'It's not going to be canceled' by scribe strike, producer says
Los Angeles Times Jan 19, 08 6:35 PM CST
(Newser)
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ABC is determined to make the Academy Awards happen, with or without striking writers and boycotting actors, the LA Times reports. “I don’t want to say, ‘Read my lips,’ but it’s not going to be canceled,” said producer Gilbert Cates, fresh from chairing successful Directors Guild negotiations with producers. “There are enough clips in 80 years of Oscar history to make a very entertaining show.”
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Globalization, weak dollar drive growth; stock price jumps
Bloomberg Jan 18, 08 1:41 PM CST
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GE profits rose 15% in the fourth quarter as overseas demand for jet engines and power turbines more than offset the weakness in the US economy, the company reported today. “They've really been a beneficiary of the whole global growth story,” an analyst told Bloomberg. GE stock was up 3.4% at midday; earlier, it rose 5.3%, its biggest gain in almost 5 years, erasing yesterday's 3.9% drop.
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Agreement could put pressure on
striking Hollywood writers
Wall Street Journal Jan 17, 08 4:46 PM CST
(Newser)
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The Directors Guild of America has cut a deal with the major Hollywood studios, the Wall Street Journal reports, ratcheting up pressure on the striking Writers Guild either to accept a similar contract or risk alienating its members. The DGA ironed out a 3-year agreement to compensate members for work presented over the Internet—a prime sticking point for writers.
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Writers ask stars to honor their picket line
Variety Jan 15, 08 5:33 AM CST
(Newser)
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The Writers Guild of America has asked members of the Screen Actors Guild to refrain from crossing their picket line at the Feb. 10 Grammy Awards, the second major awards show likely to be hurt by the union's strike. Stars are expected to avoid the presentations if they proceed as planned. Grammy nominees Bruce Springsteen, the Beastie Boys, Joni Mitchell, John Mellencamp and Steve Earle have not yet crossed picket lines, reports Variety .
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'Virtual Artists' will negotiate its own deals
NewTeeVee Jan 12, 08 8:34 PM CST
(Newser)
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A group of striking WGA writers are planning to launch their own online content distribution service named Virtual Artists, NewTeeVee reports. The company will offer less money to film creators upfront, but will provide them with more substantial ownership rights to their own work. Members of the WGA will be the main prospect, but promising amateurs will also be courted.
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Insiders hope they'll make a deal the scribes can stomach
Variety Jan 12, 08 9:33 AM CST
(Newser)
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Hollywood directors start official contract talks with producers today, after several months of informal sessions, Variety reports. Insiders predict a speedy deal, as the Directors Guild of America doesn't usually start formal negotiations until most of the big issues are ironed out. Hopes are that a DGA agreement will provide a framework that will get striking writers back to the table and Hollywood back at work in time for the Academy Awards.
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'We need to get people back to work,' mogul says of interim pact
New York Times Jan 10, 08 2:21 PM CST
(Newser)
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The Weinstein Company, a prominent Hollywood independent film company, has reached an interim agreement with the striking writer’s guild, the New York Times reports. The deal is supposedly similar to that reached by United Artists last week, and its particular terms are designed to be superseded by any deal eventually reached between the Writers Guild and movie and TV producers.
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Academy, keenly aware of Golden Globes' fate, is behind schedule
Hollywood Reporter Jan 9, 08 1:53 PM CST
(Newser)
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After the threat of picketing writers shut down the Golden Globes, organizers of the Academy Awards know they're on thin ice, the Hollywood Reporte r writes. "Our hope is we can work something out or that the strike is resolved in time," Academy executive director Bruce Davis said of the planned Feb. 24 event, already behind schedule.
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Unscripted insomniac favorites will have new names for the duration
Chicago Tribune Jan 8, 08 11:24 AM CST
(Newser)
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Late-night TV hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert returned to the air last night, without writers or scripted material. In recognition of the WGA strike, both shows included commentary on the work stoppage, reports the Chicago Tribune. Stewart said, “From now on until the end of the strike, we will be doing ‘A Daily Show with Jon Stewart’ but not ‘The Daily Show.’”
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Star parties scuttled, show reduced to
press conference
Hollywood Reporter Jan 7, 08 9:08 PM CST
(Newser)
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NBC and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association scuttled the Golden Globes today for a decidedly drab press conference, the Hollywood Reporter says. HFPA pressed NBC to let the gala run untelevised, to dissuade picketers and welcome stars, but NBC refused. "We are all very disappointed," the HFPA president said; the association will lose its $5 million licensing fee.
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First major studio
pact likely matches Letterman deal
Variety Jan 7, 08 7:14 PM CST
(Newser)
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Striking scribes cut a deal with Tom Cruise's United Artists today, their first with a major studio since walking out in November, Variety reports. Terms were kept secret, but analysts say they likely match a deal struck with David Letterman's WorldWide Pants last week, including new media residuals. “United Artists has lived up to its name," WGA West president Patric Verrrone said.
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'We have to get this one right,' striker says of long-term implications
Washington Post Jan 7, 08 1:00 PM CST
(Newser)
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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.
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