I was listening to CBC Radio One this morning and I heard an interview with a woman from Hollywood who was saying the Writer’s Guild of America was foolish to think it could win a strike against the powers that be in Hollywood. Then the reporter dropped this bomb…. General Electric owns most of Hollywood. Think about that.
I wonder what would happen if screenwriters were as smart at business as the people running General Electric. Maybe they would focus their creative energy differently. What would happen if the best screenwriters did not work under contract to “General Electric” and their ilk, but worked as part of community based, worker co-ops? What if screenwriters embraced the idea that Dramatic Art really does have a deeper more powerful purpose than making profit for General Electric? What if they used their power wisely to work with people at the grass roots to explore and express their own unique stories? What if these stories started to wake people up to their higher potential? What if these new emerging stories coming from communities all across America are owned by the communities who make them? What if the Screenwriters are co-owners with their communities? And what if there isn’t a single mega corporation on the planet able to strike a deal with any screenwriter with real talent? These community driven projects would be the seeds to a cultural renaissance the world has never seen. These community driven, co-operatively owned movies and television series would spread through direct marketing all over the internet. The old guard is losing it’s grip on power. Their distribution system is obsolete. A new world order is arising where corporate monopolists will lose substantial market share and the co-operators will prosper.
So I say to the Writer’s Guild, strike long and hard. Never go back! You have nothing to lose and the whole world to gain. Just let go of Hollywood. Move back to your home towns and get authentically involved with the vital work of grass roots cultural and economic renewal. Stake your claim while you can…
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