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European writers support strike
29/11/2007 11:36 - (SA)
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| Members of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain gather in a protest rally in central London. (Lefteris Pitarakis, AP)
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Jill Lawless
London - European film and television writers demonstrated on Wednesday in support of US colleagues who are striking over payment for work broadcast on the internet and cellphones.
The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since November 5, halting production on many TV shows and movies.
In London, several dozen writers rallied in front of the headquarters of Britain's main union federation holding red-and-black placards saying "We Support the Writers Guild of America."
Mark Burton, a British writer whose credits include Madagascar and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, said the issue at stake was "how you pay creative artists in the digital world."
"Producers see an opportunity to seize more territory for themselves," said Burton, a WGA member whose American projects are on hold.
Payment for internet use
Playwright David Edgar, president of the 2 000-strong Writers' Guild of Great Britain, said that without payment for internet use, writers' relationship to their work was like "the widget-maker's relationship to the widget once it is made - that is, none at all."
Demonstrations were scheduled in several European cities, as well as in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
In Berlin, about 30 scriptwriters and actors gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
"We have a different situation, but we are all banding together and standing together," said German scriptwriter Anne Mueller. "We would like to make it clear how much work goes into a script before a film can be made."
Negotiations between the US union and producers resumed on Monday after weeks of picket lines in front of studios and bitter words traded on both sides. The talks have yet to produce a breakthrough.
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