Writers Will Strike Monday Morning

Posted on November 2, 2007

The Writers Guild will strike on Monday, November 5th at 12:01 a.m. Picket lines will begin on Monday, barring a last-minute deal being reached this weekend -- which seems quite unlikely. Late night television shows will revert to repeats on Monday.

Over the long haul, multiple strikes could lead to a drastic overhaul of the economics of Hollywood. They could redefine the industry's relationship with its highly unionized work force at a time when DVD sales are cooling and changing movie and TV markets have workers and companies alike vying for their perceived fair share of a yet-to-be-identified next digital bonanza.
"I'm afraid that everybody's in for a terrible time," said Norman Lear, the writer, producer and entrepreneur whose career spanned the disruptions of the 1980s � when Hollywood weathered five strikes by its guilds - and the years of relative peace that preceded and followed that tumultuous decade.
The leaders of the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East were expected to order their roughly 12,000 members covered by a contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to stop work and be assigned picket duty when the strike begins.

DVD sales will eventually end, as the WGA well knows. The DVD residuals issue is not the crucial point. The crucial point for the writers is the payment of residuals on new media. Because all media is eventually going to a digital format (downloadable or streamed live to computers, cellphones or PDAs), writers are in a do or die situation.

The next contract signed will govern the rights of writers for years to come. The strike will be tough, but this is the time to make a stand. Stay strong, writers!