I FUCK YOU BEFORE I LOVE YOU

Although it appears negotiations have hit the skids, I'm reminded of Tom Schulman's email last week. In it he said, "I went to a dinner party where I happened to be seated next to a gentleman who until recently had been for decades the chief negotiator for the Companies in another segment of the entertainment industry. He was a wiry guy, and he had a sense of humor. When I asked him if he was the Nick Counter of that particular part of the industry, he smiled and said wryly that he thought he was better than Nick but, yes, that was a fair comparison. He said he knew Nick and admired him. For an hour and a half, sprinkled in with the small talk, he told me about his negotiating strategy." Tom details that strategy:

Strategy for Hardball Negotiations:

Piss off the leaders and spokespersons for the other side. A leader who loses his temper loses something in negotiations. Why?

1) Anger clouds judgment.

2) It’s human nature to want to be liked, even in a tough-as-nails negotiator. A person who loses his temper is embarrassed, usually comes and apologizes, and always gives something away to get back into the good graces of the other side.

The end game is the money, but hardball negotiations aren't about money, until the end. The real game is dividing and conquering.

Tactics:

* Lower the expectations of the other side, divide and conquer.

* Raise and lower the expectations of the other side, divide and conquer.

* Do everything possible to destroy the credibility of the other side’s leadership, divide and conquer.

* Use confidants and back channels to go over the heads of the stronger leaders to the softer targets. Divide and conquer.

* When you figure out the other side’s bottom line, offer a fraction. It’s surprising how many times that stands.

Sound familiar? If you examine the recent "leaks," comments, and press releases from the other side, you'll realize this is exactly the strategy the Companies are employing against us today. And why not? It's worked for them for the last 20 years! They are putting us on an emotional roller coaster by raising and lowering our expectations, attacking our leaders, trying to pit the town against us, refusing to move on the issues that matter to us, bragging about their generosity when the opposite is true, fear mongering and claiming we're going to ruin this industry – hoping we'll splinter, lose faith in and attack each other, negotiate against ourselves, and cave.

___ ___ ___ ___

Although the recent negotiations seem to have collapsed, let's keep in mind that AMPTP's "fuck you and the proposal you rode in on" is part of the deal-making process. Unfortunately, we're gonna have to take it in the ass before we're given some of that Big Media love.

THANK YOU

This was the latest email from our guild. It was factual, to the point and devoid of spin and emotion. Thank you for listening.

The WGA Negotiating Committee, on behalf of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), today issued the following statement regarding Contract 2007 negotiations:

“The Writers Guilds met today with the AMPTP and discussed issues of jurisdiction for original content for the Internet, Reality TV, Animation, and Basic Cable. The talks also were focused on contract enforcement. For the last two days, we have had substantive discussions of the issues important to writers, the first time this has occurred in this negotiation. However, we are still waiting for the AMPTP to respond to all of our proposals, including Internet streaming of theatrical and television product and digital downloads. Bargaining resumes tomorrow at 10 a.m.”

POV ≠ CH

I was asked by a friend (one of the few people who actually reads this blog) what is my real point of view about the state of negotiations. She claimed my blogs were like Switzerland -- self-motivated neutrality. Ouch. My point in the preceding blogs has not been about devil's advocacy. Or creating doubt or disharmony. If you read them, you see that it's about seeking the facts and making a decision on truth not rhetoric (which we get from both AMPTP and the WGA). We need to scrutinize our leaders, actions and motives as much, if not more than the other side does. When we understand and accept our weaknesses, we take away the vulnerability of those missteps. They cannot be used them against us. Let's be a pack of wolves not a flock of sheep. On Monday, I was at Warners. A couple people from the negotiating committee were there answering questions. Members fired off a lot of queries about money and strategy. But there was also this zen-like vibe from many members, requesting that the guild not engage in the propaganda warfare. In essence, stop sending the doomsday emails about how we're being screwed (that's an exaggeration but you get the point). Our guild, our members, know how Big Media is manipulating the facts. We know their tactics. We read Nikki Fink. We trust our leadership. All we need are calm, factual updates. There seems to be a sense of urgency on PV's part to discredit AMPTP's PR spin. In his communication he sometimes cannot distance himself from that emotion. It bleeds all over his missives. The most encouraging thing about the chats on Monday was the honesty. The reps from the guild copped to their imperfections. They are listening to us and are willing to learn from their mistakes. That's all we can ask for. That and a fair deal.