Hollywood writers and producers broke off contract talks without a new deal, allowing the Writers Guild of America's pact to expire at midnight on Wednesday and making a strike more likely.
A statement issued by the guild Wednesday night did not mention a walkout, although members previously authorized union leaders to call a strike.
No new talks were scheduled yesterday. Writers were to meet last night to plan their next move.
The two sides said they remain far apart on the key issue of raising payment to writers from the sale of DVDs and applying that higher rate to Internet sales. Writers say the current DVD formula is too stingy and have opposed a producer plan to extend that rate to digital sales.
"The companies refused to continue to bargain unless we agree that the hated DVD formula be extended to Internet downloads," the WGA statement said.
Producers have said they would not agree to anything that would restrict their ability to experiment with new Internet and other digital delivery options for films and TV shows.
Calling it "the DVD issue," the producer's chief negotiator said in a statement that the writers were blocking both sides from making further progress in their talks.
"We want to make a deal," said J. Nicholas Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. "But, as I said, no further movement is possible to close the gap between us so long as your DVD proposal remains on the table."
More than 5,000 guild members recently voted, with 90 percent authorizing negotiators to call the first strike since 1988 if necessary. The union set a meeting of its 12,000 members for last night at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Jonathan Handel, an entertainment lawyer at the Los Angeles law firm of TroyGould, said it was in the union's interest to delay a walkout, perhaps by five days or more.
"The writers guild has two weapons: One is a strike, the other is the threat of a strike. It has no reason to toss that weapon away without using it for a bit," said Handel, who has served as an associate counsel for the guild.
A strike by writers would not immediately impact film or prime-time TV production. Most studios have stockpiled dozens of movie scripts, and TV shows have enough scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year.
After that, networks might turn to reality shows, news programs and reruns to fill the prime-time airwaves. Late-night shows wouldn't fare as well, since they are more dependent on current events to fuel monologues and other entertainment.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report will almost certainly be forced into reruns by a lack of fresh skits and monologues if writers walk off the job.
"If the strike happens, we are very likely looking at repeats for both shows," said Tony Fox, a spokesman for Comedy Central, which airs the shows starring Stewart and Stephen Colbert that lampoon politics.
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
A highway bomb attack in a restive region of southwestern Colombia on Saturday killed 14 people and injured at least 38, the latest spate of violence ahead of next month’s presidential election. Authorities blamed the attack in the Cauca department — a conflict-ridden, coca-growing region — on dissidents of the now-disbanded FARC guerrilla army, who have been sowing violence across the country. “Those who carried out this attack ... are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media. “I want our very best soldiers to confront them,” he added. The leftist leader blamed the bombing
From post offices and parks to stations and even the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s vending machines are ubiquitous, but with the rapid pace of inflation cooling demand for their drinks, operators are being forced to rethink the business. Last month beverage giant DyDo Group Holdings announced it would remove about 20,000 vending machines — about 7 percent of their stock nationwide — by January next year, to “reconstruct a profitable network.” Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage, based in Nagoya, also said last month it would sell its 40,000-machine operation to Osaka-based Lifedrink Co. “The strength of the vending machine
RSS