Hey, All.

As a way to say thank you to everyone who helped pull this thing together and maybe give those who are planning similar events some insight into the things we did right and wrong, I thought I’d give you a re-cap of the few weeks leading up to “The Boston TV Party” with Joss Whedon, Rob Kutner and myself. Meant to do this sooner, but Joss’ wicked cold found a new host (totally worth it) and I’ve been wiped out.

The goal of the event was to give fans a voice in this debate and hopefully inspire more fan-driven rallies like it across the country. I’d like to see us add new cities every week until the AMPTP makes us a fair deal (or at least returns to the negotiating table - hard to make a deal if you don’t actually TALK to the people you’re negotiating with). So… hopefully this will give others a peek into what made this event successful (the fans). I take no responsibility for the accuracy of the ramblings described below because of my currently compromised state of health and generally abominable memory. If you learn, laugh or cry along the way, my job is done.

November 16th

Backstory: My calls to the WGA East about organizing a strike in Boston somehow lead to me being invited to join a subcommittee of the Showrunners Committee devoted to fan outreach. The group includes people like Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, Ron Moore, Jane Espenson and many others with resumes far more impressive than mine. No sign of Ashton Kutcher, so I proceed as if I’m supposed to be here. The pencils campaign (a fan idea) is discussed and put into action. I spout off about wanting to organize fan rallies in cities outside of L.A. and New York, and offer to start with Boston where I live. I am resoundingly punished with a positive reaction, which means I actually have to make it happen. To my pleasant surprise, Joss Whedon hangs out afterward to discuss the notion in greater detail and offers to fly out and join me. It better not suck.

November 20th

I fly home to Boston and contact the WGA East and get a list of Guild members living in New England. I send out an email introducing myself and explaining that I want to put together a strike of local writers and fans. I get a dozen positive responses. It’s a start.

November 28th

We start organizing in earnest with a conference call with Karen Young, strike organizer for the WGA East and Jeff Berman from United Hollywood. Joss is on the call along with Rob Kutner from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. A date is set. Now all we need is a time, a venue, a theme, permits, signs, publicity, and, oh yeah, PEOPLE. And CELEBRITIES, to bring in MORE PEOPLE. We assign tasks and set a call for the following week. It’s dawning on me that this thing is no longer hypothetical. The ball is rolling. So seriously, it better not suck.

December 5th

Another conference call. I propose teaming up with Cambridge Forum, a public affairs lecture/radio program where I was the program manager once upon a time, and everyone seems to like the idea (thank you, Pat, Linda and Jeff for everything). A bonus is they’ll record the event and edit it into a half-hour radio program on NPR. A friend of mine (Kathleen, I owe you) gave me the idea of rallying around the Harvard Lampoon building. I plan a march from the Forum to the Lampoon. Rob Kutner comes up with the title “The Boston TV Party.” We’re all going to try to enlist celebrities to join us. We’re off to the races.

December 6th

Joss has been blogging about the event and I’m contacted by one of his many legions of fan groups, The New England Browncoats. The president, Shelley Hachman, offers to help. When Joss and I first spoke, he said his fans were wicked organized. I had no idea. Within days, Shelley has contacted every Boston media outlet imaginable. I swear, even the freakin’ Penny Saver was calling to get an interview. The local media onslaught begins. (Note to future strike captains: devoted fans are your best friends. Delegate and ye shall receive.)

December 11th

Many front-page articles and news pieces run about the event. These get the attention of Russ Davis at Jobs With Justice, a national organization that does this whole strike/rally thing for a living. He brings in local unions, Marjorie Decker of the Cambridge City council, and more motivated anti-establishment folk to kick things up a notch. Meanwhile, Shelley of the Browncoats has had a flyer designed and distributed. A second very-cool flyer from the WGA East is also created. But we’re still waiting for our BIG CELEBRITY COMMITMENT to really bring in the news cameras. Three days to go. Want to announce it in the press ASAP. Everyone promises to use every contact they have, but I’m losing hope. (Note: Get celebrity commitments EARLY. You’ll get way more sleep.)

December 12th

A hitch. A week ago, the Public Works department said I didn’t need a permit for the rally. Now the police say differently. Without a permit (which it’s now too late to obtain) people could be arrested if they obstruct traffic, sidewalks, etc. A meeting is requested with the police, Cambridge City Council and me. Meanwhile, I have my eye on the weather forecast. A big snowstorm is expected on Thursday, the day before the rally. Mother Nature has decided to add to my stress.

December 13th

10 am

The meeting with the police is somehow avoided by smooth-talking Russ at Jobs With Justice. All seems to be in order. I drop off the strike placards to a local union which had volunteered to put them on pickets. There’s been a misunderstanding. They don’t have the stakes or the manpower to staple them together. I’m on my own to buy the materials and build 125 signs by morning. So much for writing my remarks. (Note about picket sign assembly: Stakes have splinters. Staple guns jam. When un-jamming them, try not to staple your finger down to the bone. Seriously. My daughter Zoe is forever traumatized by my scream.)

Joss makes his 7 a.m. flight out of L.A. That’s a relief. Until my kids’ school announces they’re closing at noon because of the expected snowstorm, due to hit two hours before Joss’ plane lands at Logan. Aw, crap.

