Hollywood writers in last-ditch bid to avert strike
Last-minute talks were today under way in a bid to avert an all-out strike by Hollywood scriptwriters.
The screenwriters’ union had set a deadline of midnight local time (8am Irish time) for a final deal to break the deadlock and with just hours to go, there were glimmers of hope of a resolution.
The union wants more cash for the writers of films, television programmes and advertisements and had submitted a claim which they estimated was worth 100m (£70m) more over the next three years than management had originally offered.
A strike would paralyse America’s entertainment industry and if it went ahead would be likely to lead to an all-out strike by actors, who have a similar outstanding claim.
As the deadline approached, both sides were behind closed doors in Hollywood trying to thrash out a deal.
But there were signs of hope, as the Screenwriters’ Guild had not put in place the mechanism for a ballot to approve the strike by its 1,100 members.
The move means there will be no immediate walk-out today and writers would be able to work without a contract until the ballot took place.
Writers claim they earned 1.2bn (£840m) last year and calculate their claim will give them 99.7m (£69m) over the next three years.
But the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents bosses, say the demand would equal $227.4m (£158m) over three years - which they are not prepared to pay.
The claim centres on earnings after film and television shows get shown after their first screening in the United States.
Shows such as Friends, Frasier and The Sopranos rake in cash for their makers by being sold overseas, being packaged as videos and DVDs and being re-run in the United States, revenues which the writers claim they are missing out on.
The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists claim they are also missing out on the lucrative deals being made by the American studios.
Between them, the unions want to get what bosses claim could be as much as $1bn (£700m) more each year from ‘‘residuals’’ - the profits made when rights are sold abroad and shows are re-run.
Re-writing the basis of contracts for writers and actors would also shift the balance of power in Hollywood - which insiders say is the sticking point for studios, not the cash involved.
A writers’ strike would end shooting of hit shows quickly, as there are few scripts in reserve - with reality television the winner.
Anne Robinson’s Weakest Link is one of the programmes which would prove to be a winner.
Reality television and repeats would dominate American television, with a new Big Brother, another version of the hit Survivor series, and more quiz shows being made.
