With all due respect to Churchill, these do seem to be the big questions on the eve of this momentous weekend in the entertainment industry.
You know - questions about the writers strike. The thing that's kept shows like "American Gladiators" far too long on the air (and "24" off the air probably for the rest of the year, and "Grey's Anatomy" MIA.)
Will this weekend's meet be the end? Or the beginning of a long and brutal stalemate?
In the last 12-24 hours, there have been a lot of declarations on both sides (see: Eisner, below.) Some say its over. Some say it ain't over until it's over.
Tomorrow, the writers meet together with the Guild leadership to review particulars of the deal before them. ALL writers on both coasts have been urged to attend, which means a very big and very disparate and VERY noisy meet. Anyone who expects 13,000 people to sing Kumbaya in merry unison is either foolish or ignorant or full of wishful thinking. This strike has caused so much anger and disrupted so many lives - THEIR lives - that it's impossible to imagine perfect unity.
Bottom line: Anything could happen this weekend.
So let's say - hypothetically - I'm a writer whose electricity was turned off a week ago, and who's wondering whether that job at McDonald's will come through.
After so much sacrifice, here are the questions I would want positive answers to this weekend:
1.) Will our DVD rate be increased to 8 cents?
This is what put me on the street in the first place. I've been screwed out of home video and DVD residuals for two decades. All I want is my fair share here - 8 cents. If you tell me we're still gonna get paid 4 cents for ever $19.95 video that's sold then put my vote in the "no" column.
2.) Will we get a 2.5 percent residual on both streaming AND downloads of our shows on the Internet?
If the answer is no, again, then my answer is no, again. What's the point? Wasn't this all about getting our Internet rate (with no distinction between downloads and streaming) the same as our TV residual, which IS 2.5 percent (or 2.5 cents for every dollar the studio gets?) I've read all the press reports - you know, that we'll get this by the third year of our deal - but I'm still confused.
So there you have it, friends. The bottom line (again), and the two numbers (8 cents and 2.5 percent) that drove this strike in the first place. What are the answers? What are the compromises? Will the hardliners outvote those who want to accept the "compromise?" Or vice versa?
In other words, this strike really isn't over until it's over. Let's wait until this weekend to see what happens.