headbin

MEAA final round

I don't know what it's like to be punched in the guts but today was a little like that I imagine. This was D-Day, the day the Media Entertainment Arts Alliance Board decided what they were going to do, or not do, for Sanctuary.

Not do, as it turned out. We've been to and fro-ing with Simon Whipp, the Alliance Chief Lawyer, since early February and while it was clear that no position would be forthcoming easily we did expect to be able to negotiate.

That was denied. I rang up at 4:30 and was told "The board has decided not to grant the dispensations you seek". I asked what the reason for this decision was. "The board felt that they would not be appropriate." For a re-mixable film ostensiby... I then asked what opportunities for negotiation had been put on the table. "None."

So you're shutting down our shoot? No response. Simon is good that way. A master of the say-little and give prickly silence brigade. I hang up, the only thought running through my head is that two year's of work has arrived at yet another wall and that I've now got a stack of people to ring up and disappoint.

A few hours later and the mood has lifted. Yes, the overall project is in jeapordy. Yes, the chances of hitting our shoot dates are remote. No, we're not giving up just yet. And as for the MEAA... fuck 'em. As the Internet was designed to operate, we'll just have to route around the problem.