Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Credit
Appeared in Le Nouvel Observateur, November, 2007.
Welcome to "Debtors Anonymous"
AMERICA HOOKED ON CREDIT
More than 2 million Americans could loose their houses in the months ahead victim to risky mortgage loans, the infamous 'sub primes'. But that is only the visible part of the debt: bank cards, student loans, loans against salary make up the reverse side of the American Dream.
From our correspondent in San Francisco
Dominique Nora
There are ten of them. Six women and four men, sitting in a circle in a small meeting-room in the basement of St-James Episcopal Church, San Francisco. It is six o'clock, the tea kettle whistles, the meeting begins. Ann, in an azure blue suit, a timer in hand, oversees a strange ceremony: a prayer, a few readings... then comes the time for "sharing". Max, an anguished forty-something who until then had looked at his running shoes, goes first: Good evening, my name is Max, and I am a compulsive borrower and spender". "Good evening Max" answers the Assembly warmly. "I really needed to come here tonight. I am more than 10 000 dollars in arrears. It is awful, I can't even manage to keep cash in my pocket..." Here the talk is not of God, but of money: on the door, a sign with the initials DA for... Debtors Anonymous. Debtors Anonymous is a self-help group for people excessively in debt, founded in 1976 by x-members of Alcoholics Anonymous. For the city of San Francisco alone, the association holds seven meetings per week. Now it is Mary's turn, with a sweet look in her eye ands a ravaged face: "For months, I was abstinent. I was even able to save a bit of money to go visit my mother, ill in Chicago", she recounts. "But for the last two weeks, I have fallen back: I too have large medical expenses, and am facing an operation..." Insufficient salary, lack of medical insurance, divorce, unemployment, university fees, new house, new car: through the glimpses into the lives of these DA members one sees the difficulties of middle-class America. 19:15 hours: standing, in the center of the room, with clasped hands, the participants conclude: "We will come back...because this helps us!" What is actually at work, at bottom, is hyper marketing in an American society, where there is pressure on individuals to engage more debt, to borrow ever-more, often beyond reasonable limits. "The culture of debt is very different in the united States from that in continental Europe", explains Nicolas Marin, formerly with HEC (commercial studies) but now a mortgage agent in the San Francisco Bay area. "Here the idea is not to pay back, but rather to surf on ever-larger loans, while profiting from one's holdings. When markets turn, this form of leveraging multiplies losses, just as it works to create wealth in good times." Over-indebtedness is the reverse side of the American Dream. The hidden face of optimism and risk-taking, which are the powerful motors for the national economy.
Zelda Johnson is not acquainted with DA. For her, it is already too late. Eighteen months after having purchased the house of her dreams, in the small town of Concord, Zelma has lost her savings...and her house. She is not alone: some 2, 2 million American households, victims to the crisis in mortgage lending risk loosing their homes, according to the Center for Responsible Learning, an association working for stronger federal regulation. And this is only the beginning: "In 2007, 12,9% of American households had a house whose value is less than the amount of the loan against it. In 2008, they will be 25,4% projects the First National Bank. The entire planet worries on the possible effects of this mortgage time- bomb. Worse, this is but the tree hiding the forest of debt contracted by American households. The other culprit? A or rather many credit cards. "86% of applications for personal bankruptcy involve credit card debt", according the the professional "Nilson Report". Americans were saving on the average 11,1% of disposable earnings in 1985. For the first time since the Great Depression, this rate is negative in 2005, at-0,5%, according to the American Commerce Department. The trend reversed itself during the 1980s, with de-regulation of financial services. The growth of this credit card debt "is a reflection of the shift of economic power of industry toward the banks. It is now more lucrative to finance consumption, than to produce manufactured goods" puts forward Robert Manning, professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, in his book "Credit Card Nation".
