WEDNESDAY STRIKE?

Status: Currently writing on The Price of Freedom--Chapter 180.

Doing: Writing this blog; surfing the net; answering e-mails; working out.

Watching: Nothing.

Listening to: "Autumn Tactics" by Chicane

Reading: Windows on a Lost World by V.E. Mitchell (ST-TOS)


TOPIC: RERUNS!!!

Hollywood bracing for writers' strike as deadline looms

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Hollywood writers and producers were locked in negotiations Wednesday to head off a potentially damaging strike threatening to halt film and television production.

A mediator was sitting in on talks between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers in an effort to hammer out an agreement before the current contract expires at midnight.

"Negotiations are ongoing. We are expecting another long day of talking," a spokeswoman for the union told AFP.

Writers are seeking a greater share of residual profits from television series sold on DVDs as well as pay schedules for programs shown on the Internet, cellular phones and other new media outlets.

The producers have rejected the demands as unworkable, raising the possibility of a walkout by writers when their current contract expires.

If the strike goes ahead it is expected to disrupt television programming, with late-night chat shows hosted by David Letterman and Jay Leno, which both lean heavily on teams of union writers, expected to go off the air.

Other nightly shows such as Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" and Stephen Colbert's "The Colbert Report" are also tipped to shutdown, according to Daily Variety.

The immediate impact on major Hollywood studios is expected to be limited as several have already drawn up contingency plans, according to industry reports.

Variety reported on Wednesday that most of the major studios had built a portfolio of five films with scripts and plots strong enough to overcome the possible lack of a union writer on board to execute re-writes.

On Tuesday, talks ended with "no significant progress made", according to a WGA official. As a result, the union was preparing to present a "comprehensive package proposal for review" at Wednesday's meeting.

However, Alliance president Nicholas Counter warned that producers would not buckle in the face of any "unreasonable" demands.

"We are committed to a fair, reasonable and sensible agreement that is beneficial for everyone," Counter said. "However, opportunities do not come without challenges.

"We will not agree to any proposals that impose unreasonable restrictions and unjustified costs. We will not ignore the challenges of today's economic realities, the shifts in audience taste and viewing habits and the unpredictability of still-evolving technology."

Although the WGA has authorized its leadership to call a strike if no new contract is agreed before the existing agreement expires, people familiar with the negotiations say talks could continue if progress is made.

A strike is also unlikely to be called before a WGA membership meeting on Thursday, reports said.

Industry analysts believe that mounting resentment from writers towards management has been building for years and could lead to a lengthy strike.

A WGA strike in 1988 lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry an estimated 500 million dollars. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has warned that a similar strike today could cost the industry almost double.

"If it (cost the industry) 500 million dollars in 1988, a slowdown of that length would have over a one billion dollar impact today," Villaraigosa told the Los Angeles Times. "I'm very concerned."