WGA Strike: Finding solace in Rage

November 13th, 2007 - by Zidane Cousteau

Los Angeles, Rock

When I was a few years younger, a bit more idealistic, and substantially more naïve, footage of the WTO protests in Seattle set to a Rage Against The Machine score was enough to inspire my activism and led me to the Summit of the Americas protest in Quebec City.

Two years later, when my first real girlfriend broke up with me, I spent a lot of time blasting Rage’s self-titled album as I bounced around my room, heart pounding, fisticuffs flying, anger swelling, until the mental agony I was battling was replaced by a more manageable fury.

A few months after I moved to LA, I watched Tom Morello lead Audioslave in “Killing In The Name Of” from the roof of the El Capitan Theatre as thousands of mosh-pitters broke through police barricades on Hollywood Boulevard and the riot police were called in order to restore order.

And so it seemed fitting, that two days after I was laid off from a television job that I loved and cherished, (lead singer) Zack de la Rocha and (guitarist) Morello were once again at the forefront of my pain and passion.

I worked, until this past Tuesday, as a writers’ assistant on one of television’s few quality sitcoms. I sat in a room full of some TV’s funniest writers, taking notes, doing research, editing scripts, and receiving the best education in the craft of sitcom writing one could ever hope to receive. On Tuesday, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike successfully resulted in the shutdown of our production and my immediate termination by the studio which employed me. I (along with every person I worked with) suddenly found myself without a job. It was terrifying.

For those unfamiliar with WGA strike, let me provide a brief (and moderately biased) synopsis: On Monday November 1, after months of rumors, last-minute negotiations broke down between the WGA and the AMPTP (studios guild), and the writers officially went on strike.

Despite what you may have heard, the most contentious issue is not DVD residuals (which the writers have been getting screwed on for years, currently getting about $.06 for every $20 DVD sold), but rather “new media.” As the Internet increasingly becomes the way in which entertainment content is delivered (iTunes, iPods, streaming video, Netflix downloads, etc.), the studios want to apply the same residual formula from DVD’s to the Internet and other new media.

Residuals are payments writers, directors, and actors receive when their work is rebroadcast and currently accounts for about 30 percent of a writer’s total salary. But the studios hard-line on new media means in the next 10 years or so writers will lose close to one-third of their current salaries. To make matters worse, studios currently (and increasingly) broadcast webisodes, mobisodes, deleted scenes and other bonus content, along with complete rebroadcasts of episodes on their websites, along with advertisements, and claim that they’re “promotion,” meaning writers/actors/directors get paid absolutely nothing. Obviously, if the studios are able to wear down the writers and strike a cheap deal with them, they stand to make billions of extra dollars from new media. So in a nutshell, the WGA strike is simply about writers trying to get paid for the work they do.

On Monday, even though I’m not a guild member, I joined the writers of my show on the picket line, refusing to go to work and demonstrating solidarity with them. The next day I was laid off by the studio. Actually, the studio claimed that since I failed to show up for work, I had effectively “quit” my job and would be unable to qualify for unemployment. As I tried to sort this out, I refrained from picketing, fearing it would further exacerbate the situation, but on Friday, I, along with some 3,500 other people rallied outside Fox Plaza on the Avenue of the Stars. It was a protest headlined by Family Guy’s Seth McFarlane, Jesse Jackson, and of course a two-song set by Zack de la Rocha and Tom Morello in the back of flatbed truck.

Writers are by nature, a neurotic bunch. Getting them to dance, sing, or cheer un-ironically, is seemingly more difficult than tackling a page one rewrite. Sadly, de la Rocha and Morello, outfitted with a minuscule sound-system that made lyrics barely audible, weren’t quite up to the task. Still, their presence at the rally seemed to cement the WGA strike as part of some greater labor movement.

Rage Against The Machine is a musical emblem of revolution. Calling on images of Che Guevara and burning monks, harnessing a raw and raucous sound, and shouting rebellious lyrics, their connection to the politically disenfranchised is a hallmark of the band.

So as I struggled to make out the lyrics of “Bulls on Parade,” I couldn’t help but reflect on everything that had taken place in the previous week. Despite losing my job, I was oddly satisfied. The WGA strike may result in me losing a few thousand dollars over the next couple of months, but will ultimately benefit me as an aspiring writer in years to come.

My lost job and my sacrifice is nothing compared to what the writers are giving up in the short term and what they’re giving me in the long run. Plus, in the mean time, I suddenly have a lot more time to go to shows.

(Want to know more/support writers in the strike? Check out United Hollywood)