In effect, contrary to French practice where expenses are automatically re-embursed at the end of the month, a credit card in America, literally, creates debt. One can run up some 15 000 to 35 000 Euros in expenses, with an average exorbitant rate of 18% (the maximum rate varies from State to State) and only pay back a small portion each month. The United States are responsible for over half of all bank card transactions, as opposed to one quarter in Europe. Americans are actually shooting up on plastic. Robert Manning claims there are 1,5 billion credit cards in circulation in the U.S.: on average, 10 per person! Credit card unpaid balances account for over one third of consumer loans and are bring in a fortune to the banks. Abuses start at university. The banks do not hesitate to recruit agents on campus, and lure students with gifts. California recently passed a law forbidding offering t-shirts or pizzas! Indeed, universities themselves often unroll the red carpet. 52 000 new students at the university of Minnesota thus received a U card in September, which serves as an identity card, a library card, but also a credit card if they open an account with TCF Financial Corp. A privilege this regional bank payed 28 million Euros. The banks await the students with hard penalties. The 18-24 crowd thus pay 3 Euros in penalty for every Euro unduly spent! "This is the reason we have a pre-paid card, which refuses the transaction if there is not enough money in the account", explains Patrice Peyret, founder of Plastyc Inc., which puts out cards for adolescents and young American adults.
"No credit? Bad credit? No problem!" one merely has to land in the U.S., open a bank account, or buy a pair of running shoes on the Internet to be constantly harassed with loan propositions on the telephone, by mail, by e-mail. A predatory form of marketing whose principal victims are fragile populations: the unschooled, immigrants, the young, the old...In his documentary "Maxed Out", James Scurlock tells of indebtedness dramas: a mother who commits suicide, a young man who turns into an assassin, a soldier emprisoned for having spent wildly on a professional card. Poorer Americans are millions to frequent Pay Day Loans, walk-in shops which - against a post-dated check - will advance cash no questions asked. "Normally, one takes 15 dollars on a 100 dollar loan", tells Rebeca Flippo, a retired worker from such a shop in Virginia. " Clients think they will only come to us once...But, in general, they cannot pay back, and must once more pay 15 dollars, the following month, to keep the same loan..." An usurious rate, which, by end of year, may have cost up to 400% the borrowed amount! In total, Pay Day boutiques take in 3 billion Euros in commission every year. More surprising, even in affluent circles, Americans are often strapped for cash. "When I created my first enterprise in Silicon Valley, I was surprised to learn one had to give out pay checks every fifteen days. Once, I was five days late, and there were serious problems for certain engineers", recounts French entrepreneur Patrice Peyret. Over-spending is a way of life Big is better! It is the adage found in publicity spots, taught in commerce schools, encouraged by the White House. It is a question of status: in the United States, one is judged by how much one weighs, what one exhibits.
THE BROKEN DREAM OF ZELMA JOHNSON
In May 2006, following her dream, Zelma Johnson bought for 420 000 Euros a house with 3 bedrooms in Concord, in the eastern part of San Francisco Bay "Garage, ecnlosed garden: everything was perfect to create a daycare center", tells this 49 year old black woman, sitting on the stairs of a pastel blue house. Zelma "only" has 25 000 euros, and no salary since she just quit her job as an employee? No problem! A mortgage broker, "a friend" she believed- put together a loan over 30 years for the totality of the sum. Payments? 2 900Euros per month!
"At the time, I thought it could be done", says Zelma. "By taking care of eight childrn, I would have made 8 000 dollars (5 600) Euros per month"...
This is a high-risk mortgage, one of those infamous sub primes, as are over 20% of new loans in the United States, in 2005 and 2006. At that time, real estate was rising continually. To such an extent that lending banks - which would immediately re-sell the risk on credit markets - come to relax their criteria to an extreme extent. And Americans start using their houses as giant money machines. "The more their houses appreciated, they would contract loans on the potential plus-value involved. Confusing this debt for capital, they would spend it on consumer goods", explains the financier Nicolas Marin. Zelma Jones, for her part, meets which a string of bad luck: the work done on her house is over-budget and late, eating up all her savings. The bank refuses a crucial loan, on which she was counting. And she finds only three children to baby-sit instead of the anticipated eight. From October 2006 on, incapable of paying her debts, she is hounded by payment agencies, and a target for late penalties. In July 2007, "her" house is re-possessed by the crediting bank..for 280 000 Euros. The unfortunate entrepreneur - still in the red - lives in fear of expulsion.
