Comments on Lostpedia Blog: Eyes wide shut: Is another strike possible?

Jake3988: AFTRA does not cover Lost. In fact out ...

2008-04-18T01:47:00.000-07:00

Jake3988: AFTRA does not cover Lost. In fact out of the large number of network primetime programs of any kind, AFTRA only covers three. They also do not cover film. They are most-known for covering daytime programs of various sorts, so if AFTRA settles quickly (as expected by industry watchers) your soaps are safe. Not so for Lost, and not so for primetime.

Well, obviously they'd start at mid-august if they...

2008-04-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well, obviously they'd start at mid-august if they wanted to finish all 16 episodes before they started airing any.

Without any interuption, they could easily start in October i'd imagine.

Furthermore, unlike the writers strike... they can still write and can dive into filming very quickly.

But they have been saying on the news (repeatedly) that the AFTRA, which represents the tv actors, is much more willing to end it very soon than the SAG.

So, hopefully that happens :)

Lost in its renewal seasons has always begun filmi...

2008-04-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

Lost in its renewal seasons has always begun filming in the latter half of August AFAIK. Assuming about 10 days of filming per episode, with 2 days of weekend and the various holidays, 16 episodes would take about 200 days in my guesstimate, probably more. This math is not too accurate, but it works out to a late January start date of weekly broadcasts with no interruptions.

A strike into the summer would continue the current halt in movie production-- the studios have already refused to greenlight films that can't be guaranteed to wrap filming by June 30.

A strike into Fall and beyond would affect primetime television. In the case of Lost, a Season 5 with uninterrupted weekly broadcasts of new episodes would no longer be possible, a (potentially dangerous) hit for ABC's original plan to boost Lost's falling ratings.

Regarding the importance of broad support for a strike, that's hard to gauge. Certainly the WGA strike has been draining to Hollywood, but SAG can entirely choose go its own way. The primary contention is not about wages. It's about residuals in new media distribution, a distribution method which is thought likely to unseat traditional broadcasting in importance. At any rate the acting stars (like writing stars) have wages far above the union minimums, although they certainly will be the most visible faces in the event of a strike.

As to whether the networks in practice would pay the substantial costs inherent in greenlighting pre-production of their entire striking primetime stable (or even just their hit shows) in anticipation of a timely strike resolution is outside my knowledge. Certainly that groundwork needs to be completed before filming commences, so if pre-production doesn't begin until the strike nearly ends, any delay will only be that much longer.

Excellent piece. Is it really August that they sta...

2008-04-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

Excellent piece. Is it really August that they start filming mid-season shows? That surprises me.

Whilst a strike would stop production, it wouldn't...

2008-04-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

Whilst a strike would stop production, it wouldn't stop pre-production.

We all now know that between March and May they can produce 6 episodes of Lost, and between September to November 2007 they produced 8 episodes. If worse came to worse, the strike could go till November, as they could literally have shows written and pre-production pretty much completed.

The SAG strike has a lot less damaging in the immediate term, as it will take less time to get up and running with actors than it would with the creative team. I think SAG will also have trouble gathering the support the WGA did, simply because of the high wages most actors are on. They will have to seriously stress that they are striking for the jobbing actors, and not for themselves.