is trying to negotiate jurisdiction over. I've been asked how long the strike is going to last. Who's going to win?

I honestly don't know.

Here's what I do know. I'm still working. None of the animated television work I do is Writers Guild signatory. The WGA wants to cover more animation and has made it a bargaining point in the negotiations. But for the moment, I'm covered by another union which has a no-strike clause.

So it's pretty much business as usual for animated television for kids. Writer Brian Swenlin really put it well - it feels like we're at the kids' table, watching the grown-ups argue at the grown-up table.

While I can't talk about the details, there is a project that I'm up for that could be negatively affected by the strike. I really don't want to lose this project. But I shouldn't feel sorry for myself. At least I get my animation writer paychecks, while my fellow writers face a work-stoppage through the holidays. Heck, a good chunk of Los Angeles will be facing an economic hit thanks to the strike.

As I said above, I don't know. But much like political punditry on tv, I don't really need to be right - I just need an opinion. So here goes-

What are my feelings? I'm behind the writers. Right now, for every $1 million earned on DVDs, the studio gets $998,000, the writer who wrote it gets $2000. The writers have asked that the studios find some way to get by on $996,000 - they've said no. It's 4 CENTS per DVD.

NBC pulled their tv shows off the iTunes store because NBC wanted to charge $4 per show. And the writers have to go on strike to get 4 cents?

How long will it last? I think the strike will go through the holidays. By January, the studios will start worrying about their February sweeps and try to get a deal done. So my best guess? 10 week strike.

Who'll win? Nobody will. The studios will continue to plead poverty, then after the earth is completely scorched, the two sides will pound out a deal. I think the Guild will win on some things, like DVD residuals, internet residuals, and animated feature jurisdiction. I think the Guild will lose on some things, like reality and animated tv jurisdiction.

But I don't know.

On one hand, I'm lucky, I suppose, since I still get to work. On the other hand, my non-WGA paycheck is about 1/5th of what a WGA paycheck is. My non-WGA union has said that it will never strike to improve the working conditions of its writers - the WGA is willing to fight for its writers.

So while I'm not putting down my pen in solidarity with my fellow writers... I kinda wish I was.

Anyways, I guess that's what I think of the writer's strike. We'll see how it goes. Then we'll go to June 2008 when the Screen Actors Guild contract expires and they take their turn on strike, and then we'll go through this all again. At least that's what I think. But like I said-

I don't really know.