Welcome to "Debtors Anonymous"
AMERICA HOOKED ON CREDIT
More than 2 million Americans could loose their houses in the months ahead victim to risky mortgage loans, the infamous 'sub primes'. But that is only the visible part of the debt: bank cards, student loans, loans against salary make up the reverse side of the American Dream.
From our correspondent in San Francisco
Dominique Nora
There are ten of them. Six women and four men, sitting in a circle in a small meeting-room in the basement of St-James Episcopal Church, San Francisco. It is six o'clock, the tea kettle whistles, the meeting begins. Ann, in an azure blue suit, a timer in hand, oversees a strange ceremony: a prayer, a few readings... then comes the time for "sharing". Max, an anguished forty-something who until then had looked at his running shoes, goes first: Good evening, my name is Max, and I am a compulsive borrower and spender". "Good evening Max" answers the Assembly warmly. "I really needed to come here tonight. I am more than 10 000 dollars in arrears. It is awful, I can't even manage to keep cash in my pocket..." Here the talk is not of God, but of money: on the door, a sign with the initials DA for... Debtors Anonymous. Debtors Anonymous is a self-help group for people excessively in debt, founded in 1976 by x-members of Alcoholics Anonymous. For the city of San Francisco alone, the association holds seven meetings per week. Now it is Mary's turn, with a sweet look in her eye ands a ravaged face: "For months, I was abstinent. I was even able to save a bit of money to go visit my mother, ill in Chicago", she recounts. "But for the last two weeks, I have fallen back: I too have large medical expenses, and am facing an operation..." Insufficient salary, lack of medical insurance, divorce, unemployment, university fees, new house, new car: through the glimpses into the lives of these DA members one sees the difficulties of middle-class America. 19:15 hours: standing, in the center of the room, with clasped hands, the participants conclude: "We will come back...because this helps us!" What is actually at work, at bottom, is hyper marketing in an American society, where there is pressure on individuals to engage more debt, to borrow ever-more, often beyond reasonable limits. "The culture of debt is very different in the united States from that in continental Europe", explains Nicolas Marin, formerly with HEC (commercial studies) but now a mortgage agent in the San Francisco Bay area. "Here the idea is not to pay back, but rather to surf on ever-larger loans, while profiting from one's holdings. When markets turn, this form of leveraging multiplies losses, just as it works to create wealth in good times." Over-indebtedness is the reverse side of the American Dream. The hidden face of optimism and risk-taking, which are the powerful motors for the national economy.
Zelda Johnson is not acquainted with DA. For her, it is already too late. Eighteen months after having purchased the house of her dreams, in the small town of Concord, Zelma has lost her savings...and her house. She is not alone: some 2, 2 million American households, victims to the crisis in mortgage lending risk loosing their homes, according to the Center for Responsible Learning, an association working for stronger federal regulation. And this is only the beginning: "In 2007, 12,9% of American households had a house whose value is less than the amount of the loan against it. In 2008, they will be 25,4% projects the First National Bank. The entire planet worries on the possible effects of this mortgage time- bomb. Worse, this is but the tree hiding the forest of debt contracted by American households. The other culprit? A or rather many credit cards. "86% of applications for personal bankruptcy involve credit card debt", according the the professional "Nilson Report". Americans were saving on the average 11,1% of disposable earnings in 1985. For the first time since the Great Depression, this rate is negative in 2005, at-0,5%, according to the American Commerce Department. The trend reversed itself during the 1980s, with de-regulation of financial services. The growth of this credit card debt "is a reflection of the shift of economic power of industry toward the banks. It is now more lucrative to finance consumption, than to produce manufactured goods" puts forward Robert Manning, professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, in his book "Credit Card Nation".