4 pm

There’s a foot of snow on the ground and it’s still coming down. And no word from Joss. Finally, he calls to say his plane has landed. It takes him nearly three hours to taxi to the gate and make his way to the Sheraton Commander (thank you, Greg Wheeler for providing discounted rooms). Unfortunately, Joss’ dad has his flight cancelled. We just lost the speaker who was going to illuminate the Strike of ‘88 and introduce Joss. And our big star actor commitment has officially fallen through. I reach a low point.

7:30 pm

A starving Joss and I trudge through the heavy snowfall to dinner at John Harvard’s, an historic brewpub in Harvard Square. We walk the march route and see the rally point. It’s very picturesque, but Joss is wicked sick and we’re both worried that even with all the advance press, we don’t have our big star and the storm could kill us. But we go have some good food and even better beer and talk about the importance of this strike and why we’re here. It’s a bonding conversation, even though it looks likely that the only people who will hear what we have to say may be each other.

10 pm

I start stapling picket signs together, planning to write my remarks as soon as I’m done.

Friday, December 14th - DAY OF RALLY

1 am

I collapse with the signs half-done, remarks still unwritten. Fingers bleeding. Yeah, I’m screwed.

6 am

We get the kids up and off to school with GREAT DIFFICULTY. Why are they the most unreasonable when you’re the most stressed?

9 am

I try to think of my remarks while my wife Kristen helps me madly build the rest of the signs and I load them in the car in a foot of snow. Luckily, the roads are clear when I deliver them to the Meeting House where we’ll be speaking. And to my shock, fans are already arriving.

11:30 am

Rob Kutner’s train from New York is somehow on time. He arrives at the First Parish Meeting House, followed shortly by Joss and we go through the last-minute preparations, press interviews, etc. People are filing inside now. I’m feeling relieved about the size of the turnout, but anxious about having to wing my remarks.

12 noon – Show Time

People are still coming in at 12:15. Fox News shows up for some reason expecting Ben Affleck, then leave when they learn he isn’t here. Cambridge City Council Chairwoman Marjorie Decker introduces us (thank you, Marjorie). I speak first and somehow manage to string some coherent thoughts together. Mostly, I thank the fans for making this event happen and allowing all of us to do what we do for a living. We wanted to give them a venue to be heard and they’re happy to oblige.

Joss goes next and has them eating out of his hand. He remarks that writers have one important thing going for us: studios don’t realize we’re crazy. After all, we create conflict for a living and then find ways to get out of it. That and we have the fans behind us. He does offer to sell out the Guild and cut his own deal, but only if he gets a dragon. The crowd goes wild.

Rob Kutner wraps things up with some great political satire that reminds everyone how much we miss The Daily Show. It’s the perfect way to bring things home before the audience Q&A. The fan questions are on topic and illuminating. With everyone suitably informed and pumped up, we head out into the snow for our march. (Note: Make sure your rally site has been cleared of snow. Ours wasn’t. And there was over a foot of it.)

1:30 pm

Over 300 people chanting “We write, they’re wrong!” flood the streets of Harvard Square. Rob is swallowed in the crowd and the police are antsy, so Joss and I lead the march down Dunster Street. The crowd fills up an entire city block. It’s an impressive sight.

3 pm

We rally around the Harvard Lampoon building. Pizza and doughnuts are served courtesy of the Lampoon and the Browncoats and the crowd is pumped, singing songs, chanting. We announce that everyone’s invited to join us at Pandemonium Books where Stephanie and Tyler have arranged to have a signing. The police allow us to march an additional half-mile down Mass. Ave. to the store. And dang if they don’t chant their hearts out the entire way.

5:30 pm

The line snakes up a flight of stairs, out the door and halfway around the block. Joss is an autograph-signing machine. Rob and I are content to generally bask in the adulation of Joss, and enjoy some spillover when people start asking all of us to sign picket signs and flyers. Lots of photos with fans are taken. (I’m surprised that a number of Eureka fans come out with DVDs, press kits, and the like.) Finally, Rob has to bid everyone farewell to catch his train back to New York. It looks like we should be done soon. But more people keep arriving.

8:00 pm

Five hours later, the last autograph is given. Joss’ hand is numb. He remarks that this ranks up there with some of the biggest signings he’s done. Ever. Shelley, Stephanie and the fan volunteers who helped pull this thing together ask to take us to dinner. We break bread (actually, eggrolls) at a Chinese restaurant up the street and enjoy the post-rally high. More things went right than wrong, and we hope that this small step forward will set a precedent for an ever-growing national movement. Today Boston, tomorrow the Universe. Or at least Universal Pictures.

10 p.m.

Joss and I bid everyone thanks and farewell and walk through the snow back to John Harvard’s brewpub. We have another beer and take a moment to enjoy a struggle well-fought, a day well-lived. We’re exhausted, but honestly, more motivated than ever.

Thanks again to everyone who helped pull this thing together. I know there are people I’ve forgotten to mention, so please forgive me. As we enjoy time with our families over the holidays, let’s all stay motivated, united and organized and force the AMPTP to come back to the table and make us a fair deal so everyone can get back to work. That’s all we’re asking for. Either that, or give Joss his dragon.

In Solidarity,

J.