Writer's strike over?

[MFFL]

Deal or no deal? TV and movie strike looks as if it could be over

Alex Strachan
Canwest News Service

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Tired of reruns? The TV season may be about to be rebooted.

Striking writers have reached a preliminary agreement with the major film studios and U.S. broadcast networks, several Los Angeles area media outlets reported over the weekend.

There has been no official announcement. Both sides have imposed a media blackout.

Several Los Angeles area radio stations reported a breakthrough in the negotiations late Saturday night, however. The Los Angeles Times reported in its Sunday editions that a deal is all but done, and an agreement could be signed as early as this Friday.

If ratified, the agreement means the show will go on at this year's Oscars. The Feb. 24 Academy Awards telecast was in jeopardy after striking writers announced they would picket the ceremony. Last month's Golden Globes ceremony was cancelled after nominated actors and scheduled presenters refused to cross writers' picket lines and boycotted the event.

An official settlement means new episodes of such popular TV programs as House, Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives could be back as soon as late March. Production on a new episode of a sitcom or drama can take up to six weeks. Network insiders have said privately that a resolution now will allow time for six new episodes to be made of such series as CSI and Law & Order, enough to finish out a shortened 2007-'08 season.

The latest round of negotiations between the Writers Guild of America, which represents 10,500 film and TV writers, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents such major media companies as NBC-Universal, Viacom/CBS, Warner Bros. Studios, Disney/ABC and 20th Century Fox, were jumpstarted after the Directors Guild of America reached an agreement on Jan. 17 after just five days of negotiations.

The directors' agreement put pressure on both sides to reach a quick settlement in a dispute that has dragged on for three months, with no end in sight.

The directors' contract is believed to have established a template for the writers' tentative agreement. Writers put down their pens on Nov. 5 over such issues as fair compensation for online video downloads and live streaming from the Internet. The tentative agreement is said to resolve key sticking points that were holding up a settlement.

The three-month dispute has cost the Hollywood film and TV industry an estimated $500 million in lost financial revenue. The strike caused a ripple effect that curtailed U.S.-based movie and TV production in Canada and resulted in widespread layoffs to below-the-line workers such as caterers, set decorators, make-up artists, electricians, cameramen and drivers.

A quick settlement will mean the 2008-'09 fall TV season can go ahead as originally planned. There will be fewer pilot episodes made of new series, however.

Pilot season, in which roughly 100 new series vie for 35 slots on the fall schedule, is traditionally staged in March and April. The U.S. networks unveil their fall schedules to advertisers in May, and the Canadian networks follow suit in June.

The media blackout remains in effect, and the writers are still officially on strike. The Los Angeles Times reported that the Writers Guild's lead negotiators will brief the union's negotiating committee and board of directors on Monday (Feb. 4), however, with contract language for the proposed agreement decided by the end of the week.

It will still take the union's members several days after that to ratify the agreement. The strike will likely be called off, however, if the union's leaders strongly endorse the deal, the Times reported.

Another major Hollywood union still has to negotiate an agreement before labour peace is assured, however. The Screen Actors Guild contract with Hollywood studios expires on June 30, and union leaders have expressed similar concerns to the writers in recent days. A settlement with the writers will probably provide a blueprint for the actors, however. Stay tuned.

[MavsFanFinley]

It's about time. I side with the writers but I miss my tv shows.

[Flacolaco]

Dude.... don't jinx it.

It's not over yet.

[Kirobaito]

Oh man, I pray this is legit. Probably too late to finish LOST, but I can deal with that.

[Underdog]

A writer's strike? And here I thought TV programming just sucked more than usual...

(just kidding - bring back my Family Guy!)

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by MavsFanFinley

It's about time. I side with the writers but I miss my tv shows.

Exactly.

[LonghornDub]

I know a few people from undergrad who are out in LA trying to make it as writers. One of them with some relatively reliable connections told me yesterday that this thing should be over any day now.

