Writers' Guild Is Losing Ground

BusinessWeek:

Hollywood union strikes have never been a dainty affair. On one side, you usually have powerful people with tons of money and even weightier egos. On the other side, you often have famous people (who also happen to have some money and fair-sized egos) and people who aspire to be famous (and one day have the wealth and ego-boost that fame brings). So as the writers' strike heads toward its seventh week with no end in sight, you know there won't be a quick, easy, or quiet end to the walkout called by the 8,000-member Writers Guild of America.

Indeed, it looks as if studio executives are prepared to wait out the writers for weeks, months, maybe more. For those of us at home, that means more warmed-over reruns and reality shows no self-respecting cable channel would dare offer under normal circumstances.

Read the whole story: BusinessWeek

Comments

[FogBelter]

This is coming from Business Week right? Keep it in context.

I'm hearing the studios having been trying an end-around by trying to get British Writers to work as scabs but they are having a hard time getting takers because these Brits support the WGA and also want to work in Hollywood in the future.

Also, if the DGA decides not to cut a deal with the Studios before the Writers do (which is what it looks like) then the Studios may be facing a nightmare when the DGA and SAG contracts run out in June ... could be a huge mess for them.

If the DGA and SAG hold their ground, the Studios will cave.

[themodernleader]

Unions are anathema to a servant culture. The uppper crust unions are the last to dissolve when the middle class finally dissolves into the rewritten history of America.

[curiousasheck]

Might be the best thing that happened to this Country. A complete melt down of the Television system.

Maybe people will then wake up out their stupor and take a look at reality.

[bluesnot]

Apparently the studios do have money since they are returning money to the unhappy commercial sponsors. So sad.

[Ginzaman]

And why will it go on forever? Enormous profits that neither side is willing to give up. The studios won't give up online streaming profit. And the writer/producers refuse to give up those huge syndication deals(because they know that's where the REAL profit is). And will actual quality content happen once this is all over? Probably not.

So who do we feel sorry for?