The crowd gathered in front of the Fox offices, maybe better known as Nakamura Plaza from the first Die Hard (Above). Rage Against the Machine's frontman Tom Morello played a few songs, then handed the mike over to Jesse Jackson (I have no idea why he shows up to all these things). Afterwards a few other people spoke, possibly WGAW President Patric M. Verrone and Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg, who were supposed to be there, but I couldn't really hear and honestly was kind of distracted by these guys:
I was standing right next to the writers from The Office, plus Rainn Wilson. They were quite funny and some great entertainment. I overheard Mindy Kaling (The sole female in the picture) say that tons of actors and showrunners had asked to take pictures with her and thank her for what they've done for the strike. (If your wondering Mindy, BJ Novak, and Paul Lieberstein were the first writer hyphenates to not cross the line. All three are both writers and actors and they stuck together and picketed their own show until it was shut down, you can see a video about it here.)

The whole Rally had the feel of a giant reunion. Everywhere you turned there were people introducing people to each other in ways such as this:
"This is Jake, I worked with him on Wish Kid, years ago."
Or people were just walking up saying hi and asking "What are you working on these days?" (The answer there is "The Picket Line" Ba-Da Ching! It's super late as I add this, so just go along with it) But all in all it was just a feeling of joy, excitement, and for the most part, fun. I'm glad I could be a part of it and go out and make some new friends/acquaintances with people I'd never have meet otherwise.

One person I was lucky enough to met today was the one and only Joss Whedon. I had made a point to look for Joss as I was marching, as I'd heard he'd been out several other days as well. Sure enough he passed by me while I was making the loop that was the picket line (or picket blocks as it were) I waited a minute then introduced myself and asked if I could get a picture. He said sure and after we took the picture(seen below) he talked with me for a few minutes. One thing we discussed was his return to television, something I've been hoping for for some time as his other 3 shows are among my favorite shows ever. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly) He said he too was looking forward to his return to television and it was seemed to me he was itching to get to writing his new show, Fox's Dollhouse. And it was clear how much the strike meant to him as he was out striking even though he was clearly feeling very sick.


According to one writer I talked to at least one showrunner doesn't think the strike will end anytime before January. Which means a lot more picketing, and possibly more rallies at other studios. Some of which I hope to be at.

Now I have to admit, I did use some of my time down at the rally getting to met some people and taking some pictures, enjoy:

Muhney may be the nicest person I've ever met in the industry. He was genuinely happy to talk to me, sharing his hopes for the strike to end soon, as he has a pregnant wife. I mentioned I too had a pregnant wife and we spoke for a couple of minutes about that. He told me about his new show Family Practice which was supposed to go into production in January, but now who knows. He said he was looping for CSI:Miami today a few blocks away and just decided he had to come out and show his support. Although he played a complete jerk on Veronica Mars, he's nothing like that in real life.

Labels: Strike