Shawn Ryan on the WGA Strike

While I'm not directly affected by the WGA strike (I'm not a member and am not currently engaged), I'm 100% in support of their strike. The WGA ultimately sets the standard for all writers' terms, and what they're fighting for here, particularly in terms of new media residuals, is going to affect all professional scribes.

I did want to share this, found at Deadline Hollywood. The Shield and The Unit creator-executive producer Shawn Ryan's thoughts on how he's not letting his hyphenate status cloud his perspective on the strike:

"As you all know by now, we are on Strike. It's sad that we have arrived here and I don't know each and every one of your opinions, but I wanted to share my personal plans for what I intend to do until we have a fair contract.

I am currently quoted in today's Hollywood Reporter as saying that I will do some producing work, but won't do any editing as I consider that to be writing. While I said something similar to that earlier last week (I've learned you can't trust a word of what these trades report), that was before I went to the Showrunners Meeting yesterday and became very crystalized in what I need to do. Like many of you I have spent the last week contemplating what to do in case of a strike. What are my responsibilities to my writers, my cast, my crew, my network and my contract? How do I balance these various concerns?

At the Showrunners Meeting it became very clear to me that the only thing I can do as a showrunner is to do nothing. I obviously will not write on my shows. But I also will not edit, I will not cast, I will not look at location photos, I will not get on the phone with the network and studio, I will not prep directors, I will not review mixes. These are all acts that are about the writing of the show or protecting the writing of the show, and as such, I will not participate in them. I will also not ask any of my writer/producers to do any of these things for me, so that they get done, but I can save face.

I will not go into the office and I will not do any work at home. I will be on the picket line or I will be working with the Negotiating Committee. I will not have an avid sent to my house, or to a new office so that I can do work on my show and act as if it is all right because I'm not crossing any picket lines.

I truly believe that the best and fastest way to a good contract is to hit these companies early, to hit them hard and to deprive them of ALL the work we do on their behalf.

How do we ask our staff writers to go out on strike as we continue collecting producer checks? How do we ask the Teamsters to respect our picket lines if we won't ourselves or if we're sneaking around to do the work off-site?

Just so you all know what I am prepared to give up....

Tomorrow, we begin to film the Series Finale of The Shield. I think it's the best script our writing staff has ever written. This is the show that made me. This is the show that is my baby. If the strike goes on longer than two weeks, I won't be able to step on set for the final episode of the show. I won't have a writer on set, as I have had on every episode since the fourth episode. I won't be able to edit this final culminating episode. I won't go to the wrap party that Fox TV and FX are paying for. You can't tell me that any episode of television is more important than this one is to me, and I am ready to forego all those things in order to strengthen my union.

Tomorrow, we begin filming a new pilot, The Oaks, that I am Executive Producing. It's an amazing script that David Schulner wrote and I signed up to help him make this show. Until we have a fair deal I cannot do that now and it kills me.

We are currently filming Season 3 of The Unit, a show that does fairly well, but against House and Dancing With The Stars, usually finishes in 3rd place. We have no guarantee that we will back for a 4th season. I just gave a director friend of mine his first TV directing gig. I'd like to see him succeed. He'll have to finish the show on his own now without a writer on set, or my help in the editing room.

Some people have made the argument that if they don't do this producing work or this editing, that someone else will do it, and this act won't hurt the companies. I respectfully disagree. If we ALL stop ALL work tomorrow, the impact of this strike will be felt much more quickly, much more acutely and it most likely will end sooner, putting our writers, our cast and our crews back to work sooner!

I spent nearly 12 hours today in the Negotiation Room with the companies. I watched our side desperately try to make a deal. We gave up our request to increase revenue on DVD's, something that was very painful to give up, but something we felt we had to in order to get a deal made in new media, which is our future.

I watched as the company's representatives treated us horrendously, disrespectfully, and then walked out on us at 9:30 and then lied to the trades, claiming we had broken off negotiations.

I can't in good conscience fight these bastards with one hand, while operating an avid with the other. I am on strike and I am not working for them. PERIOD.

