Hollywood film and television writers are back at the table with
representatives of US TV networks and movie studios for last-minute
talks on Sunday, according to US media reports.
The Hollywood screenwriters' union declared Thursday that they
would embark on an industrywide strike against TV networks and
movie studios over a bigger slice of profits from DVDs and shows
offered on the Internet.
If union leaders and producers fail to reach a contract
agreement by midnight Sunday, the strike would begin at
12:01?AM Monday morning.
The first picket lines would be seen at New York's Rockefeller
Center, followed by picket lines at various locations in Los
Angeles.
The two sides have been locked in talks over a new contract for
months but have neared an impasse primarily over demands by writers
for higher fees, or "residuals."
Their prior contract expired last week, and the Writers Guild,
or WGA, voted unanimously Friday to begin the strike unless studios
offered a more lucrative deal.
"The studios made it clear that they would rather shut down this
town than reach a fair and reasonable deal," Patric Verrone,
president of the western chapter of the guild, said at a news
conference, according to media reports.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
previously called a writers' strike "precipitous and
irresponsible."
Producers believe progress can be made on other issues but "it
makes absolutely no sense to increase the burden of this additional
compensation," J. Nicholas Counter, the producers' chief
negotiator, said.
It would be the first strike by the members of the Writers Guild
of America in almost 20 years. The last strike lasted 22 weeks in
1988, with industry losses calculated at roughly US$500
million.
(Agencies via Xinhua November 5, 2007)