In effect, contrary to French practice where expenses are automatically re-embursed at the end of the month, a credit card in America, literally, creates debt. One can run up some 15 000 to 35 000 Euros in expenses, with an average exorbitant rate of 18% (the maximum rate varies from State to State) and only pay back a small portion each month. The United States are responsible for over half of all bank card transactions, as opposed to one quarter in Europe. Americans are actually shooting up on plastic. Robert Manning claims there are 1,5 billion credit cards in circulation in the U.S.: on average, 10 per person! Credit card unpaid balances account for over one third of consumer loans and are bring in a fortune to the banks. Abuses start at university. The banks do not hesitate to recruit agents on campus, and lure students with gifts. California recently passed a law forbidding offering t-shirts or pizzas! Indeed, universities themselves often unroll the red carpet. 52 000 new students at the university of Minnesota thus received a U card in September, which serves as an identity card, a library card, but also a credit card if they open an account with TCF Financial Corp. A privilege this regional bank payed 28 million Euros. The banks await the students with hard penalties. The 18-24 crowd thus pay 3 Euros in penalty for every Euro unduly spent! "This is the reason we have a pre-paid card, which refuses the transaction if there is not enough money in the account", explains Patrice Peyret, founder of Plastyc Inc., which puts out cards for adolescents and young American adults.
"No credit? Bad credit? No problem!" one merely has to land in the U.S., open a bank account, or buy a pair of running shoes on the Internet to be constantly harassed with loan propositions on the telephone, by mail, by e-mail. A predatory form of marketing whose principal victims are fragile populations: the unschooled, immigrants, the young, the old...In his documentary "Maxed Out", James Scurlock tells of indebtedness dramas: a mother who commits suicide, a young man who turns into an assassin, a soldier emprisoned for having spent wildly on a professional card. Poorer Americans are millions to frequent Pay Day Loans, walk-in shops which - against a post-dated check - will advance cash no questions asked. "Normally, one takes 15 dollars on a 100 dollar loan", tells Rebeca Flippo, a retired worker from such a shop in Virginia. " Clients think they will only come to us once...But, in general, they cannot pay back, and must once more pay 15 dollars, the following month, to keep the same loan..." An usurious rate, which, by end of year, may have cost up to 400% the borrowed amount! In total, Pay Day boutiques take in 3 billion Euros in commission every year. More surprising, even in affluent circles, Americans are often strapped for cash. "When I created my first enterprise in Silicon Valley, I was surprised to learn one had to give out pay checks every fifteen days. Once, I was five days late, and there were serious problems for certain engineers", recounts French entrepreneur Patrice Peyret. Over-spending is a way of life Big is better! It is the adage found in publicity spots, taught in commerce schools, encouraged by the White House. It is a question of status: in the United States, one is judged by how much one weighs, what one exhibits.
THE BROKEN DREAM OF ZELMA JOHNSON
In May 2006, following her dream, Zelma Johnson bought for 420 000 Euros a house with 3 bedrooms in Concord, in the eastern part of San Francisco Bay "Garage, ecnlosed garden: everything was perfect to create a daycare center", tells this 49 year old black woman, sitting on the stairs of a pastel blue house. Zelma "only" has 25 000 euros, and no salary since she just quit her job as an employee? No problem! A mortgage broker, "a friend" she believed- put together a loan over 30 years for the totality of the sum. Payments? 2 900Euros per month!
"At the time, I thought it could be done", says Zelma. "By taking care of eight childrn, I would have made 8 000 dollars (5 600) Euros per month"...
This is a high-risk mortgage, one of those infamous sub primes, as are over 20% of new loans in the United States, in 2005 and 2006. At that time, real estate was rising continually. To such an extent that lending banks - which would immediately re-sell the risk on credit markets - come to relax their criteria to an extreme extent. And Americans start using their houses as giant money machines. "The more their houses appreciated, they would contract loans on the potential plus-value involved. Confusing this debt for capital, they would spend it on consumer goods", explains the financier Nicolas Marin. Zelma Jones, for her part, meets which a string of bad luck: the work done on her house is over-budget and late, eating up all her savings. The bank refuses a crucial loan, on which she was counting. And she finds only three children to baby-sit instead of the anticipated eight. From October 2006 on, incapable of paying her debts, she is hounded by payment agencies, and a target for late penalties. In July 2007, "her" house is re-possessed by the crediting bank..for 280 000 Euros. The unfortunate entrepreneur - still in the red - lives in fear of expulsion.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Perez Hilton
I've been following the Britney Thing on Perez Hilton. One aspect that everyone is overlooking is that the young hip father, K-Fed, is actually taking care of the two toddlers while mom goes out for lunch in her Mercedes. Sounds progressive to me...
