Man and I thought I was high strung. You can read between the lines of those responses, as you did Scott, and their responses just reek of artery-hardening tension and anxiety.

When people aske me, "why would you desire being a bottom-feeding screenwriter?" I'll answer, "Beats being a white-knuckled studio chief!"

We all say we could pick better movies if we were a studio chief, but the reality is, there are so many components you have to put together, it can go wrong at any of a dozen different stages, and it will have absolutely nothing to do with you. That's why they try to line up everything so mainstream. They're playing the odds to keep their job. And as long as we keep going to these movies, they'll keep making them. There isn't a single risk-taking studio-exec in town anymore. :(

Given the fact that execs were quoted in the NYT as saying they want to end residuals and "...recover their costs before sharing any of the profit with the talent..." (code for "we'll pay them from net profits" -- the biggest scam in this town), the phrase "We are starting to rethink how we pay people" terrifies me.

I mean, look at the current SAG "negotiations". They're about to give away the farm.