I hate labor unions. They have a purpose I suppose, protecting the little guy from the company. The real problem with labor unions though is who is protecting me from the union?

In fact most unions have the game rigged so that you need them a heck of a lot more than they need you. Pretty sweet deal for them - setting up their own little monopoly on labor in a particular field.

But all this said, I'm going to go on record as siding with the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) against the Hollywood Studios.

Partially this is a kiss up - people who don't support the union tend to get blacklisted and *never* work anywhere ever again. Being a screen writer myself, this would obviously be a bad thing. (As I said, who's protecting me from the union?)

But mostly I'm supporting the WGA because I think they're right.

I've worked in a lot of businesses in my time but none have ever been as cut throat and backstabbing as screenwriting. In my short tenure in the 'biz' I can't believe some of the rotten, mean things I've seen so far. A lot of script "contests" are actually idea collection scams for established writers. Some writers like to "collaborate" with other writers (only they're really stealing your contacts.) Nefarious production people changing two lines of your script so that they can give themselves a coauthorship credit.

In fact some aspects of screenwriting are more miserable than others. Most people will never have to endure some of the degradations that a screenwriter will go through. Odds are that when you sell a script, the first thing the new owner will do is have it entirely rewritten. Most people I know get mad when their work is questioned/corrected. We learned long ago that this would be a staple of our business.

Fortunately this is one place where the guild actually protects its people. The *first* rewrite is to be done by the actual person who wrote it. Other rewrites don't have to be.

Other things that you can look forward to are: last minute changes, requests for miracle working and being treated like a toilet seat by producers, directors and actors.

And probably the biggest put down of all: being unknown outside of Hollywood circles. Who wrote "Casablanca"? Who wrote "Titanic"? Who wrote "The Godfather"? Most people can identify the actors and possibly even the directors of said movies. But only a scant few could tell me who wrote them.

So as a screenwriter, you can also expect being almost unknown. In an industry that is all about glitz and glamor and being known, you'll have to settle with obscurity.

But none of these things are what the strike is all about. What this strike is about is how writers will be paid in the cyber-age. Right now every time you watch a movie in the theater or at the video store, the screenwriter gets a small royalty.

But new technology has made it possible for internet downloads and DVD sales - things that the writers are all but cut out of. And every day technology changes just a tiny bit more.

So the bottom line is that the studios are charging the same (overinflated) prices while paying less overhead.

Screenwriters are just wanting the fruit of their labor. Scripts take a long time to write and create. A good script can take years to put together. But it only takes a few seconds for someone to decide they want to steal it (and do so.)

The writers are just protecting themselves and their work.

Jeremy Meister graduated with a B.S. in History from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1998 and a B.S. in Media Production from Missouri State University at Springfield in 2005. He is also a film director, producer and author of over seven feature length screenplays including 'Hollow Dogs' and 'Epic: the Autumn Gales', as well as owning his own film company: the famous LWC Productions. Jeremy is the former host and producer of the Conservative internet radio program "The Tzimisce Show". Presently he is working behind the scenes at Lotus Broadcasting on such shows as "The Mr. Sunshine Show" with occasional work for HBO and UFC. Contact him at LWC_Productions@hotmail.com or at www.myspace.com/tzimiscechi. For a complete list of blogs check out: http://tzimisce.townhall.com/

Art for the people: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1888382/posts