Hollywood writers begin first strike since 1988
Associated Press
Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: News
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Film and TV writers resolved to put down their pens and take up picket signs after last-ditch talks failed to avert a strike.
The first picket lines were set to appear Monday morning at Rockefeller Center in New York, where NBC is headquartered.
In Los Angeles, writers were planning to picket 14 studio locations in four-hour shifts from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. each day until a new deal is reached. The contract between the 12,000-member Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producer expired Oct. 31.
Talks that began this summer failed to produce much progress on the writers' key demands for a bigger slice of DVD profits and revenue from the distribution of films and TV shows over the Internet. Writers and producers gathered for negotiations Sunday at the request of a federal mediator. The two sides met for nearly 11 hours before East Coast members of the writers union announced on their Web site that the strike had begun for their 4,000 members.
Producers said writers refused a request to "stop the clock" on the planned strike while talks continued.
"It is unfortunate that they choose to take this irresponsible action," producers said in a statement.
Producers said writers were not willing to compromise on their major demands.
Writers said they withdrew a proposal to increase their share of revenue from the sale of DVDs that had been a stumbling block for producers. "The AMPTP made no response to any of the other proposals that the WGA has made since July," writers said in a statement.
The strike is the first walkout by writers since 1988. That work stoppage lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry more than $500 million.
The first picket lines were set to appear Monday morning at Rockefeller Center in New York, where NBC is headquartered.
In Los Angeles, writers were planning to picket 14 studio locations in four-hour shifts from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. each day until a new deal is reached. The contract between the 12,000-member Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producer expired Oct. 31.
Talks that began this summer failed to produce much progress on the writers' key demands for a bigger slice of DVD profits and revenue from the distribution of films and TV shows over the Internet. Writers and producers gathered for negotiations Sunday at the request of a federal mediator. The two sides met for nearly 11 hours before East Coast members of the writers union announced on their Web site that the strike had begun for their 4,000 members.
Producers said writers refused a request to "stop the clock" on the planned strike while talks continued.
"It is unfortunate that they choose to take this irresponsible action," producers said in a statement.
Producers said writers were not willing to compromise on their major demands.
Writers said they withdrew a proposal to increase their share of revenue from the sale of DVDs that had been a stumbling block for producers. "The AMPTP made no response to any of the other proposals that the WGA has made since July," writers said in a statement.
The strike is the first walkout by writers since 1988. That work stoppage lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry more than $500 million.
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