"Peace at Last?" said the headline in Variety.
Michael O'Donnell, a leadman and set dresser, had brought a copy of the Hollywood trade paper for his friend, Joe Sabella, a foley artist. On this day in mid-January, the news was that the Directors Guild of America had reached a new contract agreement with the Assn. of Motion Picture and Television Producers -- a deal, it was now hoped, that augured movement toward a settlement between striking writers and the AMPTP.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, February 02, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 45 words Type of Material: Correction
Writers strike: An article in Friday's Calendar section about how the Writers Guild of America strike is affecting two members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees identified Charlie O'Donnell as the longtime announcer on "Jeopardy." He is the announcer on "Wheel of Fortune."
But for O'Donnell and Sabella -- who are part of that vast and largely forgotten below-the-line class of skilled entertainment industry labor -- the "peace at last?" question was not greeted just by hope but also a fair measure of cynicism and disillusionment.
"Both of them are failing their membership horribly," was O'Donnell's assessment of the WGA and AMPTP leaders.
There are signs that the strike might be approaching settlement, now that negotiators for both sides have resumed talks. But over lunch at an un-crowded Twain's coffee shop not far from the CBS-Radford lot, O'Donnell and Sabella conveyed mostly frustration.
From their vantage point, this three-month-old writers strike amounts to an esoteric dispute between fat cats, less a face-off based in principle than in ego and grandstanding. Put another way, O'Donnell and Sabella don't see a Democrat debating a Republican onstage; they just see two guys in suits, and out of touch with the people hit the hardest.
"This is a factory town," O'Donnell said, later adding, "If we were in Detroit we'd be making Thunderbirds."
Given their union affiliation -- Sabella and O'Donnell belong to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, or IATSE -- you'd think they'd naturally ally themselves with the WGA picketers.
But in fact, over a 90-minute discussion, their ire was directed more at their union brethren, particularly the political leadership at the top: WGA President Patric Verrone and chief negotiator David Young.
"Non-concern" was the term Sabella would later use, struggling to find a word that captured the disregard from above for people like him, put out of work.
Joining them for lunch were Sabella's wife, Alexandra, and O'Donnell's ex-wife, Gail. Gail O'Donnell has phoned everyone from NBC-Universal chief Jeff Zucker to President Bush, alarmed that higher political powers have remained silent as the local economy suffers.
