The L.A. Dime

You can send the Media Moguls of the AMPTP a box of pencils with my name on it (or any writer or show you like for that matter) for $1, and urge them to make us a fair offer and end this strike. Visit United Hollywood to send a set of #2s along with your message.

While in Louisville a few weeks back for the fall residency of the Spalding University MFA Program where I teach, I was given the extraordinary opportunity to interview two-time Academy Award winning writer and producer, Bobby Moresco. He is warm, giving, and engaging, but tolerates no bullshit. He is insightful, and truthful, and as down-to-earth an A-lister I’ve ever encountered. For some lessons learned that evening filtered through the world of sports journalism, check out Spalding student Joe Gisondi’s blog.

Check out this link to see the Riddells as Elves.  Thanks to Elizabeth Callahan for elfizing us.

Sophia had a good day on her first Thanksgiving. She patiently watched her parents bake an apple struesel pie, a sweet potato pie, and about eight pounds of Gorgonzola mashed potatoes with caramelized onions. We headed off to the Dempseys for feasting and football with Mark’s parents, Jim and Martha, as well as Faleena’s dad, Larry, and his fianceé , Robin. A good time was had by all, with the only snag in the day coming during the attempted assemblage of Sophia’s pack-n-play, which was a freakin’ nightmare. Other than that, it was a lovely day — one in which we were Thankful for a great many things, but one tiny one in particular.

Photo by Kelly Rouse

For those of you who have yet to see Sophia smile, laugh, squirm, squawk, talk, cough, eat, and cry, click this link to see a short video we shot with her on a cool, cloudy Saturday morning in the living room.

Last night we went to The Clay Oven, our favorite Indian restaurant. Sophie sat quietly as we ate our samosas and crispy nan appetizers, but when the sizzling shish-kabobs arrived, she went berserk. We boxed it up and headed for home.

In other news, as we expected, coverage of the strike by dominant trade paper Daily Variety has been skewed in favor of the companies. Check this blog for a detailed look.

Sophia attended her first concert today in front of Disney’s main gate in Burbank.  KT Tunstall played for the WGA picketers, starting off her acoustic set with “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.”  She was swarmed by media afterward, so look for clips on the news and internet to hear her support for our effort.

Here’s a YouTube video clip of major studio heads and network presidents explaining exactly how much money they make from digital media, and yet, it’s too expensive to share a small percentage of their revenue with the people who create it.

We headed out to the picket lines again today but this time we found ourselves in the middle of a much larger, more vocal, more enthusiastic crowd. As we crossed the street in front of the Universal Gate, we were surrounded by people with signs (yes, we managed to borrow one too) and red, WGA shirts all united for one cause — to be treated fairly.

A special treat, and huge sign of the importance of this strike, was that many stars (from the Screen Actors Guild) came out too….sightings included David Spade, Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother”), Sarah Silverman, Jeanne Tripplehorn (“Big Love”), James Denton (“Desperate Housewives”), the entire cast of “Scrubs” and “Grey’s Anatomy — including creator, Shonda Rhimes, Tim Daly (“Private Practice”), Alyson Hannigan (the band chick from “American Pie”), Matthew Perry (“studio 60″) and Gabrielle Carteris (“Beverly Hills 90210″).

Today gave me a sense of true solidarity and that everyone there wasn’t going anywhere (especially not their keyboards) until a fair resolution was reached.

If you want to keep up with strike news, visit United Hollywood, created by a group of WGA strike captains. Thanks for the link JT!