Here's a POV on the Reagan movie "leak" from a pal of mine who is a union red hot, on many committees of the Craft Unions here in town, and who knows the ins and outs. Nice guy but totally union nuts. I asked him about the leak. When reading this keep in mind that run away production, the shooting of movies in Canada with American Actors earning big wages and freezing local union labor out of jobs, is a huge issue. It must be said that the bitterness of the Craft Unions has now crossed over into outright hate directed toward the insanely high paid "creative community". So, leaving out all the fucks, mothers, corporation assholes etc. adjectives, here's his version of the leak.

1. The producers are playing Bush and the White House trying to find the leaker. They have even hired a private dick.
2. The picture was shot in Canada with Canadian crews (that's why no Hollywood leaks) and it is POSSIBLE that an American Craft Union person got a hold of the script from a copy machine or something and made copies that were leaked to the NYT and Drudge.
3. The producers are suspecting anybody American. Meaning they are looking for a neo-con actor, or craft union sympathizer among the thespian set. When they find the he or she that person "will never work in this town again", or so they say.
4. All the Craft Union guys are happy as clams that this happened.

I've inferred from what he said that it was a Craft Union person who "found" a script, but he would take Craft Union credit for it no matter what. But I will tell you this, the Craft Unions are really really pissed at the Directors and Actors over runaway production and fifty years of Screen Actors Guild strike breaking so more of this may happen. They may even sabotage some shoots. This is about to get ugly. Arnold taking a pay cut to keep production of "Terminator Two" in Los Angeles is causing even more anger at those who "run away". This still doesn't explain how a couple of bozos can walk into CBS and orally "pitch" a story, be given $10 million and told to go and shoot it. EVERYBODY, including everybody you ever heard of, has to present a "treatment" on paper for approval and then follow it up with a shooting script that is always looked at by somebody. You have to PROVE that the picture can be shot for the money:

SUIT

How are you going to shoot this "army" scene? 70,000 people. Looks expensive.

HOT PRODUCER

We're gunna get a bunch of Mexican illegals, tell 'em if they run around for us they'll get to be citizens. All it will cost us is water and some warm beer.

SUIT

How you going to shoot this scene where the submarine implodes and everybody dies inside? This has got to cost at least a mil, maybe a mil and a half>

HOT PRODUCER

(leering in a conspiratorial tone)Listen. I got this drug addict over at Universal who's gunna let us in at night to shoot everything there. We'll shoot it and then bill it to "Cat in the Hat". Nobody will know. It'll cost us a few loser actors, some water, and some fuckin' film I am stealing from Paramount.

SUIT

(Eyes shifting carefully)You have a big futre here my boy.

Another way of saying that every scene and every shot is analyzed for cost and content. This whole thing is so fishy I can't tell you. There is nobody I know in this business, and I know tons of people, who believes that this movie was shot with no one at CBS knowing about it. Don't expect any reporters for the LA Times to sniff this out, but somebody somewhere will. Eventually.