The World Of WD - Walking The Line

Wow. So there was a near miss on my identity I hear. One of the things that was taken for granted was one of Ent's clues about my credits. I have produced and done stunt work but under different names. I like to keep my different worlds separated by different names. Much easier for me to keep track of, much more difficult for people trying to keep track of me.

I have a lot of balls in the air and I love it. But it sometime makes it hard to keep track of people. So when I'm out and about and someone greats "Hey ___" I know exactly how I know them based on what they call me. My close friends tease me about being crazy and I let them because they are the ones who have to try to keep track of them all. When you do stunt work, you don't want to only be known for that, so you will often find stunt people/actors using one name for stunt work, and a different name for acting.

What have you guys heard or know about the WGA strike? The last time the Writers Guild went on strike it lasted for 22 weeks and was about getting residuals for this new technology called DVD's. The writers had to cave more than they wanted.

This time around it's about DVD residuals, Internet residuals and health and pension. The Writers, in the interest of compromise have already taken their demands for DVD residuals off the table. The studios have not given anything.

Let's look at this with some perspective. The Writers were asking for 8 cents per DVD. 8 cents. That's nothing. On a $20 DVD that's nothing. You can't even get 1 script page copied at Kinko's for that. And yet Disney paid, Michael Ovitz, their President of 14 months a severance package of more than $262 million dollars. How does that make any kind of sense? Won't pay the thousands of writers that create the projects that make them money $0.08 per DVD but will pay ONE MAN almost $300,000,000.00 to NOT WORK. The studios need to step back and really look at themselves.

How does this affect you? TV will suck for the next couple of months. And if this isn't resolved in the next couple of weeks, there will be no original scripted programming for a really long time. There will be however plenty of re-runs and reality TV. In fact, the first strike is when COPS was born. The first reality show. I'm not sure what else they can come up with at this point to raise the bar on reality, I think we are just a season away from THE RUNNING MAN.

I recommend turning to the internet. This is the last free place for indie film makers and creators free of the studios. There is a lot of crap to wade through, but the good stuff is worth it. Even the new shows, and new episodes you are waiting to see after Christmas are going to be a little sketchy because they filmed them without the writers there. So they weren't allowed to rewrite anything or change ANYTHING in the scripts. If something didn't make sense, or was stupid, it had to stay. See how many examples of this you can see as you watch the shows.

There's a picture I took below at the huge rally in Hollywood. The feeling of solidarity was incredible. There are some people on the pickets lines that made me smile. While at WB, Zach Levi from CHUCK would come out on his breaks and walk. And he would still be in his Nerd Herd costume. He is a nice guy. The most exciting time for me was meeting the man who wrote the screenplay for The 300. He was great. Gave me a signed poster of Queen Gorgo.

You turning off your TV and turning to other forms of entertainment would be the best way to support the struggle. Because, if the writers do well, then when the directors and actors strike (and that's coming soon) it'll be over quicker with less bloodshed. They are in discussions right now. So let’s hope everyone is happy.

To your comments now--I absolutely agree that when I see an actor I know in a movie, especially one that is in all the tabloids, you can't get it out of your head. Even if they are doing a good job, you still think, "Wow Justin Timberlake is actually doing a really great job." You don’t think "Wow, I'm really getting into this story." New, fresh, different blood. That's what we need. If only everyone were are brave as you.