Strike Trek

"Star Trek Day" brings out the support as the WGA strike continues.

As reported at Startrek.com, the "Star Trek Day" held on Monday, December 10 on the picket lines at the Paramount gates was well-attended, with an estimate of nearly four hundred in attendance to support the striking writers. Both those involved with the creation Star Trek and fans of the various series made appearances to show their support. Writers in attendance included Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Harlan Ellison, David Gerrold, Ira Steven Behr and many others. Some of the actors on hand were Vaughn Armstrong, Scott Bakula, Walter Koenig, Tim Russ and Brent Spiner. Other well-known attendees included Ronald B. Moore and Michael and Denise Okuda.

Their support was heartening to the strikers. "It really matters when those icons come out to the picket lines," said Cynthia Greenburg, a WGA strike captain for Paramount, "They have no idea of the groundswell of excitement. It really meant a lot for those who walk the line here every day. It really helps to encourage them and give them a pat on the back until we get that contract.”

Harlan Ellison was interviewed while walking the lines and put to rest the rumor that the Guardian of Forever would be used in Star Trek XI, as reported at The Trek Movie Report. "This was another example of why the internet should be bombed out of existence immediately," he said. "Every idiot who in previous days would only have a fanzine, that he would run off on a mimeo, he or she now has a soapbox and anything they hear, whether it's true or not, they report. Some idiot reported that they had taken elements from my City of the Edge of Forever...And this idiot put out that he or she had seen a piece of the script and that they have taken elements from my script. So I went, I said this cannot be. And in fact J.J. Abrams, who is one of my favorite writers, and a brilliant, brilliant writer does not need to steal from me, famous that I may be, he does not need to steal from me. So it turned out to be bullshit. It just...sifted down through the web, and it was not in fact...my inside man at...Paramount had seen the script and said no, that's bullshit." To see the video, head over to the link located here.

As the strike continues, films may be affected, although movies have a longer lead time than television shows and can ride out a strike longer. Talks between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down last week. Shooting on several films has been postponed as a result. "For 2008, the studios are all fine," said Anne Thompson, deputy editor of the Hollywood trade paper Variety. "If anything, they've had too much product in release, so even if they're down a few projects as 2008 unfolds, they'll give themselves a little more breathing room at the box office. It's 2009 that starts becoming the issue."

Star Trek XI is one of the affected films. Paramount Pictures is trying to revive the sci-fi franchise after the failure of the Star Trek: Nemesis movie and the premature cancellation of the last Star Trek TV spinoff, Enterprise. Filming on Star Trek XI continues without the writing skills of screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci. J.J. Abrams is stuck with what is already on the page, unable to do rewrites. "J.J. Abrams, how does he not write?" asked Kim Masters, an entertainment correspondent for National Public Radio. "I don't understand how a WGA writer can turn off the writing part of his brain. You've got people wedged between not wanting to have their work turn out bad and not wanting to undermine their cause."

To read more, head to the articles located here and here.

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