Countdown to the Writers' Strike

Posted on October 29, 2007

Will the producers and the WGA reach an agreement in time, or we doomed to reality tv hell for the foreseeable future? No one knows for sure, but two-thirds of the writers in Hollywood don't remember the last strike which happened 19 years ago and lasted for six months because they were too young. It wasn't pretty. Those that remember share their experiences of what it was like. Robert Eisele, writer-producer of The Great Debaters, has some advice for younger writers who don't remember the first strike. He was a supervising producer on The Equalizer when the strike started in 1988.

Contrary to the widely held view that leftists ran the guild, Eisele recalled a strong difference of opinion from writers who didn't like unionism, or those who, unlike himself, hadn't saved enough money to afford a work stoppage. After one pre-strike meeting at the Hollywood Palladium, a friend nearly got into a fistfight when he was challenged by an anti-strike member. "I was at his shoulder, ready to throw down if necessary," he said.
"It gets lonely not being on a show, so you seek the comfort of other writers," he said. "Some people read a script or poetry, little essays or excerpts from plays. Many of us take our work very seriously, though it's primarily to entertain. It's the craft with which we express ourselves. To have that business close up on you, none of us want to do it, but we will do it if we have to."

Eisele also tells young writers to tighten their belts. He says, "I tell young writers, 'We have to stay the course.' I say, 'If you can afford a Mercedes, get a Camry. If you can afford a Bentley, get a Mercedes.' I tell them to tighten their belts and be optimistic."

The writers who went through the last strike have sobering words for their younger brethren. It could get financially precarious for many writers if the strike happens.