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Writers, Studios Agree Only That Stakes Are High

'We have to get this one right,' striker says of long-term implications

By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 7, 2008 1:00 PM CST
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(Newser) – The $150 million or so the Writers Guild's demands would cost over the next 3 years is chump change by studio standards, but the long-term stakes in the deadlocked 2-month-old strike are high, reports the Washington Post. It's now or never for the writers to seal their piece of the nascent digital programming pie.

"We have to get this one right or it's the beginning of the end for us," says one striker, still bitter over an '80s deal that shortchanged scribes on home video residuals. Meanwhile, the sides can't even agree on how much money the average TV writer earns—studios say $204,000 a year, writers say $62,000—but neither seems in a hurry to end the strike.

Writer Steve Byrnes walks past a mural depicting legendary Hollywood actors as he joins thousands of people from unions including the Teamsters, Service Employees International, the California Nurses Association and other supporters, joining Writers Guild of America (WGA) on a march down Hollywood Boulevard in the third week of the...
Writer Steve Byrnes walks past a mural depicting legendary Hollywood actors as he joins thousands of people from unions including the Teamsters, Service Employees International, the California Nurses...   (Associated Press)
Marvin Silbermintz, right, writer of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno waits to join the march along Hollywood Boulevard with fellow Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007, in Los Angeles on the 16th day of their strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers...
Marvin Silbermintz, right, writer of the" Tonight Show with Jay Leno" waits to join the march along Hollywood Boulevard with fellow Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007, in Los...   (Associated Press)
Los Angeles Writer Jim Krieg, dressed as Star Trek's Cpt. James T. Kirk, walks the picket line along members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) outside the gates of Paramount Pictures studios in Los Angeles, Monday, Dec. 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Los Angeles Writer Jim Krieg, dressed as Star Trek's Cpt. James T. Kirk, walks the picket line along members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) outside the gates of Paramount Pictures studios in Los...   (Associated Press)
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Hollywood • digital rights • film studio • Writers Guild of America • Hollywood writers' strike • residuals • entertainment industry

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