There is a very hot piece of music, which Perez picks up from U-Tube, Travis Barker playing drums over Flo Rida's Low. A great thing to do: making use of U-tube. Low is currently number one in the U.S., one of those perfect musical moments one can listen to again and again. The lyrics are quick-fire and undoubtedly hell to perform live. They are also cryptic but, one guesses, pornographic. It is a cardio workout to dance to.
I'm also a voyeur on the whole Carla Bruni romance with French President Nicolas Sarkosy, which is difficult to avoid. She's quite a good musician, with a pianist mother and composer father according to French magazines: her sense of rhythm is spot-on while she accompanies herself on guitar. There is a video of her smoking on U-tube and this might account for the very raspy quality of her voice. She has a child with philosopher Enthoven, a celebrity of sorts in a French context. His eldest Louise has put out a novel with a character reminiscent of Carla and some unkind affirmations: she has had a lot of work done and is completely plastic . The song lyrics are intelligent and I am a fan, but the perfect face is younger than the songs.
Three books are currently being published about the Presidential-ex Cecilia (real name Cecile). The classic complaint of the ex-wife: he never spent time with the children but for eighteen years always had dinner alone with his files. (Actually they were married for twelve: is she speaking for his first wife?). There is also a shock revelation: Cecilia wanted to run for office herself but the tugs in his entourage nixed the idea. She is not a happy camper!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Schiz
Le Figaro on the Web currently offers three very interesting podcasts on recognizing, treating, and living with schizophrenia. What was new to me in listening to these (16,17 minutes each) is not so much the progress but the greater humanity with which the subject is discussed compared to the days of Ken Kesey' Cuckoo's Nest. Today, the term is recognized as a catch-all for any confused thinking and behavior, for which there is a recognized physical manifestation is either over- or under-activity in various areas of the brain, and it is treated with drugs which alter dopamine (a transmitter of information between neurons) production.
Can it be a passing thing; it is really an illness. Symptoms are quite variable: positive symptoms include hallucinations, voices in the brain; negative symptoms might be a withdrawal from social activity, an inability to function; confusion symptoms include generalized disorder and incoherence. Older forms of medication just blocked dopamine, resulting in stiffness and lack of facial expression. The newer drugs, interestingly, might try to stimulate dopamine presence in certain parts of the brain. People with schiz are helped to function socially, and many attain near-normal lives. The key is treatment: the person's environment has to make sure that those in need receive it, and quickly. Since it is a condition that strikes the young adult, 16 to 30 years of age, it is imperative that no one be allowed to drift into incoherence for years on end. Coming back from that is terribly difficult.
There is a genetic pre-disposition to this illness but no one gene involved: we know that an identical twin has a 50-50 chance of being ill if his sibling is. People born in winter are more likely to develop the illness so that it is thought that a virus affecting brain development might be at work; various environmental traumatisms are suspected as well, physical and moral. Very heavy usage of cannabis before age 16 is a recognized causal factor.
The pods discuss the social aspects of the question in France: some 50% of homeless people are schizophrenic, a good number of people in prison are as well. These people are more likely victims than criminals.
Depression might mask schizophrenia for a while but the two are actually opposite conditions: Depressed people are hyper-sensitive and concerned about their image in the environment. The mentally ill are disconnected.
Those who receive treatment at the behest of their families are often very thankful afterwards: those who receive it as a function of legal enactments less so. A very few commit suicide once they realize how ill they are. Psychological help is needed to help the subject accept that he or she has a psychiatric condition.
