Pencils down means pencils down

Monday at 12:01am the Writers Guild of America will go on strike. Now this might not seem like a big deal to the average American living outside of Orange County. And yet it's freaking me out a little. And Ang even more than a little. You see, the WGA is the screenwriters' union. And just this past week I sent in my first application for film school. That's right, I want to be a professional screenwriter. See the trouble brewing?

The WGA voted today, they've been negotiating for a long time. They want a fairer contract regarding residuals dealing with DVD sales and new media (internet, etc.) and the studios won't budge. I feel very strongly about this because hopefully, God-willing, I'll be a member of this union in just a few years. I know I will need to be a part of the guild because of the structure they provide - health insurance and the like. And I appreciate the members who've spoken out so far saying that they're not doing this for themselves only but for the next generation of writers - essentially for me.

Angela is worried, rightly so, because we are looking to move to LA in about eight months. A WGA strike will have severe, trickle-down effects on the whole city's economy. The last WGA strike was in the early eighties and it apparently affected everyone right down to waitresses and chauffers. I'm worried because while a strike will require screenwriters to not write anything for studios, it doesn't mean they can't write spec scripts (screenplays written without a contract that one hopes to sell - I have my own spec scripts). And when the strike is over, the market will be saturated with spec scripts. Fan-freakin-tastic.

I know I can't worry too much about it. It's not my strike, not my fight, not yet anyway. But I'm interested. I'm about to go into a great deal of debt to get an education that will help me get into a profession that is about to go on strike. Tens of thousands of people who do what I want to do are going to be walking picket lines. So yes, I'm interested.