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Hollywood writers begin strike
05/11/2007 11:51 - (SA)
Los Angeles - US film and television
writers went on strike on Monday, after last-minute talks aimed
at averting the Writers Guild of America's first strike in
almost two decades collapsed.
The strike is expected to shut down many sitcoms and send
popular late-night talk shows such as NBC's The Tonight Show
With Jay Leno and CBS' Late Show With David Letterman,
immediately into reruns because they rely on a stream of
topical jokes.
The members of the union's East Coast arm went on strike at
the designated deadline of 00:01 (0501 GMT).
Their
West Coast counterparts followed them three hours later.
The East Coast walkout led to the collapse of 10-hour-long
talks in Los Angeles between the union and the Alliance of
Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which
represents the studios.
Demands for higher fees
The two sides have been mired in contract negotiations for
months, but hit an impasse primarily over demands by writers
for higher fees, or "residuals," derived from the sale of
movies and TV programs on DVDs and the Internet.
"Notwithstanding the fact that negotiations were ongoing,
the WGA decided to start their strike in New York," AMPTP
president Nick Counter said in a statement.
"When we asked if
they would 'stop the clock' for the purpose of delaying the
strike to allow negotiations to continue, they refused."
A prolonged strike could cost hundreds of millions of
dollars in lost revenues and wages.
Even though studios have stockpiled scripts in preparation
for a strike, production of many sitcoms is expected to shut
down this week since writers will not be able to go on set and
offer last-minute rewrites.
Scripts for next year
The impact on movies is seen as
less immediate since the major studios already have scripts for
next year's projects.
The WGA, which represents roughly 12 000 screenwriters,
said it withdrew its demand for a higher royalty payment on
DVDs, a demand that the AMPTP had last week described as a
"complete roadblock to any further progress."
But it said the
studios refused to budge on such issues as payment for internet
downloads and streaming video.
WGA members in Los Angeles earlier loaded trucks with
picket signs, bottled water and tables to prepare for
demonstrations.
Picket lines will go up at 14 major film and TV
studios including Walt Disney Co's movie operations and ABC
network, Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros., Viacom Inc's Paramount
Pictures, CBS Corp's CBS, and News Corp's Fox.
Union members have been told that picketing is compulsory,
and to hand over unfinished work to the union to ensure that
that there is no furtive writing.
Weekly talk show
The strike poses a dilemma for writers who are also
producers or creators of their shows.
"I have to figure out how to strike and picket myself,"
said Spike Feresten, a former writer/producer on the Seinfeld
show who now has his own weekly talk show on Fox.
"How do you
egg yourself? How does that work?"
The last major Hollywood strike was a Writers Guild walkout
in 1988 that lasted 22 weeks, delayed the start of the fall TV
season and cost the industry an estimated $500m.
Los Angeles economist Jack Kyser said a similar strike now
could result in at least $1bn in economic losses.
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South Africa
