Writers Guild of America, West plans job cuts

Writers Guild of America, West plans job cuts

Confronted with a larger-than-anticipated deficit, the Writers Guild of America, West plans to cut as many as 20 positions from its payroll by the end of the month.

The guild, which has about 185 employees, notified staff representatives last week that cuts, which would begin as early as this week, were necessary to plug a deficit of more than $2 million, said two people familiar with the matter. The union has an operating budget of about $25 million.  

David Young, the union's executive director, recently told the guild's board of directors that he was considering the cuts to close a budget shortfall, which guild officials have largely blamed on investment losses caused by the recession and a sharp falloff in jobs and pay for writers in the last year.

The union had no immediate comment on the planned layoffs.

During the 100-day writers strike last year, TV networks beefed up their programming of reality TV programs to fill the airwaves as popular scripted shows went off the air. That trend continued after the strike ended in February, creating fewer job opportunities for writers. Some TV shows didn't come back, while others returned with fewer episodes.

Writers also found it harder to fetch the same rates for their work at broadcast networks, which have been losing market share and viewers to the Internet, looking to cut costs. More recently, the work slowdown has been exacerbated by the recession as advertisers scale back spending on TV shows.

All of which has meant less money coming into the guild's coffers. The Writers Guild is dependent on income that writers pull in. Guild members, as part of their union dues, are required to contribute 1.5% of their earnings each quarter.

Also contributing to the budget shortfall, people familiar with the union's finance say, is the guild's ongoing campaign to organize writers in the reality TV sector who work behind the scenes crafting dialog for various programs but don't receive union pay or benefits. The guild spent about $400,000 on its campaign last year, said one person familiar with the campaign.

Some of the positions could be eliminated through attrition, leading to fewer actual layoffs. Affected employees will receive severance packages and a guarantee that they will be called back if the union hires again. The cuts are expected to be completed by the end of the month.

-- Richard Verrier

 

SyFy gleanings: News about the 'Battlestar' film, a 'Caprica' challenge, the 'Eureka' love-fest and more

On Monday, the Sci Fi Channel hosted a press screening of the “Battlestar Galactica” finale, which airs Friday. Ronald D. Moore, the show’s executive producer, made the assembled media types raise their hands and swear not to reveal anything that happens in the show’s final two hours. And I surely don’t want an angry Centurion coming after me for even hinting at any developments in the finale.

But I was able to wangle a bit more information about “Caprica,” “The Plan,” “Eureka” and other upcoming projects on Sci Fi, which changes its name this summer to Syfy (doesn’t that sound like the name of a cream that your doctor would prescribe for a skin rash? Ah well. I said it before and I'll say it again: Sci Fi should have embraced real change and just named the channel after its famous cinematic opus, "Mansquito").

Here's one bit of “Battlestar”-related news: “The Plan,” a 2-hour standalone movie that was shot last year, will “probably” air in the fall, according to Sci Fi executive Mark Stern. The date is not set in stone yet, but it sounds as though you can pencil in a November-ish air date for the Cylon-centric film. 

“The Plan” was directed by Edward James Olmos, who stars in “Battlestar Galactica” as Admiral William Adama. “When [‘Battlestar’ fans] see ‘The Plan,’ they’re all going to have to go back and watch the entire series again,” Olmos said after the finale screening.

Regarding other projects, just as the network’s “Tin Man” miniseries re-told the classic “Wizard of Oz” tale, Sci Fi is updating “Alice in Wonderland” with the upcoming miniseries “Alice,” which will be made by “Tin Man’s” creative team. 

This summer, the network will debut a new, comedically-flavored series, “Warehouse 13,” which is about a pair of federal agents who track down unusual objects and stow them in a massive warehouse full of intergalactic oddities.

“Eureka” also returns in the summer, and Colin Ferguson, who stars in the show as Sheriff Jack Carter, said at the network's party that his character has a ongoing love interest in those episodes (she’s played by Jaime Ray Newman). He also said that Henry Deacon’s long-lost love turns up, and Jack’s daughter, Zoe, will struggle with the decision to go away to college (or not). Also, Ferguson’s friend, actor Billy Campbell, will guest star in one episode.

Finally, “Caprica,” the “Battlestar” prequel series, will debut in early 2010. However, in a novel twist, the show's 2-hour pilot will come out on DVD in April.

Esai Morales and Paula Malcolmson, who star in the new show, were at the Sci Fi event and Malcolmson was forthright in saying that “Caprica” would be different from “Battlestar.”

“Battlestar” has “come to an end, and it’s a beautiful end and [fans] should mourn that show,” Malcolmson said. “You can’t just come along with another show that’s going to replicate it. That’s not what we want to do, we want to give them something else.”

There's a chance that some "Battlestar" fans might be put off by the fact that “Caprica” is more of a soap opera than a space opera.(For more on the show, look here and here; there's a clip from the show here.)

“But that’s OK,” said Malcolmson, who played Trixie on David Milch’s “Deadwood.” “I think I said the same thing about ‘Deadwood.’ They said, ‘What do you say to purists, what do you say to people who love the Western genre?’”

Malcolmson’s response was to repeat a colorful phrase that you would often hear on “Deadwood,” one  that cannot be reprinted in a family newspaper. Translation: If fans can't be open-minded about the new show, which takes place 50 years before the events of “Battlestar,” they just shouldn’t watch it.

At that point, “Battlestar” and “Caprica” executive producer David Eick, who was standing nearby, said, “She’s Eddie Olmos. She’s going to be the one saying, ‘Don’t watch our show!’”

Eick was referring to a famous incident that occurred before “Battlestar” premiered. At a press event, Olmos said that hardcore devotees of the first “Battlestar” series should not watch the new one if they could not give it a fair chance.

“He’s right, though,” Malcolmson said of Olmos’ statement to fans of the original “Battlestar.”

And if some “Battlestar fans don’t like the new show, “it’ll give them something to moan about. Everybody loves to complain,” Malcolmson said.

But “Battlestar” fans should know that “Caprica” has Olmos’ seal of approval (despite the fact that he didn’t get to direct it. “They were idiots for not letting me direct it,” he said quite affably.)

“This show is going to be the most spiritually centered piece of work that they’ve seen,” Olmos noted.

And the new show has a lot in common with “Battlestar,” as Morales pointed out: “Caprica” is also “about what it is to be human,” he said.

Photo: Eric Stolz and Paula Malcolmson in "Caprica."

Natasha Richardson hospitalized after ski accident
British actress Natasha Richardson was hospitalized after falling on a beginners trail at the famed Mont Tremblant ski resort during a lesson, the resort and published reports said Tuesday.
Actress Natasha Richardson Injured In Ski Mishap

Reports on the BBC and other Web sites say the Tony Award winner suffered a serious head injury following a fall on a beginner's slope in Montreal. She complained of a headache an hour after her fall, was hospitalized — and may since have been flown to the U.S. for treatment. Husband Liam Neeson left a film set in Toronto to join her.