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It was bad enough having to wait until January to see new episodes of Lost. Now this writers' strike could delay things even further. Give Damon Lindelof props though for standing outside Disney studios with all the other picketers, in the trenches fighting for writers' rights. With contract negotiations up last month, the WGA is holding out for a fair cut of internet usage, sure to be the future of media moneymaking. Lindelof shared his views while crossing the studio's Alameda entrance back and forth.

CraveOnline: What does this strike mean for the current season of Lost?

Damon Lindelof: We wrote eight scripts and edited two shows, so there are six shows that are not being cut and will be in production through Thanksgiving shooting the eighth episode.

CraveOnline: Worst cast scenario, is that an endpoint for the season?

Damon Lindelof: Worst case scenario, there will be no season period. It's sort of like only half the season is written, so it'd be like saying to J.K. Rowling, "Let's take book seven of Harry Potter and break it into two halves. We'll call one book seven and one book eight." She'd say, "But it's not a complete book. Why would you do that?" That's kind of how we feel about it. 

CraveOnline: What's your commitment to the picket? Will you be out here every day months from now?

Damon Lindelof: I'll be picketing as long as we're on strike and wherever the guild organizes us. We're here today, tomorrow. There's going to be a different picket that's going to be announced and I'll be there. We're not working so it's important that we get our faces out here and our message out here.

CraveOnline: What is the vibe you get from studio people and passersby?

Damon Lindelof: I think a turning point is coming soon which is essentially is this sort of a nuisance that we had to deal with for a week or is this our new life? Both on the picket lines and the people driving past. The real effects of a writer's strike are being felt immediately I think, but they'll be felt very profoundly in about two months when all of television shuts down and they lose pilot season. I can only assume that the mood on the other side of the gate is the same that it is out here which is very serious and very somber. It's a sad thing. I don't think either side wants there to be a strike and they're conducting themselves accordingly.

CraveOnline: Do you expect it to go two months or longer?

Damon Lindelof: I don't know. I wasn't here in 1988 so that was a five and a half month strike. I feel that there are only two versions of a strike: one in which we get a deal in the very near future, and the other is one that lasts many months. Certainly until this spring when SAG's contract expires, so we're either running a sprint or a marathon. We just don't know which.

CraveOnline: How are the grips, electricians, and other everyday workers on the set reacting to your strike?

Damon Lindelof: I can't speak for them. I think that they're the first casualties of a labor action like this because we have basically made a decision to go on strike that's going to put them out of a job. I think they're probably supportive in that they are union members themselves and believe in a fair contract, but I'm sure that the idea of what exactly it is we're striking for and about could rub them the wrong way if they don't completely understand the issue. I think a lot of people are asking, "You guys are so fabulously paid, is this strike just about greed? Is it about just wanting more?" In fact, it's not on a couple fronts. The reality is we're going to lose more money by being on strike for just a month than we'd ever make back over our lifetime if they give us the deal that we're asking for in new media. The problem is that we used to make a fair amount of our residual payments, which would provide us with our health care, our pension, everything else as a result of reruns or VHS or international sales. All those things are going away. The future of the business is migrating completely towards the internet so we're basically doing the same thing that the studios are, which is we're trying to take all of our eggs from the old school basket and put them in the new school basket. That really is a very serious issue. Most writers aren't employed anymore beyond the age of 45. It's a young man's business, young man and women's business. Not unlike professional sports teams, we get compensated so well because they don't want to have us working for them that long.

CraveOnline: Do you sense the people in charge are coming around to concerns about the new media deals?

Damon Lindelof: I think that obviously the CEOs are well aware that the business has changed dramatically. Two and a half years ago, I walked into an Apple store and saw Lost and Desperate Housewives and Grey's all over the place in signage and nobody had thought to tell J.J. or Carlton or myself that this was happening. So the companies are well aware that the future of the business is in new media. Now we just have to catch up with them.