Standing on a stage in a grand old downtown movie palace in
Miami with Andy Garcia and Raymond DeFelitta, the star and the director of my
film, in front of a cheering audience, I had an out of body experience. I had made it to the finish line – my
movie got made, I couldn’t believe it.
Just two days before, it looked like I wasn’t going to
attend the Miami International Film Festival. The producers told me there was no money in the budget for
my plane ticket.
“But my contract says…”
“We’re so sorry.”
“But the MBA says…”
“Yeah. Not
going to happen.”
The production of Rob the Mob had been a great experience
for me. Every morning, the
director and I drove to the set together.
Whatever changes needed to be made in the script, I wrote. After seven years of fitful starts and
stops, I was proud of the final film.
I couldn’t believe I wasn’t going to attend the premiere.
I called my lawyer.
She promised “to get into it.”
Then I called the Guild. Michael Mitrovic was a pit bull (And yes, I believe in
giving credit where credit is due).
He would not stop pushing, negotiating, until finally, two days before
the start of the festival, I got an email offering me a plane ticket and a
hotel room in Miami.
This is a different election than last year. We’re not approaching a contract
negotiation. But the stakes are
just as high. Because how we
prepare today determines how we will fare in our next negotiation.
This year I served on my second Negotiating Committee. I’m
proud of what we accomplished.
Under David Young, Billy Ray, and Chip Johannessen’s leadership, the
Committee turned an initial offer that included over $60 million in rollbacks
into a contract that puts the guild on solid financial footing and made big
gains for all writers.
We ensured the financially solvency of our pension plan by
increasing contributions to 8.5%.
We kept our health plan strong.
No one in the private sector has this kind of health care plan or
pension anymore. I joke that it’s
only Hollywood writers and NBA players. But it’s not really a joke.
We solved the Options and Exclusivity problem – an issue
there was no precedent for.
Television writers were being held under contract with no pay. Writers
were being prevented from earning a living. What? How
is this possible you ask? This
directly affected our newest and most vulnerable writers – and it was the kind
of knotty issue that could have easily been kicked down the road for some
future Negotiating Committee. We
solved a big problem before it became a huge problem.
We doubled the Script Publication Fee. This is something that benefits writers
– especially low budget and Indie feature writers – because this money is paid
to you as a residual.
Why do you care how you’re paid? Because in a world where many writers have agents, managers,
and lawyers taking up to twenty-five percent of your income – your residual is NOT
commissioned. That’s twenty-five
percent more money that goes directly into your pocket.
When I wrote Rob the Mob, I thought I was writing a studio
film. I dreamed of writing Good
Fellas or The Godfather. But my
agent explained, those films would be New York Indies today. This wasn’t the career I thought I was
going to have.
And that’s OK.
Because the WGA has changed with the times. They will actively help members write for low-budget
features. Lifetime paid me to
write Rob the Mob. (“Take the
cash!” my agents urged at the time.
“The Strike is coming!”)
But because of a clause in the MBA, the WGA helped me get the feature
rights back to my film for free .
Over the last two years, I have spoken on WGA panels and
explained to other writers how I got the rights back to my film. Two other writers I know have since
done the same thing. This sharing
of information is critical to all of us.
The Guild should be a clearinghouse for ideas, a central way of
disseminating information. The Guild is not a Union Hall – it doesn’t offer
jobs. But it can teach you the
skills you need to keep you current in the marketplace.
Today, we all must be our own agents, managers, and
producers. And yes, we must
occasionally find some time to write.
There are more opportunities than ever. Amazon and Netflix, basic and premium cable. I watch my film rise and fall on the
iTunes charts (#3 – hooray! #17 –
hmm…)
In the last five years $100 million has been cut out of film
development budgets. Our members
went from reporting over $437 million in earnings in screen in 2009 to $331 million in earnings in
2013. The proposed merger between
21st Century Fox and Warner Bros. would cut earnings even
further. And if this merger
doesn’t happen, another one will…
In this non-contract negotiating year, what can the Guild
do? Lots.
We need CABLE PARITY.
We took a huge leap forward with the gains we made in one-hour dramatic
basic cable. 5%/5%/5% compounded
is great for ‘high budget” dramatic series in their second seasons and
beyond. But what about comedies
and variety shows? The way to
achieve gains is not by lowering our network rates. It’s by raising our basic
cable rates. We gave the networks
a break to get the new medium up and running. It’s up and running.
We need CONTINUING EDUCATION. The Guild needs to sponsor and promote a WGA
University. We all need to be
re-inventing ourselves. I am a
huge fan of the mini-courses that Billy Ray, Craig Mazin, and so many others
have offered through the Guild. In
a rapidly changing world, the Guild can be a powerful clearinghouse for the
ideas that are working, a forum to share our experiences. If you haven’t attended any of these
seminars, I urge you to attend one. If you’ve discovered a new way to get your
project made – I urge you to lead one!
I have told my story of how I took a dead script at Lifetime and turned
it into a feature film that closed the Miami International Film Festival. Now it’s time for you to share your
story.
We need to PROMOTE DIVERSITY. In a city that is minority majority, we need to be telling
everyone’s story. If the job of writer’s assistant is now the path to becoming
a staff writer, then we need to make sure that door is open to all. We’ve had huge success with the
showrunner training program. We
even have a staff writer training program. Why not have a writers’ assistant training program? Let’s make sure that all qualified
applicants have equal access to those career-starting jobs.
The Guild should promote GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT. Wherever a member works – the Guild
should be right there with them.
And while I know I’m supposed to be jumping up and down and
saying what’s wrong with the Guild, let’s take a moment to give a shout out to
the new Guild Screenings. If you
haven’t been – they’re great! I
love the Q & A’s; I love the films that have been chosen. And I love the family screenings. A great example of the Guild changing
and moving forward.
I have worked in Hollywood for over twenty years. I started as Roger Corman’s assistant,
answering his telephones and bailing his dog out of the Santa Monica
Pound. The first feature I wrote
predicted the downfall of the Soviet Union. NPR and CNN interviewed me wanting to know how I predicted
in a Corman movie something that the CIA had missed. I’ve produced movies for Dino De Laurentiis and spent many
years working as a film executive.
My childhood dream came true when I wrote for Star Trek: Enterprise. I am a Harvard graduate who worked in Argentina as a
reporter for the Associated Press.
I am not the richest writer in the Guild. But I am a working writer, who has had
many good years and a few horrible ones.
I make 100% of my earnings as a writer. As so many of us have over the last few years, I have been
forced to re-invent myself. But I
am excited about the future because oddly, I feel we have more opportunities
for our work than ever before – whether its Indie or Studio films, basic cable
or network television or streaming on the Internet – there’s a home for good
material.
I humbly ask for your vote.
In exchange, I promise to fight for all writers.
Jonathan Fernandez
BACKGROUND: Member since
1998. COMMITTEES: Board Nominating
2012; Contract/Strike Captain 2007-08; MBA Negotiating 2011, 2014; New Member
Mentor 2013-14; Officer Nominating 2011.
