Though most Hollywood executives were quiet last week as the strike began, former Walt Disney chief executive Michael Eisner showed no restraint in expressing an opinion.
“I’ve seen stupid strikes, I’ve seen less stupid strikes. This is a stupid strike,” Eisner said at the Media and Money conference in New York. “It’s a waste of their time. [The studios] have nothing to give. They don’t know what to give.”
Eisner said the Writer’s Guild is lobbying for a bigger cut of profits from digital distribution and Web video — profits he claims don’t exist.
However, Eisner placed part of the blame on studios and networks for allowing themselves to be strong-armed by Apple and Steve Jobs, its chief executive.
The studios “make deals with Steve Jobs, who takes them to the cleaners,” he said. “They make all these kinds of things, and who’s making money? Apple! They [the writers] should get a piece of Apple. If I was a union, I’d be striking up wherever he is.”
