Screenwriter says ‘strike away’ now that he’s got his ‘Shield’ fix

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Screenwriter Ted Griffin (“Rumor Has It,” “Matchstick Men” and “Ocean’s Eleven”) was undecided earlier today about whether he’d attend tonight’s key strike meeting.

“I’ve been on strike for a year and a half. I haven’t worked for a studio in literally that long, so this is like, ‘What? Oh? Everyone else is in the pool? Oh, OK.’ So it doesn’t impact me really one bit. I finished a script last week, which is glorious timing because I may not be able to go and do anything with it for a while. But it’s not really necessarily a big-ticket spec studio item either, so it’s not like I was getting ready to make a lot of money on it. For me, personally, it’s a shrug.

“I read the final episode ever of ‘The Shield,’ which is my favorite series. And so, since they’ve been able to get all their writing done, I say strike away! ... That was the one thing, I was like, ‘I hope the strike doesn’t hit before they can wrap up.’ ...

“As a libertarian, I find it hard to imagine even getting on a picket line. I would never scab out. … I’m about the least politically involved guild member I can imagine.”

-- Jay Fernandez