The Valley Wire - 1/18/2008 Column

Screenwriter Annie Deyoung with Supporters James and Ethan Marino


Hollywood and the Picket Line
By Mary Beth Gentle

Not every picket line you come across has writers picketing alongside pilots and flight attendants or row after row of ‘Trekkies’ walking the line at Studio Main Gates. But, in Hollywood, that is how the picket line has come to look. They are called ‘theme’ days. Inviting the fans and crew of a particular show or members of a particular union to picket the studio where the show is produced is one way the writers on the picket line have found to keep their momentum going. It clearly shows the support from other unions and from television and film fans.

There have been quite a few ‘theme’ days to date: Teamster Support days, Bring Your Favorite Actor to Work days, ‘Battlestar Galactica’ days, Joss Whedon Fandom days, Veteran Writer days, Bring Your Kids to the Picket Line days, Bring Your Dog days, Singles on the Picket Line days, SAG Solidarity days, Horror Writer days and Crime Writer days. The list could go on, and will go on, as long as the strike continues. In doing all of this, the Writers are sending a clear message: we are not alone and we are not going anywhere.

I have not had to cross many picket lines in my life and it breaks my heart a little every day as I drive through the Studio Gate past the striking writers. So, I do little things to show support. I wave a big sign that reads ‘Support the Writers’ as I drive into the Studio, which gets me a few cheers from the cold and tired writers and more than a few glares from the security guards. I proudly wear a ‘Support the Writers’ wristband and have succeeded in getting them on quite a few wrists in my hallway. I have a ‘Support the Writers’ sign pinned to the wall of my office, which gets its share of comments from the studio executives on the floor. It is not much, but I always hope that my small show of support might help the writers know that they are not alone.

I have talked to a few of the writers who struggle every day to remain hopeful. They have been at this quite a few months now and, with the powers-that-be avoiding the negotiating table, it has become harder to walk that picket line and hold onto the hope of a quick resolution. I have talked to one of the writers on those lines directly and have asked a few questions.

Annie DeYoung, writer of The Ron Clark Story (TNT) and the Disney Channel movies Return to Halloweentown and Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, spends four out of five days on the picket line every week. She has shown her support and raised her voice at Union rallies and at a Los Angeles City Council Meeting. I asked her to quickly share with us an update directly from the picket line and have also asked her what support from fans has meant to her.

“The AMPTP (the Producers) would like people to believe that the writers are the ones depriving them of their television shows. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We are and always have been ready for fair negotiations toward a contract which will compensate us in a small way for what we create. We are ready and willing to go back to work, to create great film & television. But this strike is about preserving our livelihood. It is about being paid a decent wage so we can make our mortgage payments, our car payments, our children’s tuition. We’re working for a living just like everyone else in this country. Except we earn our living by creating television shows and films. A big part of our wages are paid in residuals when a show or movie we write is rerun. The problem is that the producers don’t want to pay us a fair rate when they rerun our shows on the internet. And, since the future of television is the internet, if the AMPTP has it’s way, soon we’ll get paid next to nothing for internet reruns and downloads, even as the studios and producing companies are raking in the profits. It is hard facing this day after day, but when we have the support of our families and our fans, it means a lot. Every little bit of support gives us the courage to continue to stand up for our rights.”

As someone who lives and works in Hollywood, I have found ways to show my support for Annie and the other writers on the picket line. If you would like to show your support to the writers and to let the producers know you do care about the material that is piped into your homes and cineplexes, here are a few websites that you can visit:

Strikeswag.com is a site that sells T-Shirts about the strike so you can show your support. All profits are donated to the Writers Guild Foundation Industry Support Fund to assist non-WGA members of the industry who are in financial distress as a direct result of the strike. Fans4writers.com is a site created by the fans. This site has downloadable banners for your MySpace and FaceBook pages and websites. It also has downloadable posters for your home or storefront windows, and many ideas on how you can help wherever you live.

These are just a few of the many sites out there that have been created to help show the support the writers need from both the Hollywood community and the community at large. As always, I remain hopeful that this strike will end in a fair and amicable manner so we can all get back to the business of making and watching wonderfully scripted entertainment.

