Joe Carnahan hands the WGA a bitchslap

The writer-director of "Narc" is in no hurry to join his brothers on the picket line, according to Christine Spines on the Hollywood Insider blog at ew.com.

"I feel like it was almost a fait accompli that the strike was going to happen," says writer-director Joe Carnahan (Narc), who feels like opportunities for resolution were botched in the heat of the negotiations. "It's dispiriting. You hire a federal mediator, why not hash it out? If I'd had my druthers, they'd get into a padlocked room and nobody would emerge until you had an agreement. They owe it to the industry to figure it out."

This kind of vocal dissent has been rare among the WGA's rank and file. But Carnahan insists he's not the only Guild member with grievances over the strict new policies restricting striking writer-directors from tinkering with their own scripts on the set. "Some writer-director friends of mine think the strike agreement is a little neo-fascist," says Carnahan. 

[snip]

He adds dryly, "I can't imagine my life without Two and a Half Men, and I don't want to go through Charlie Sheen withdrawal."

'Narc' writer-director Joe Carnahan dismayed with WGA leadership [ew.com]

Comments

[Edward Allen Bernero]

Hey Joe -- did you know the following proposals are on the table from the AMPTP(it is # 27 of a 28 proposal document - emphasis added)?:

Promotional Uses (P-3)

(A) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the MBA (MINIMUM BASIC AGREEMENT), the Company shall have the right to promote WITHOUT RESTRICTION OR PAYMENT, any motion picture for which literary material has been written or acquired under the MBA.

(B) Confirm that use may be promotional EVEN IF THE ENTIRE MOTION PICTURE IS EXHIBITED AND EVEN IF THE USE GENERATES REVENUES FOR THE COMPANY.

I would think that pretty much covers your movies too. "...without restriction or payment", "...even if the entire motion picture is exhibited and even if the use generates revenues". How can we accept this? How? The Writer's Guild is only the first union up in this battle.