Once it has set in, it is a lifelong condition but the subsequent life-progress is dramatically different from what it used to be. The patient has to grieve the passing of certain aspects of self and develop his or her strengths.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Hollywood
From Le Journal du Dimanche (Paris)
Sunday January 6, 2008
HOLLYWOOD MAKES A BAD FILM
by Yasmine Youssi
The decision is in: no high-profile actor will attend the Golden Globes, a ceremony that often presages the Oscars, because of the writers' strike, still on-going on the payments to authors issue. This strike has halted all film-making since December. And a further strike, this one by actors and directors, is set for between now and July.
"You going?" All week the question toured the closed world of Hollywood celebrities. No one knew until yesterday morning whether they would be attending next Sunday, the Golden Globes ceremony, first step to the Oscars. The question is no longer open. No 'people' will walk on the red carpet that night, in solidarity with the Writers' Guild of America (WGA), the powerful union of American writers (12 500) members, on strike for the past ten weeks. No one wants to be seen as 'not- on- board' on this either and risk being black-listed at a further date. Glen Close and David Cronenberg had indicated before all others that they would not cross the picket lines. Steven Spielberg (who was to receive a Golden Globe for his career achievements) reserved his answer for a while, but has now joined his comrades. Yet one still finds a few like John Travolta to argue for a possible near settlement.
The issue is not new. 'The Association of Producers for Cinema and Television refuses to share benefits from digital media', explains Sherry Goldman, representative for the writers who want more value put on their rights in the case of DVDs and films- on- line. In short, for a DVD sold 19.99 dollars, those authors presently getting 4 cents would like a royal 8..."Negotiations are not moving because the striking writers are also concerned with telereality, animation, and so forth", answers back Jesse Hiestand, representative for the producers.
Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Johnny Depp, all deprived of film-making work
From strike to chaos, is but a short step. All the major projects for 2008 have been cancelled. Others seem on the verge. First casualty, Angels and Demons by Ron Howard. Colunmbia had asked Akiva Goldman (I Am a Legend), a highly prized writer, for a script turning the Dan Brown novel into a sequel for Da Vinci Code that would allow Tom Hanks to once again play Professor Robert Langdon. The film was to come out December 19, 2008 and the script was near completion when Goldman went on strike. The studio now foresees a May 15, 2009 opening. Luckily Tom Hanks has accepted no other roles which will allow the filming to begin as soon as possible.
Bruce Willis' overcharged dance card however risks putting-off the filming of Oliver Stones' (member of WGA) Pinkville, to a yet undetermined date. And that if the actor does not bail out of the project. He was meant to play a general asked by the American Army to investigate a massacre perpetrated in Vietnam, in 1968, by a group of GIs. Oliver Stone had planned to go to South-East Asia in December to begin filming. Since it is impossible for him to alter his script, shooting has been suspended. And Bruce Willis is scheduled to film The Surrogate, with Jonathan Mostow, in February.
Johnnny Depp, for his part, was meant to spend the winter in India filming, with Mira Nair, the hero's role in Shantaram, the story of an Australian adventurer. Warners insisted that Eric Roth work on the scenario but he too is now on strike and even if it were to stop, monsoon rains are approaching. Hence a decision to abandon the project for the time being, thus liberating Johnny Depp from his obligations. He would thus be free to accept a role in the next Michael Mann (Miami Vice) film on the life of gangster John Dillinger. Which will start shooting in May. If all goes well.
'The risk is that there will be few new films in the coming years'
Europe is also touched by all this. Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard could quickly pack up and leave. All were meant to play in Nine, a musical comedy by Rob Marshall (Chicago), inspired by Fellini's Eight-and-a-Half. British writer Anthony Minghella ( The English Patient) had been called in to take over the scenario..two days before the strike. So, Marshall has to wait and see.
As a response to what is becoming a crisis, the producers have opted for resistance: 'The writers' union had threatened to close down the movie industry, and are close to having succeeded' is Jesse Hiestand's angry remark. 'But the producers are ready for a long strike'. Especially so since a new strike, that of actors and directors, is looming for July. At that date, they too will be in a position to re-negotiate their collective agreement. And request a greater value be put on their rights...'One risks seeing very few new films in the coming years', predicts Sherry Goldman. February 24, it is Oscar Night which is in danger.