The Valley Wire - 12/21 Column

Christmas in Tinsel Town
By Mary Beth Gentle

Christmas, Hollywood style. It’s that time of year when the overstuffed gift baskets and bottles of wine start pouring in like snow falling on the Prairies. Of course, for the row upon row of entertainment assistants sitting in the cubicles it’s more like snow falling on Hollywood Boulevard. Not going to happen. But, the flurry surrounding the ‘gift’ arrival is still exciting. For those of us sitting in our cubicles, we can hear the gift laden mail carts creaking down the hallway and one can’t help feeling like a little kid at Christmas. Is it going to stop at my office? Will it be for me?

Of course, when the mailroom kid does stop, it is only to have someone sign for the basket that gets added to the pile overtaking your boss’s desk. Which is really okay, because most of the time they will throw a basket or two your way to help spread the office Holiday cheer. And when you go home at the end of the day with your basket of gourmet food and you put your new bottle of ten dollar mustard next to your squeeze bottle of yellow store brand mustard you can’t help but catch some of that Holiday cheer yourself.

It only takes a few leftover gift baskets and before you know it that cheer is spreading throughout the cubicles in the office. People start wrapping their normally grey cubicle walls in Santa paper, stringing shiny gold garland around their IMacs and lighting up their fake pink sparkling Christmas trees. Even the really ‘cool’ Hollywood Assistants can’t help hanging a decoration or two. Because it is that time of year where the real work slows down and all of our energies shift to planning the Department Holiday party.

There are actual meetings about these events. There are budgets done, schedules are created, heck, I think they even make T-shirts. A lot goes into the planning of these productions, for a brief moment we all become crew members working on a very low budget movie. Because to those in the cubicles this could be the only Hollywood Christmas Party we get invited to.

As with any major Hollywood production, ideas start out really, really big. The excitement is everywhere when you hear that for five minutes the Holiday party might actually take place at Spago. I mean who would have thought that our little Holiday Party could be important enough to become a Spago event. For once I might actually be on the invite list for a party worth crashing. But, of course, when the budget is reviewed it becomes clear that Spago is not in our future. We quickly downgrade the plan to cocktails at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. Which would still be okay, if it’s a good night we might even get to see Brittany take out a few Paparazzi’s.

But, when the ‘powers that be’ review the budget plan, reality really starts to sink in and the Accountants quickly inform us that our party will not take place at any trendy Hollywood hot spot, nor could it be downgraded to a ‘small but trendy’ spot on Ventura Boulevard in the Valley. We would, again, be holding our Holiday party in the Commissary, on a weeknight, after work.

There are a few moments of disappointment throughout the corridors, the ‘cool’ Hollywood Assistants even take their few Holiday decorations down in protest, but at the end of the day a party is still a party. And this is where the real movie making magic comes into play. Because the one thing Hollywood has always done right, they know how to put on a show. With a few calls to the Prop Department, the lighting Department and the gathering of a lot of Holiday Basket leftovers, a once dreary cafeteria is transformed into a Winter Wonderland for a terrific Holiday Party…Hollywood style.

I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season and I’ll be back after the New Year with an update on the Writers Strike with word directly from the Picket line. For now I’m off to enjoy my gift basket of gourmet food because after the New Year I’m back to Store brand delicacies and regular old commissary food. Happy Holidays from the Hollywood Cubicle!

The Valley Wire - 11/30 Column

My Hollywood Cubicle
By Mary Beth Gentle


The Valley Wire saved my life. That may sound a little on the dramatic side, but I honestly think it might be true. And normally, I would be the last person to believe that something as out of my realm as a local newspaper from Osceola, Wisconsin, could save the life of a single girl living ‘the dream’ in the glitz and glamour that is Hollywood California. But, that is the truth. The moment the latest edition arrives in the mail, I read it cover to cover.

I work at a major Movie Studio. And for many reading this, I am sure the thought of Hollywood life brings to mind things like; Film Premieres, Movie Stars, Outrageous Parties, Paparazzi, and oh, yes, the Glamour and Glitz. I am here to tell you, that only encompasses about five percent of the reality behind the Dream. And I am not saying that in an attempt to burst any bubbles. It is a fact. The majority of the cogs turning the wheels that run ‘Hollywood’ sit in grey cubicles surrounded by other grey cubicles, wondering if we will ever get our invite to the big Premiere party or if they will pass us by again.

