Will The Writers Walk Out?

Hollywood is preparing for a strike.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have spent the past few days trying to negotiate a new pay agreement. The WGA is asking for a share in the income from programmes that are available on the internet. They also want to double their earnings for DVD sales from four cents to eight cents for each DVD that is sold.

The AMPTP claims that internet streaming is used as a promotional tool to bring in television audiences. For this reason, they say that the writers are not eligible for payment. Concerning the increase in payment for DVD sales, the AMPTP called the proposal "untenable" and said that it disregarded "the costs and deficits that producers must bear".

The WGA will have the results of a strike ballot on October 18. If the WGA and AMPTP cannot come to an agreement, it is possible that the writers will go on strike when the current writers' contract expires on October 31. Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Company and former co-chairman of Miramax, said that writers' demands should be reasonable and that producers "have to understand writers' needs and, without going too far, give them a bump."

Hollywood has been preparing for the strike by stockpiling scripts and accelerating production of shows and movies in an attempt to minimize disruption. The last writers' strike was in 1988 and lasted 22 weeks. The industry losses during that strike are said to have been $500 million. If the writers walk out at the end of this month, it will disrupt the ability of US television networks to prepare for next year's pilot programmes. "A strike that will knock all the pilots out will have a ripple effect," said Steve Katleman, an entertainment lawyer with Greenberg Truarig, which represents writers and producers. The strike would also affect existing popular television shows such as the CSI franchise.

"The entertainment industry is successful and growing like never before," said the WGA. "Writers, whose creativity is at the heart of that success and growth, are committed to sharing in it." The result of the negotiations between the WGA and the AMPTP will affect the talks with actors and directors that will occur next summer when their separate contracts run out.

You can read more about the strike ballot and the talks between the Writers' Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers as Hollywood prepares for a writers' strike.

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