In This Article
Subscribe to National Updates
Crew Workers Suffering in Aftermath of Writers’ Strike
April 30, 2008 08:00 AM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
TV and film writers have gone back to work, but many production workers are still unemployed thanks to strike-shortened production schedules.
30-Second Summary
Crew members who work behind the scenes in Hollywood say that they are still suffering the effects of the standoff earlier this year between studios and writers unions, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Television production is down 45 percent in the first quarter of 2008, and Variety magazine reports that the strike is the reason.
“We predicted it would take some time for television production to get back on its feet after the strike,” said FilmL.A. representative Todd Lindgren.
However, the BBC reports that film production is up 11 percent, due to fears that actors may strike once their contracts with studios end on June 30.
Meanwhile, some observers question whether television has improved since the return of the writers.
“After all the time we have spent apart, did we really miss them that much?” asks Kevin Glenn of the University of Oregon’s Daily Emerald. “It seemed underwhelming,” he said about the return episode of “The Office.”
The 100-day strike pitted the Writers Guild of America against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and ended in February 2008.
Television production is down 45 percent in the first quarter of 2008, and Variety magazine reports that the strike is the reason.
“We predicted it would take some time for television production to get back on its feet after the strike,” said FilmL.A. representative Todd Lindgren.
However, the BBC reports that film production is up 11 percent, due to fears that actors may strike once their contracts with studios end on June 30.
Meanwhile, some observers question whether television has improved since the return of the writers.
“After all the time we have spent apart, did we really miss them that much?” asks Kevin Glenn of the University of Oregon’s Daily Emerald. “It seemed underwhelming,” he said about the return episode of “The Office.”
The 100-day strike pitted the Writers Guild of America against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and ended in February 2008.
Headline Links: ‘TV crew members still feeling effects of writers strike’
TV production workers say they are still suffering the consequences of the 100-day strike. Some report that they can’t find work, with production down, and face mounting bills; even foreclosure and bankruptcy.
Source: Los Angeles Times
Feature film production was up by 11 percent due to fear of an actors’ strike, but TV production was down 45 percent because of the WGA strike in the first quarter, reported Variety magazine.
Source: Variety
Film producers have stepped up production in anticipation of a strike threatened by actors for June. Contracts between studios and film and TV stare are set to end on June 30.
Source: The BBC
Opinion & Analysis: The strike’s aftermath
Kevin Glenn of the University of Oregon’s Daily Emerald reflects on the return of network television shows after the strike. “Our long separation from new television shows is finally over. The writers’ strike has ended, and our beloved series have returned. But now that they have, maybe a moment of reflection is needed,” Glenn says.
Source: The Triangle at Drexel University
Christopher Ogino of Arizona State University says that television is not any better with the writers back. “Now that all of our favorite dramas and sitcoms are back on television, people just want to forget the writers’ strike ever happened. Honestly, I don’t care what happened. Whether they got their Internet money is about as interesting to me as ‘According to Jim,’ but now that all the shows are coming back, I realize now I didn’t miss them.”
Source: Arizona State University
Film development executives thought that the end of the strike would produce a rush of new scripts, reports Mediabistro.com blog FishbowlLA. “There was an expectation that studios would see a gush of post-strike specs the way they did in 1988, but the animosity of this strike was so great that screenwriters were distracted,” said agent Jody Hotchkiss.
Source: FishbowlLA
NCIS writer and producer Steve Binder gives his theories as to why the script deluge never happened; one of them being that the writers were just too tired from picketing.
Source: FishbowlLA
Related Topics: Shows return, but not viewers; picket-crossers’ fate
TV viewers have not returned to all of the shows that were interrupted by the writers’ strike, reports the The Daily News in Galveston County, Texas. The show “Desperate Housewives,” which drew in 16.4 million viewers last week, returned with 3 million fewer viewers than its episodes before the strike. NBC’s ER and 30 Rock also lost millions of viewers.
Source: Galveston County Daily News
Despite the strike’s end, union leaders and studios are still haggling over the fate of 28 writers who crossed picket lines during the strike to work on soap operas.
Source: Reuters
Background: Writers’ strike: networks face harsh reality
FindingDulcinea provides you with early coverage of the standoff between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture Television Producers.
Source: findingDulcinea
The CEOs of the major film studios released a statement at the end of the strike: “We can now all get back to work, with the assurance that we have concluded two groundbreaking labor agreements—with our directors and our writers—that establish a partnership through which our business can grow and prosper in the new digital age. The strike has been extraordinarily difficult for all of us, but the hardest hit of all have been the many thousands of businesses, workers and families that are economically dependent on our industry.”
Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