Sunday January 6, 2008
HOLLYWOOD MAKES A BAD FILM
by Yasmine Youssi
The decision is in: no high-profile actor will attend the Golden Globes, a ceremony that often presages the Oscars, because of the writers' strike, still on-going on the payments to authors issue. This strike has halted all film-making since December. And a further strike, this one by actors and directors, is set for between now and July.
"You going?" All week the question toured the closed world of Hollywood celebrities. No one knew until yesterday morning whether they would be attending next Sunday, the Golden Globes ceremony, first step to the Oscars. The question is no longer open. No 'people' will walk on the red carpet that night, in solidarity with the Writers' Guild of America (WGA), the powerful union of American writers (12 500) members, on strike for the past ten weeks. No one wants to be seen as 'not- on- board' on this either and risk being black-listed at a further date. Glen Close and David Cronenberg had indicated before all others that they would not cross the picket lines. Steven Spielberg (who was to receive a Golden Globe for his career achievements) reserved his answer for a while, but has now joined his comrades. Yet one still finds a few like John Travolta to argue for a possible near settlement.
The issue is not new. 'The Association of Producers for Cinema and Television refuses to share benefits from digital media', explains Sherry Goldman, representative for the writers who want more value put on their rights in the case of DVDs and films- on- line. In short, for a DVD sold 19.99 dollars, those authors presently getting 4 cents would like a royal 8..."Negotiations are not moving because the striking writers are also concerned with telereality, animation, and so forth", answers back Jesse Hiestand, representative for the producers.
Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Johnny Depp, all deprived of film-making work
From strike to chaos, is but a short step. All the major projects for 2008 have been cancelled. Others seem on the verge. First casualty, Angels and Demons by Ron Howard. Colunmbia had asked Akiva Goldman (I Am a Legend), a highly prized writer, for a script turning the Dan Brown novel into a sequel for Da Vinci Code that would allow Tom Hanks to once again play Professor Robert Langdon. The film was to come out December 19, 2008 and the script was near completion when Goldman went on strike. The studio now foresees a May 15, 2009 opening. Luckily Tom Hanks has accepted no other roles which will allow the filming to begin as soon as possible.
Bruce Willis' overcharged dance card however risks putting-off the filming of Oliver Stones' (member of WGA) Pinkville, to a yet undetermined date. And that if the actor does not bail out of the project. He was meant to play a general asked by the American Army to investigate a massacre perpetrated in Vietnam, in 1968, by a group of GIs. Oliver Stone had planned to go to South-East Asia in December to begin filming. Since it is impossible for him to alter his script, shooting has been suspended. And Bruce Willis is scheduled to film The Surrogate, with Jonathan Mostow, in February.
Johnnny Depp, for his part, was meant to spend the winter in India filming, with Mira Nair, the hero's role in Shantaram, the story of an Australian adventurer. Warners insisted that Eric Roth work on the scenario but he too is now on strike and even if it were to stop, monsoon rains are approaching. Hence a decision to abandon the project for the time being, thus liberating Johnny Depp from his obligations. He would thus be free to accept a role in the next Michael Mann (Miami Vice) film on the life of gangster John Dillinger. Which will start shooting in May. If all goes well.
'The risk is that there will be few new films in the coming years'
Europe is also touched by all this. Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard could quickly pack up and leave. All were meant to play in Nine, a musical comedy by Rob Marshall (Chicago), inspired by Fellini's Eight-and-a-Half. British writer Anthony Minghella ( The English Patient) had been called in to take over the scenario..two days before the strike. So, Marshall has to wait and see.
As a response to what is becoming a crisis, the producers have opted for resistance: 'The writers' union had threatened to close down the movie industry, and are close to having succeeded' is Jesse Hiestand's angry remark. 'But the producers are ready for a long strike'. Especially so since a new strike, that of actors and directors, is looming for July. At that date, they too will be in a position to re-negotiate their collective agreement. And request a greater value be put on their rights...'One risks seeing very few new films in the coming years', predicts Sherry Goldman. February 24, it is Oscar Night which is in danger.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
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