LOS ANGELES, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The lingering strike
of TV and movie writers in Hollywood may deal a devastating blow to the upcoming
Golden Globes and Academy Awards shows, which have already seen a steady
downtrend in viewer ship in recent years, event organizers and industry
observers said Tuesday.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA), which launched
the strike last month demanding for writers' share in the entertainment
industry's online revenues, announced late Monday to deny waivers to the
producers of the Golden Globes and the Oscars shows.
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Signs are piled up at the end of a rally
of striking members of the Writers Guild of America, West in Hollywood,
California Nov. 20, 2007. (Reuters, Flie Photo)
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Gallery>>> |
The
decision means that the union will not allow its striking members to prepare
material for next month's 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards and February's Oscars
show.
Meanwhile, the union has also denied the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' routine request for permission to use clips
from films and past Academy Awards shows during the 2008 ceremony.
"The Golden Globe Awards, which has a long and
friendly relationship with the Writers Guild of America, is obviously
disappointed that the WGA denied its request for a waiver," said the Hollywood
Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globes' organizer, in a statement.
The writers union's tough stance essentially makes
the high-gloss awards shows "struck productions," as organizers are now worried
that the shows would be boycotted by Hollywood's A-list writers and the actors
sympathetic to their cause.
The WGA's decision underscores the tensions between
the guild and the major studios, which typically enjoy major promotional pushes
from the telecasts. However, the union said Monday that it was too early to
discuss picketing plans on the awards shows.
"We must do everything we can to bring our
negotiations to a swift and fair conclusion for the benefit of the writers and
all those who are being harmed by the companies' failure to engage in serious
negotiations," WGA West President Patric Verrone wrote in a letter sent Monday
night to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences.
He said the union decided that granting their
requests would not help the guild's position in the 6-week-old strike.
The celebratory mood that usually accompanies the
announcement of the annual Golden Globe nominations was tempered last week by
the possibility of a WGA picket line that could keep some of Hollywood's biggest
stars away from the event. Many A-list stars including Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts,
Denzel Washington and Johnny Depp have expressed their sympathy for the writers.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association now said it
would attempt to reach some type of agreement with the writers union on behalf
of the Golden Globe Awards, which will recognize and honor outstanding
achievements in both movies and television programming made before the strike.
"We are encouraged by the fact that the WGA has
announced that it plans to negotiate agreements with independent production
companies," the HFPA said in the statement.
The guild's negotiating committee last week said it
was going to approach studios on an individual basis, a move meant to exploit
the cracks between companies that have less to worry about if the strike
continues and those that are having a tougher time than others.
The writers strike, starting from Nov. 5, has so far
affected production on numerous films and shut down about 60 TV shows, leaving
more than 10,000 people out of work.
Local officials estimated that the stoppage could
cost the Los Angeles area's economy at least 1 billion U.S. dollars if it
continues into next year. A similar strike in 1988 lasted for 22 weeks and cost
the entertainment industry about 500 million dollars.
Hollywood writers not allowed to write
for award-shows
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Writers Guild of
America (WGA) on Monday denied requests to allow their members to write for the
Oscars and the Golden Globes.
The WGA's move was seen as part of the union's effort to
sustain pressure on studios to return to the bargaining table and hammer out a
new contract to replace the one that expired at midnight Oct. 31. Full story
Striking Hollywood writers to launch Web
start-ups
LOS ANGELES, Dec.
17 (Xinhua) -- Some striking Hollywood writers are trying to bypass Hollywood
studios and reach consumers by putting video entertainment on the Web
themselves, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
Negotiating to this effect are underway between members of the Writers Guild of America
(WGA) and venture capitalists to set up companies, said the report. Full story
Backgrounder: Hollywood Writers Strike
