Six Degrees: ‘TDS’ writers Rachel Axler and Tim Carvell on the picket line
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I love that the writers from the Comedy Central shows have been so vocal from their picketing outposts; here’s hoping they can continue to keep the strike in the forefront of people’s minds.
From Rachel Axler’s strike diary in The New York Times:
Picketing but Still Punchy
By RACHEL AXLER
Published: November 11, 2007THE writers of “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” are some of the newest members of the Writers Guild of America — just over a year old. Developmentally, we’re babies — still in the oral stage. When we finally get a new contract, the first thing we’re doing is sticking it in our mouths.
So it came as something of a shock to us when, so shortly after joining the union, our contract expired, negotiations with the studios broke down and the rumored strike became a reality.
Lacking any other site to express myself (for money), I am forced to record my thoughts in my diary: The New York Times Sunday Styles section [ ... ]
MONDAY, NOV. 5
9 a.m. I arrive at the picket line on the street outside Rockefeller Plaza. They’ve warned us to bundle up, so I’m wearing two long-sleeve shirts, a sweater and my Writer’s Guild T-shirt. I quickly realize that this isn’t enough for the 40-degree weather and put on a scarf, draping it carefully so as not to block the word “Writer” on my back.
I am handed a two-sided sign that says “WGAE,” which is not English, and also “On Strike,” which is. Actually one side of the sign says “On Strike!” which is nice because I can flip it around depending on my level of excitement.
9:45 a.m. The picket line has a delicate, unique ecosystem. Outside, it is sunny and brisk. Inside, any exposed skin immediately turns black and falls off. I put on another sweater.
10 a.m. Let me tell you, if you’ve never participated in a strike, you haven’t lived. And by lived, I mean walked in an ovoid pattern next to a giant, inflatable rat. I hand out brightly colored leaflets to real, engaged New Yorkers, like the tourist from Italy and another tourist, also from Italy. I worry that these people are wasting precious vacation time that could be better spent not understanding bagels or a Broadway show.
10:50 a.m. I think I see Bob Novak pass the line. He doesn’t say a word. At least we know nobody here is C.I.A.
11 a.m. A guy hands me a fresh stack of leaflets. They are warm. So warm. I put half the stack inside my third shirt. Nobody will notice.
12:15 p.m. A man in a suit passes by. He yells, “I hope you all get fired!”
Look — this is weird for us, too, you know. Writers are not a naturally combative species. We’re used to sitting in front of our computers and crying. Fresh air is like poison to us. If protocol didn’t dictate otherwise, it’s very likely we would never wear pants. But we’ve given up our salaries and our jobs — easily the only jobs we’re qualified for — to stand outside and yell at people. So, for the sake of decency, could you please not yell back?
1 p.m. My shift is over. I stumble off, still walking in vague ovals, dazed at the possibilities that this early freedom holds. Should I go to a museum? Maybe get a much-needed haircut? Who knew there were so many hours in the afternoon? Who knew there was so much sunlight during the day? Overwhelmed by my options, I go home and fall asleep.
. . .
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 7
11 a.m. I don my entire wardrobe for the third time in three days. I feel like I’ve put my boots on backward. I’m on my way to my friend Rob’s apartment, where he, another writer and I are going to record audio for a comedy piece Rob has written about the small change (literally) that the Guild is asking for. We record on Rob’s computer, basking in the familiar, maternal glow of the screen. We were supposed to stop writing jokes. It took us under 72 hours to crack.
2:16 p.m. Walking. Oval. Freezing. Put on fourth sweater, fifth shirt and small tarp. Seriously consider deflating the rat and wearing it as a cape.
Someone has left a Spanish language newspaper on the ground. Two fellow writers and I grab it. There’s a picture on the front page: President Nicolas Sarkozy of France kissing Laura Bush’s hand. We can’t even read the article, but all we need is the picture. The next five minutes are gloriously full of dumb French jokes. How can we resist? Can a leopard change its spots? Sure, but only with a very expensive brand of leopard Wite-Out.
You see my point. We strike to achieve fair compensation for our work. But we work to maintain our sanity. Sí, se puede!
Oh, and the video Rachel mentions filming with her friend Rob? I’m guessing it’s the one we mentioned on Friday. Check it out if you haven’t yet done so.
Fellow Daily Show scribe Tim Carvell also took some time to talk about the strike, specifically noting his feelings about www.thedailyshow.com (which, as Jon noted, is “Free! Except the advertising”). From NewTeeVee (internal links omitted):
Walking the Line With The Daily Show’s Tim Carvell
Written by Jackson West
Posted Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 4:00 AM PT. . .
NewTeeVee: Viacom and Comedy Central put up their own online site specifically so that they can control the distribution and advertise against their shows. Is one of the reasons that you’re out here to get a piece of that revenue?
Tim Carvell: That site, especially, I don’t know if you’ve been on it, but you can download pretty much whole clips of our shows that are underwritten by sponsors. You know, when our show goes out over Comedy Central for a rerun with advertising in it, we get a little bit of money for that, we get a little residual. When it’s on your computer screen with the advertising in it, for some reason that’s considered promotional. So we get no money out of it, and that just seems like they’re lying to us, for want of a better term.
NewTeeVee: How do you feel the guild’s decision to strike during these contract negotiations as opposed to three years from now when Internet revenue is a larger share?
Carvell: I’m on the guild council, so I’m speaking obviously with a bias, but I felt like this was the time. Three years from now I’m sure they would still say it would be unproven, and three years after that, and three years after that. We understand that it’s a fairly new technology, but that doesn’t seem to prevent them from promising investors specific dollar amounts that they’re going to make off of it. It didn’t prevent them from valuing their Internet content at $1 billion when they sued YouTube.
All we’re asking for is a percentage, as I’m sure you’ve heard many times here. If it’s not worth anything, if it turns out to be worth very little, we’ll get a percentage of very little. If it’s worth a lot, we’d like a percentage of a lot. We kind of think that the percentage thing gives them the flexibility to have the business be whatever size it’s going to be.
NewTeeVee: The producers negotiated for a discount on home video residuals because it was an unproven technology. Do you feel there’s a certain hubris that they’d go to that well again after so many years?
Carvell: It does take exceptionally large balls to do that — like the size that I’d imagine they’d have to be pushed around in a wheelbarrow — to try and make that exact same argument given that we’ve spent the last 20-odd years trying to sort of undo the damage that deal did.
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3 Comments
November 10th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Axler: “One writer suggests that we walk counter-clockwise. A minor fracas occurs between those who think this is a great idea and those who believe it might undo all our work for the past two and a half hours.”
lol
I can actually see this going down, too.
Ugh this makes me love them.
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November 11th, 2007 at 6:36 am
Oh, I miss those people who bring the funny! I laughed through the whole article. I watched my TiVo recording of the 10/16 TDS last night and could have cried. Thanks again for all your hard work in keeping up coverage of the strike, Ms I.
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November 11th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Axler: “I worry that these people are wasting precious vacation time that could be better spent not understanding bagels or a Broadway show.”
Oh, they could try, but considering that most of the Broadway shows are closed because the stagehands are on strike, their only safe bets are the bagels. Or Off-Broadway shows.
<3 Love these.
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