CRIMINAL MINDS: EDWARD ALLEN BERNERO ASKS FOR INPUT.

Criminal Minds: Here is the newest letter from Edward Allen Bernero, Executive Producer of Criminal Minds, to the show's fans:

Hello Again Fanatics –

I’m writing to you on the morning of the 2nd of
January 2008 (that 8 is going to look weird until
February). I want to first say that I hope you all
had a great New Year’s celebration wherever you were
and that the coming year is incredibly prosperous,
exciting and fulfilling in every way. You Fanatics
distinguished yourselves last year as the most
incredible fans and friends of a television show I
have ever come across. Your compassion for, and
dedication to, not only the show but to the people who
make it is peerless, and our gratitude to you and your
families is real and deep. Thank you, thank you,
thank you.

So – as you know --we are still on strike. I’m
fairly stunned by that idea. I believed that at some
point, the people I call ‘partners’ on the other side
of this action would have stepped in and stopped the
ridiculousness at the AMPTP. Would have seen that the
personal relationships that are the heart of this
industry, relationships that took years of nurturing
and care, are being crushed by the vindictiveness of
the AMPTP’s spin machines and ‘tactics’. I thought
that, when even the Wall Street Journal (actually
owned by Rupert Murdoch) reported that the cost to the
companies (of agreeing to EVERYTHING the Guild was
asking for) would be NEGLIGIBLE, someone would step in
and inject some sense into the other side’s position.
That my ‘partners’ would at least ask themselves if
they shouldn’t get Counter and his team of lawyers
back to the negotiating table. This thing can not end
any other way so, every day that their side refuses to
come back to that table is a day in which THEY have
forced the stoppage to go on longer. I have seen much
reporting that this is just business from the AMPTP’s
standpoint, but I think that fundamentally
misrepresents and misunderstands the way our industry
operates because, without personal relationships, the
industry can’t function.

I see that you are forming a petition on this board
asking Les Moonves what he, personally, is doing to
end the strike. I think that’s a good question. I’ve
been surprised to see just how much he and his team
would allow other networks to benefit from a stoppage
that is surely affecting CBS more than any other
network. NBC is even running major advertisements on
television and in newspapers trumpeting the fact that
they have more new episodes than any other network in
January. They are ADVERTISING their benefit to
keeping tens of thousands of people out of work as
well as the competitive edge it gives them over CBS
and CBS doesn’t really seem to care. For some reason,
they are willing to let the fourth place network up
off the mat for a negligible savings. I thought they
were competitors. Confusing? Hell, yeah.

It’s also been shocking and… eye opening.

Eye opening because I really did believe that CBS
thought the relationship and the partnership with
those of us who make their product was real. Clearly,
they have decided that their relationship with the
other members of the AMPTP is far more important.
It’s going to be extremely difficult when this is over
to forget that decision. I don’t really know how
things will be when this situation comes to an end. I
guess a lot of that will depend on events as they move
forward. On who steps in to help end it as opposed
to who continues to act in ways that only prolong this
thing needlessly.

But – enough about the past. Let’s talk future.

I am not going to allow the people who work for me to
continue to be hurt by the AMPTP if there is anything
I can do to stop it. So, I am exploring alternative
ways of funding new vehicles to put everyone back to
work as well as giving you all something to watch.
Great storytelling does not require the AMPTP. It’s
actually kind of exciting that there may be new trails
to blaze in the face of this sobering wake-up call
about where the creative forces behind these shows fit
in the hierarchy of importance to the companies. The
money is there, the interest is there, and we are
going to move forward in every way possible. We have
some exciting ideas and can’t wait to share them with
you.

But I want to start off the New Year with some
questions for you all, the fans of our work. You are
all internet savvy and exactly the audience we’d be
looking for. With that in mind, tell me -- how would
you prefer to get internet entertainment? Would you
prefer paying something like a small, monthly
subscription fee and see content without commercials
(like a cable network), or would you prefer free
downloads that have commercials in them? Would you
prefer very short, three to five minute episodes that
would eventually string together into longer pieces,
or is eight to ten minutes (which would be close to a
traditional act of a television show) doable for you?
Where do you want to watch these stories? At work?
At home? And do you watch the content actually on
your computer screens (on the sites themselves) or do
you transfer it to larger screens with one of the
various devices that make that possible? Would you
download bits as each became available or wait until
there was a number of shot episodes you can watch all
at once.

Don’t feel limited by the questions in your response.
If there’s an alternative way you’d like to see this
happen, post it. We’re open to any suggestions. We
want you all to be a part of this. I guess what we're
saying is, tell us what you want and we'll do
everything we can to give it to you.

Again, Happy, Happy New Year and thank you for
everything that you are.

Ed Bernero