The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, It Will Be Downloaded

The writers' strike continues in its third week here in LA. As a show of support, yesterday I went to the Solidarity Rally in Hollywood.

Some photos and quick impressions follow after the jump:

We gathered on the corner of Ivar and Hollywood Blvd. I met up with one of my fellow actor friends, Larry Sullivan:

Larry, it turns out, knows over 3,000 people. Most of them were at the rally.

We also connected with another classmate from our Stephen Book training, Gabi Eubank.

Gabi's the blonde with the big bust. Errr... Gabi's the one on the right.

After a short performance by Alicia Keys and a bit of standing around waiting for someone with a bullhorn to shout directions at us, the march got underway:

A protest march by writers is somewhat genre-defying. Although these people are passionate in their fight (and rightly so) writers tend to be a nebbishy lot so you don't get a lot of over-the-top shouting or chanting. I wouldn't even characterize it as outright rage so much as the simple, stern insistence that they get a fair deal.

Regardless of the passion on display, there was a sizable turnout. It was hard for me to judge just how many people were there because we were on the tail end of the march. (The WGA says there were over 4,000 people in attendance.) It's a testament to the size of the crowd that we couldn't see all the way to the front.

Two people I did see were Jack Coleman and Tim Kring of Heroes. Tim Kring is picketing the show he created and runs. He stands to lose a lot of money if Heroes dies due to the strike. Jack, for that matter, has no financial incentive to walk the line other than the fact that the writers are currently fighting the same issues SAG will be facing in June.

The whole thing culminated in some speeches in front of the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater. I didn't snap many pictures since we were on the fringe of the whole thing. (How many pictures can you take of people holding up picket signs?) I did run across this guy:

I don't know if he's a laid-off extra from the ThunderCats movie or the local union steward of the AFL-CIO (American Furry Lovers-Cosplay Interaction Organization). In any case he made Grauman's local Spiderman look like a Halloween poser.

In the end, I was glad I went. I feel it's important to lend my support to the writers since all of us creative types are standing at the threshold of the new digital age. After getting screwed on cable and DVD, this is the time to make a stand.

I'd like to contribute in a more personal way, maybe by walking the picket line or something. At times I felt like just another faceless red shirt in the crowd.

But then again, you need a lot of shirts to make a crowd.

-Tom, who notes: if you want to show your support, consider making a contribution to www.pencils2mediamoguls.com. It's only a dollar!

SPECIAL BONUS PHOTO:

Art-house hip or porn-producer scary? You be the judge.