I confirmed up final Friday to Disney and it was (cue the music): “An entire new world!” The Actors have joined us …and brought all our indicators. Which is ok! They want us and we want them! It’s reinvigorated the picket strains and upgraded the tents. Day one/seventy-three the check-in tent at Disney appeared like a French pharmacy; La Roche Posey sunscreen in each SPF and quite a lot of lip balm! Nobody needs a crusty smile when there are such a lot of cameras round. And there have been rather a lot extra cameras round. And extra shade cowl than there had ever been earlier than. I believed I noticed a make-up tent and my pal mentioned he heard there was going to be a beard-trimming station. They even yes-and’ed our shade scheme of blue shirts by including their black shirts, making a BLACK AND BLUE labor line and a vibe.
And there have been so many extra followers, each the air-moving sort and the human sort. Disney was now Hollywood Blvd. Costumed of us in full Star Wars regalia with their Instagram deal with affixed to their chest, holding one shared signal that learn: Eat Shit Iger from the Disruptive Forces. A parrot and a chameleon — you may guess what guild they have been in. There was watermelon lemonade being served as Mickey Mouse Blood. It was deliciously salty. And the tacos have been recent. Chanting even got here again into the combo. The actors are a spirited bunch who love an excellent position. There have been so many SAG shirts serving to to direct us on methods to cross the road and methods to keep away from getting hit by vehicles and methods to relaxation if we wanted to. Positive, it was stuff we had found out for ourselves over two months in the past, however they’re proudly owning the fabric and I, for one, adore it.
Earlier than SAG went on strike, earlier than Fran gave her impassioned speech, spirits had dropped because the temperature rose. All these of us who signed as much as be strike captains simply to get a hat have been hoping for a minor household emergency simply to get a break. All of us who had the fireplace in our bellies on Day 1 and a couple of and even 20, now simply had a bruise close to our bellies from the place we rested our picket sticks. After which the wind was taken out of our sails when the DGA so rapidly got here to a “groundbreaking settlement.” The one floor that gave the impression to be breaking was beneath these of us on the picket line.
The city sensed that resolve was weakening. My very own managers tried to pitch me a undertaking the day the actors went on strike, and one other pal instructed me about being harassed after which mocked by a producer who simply needed to “discuss” a couple of undertaking. Folks appear to not perceive {that a} collective work stoppage is our solely recourse. Even those that assist us. A author pal of mine who has weathered three strikes, mentioned Bob Iger was the good, cheap one. Now he’s shaming us all the best way from Solar Valley for demanding honest compensation. And I believe I do know why.
I interned for a really well-known discuss present host once I was nonetheless in school. It was a job that introduced invaluable connections and taught me a lot. A type of classes got here after discovering a medium-sized canine turd immediately underneath the discuss present host’s desk chair. The crap had been there so lengthy it was starting to petrify. One of many assistants instructed me there was an precise medical situation typically developed by individuals who acquired to our boss’s degree of wealth — they turn into utterly out of contact with actuality. The assistant made it appear nearly unhappy that our boss’s nostril was thus far within the air that she couldn’t odor the turd underneath her desk. Not seeing the poo meant she additionally didn’t discover the one that cleaned it up (me) and never recognizing the work folks do is why we’re putting. So I’ve to imagine that the medical situation that my poor wealthy boss can be what Bob and these different CEOs have been stricken with.
The AMPTP appear to be so out of contact with actuality — and with the individuals who make the exhibits that they promote — that they’ve made themselves the enemy of Hollywood actors and writers. They’ve made themselves the enemy of goals coming true. Remind me when the hero of the story was ever the grasping CEO?