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NEWS Writers strike takes toll on
A few short months ago, New York City’s production industry was boasting record-setting numbers. Crews for big-budget features, indies and TV shows could be spotted all over the five boroughs. These days, however, the industry is experiencing a lull in production activity, leaving a city that looks less like a bustling entertainment hub and more like the wasteland depicted in Will Smith’s “I Am Legend.”
Since the Writer’s Guild of America strike began on Nov. 5, the number of production crews in the city has steadily declined. While there has been much hype over late-night hosts like David Letterman returning to work, many of the city’s 78,000 production workers have not been so lucky, and solidarity within the production industry is quickly fading. “Everyone talks about the writers, the writers,” said John Ford, president of the studio mechanics union Local 52, in an interview with Crain’s New York Business. “But there are a lot of other people involved besides the writers.”
Currently there are only two major films shooting in the city, compared with 11 before the strike began. Television shows have not fared much better, with some 15 series canceling production. Longtime staples like “Law & Order,” have grinded to a halt, as have newcomers like NBC’s “30 Rock,” whose star Tina Fey has been repeatedly spotted waving signs on WGA picket lines. With no end in sight, the strike will likely be devastating to the spring pilot season, which last year saw a record seven new TV pilots produced in the city.
The WGA continues to battle with the Association of Motion
Picture & Television Producers over revenue for work appearing on the
Internet and other new-media outlets. The last round of talks between the two
unions broke down in early Dec., and no new talks are currently scheduled. -Christopher Zara
As health care costs skyrocket, union eyes reform to U.S. policy
After closely monitoring developments in the campaign to reform American health care, Actors’ Equity Association is now expanding its role in the debate in order to better educate its membership on the issues involved.
Presumably acting in its members’ best interests, Equity has been tracking initiatives and proposals nationwide — concerned with their effect on the cost and quality of health care. In addition to meetings with various health coalitions, Equity has begun participating in weekly national AFL-CIO conference calls to share news and discuss strategies with other unions from across the country.
Equity advocates a universal health care system, in which insurance would be provided and paid for by the federal government. However, progress toward a single-payer model has been mired in a morass of competing interest groups and big business concerns. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently proposed a plan that would allow for universal coverage. While approval from the Legislature is pending, and the prospect of its being passed is dubious, the proposal is sure to vault health care reform to the forefront of topics addressed by presidential hopefuls this year.
With this in mind, the Equity has expressed its commitment to inform its members of the health care debate, which can often be clouded by political jargon and partisanship. Last month, Equity gave a presentation to representatives of the joint National Health Care and Legislative Committees designed to provide Equity members with a simple, easy-to-grasp explanation of the reform discussion. Equity hopes to give its membership a common grasp of the issues and will be posting the latest news and developments on its Web site on a monthly basis. -Tom Fay
Flying In Under the Radar: All this week, hundreds of underground theater artists from around the world will have their chance to shine on a New York stage courtesy of the Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival. Now in its fourth year, the 12-day event showcases groundbreaking new talent from theater companies ranging from the San Francisco Bay Area’s Suicide Kings to Ireland’s Abbey Theatre. While some of the festival’s artists are veterans of the New York stage, the majority will be making their Big Apple debut. The Under the Radar Festival, which includes a number of artist panels and discussions, runs through Jan. 20. For ticket information, visit www.publictheater.org.
INSIDE INK
By John Rowell
WHADDYA BET?
Most readers are too young to remember Groucho Marx’s popular TV game show of the 1950s entitled “You Bet Your Life,” but if you never experienced that show in primetime, you now you have a prime opportunity to do so via off-off Broadway theater. Lisa Levy’s You Bet Your Life Live! is an updated riff on Groucho’s old classic, and the show incorporates clips and graphics from the original show. The contestants (chosen from the audience) will get the chance to win $$$ — half the house, which, as you know on off-off Broadway amounts to simply scads of dough — by answering trivia questions, many of which have to do with your host for the evening, Lisa Levy! (Better bone up on Lisa.) Performances have just begun at The Green Room @ 45 Bleecker. For info, call 212-239-6200.
SAY WHAT?
Here’s a show in which a group of actors take the stage and announce that there will be no play. They are not characters. The stage does not represent another place. Time passes as it does in real life. There is no illusion. The audience is asked to abandon every expectation. What is this?? It’s Peter Handke’s Offending the Audience, which combines caustic humor with deeply meaningful notions about theater, life and death. The show is currently being revived by The Flea Theatre with a cast of 22 members of The Bats, the resident acting ensemble at The Flea, with direction by Jim Simpson. Get offended from Jan. 21-Feb. 23. www.theflea.org.
A LITTLE JAILBIRD
TOLD ME
New York magazine called her “a strange hybrid of Pearl Bailey and Eric Bogosian.” She’s been on Broadway, threatened by Star Jones, and tossed in jail. Now drag star Flotilla DeBarge brings her newest show, Flotilla DeBarge: Freshly Released — Black, Blessed & Free, to The Cutting Room beginning Jan. 18. Well, other jailbirdies like Paris Hilton and Lil’ Kim have got nothing on Flotilla: she did her time for assault with a high-heeled shoe in the West Village nightclub APT in self-defense. (You can’t make this stuff up.) Now Flotilla has turned that potential setback into an autobiographical musical essay in which she dishes up her thoughts on the penal system, black injustice and lessons learned — from life at the bars to life behind bars. Two snaps up, and then some! Call 212-352-3101.
