LA faces meltdown as Hollywood strike bites

[unhappycamper]

LA faces meltdown as Hollywood strike bites
David Smith in Los Angeles
Sunday January 13, 2008
The Observer

No red carpet, no Keira or Angelina, no best-dressed/worst-dressed lists, no goody bags, no limo rides, no parties and no champagne. Tonight's lacklustre Golden Globe awards will sound an alarm across Los Angeles: the show does not go on.

Hollywood is on strike and it is beginning to hurt the city built around the entertainment industry. People are out of work, the local economy is suffering and the biggest blow to both revenue and prestige could be yet to come - the cancellation of the Oscars.

The writers' union that is leading the strike told The Observer it would not back down even if it meant that the Academy Awards would suffer the same fate as the Globes. The cost to the city would be $130m (£66m), according to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp, with tens of millions more wiped off advertising revenues.

Usually one of the most glamorous events in the showbusiness calendar, tonight's Globes at the Beverly Hills Hotel will be reduced to no more than a one-hour press conference in which the winners' names will be read out. The losses incurred by caterers, hairdressers, hotels, jewellers, limousine firms, party planners, stylists and other support workers are estimated at $70-80m.

The 11-week writers' dispute is turning nasty as it slowly but surely strangles artistic and economic activity beneath the iconic Hollywood sign. The writers, an unlikely vanguard for a revival in America's trade union movement, are demanding a say in future internet distribution deals and a percentage of any revenues gained when their work is streamed or downloaded. Crucially, they have the support of the actors, whose refusal to cross the Globes' picketline ensures a no-show from nominees including the British contenders Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Julie Christie and Helena Bonham Carter.


Rest of article at: http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2240090,00.html

[aquart]

1. Did the producers think it would be a picnic?

Their the ones who benefit from the Oscars. If they want them, negotiate.

[fasttense]

2. Actually, I think the writers and other Hollywood strikers are the perfect

vanguard for a revival in American trade Unions. There is no life and death function that the government can use as an excuse to break the Unions. They have access to some serious media outlets and communication tools so that the government can't beat them up and drag them off in the dead of night. And they affect some of the richest people in the world.

The writers are the cogs in the wheels of one of the most lucrative businesses in America. They must have some very strong leaders.

"The last time that writers downed pens - 20 years ago - the industry lost almost half a billion dollars. John Bowman, chief of the Writers Guild negotiating committee, said the present strike would hold firm and that if the Oscars were canceled it would be the fault of the studios. 'If the other side don't return to the negotiating table they will force our hand,' he said. 'They ceded the moral high ground when they left the table. If the other side isn't there, we can't do much about it. It would be a huge blow to the Hollywood community. Nobody's happy about the possibility but all we can do is apply economic pressure and withhold our services. I hope it can be solved in time.'"

[Nay]

3. Good for the writers. They have always been cheated, like most artists,

of a decent cut of the profits of their own work. I hope they develop a very strong union to protect their interests.