You will use your own instincts and consciences to decide your own actions. But if you would like to follow in my footsteps (and those of many, many others who made this pledge at the showrunner's meating on Saturday), I encourage you to sign the trade ad that the WGA will be putting out on Tuesday by the dozens and dozens of showrunners who will simply not work at all beginning in the morning."

Canadian Discontent

A few years ago now, my pal Sean was working on an internationally co-produced series being shot here in Toronto. It was a confused mess of a show and, not surprisingly, it collapsed after its first season. Describing the chaos of the production, Sean told me:

"The French partners want lots of pretty colours, the Germans want a female lead who is, quote, "fuckable", the Americans want lots of violence and action, and the Canadians want 43 minutes."

And there you have everything you need to know about the film and television industry in Canada.

In the UK, the publicly-funded BBC regularly produces high-quality, original productions for a mass audience. But its rare to find the creative equivalent of Doctor Who, Life On Mars, Spooks, Hustle or Little Britain coming out of Canuck broadcasters. The reasons for this are multifold, but they boil down to two words: Canadian Content.

The CRTC-enforced standard demands that a given program's key personnel hail from here, and that 75% of the production budget be spent here, in order for it to be "certified" as Canadian. A "certified" production then counts toward a broadcasters own minimum percentage of required CanCon, which varies depending on the timeslot. That's two separate layers of protectivist legislation between every show creator and their intended audience.

It's a typically Canadian response, borne of those two towering Canadian insecurities: fear of the megalithic gargantua of American media, and fear that we're not capable of producing material on par with the megalithic gargantua of American media.

Ironically, the security blanket that is CanCon both confirms those fears and reinforces them. When the quality of a production becomes a secondary consideration, it stands to reason that the quality of that production is likely to be second rate. It's the kind of system in which someone can have a successful comedy career without going to the trouble of actually being funny. But if nobody cares whether a show's any good, provided it's got Geraint Wyn-Davies in it and they shoot it in Halifax, can we really be surprised if it doesn't connect with an audience, Canadian or otherwise?

The thing is, you can't just legislate culture. Culture's an organic thing, one that has to be allowed to grow. But like trees and plants patiently pushing their way up through the concrete, it has a way of pushing aside restrictions imposed upon it. It's a lengthy process, but signs of real change are appearing, most notably on original series being produced by cable outlets like TMN -- taking their cue from (hmm) US outlets like HBO. I was particularly struck by this watching the first episode of Durham County on TMN.

Here's a show set in a real Canadian location -- the suburban sprawl outside Toronto -- featuring unique, unambiguously Canadian characters and cultural reference points, presented in such a refreshingly offhanded way that those elements are a non-issue. Unlike so many local shows that are either pale, geographically-neutralized imitations of ten year old US TV, or so aggressively regional they don't resonate for anyone outside their own area code, here the drama has primacy over the requirements of a governmental regulatory body (astonishing, I know). Durham County establishes its own unique dramatic identity and lets its Canadian-ness take care of itself.

Durham's juxtaposition of domestic angst with brutal murder and measured delivery of unsettlingly bizarre imagery recalls Twin Peaks at its strongest. It's a haunting show full of haunted characters, none moreso than homicide detective Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon), returning to his childhood digs after the murder of his partner in Toronto. But it's the living who haunt him most. His wife Audrey's (Helene Joy) battle with cancer has left her a shell of her former self. His oldest daughter Sadie (Laurence Lebouef) spends her time creating mock crime scenes with dolls while his youngest Maddie (Cicely Austin) is most often seen concealed behind a disturbing plush mask that turns her into an lifesize anime character.

Worst of all is Mike's former childhood friend-turned-enemy Ray Prager (Justin Louis), an NHL washout-turned-successful plumber-turned-budding serial killer whom Mike discovers to his horror is also his neighbour.

The writing is understated and complex, and its cinematography (by Steve Cosens) is coldly stunning, imbuing every scene with a sense of encroaching dread. The suburban bliss is surrounded on all sides by gray smoke cast off from hellish industrial fires, and endless fields of electrical towers that loom menacingly over the characters. It's a mature show, not just on its own but as a new mile marker for the progress of homegrown drama. More like this, please.