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Economic costs mount from strike
22/11/2007 12:04 - (SA)
Los Angeles - The Hollywood writers
strike against major studios will cost at least $21m a
day in television production spending alone and idle 10 000
workers if it lasts much longer, experts said on Wednesday.
The latest estimate, which accounts only for lost wages and
other production costs in the Los Angeles area, came as the
strike entered its 17th day amid hopes that renewed contract
talks next week could end the labour dispute by Christmas.
"If they work real hard at it, I think they could get
a deal by the end of next week," said veteran entertainment
lawyer and former studio labour negotiator Howard Fabrick.
The 12 000-member Writers Guild of America and the Alliance
of Motion Picture and Television Producers, agreed last week to
return to the bargaining table on November 26.
'Hopes are hight'
Fabrick noted the two sides have imposed a media blackout
on upcoming talks, offering "the best evidence they are there
to seriously sit down, make a deal and get it done quickly."
Added Andrew Wallenstein, deputy editor for The Hollywood
Reporter, "Hopes are high and certainly the stakes are higher,
which could point to a resolution sooner than later."
The parties have not held formal negotiations since
last-ditch talks broke off in late October.
The strike began
On November 5 amid a flurry of finger-pointing, posturing and angry
rhetoric on both sides.
The negotiations foundered mostly on differences over the
writers' demands for a greater share of revenues from the
internet, widely seen as the future distribution pipeline of
choice for filmed entertainment.
Television bears brunt
The biggest initial impact was felt in TV where several
late-night talk shows were immediately thrown into reruns and
work on many prime-time comedies and dramas ground to a halt.
Experts say production on most prime-time shows will come
to a standstill by the end of November, and development of new
shows will soon be in disarray unless the strike is settled.
FilmL.A. Inc, a non-profit group that handles production
permits for the city, estimates the TV industry stands to lose
$21.3m a day from shutdowns of 65 prime-time broadcast
and cable shows that are shot in the Los Angeles area.
Those shows - 44 one-hour dramas and 21 half-hour sitcoms
- collectively employ well over 10 000 people whose loss of
income will ripple through the local economy, FilmL.A.
President Steve MacDonald said.
"Those are 10 000 people who aren't getting paid, so they
aren't spending money like they normally do in their
communities," he told Reuters.
Dozens of late-night shows affected
Those 65 series account for at least 80 percent of all
prime-time scripted programmes produced nationwide, he said.
Not
included are dozens of late-night shows, soap operas and
daytime talk shows that also are affected by the strike.
The Hollywood Reporter forecast more dire consequences for
the industry that generates $80m a day directly for the
Los Angeles economy.
The newspaper forecasts at least 33 000
workers could be idle by early next month under a strike.
A 1988 WGA walkout lasted 22 weeks and cost roughly $500m in the Los Angeles area alone.
Economists said 19 000
TV and film jobs were lost in the first month of that strike.
Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic
Development Corp, said losses already extend beyond those
directly impacted by the strike with restaurants, dry cleaners,
car services and other businesses feeling the pinch.
- Reuters
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