When talks broke down earlier this month between the studios and striking writers, it began to hit home that scribes could be jobless for many months to come. One of those writers finally made the agonizing decision to stop picketing and go back to work.
The writer's show, a daytime soap, had run out of scripts. To this writer, the moral choice lay in keeping the show on the air.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday, January 08, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 73 words Type of Material: Correction
Soap opera writers: In a Dec. 31 Calendar article about how soap opera writers are coping with the Writers Guild of America strike, a comment by "All My Children" writer Michelle Patrick was not placed in the correct context. When she said, "The more heinous the producers behave, the angrier I get," Patrick was referring to members of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, not the individual producers of soap operas.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, January 09, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 80 words Type of Material: Correction
Soap opera writers: In a Dec. 31 Calendar section article about how soap opera writers are coping with the Writers Guild of America strike, writer Rick Draughon was quoted as saying, "It's better for one of us to get a foot in the door [of new media] right now while it's an experiment than later when they've already hired a guild person." Actually, what he said at the end of the sentence was "when they've already hired a non-guild person."
"Daytime serials are not in a healthy situation," said the writer, who asked for anonymity, fearing fallout from both sides in the complex and highly charged standoff. "If we can keep shows on the air, I perceive it as something that needs to be done for the future generation of writers."
Although most daytime writers have joined their colleagues on the picket lines, others -- fearing for their jobs or the survival of the soap genre altogether -- have quietly gone back to work. Even those who are still picketing say soap writers' issues are unique.
Residuals, for instance, a key area of disagreement between the studios and the Writers Guild of America, are not an issue for them because their shows are rarely rerun. Instead, their interests tend to focus on health and pension benefits and minimum salary for the Internet, one place where the genre -- whose audience for the daytime perennials has been dwindling -- could possibly survive.
The specialized world of soap operas creates unique situations during Hollywood's periods of labor unrest; it's widely believed that during strikes in the 1980s, scab writers were hired to keep the soaps going. Some writers currently on strike say producers have tried to lure them back with promises of anonymity. And because the estimated 110 daytime writers are spread out geographically, many working at home, it would be relatively easy to keep such deals quiet.
Others, such as the writer quoted above, are starting to take advantage of a little-known inactive status known as "financial core" that allows union members to return to work without censure.
"You resign your membership but continue to pay dues," the writer said about the financial-core designation. "They [the guild] still represent you. You still have your healthcare, your pension. It's absolutely fair. You remain involved in the protections that the union offers, and you support them financially. There are many reasons people make that decision."