It is a funny business. The Business of Hollywood. For one thing, not much of it actually takes place in Hollywood. The magic happens in very unglamorous places like Burbank and Culver City to name just a few. And the offices are filled with more accountants than filmmakers. A good reminder, that at the end of the day, it is a business.

I came to Hollywood to be a screenwriter. The guy in the cube next to me plans on directing one day. And just about everyone you meet believes that they would make a great producer. I still write. Everyday! The guy that wants to be a Director, is still out there raising money to shoot his short. And everyone I know is out there pitching a project to Produce. Because the one word that never makes it into the glitzy description of Hollywood is ‘Hope’. But, we all have it. It’s what keeps us here. It’s what brings new people to this industry everyday.

The longer you are here, the longer you will remain. Because that’s how they get you, you work on one movie, then the next and pretty soon you are hooked. It gets easier and easier to envision that your movie will be the next one to be made. Maybe right now you are just getting coffee or typing up script changes for someone else. But, the thing is, you are here. You are living the dream. Those of us that have been languishing in the same grey cubicles waiting for our big breaks, recite that line to ourselves several times a day. ‘I am living the dream. Oh yes. I am living the dream.’

I am hoping that with the help of the Valley Wire, maybe I can live the dream a little sooner than most. I am writing something that someone is reading. I hope you are anyway. And in return, a couple of times a month, I will get a glimpse into your world. And maybe we will see that our worlds are not so very different.


Right now, the world I live in is in Turmoil. We have entered into our fourth week of a Writer’s Strike. I am sure by now, many of you have heard of it, whether it was the celebrity appearances that made the Primetime news channel or the latest E! Hollywood update. Celebrities aside, it is important to remember that ninety-five percent of the writers on the picket line are just regular working people (who have a really cool job), working paycheck to paycheck and doing their hardest to make sure that they are being paid fairly for the work they do. It’s no different than any other unionized industry. Well, except Jay Leno probably doesn’t bring striking airline workers a box of doughnuts nor do you see striking city bus workers marching down Hollywood Boulevard. But other than that, it is pretty much the same. When negotiations fail, you go on strike.

Basically, negotiations have broken down over the financial formula that is used to pay writers a share of the DVD revenue and the fact that the writers are currently paid nothing for Internet and other Digital sales. It is only fair that the Writers should be guaranteed a fair percentage of the money the Studios make every year on DVD and Internet sales.

And, maybe I’m biased, because I have friends walking the picket lines, so it is affecting me on a personal level. But, the longer this strike goes on, the more people it will effect. And not just the other industries or the non-union staff people who will be out of work when production on TV show after TV show shuts down, it will start to effect you as well. Without the writers we will be faced with months of reality TV. And I don’t care what part of the country you live in, there is only so much humor a person can find in bad singing and dancing.

The writers are the people that dream up the stories, create the characters and write the dialogue that we all gather around our Televisions and computers to watch every week. They make us laugh, they make us cry, they create the characters that become ingrained in our culture. So, for this hopeful girl in Hollywood, sitting in her little grey cubicle, I am going to hope for a quick resolution to the Strike. And considering that this past Monday negotiations between the Writers and the Producers have finally resumed with talk of a positive result, maybe all that hope will pay off.

I look forward to sharing more moments from life in ‘Hollywood’ with all of you.

The Valley Wire

As some of you know, I have started writing a small entertainment column for a local Wisconson newspaper. Why a Wisconson Newspaper you may ask...well a good friend and fellow writer Garth Olson has started his own newspaper in the town of Osceola Wisconson. I was impressed from the first edition forward and was thrilled when he asked me to be a part of his endeavor. I have contributed to two issues so far (both posted here). And will post all future columns as they are printed.

This is not your normal Hollywood Entertainment column. I will not be writing about the latest Brittany Shennanigans nor will I have up to the minute coverage on the deals as they happen. This will be a column from the viewpoint of a tiny cog in the Hollywood wheel. I will try to give the folks of Wisconson and those reading this blog my view of life in Hollywood...for whatever that is worth.

Hope you enjoy.