In normal times, writers work with actors, directors and others to continually tweak dialogue and action.
"You want the original writer doing that," said Barry Josephson, producer of the current hit Enchanted. "That voice is what compelled you to move forward with the project, that voice is what brought the director to the movie and the stars. So you want that writer." Ad-libbing on set is common in Hollywood, particularly in comedy.
But directors, especially those who are Writers Guild members, have to be very careful to avoid any coaching of actors that could be characterized as writing.
Hundreds of screenwriters, including directors such as Judd Apatow (Knocked Up) and Bill Condon (Dreamgirls), have attached their names to a pledge on the Writers Guild Web site in which they vow to not write a single word "until all writers get a fair and reasonable deal." The second name on that alphabetical list is J.J. Abrams, creator of Lost and the director of the new Star Trek flick, with a fresh cast playing Kirk, Spock and the other characters from the original 1960s sci-fi series.
Due out on Christmas Day, the Trek film began shooting in November and continues through March, without the on-set assistance of screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci.
Abrams is no slouch at writing himself, yet his hands are tied if he runs across something that sounded good on the page but not in front of the camera.
"J.J. Abrams, how does he not write?" Masters said. "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." Abrams' film is vital for Paramount Pictures, which is trying to revive the sci-fi franchise after 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis flopped and the last TV spinoff, Enterprise, suffered early cancellation.
The picket line Monday outside Paramount took on a "Trek" theme, with guild members wearing T-shirts quoting a line from Spock: "Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." One strike member carried a sign reading, "Beam us down some justice." "This is really corporate greed vs the creative people," George Takei, who played helmsman Sulu in the original Star Trek, said outside the Paramount gates. "The story originates in the minds of the writers." Screenwriters Orci and Kurtzman have visited the Star Trek set a couple of times "as fans, but we're useless," Orci said outside Paramount on Monday.
"We haven't touched a line," Kurtzman said, "and we won't." Angels & Demons writer Goldsman said he was on set every day for his latest film, the Will Smith sci-fi tale I Am Legend, which opens today in Taiwan. As a plague survivor who might be the last man on Earth, Smith says little, and the scant dialogue in the film was carefully honed as shooting progressed, Goldsman said.
Work on I Am Legend might have been halted if the strike had hit during filming, Smith said.
"For a movie this size, we'd probably most likely just shut down and wait it out," Smith said. "You don't want to be in the US$100 million movie range and not have every opportunity to get it right."
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