DARKEST BEFORE DAWN
Louis-Ferdinand Celine was a renowned and controversial writer—an existentialist master — who suffered enmity and rejection for his political beliefs during World War II. Now his life and his most famous novel serve as the basis for Journey to the End of the Night, a new play adapted by Jason Lindner, which receives its world premiere courtesy of The Flying Machine, with direction by Joshua Carlebach, a Drama Desk nominee for his direction of the company’s well-received 2005 production of Frankenstein. Richard Crawford — who played Frankenstein’s monster in that show — is the featured performer in this solo-play adaptation of Celine’s novel. Performances continue at the Gene Frankel Theatre through Jan. 26; for more info, log on to www.theflyingmachine.org.
A DIFFERENT TUNE Everyone knows Tommy
Tune as a unique and completely original director, choreographer and
performer. But did you know that the multi-talented and multi-tasking Mr.
Tune’s legendary resumé also encompasses “painter?” Indeed, Mr. Tune has been
painting throughout his career, and now he is set to launch TommyTuneGallery.com., an online art
gallery in which fans from all over the world can purchase his vivid paintings
that have been meticulously reproduced as limited edition lithographs — and at
reasonable prices! On the gallery’s Web site, in fact, Mr. Tune writes, “My
intention is to provide art for everyone — affordable art.” Some images even
start at a mere $20! Visit today; it’s a great opporTuneity.
AROUND TOWN Now through Jan. 20, Barrow Street Theatre hosts Barrow Street Fortnight, two weeks of eclectic, genre-spanning performances that include spoken word, improvisation, stand-up and music. It’s a fantastic line-up; check it out at www.barrowstreettheatre.com/fortnight/. The U.S. premiere of the Carol Tambor Best of the Edinburgh Award-winning production Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is currently in performance at P.S. 122. Created by the new British theater company 1927, Devil cleverly combines live music, performance and storytelling with films and animations using the aesthetic of silent film in a series of comic vignettes. The audience then interacts with the animations. Already a cult hit in London, this surreal satire is only here until January 27, so animate yourself to get to P.S. 122 ASAP. Call 212-352-3101.
SHORT
CUTS
As the film writers trickle into work, first with the
signing of an interim deal by the WGA and United Artists, the Weinstein Co. has
made its own temporary agreement with the guild, allowing the indie film
company to resume development on its latest lineup of productions. The terms of
the pact will allow Weinstein to hire writers for script revisions and will let
WGA scribes pitch new ideas to the company. The deal comes as a surprise to
some, after rumors circulated last week that Weinstein would wait until another
indie outfit, such as Lionsgate, penned its own deal with the WGA first. The
two Weinstein projects that seem to benefit most form the deal are “Nine,” Rob
Marshall’s adaptation of the Tony-winning musical, and Stephen Daldry’s “The
Reader,” recently recast with Kate Winslet. Since the strike, Weinstein has continued to release
films, including “I’m Not There” and “Control,” entrusting its distribution
efforts to MGM.
TUNE-IN ALERT: “31
DAYS OF SUNDANCE” With the granddaddy of all American film fests just around the corner, it’s nice to know that you don’t have to be in Park City to be a part of the action. In case you haven’t already been tuning in, for the month of January, Sundance Channel has been playing its “31 Days of Sundance,” which, even though we’re already halfway through, still has a lot of exciting movies on the horizon. In the daily programming block, airing every night at 9:00 p.m., you can catch an instant classic indie, along with select Sundance shorts. Still on the horizon are “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,” “Dogtown and Z Boys,” “Half Nelson,” “The Puffy Chair,” and “Everything’s Cool,” and the channel’s Web site has regular updates on SFF ‘08 in fairly real time. As an aside, Sundance Channel’s competitor IFC had its own “31 Days” back in May, in which you could see its top-rated most profane moments in film. The hilarious countdown is still on IFC’s site and includes favorite lines from “Clerks” and “Glengarry Glen Ross.”
A NEW KIND OF FILM
FEST? Yet another means of indie distribution has made its way to the film world. “From Here to Awesome,” which was founded by DIY filmmaking pioneers Lance Weiler (“The Last Broadcast,” “Head Trauma”), Arin Crumley (“Four Eyed Monsters”) and M dot Strange (“We Are The Strange”), quite boldly claims to be the “perfect system to get your film blasted to audiences in theaters, living rooms, online and via mobile phones.” FHTA, a new kind of “discovery and distribution” model now accepting submissions through March 1, uses platforms such as MySpace and YouTube, allowing audience members to interact directly with filmmakers. Among the virtual panels will be discussions on “Getting Production Values with No Money,” “How to Create Your Own Animations,” “The Art and Craft of Editing” and “Building a Web site.” To have your film among the 10 shorts and 10 features selected for the “festival,” you must create a short submission video that showcases why your film should be chosen by the MySpace and YouTube users voting on the entries. For more info, visit www.fromheretoawesome.com.
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