It won’t affect current TV shows and movies for a while, but the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East, representing 12,000 writers, might go on strike Nov. 1. Negotiations continue between the guilds and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the makers of films and television programs. The writers are looking for payment of residuals for new media outlets like movies on the Internet. The producers don’t want to pay residuals until they have recouped the costs of making the movies. Knowing how creative bookkeepers in Tinseltown can be when it comes to when a movie breaks even, this might be a bitter fight. And, down the road, The Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild contracts expire in June. George Clooney and Brad Pitt would look just swell on a picket line. In anticipation of the strike, producers have been backlogging as much product as possible, by green-lighting projects quickly to get them completed before the possible strike.
Here’s hoping that the two sides find a way to just get along before we get a new bunch of “unscripted” shows.