For whoever said they wouldn't have time to finish Lost, I think they'll actually be just fine. They had 6 or 8 episodes already written, so they have plenty of time to crank out some more before they're needed. The question is how fast they can film them and do post-production.

[Big Boy Laroux]

seriously, you would have to think that the writers have now lost more money than they ever would have made off of the slight increase in DVD and Internet residuals. I relaize it's the principal of the thing, but i had read that the WGA was the one that was basically unwilling to negotiate further. Doesn't sound like they had good representation at the top.

[Flacolaco]

Talk of settlement puts contingency plans into high gear

After a three-month lull, agents' phones began ringing off the hook again Monday as word about an imminent end to the writers strike spread around Hollywood during the weekend.

The talks are still in the exploratory stage since the deal between the writers and the studios is still being finalized, but contingency plans put in place by the TV networks and studios will have existing series return on the air on average four weeks (for multicamera comedies) to six weeks (for dramas) after the official end of the strike.

How quickly each show can go back to production depends on the condition of the scripts started before the strike. The prep time needed is said to be two weeks for multicamera comedies and four weeks for more elaborate productions.

However, networks are not expected to ask every series to produce more episodes this season, which doesn't necessarily mean that those shows will be automatically canceled.

"Each network needs to decide what shows it needs for the rest of the season," one network executive said.

Some freshman and bubble series and heavily serialized dramas may not do more original episodes this season but would get pickups for next fall to give the creative team time to work on them, some sources said. Among the series rumored to possibly resume production in the summer are NBC's serialized hit "Heroes," which could do an extended run next season, and ABC's promising freshman "Pushing Daisies."

However, others cautioned that the networks may want to get more episodes of all of their series in the can as a contingency in case of a SAG strike in the summer.

Fox's "24" is among the shows expected to go back to production first. Despite the fact that the real-time drama won't air new episodes this season, it will ramp up production quickly to avoid losing some of the actors needed for the entire 24-episode arc whose options will be up soon.

Also expected to resume production quickly are ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters"; CBS' "CSI" franchise, "Without a Trace" and "Cold Case"; and such multicamera comedies as CBS' "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory" and Fox's " 'Til Death."

NBC's "The Office" has a script ready to shoot as production on the episode, which was slated to film the first week of the strike, was shut down because star Steve Carell refused to cross the picket line.

The end of the strike also will bring resolution to low-rated freshman series whose future was put in limbo because of the strike. No orders are expected for new episodes of such series as ABC's "Big Shots," CBS' "Cane," NBC's "Journeyman" and Fox's "K-Ville," though some sources indicated the jury is still out on "Cane," which has several scripts ready.

Things are murkier on the development front. All broadcast networks except NBC terminated a portion of their development last month, citing lesser needs because of the strike. The broadcast networks can still opt for a truncated pilot season, but by the time the strike is over, they will be at a point where they will have normally ordered all their pilots. To get pilots up and running, the nets will have to rely heavily on first drafts since very few scripts had been delivered before the work stoppage.

A few pilots, including Fox's "The Oaks" and NBC's movie/backdoor pilot "Knight Rider," were filmed during the strike. Several more, including NBC's "The Man of Your Dreams" and Fox's dramas "The FBI" and "Saint of Circumstance," are slated to go into production shortly after the strike ends.

Additionally, studios are prepping pitches to go out as soon as the strike is over.

An imminent end to the strike would mean virtually no disruption of cable networks' scheduling plans.

Should the strike end in the next month or so, writing would start right away on TNT's "The Closer" and "Saving Grace," which would be back on track for their summer runs as originally scheduled.

As for USA, a spokesperson said that the network's summer programming also would remain pretty much intact if the strike ends over the next few weeks. Premiere dates for certain shows likely have to be pushed back but only by a few weeks.

With the second season of "The Tudors" wrapped, filming on "Brotherhood," "Dexter" and "Californication" not scheduled to begin until June and "Weeds" in production with a waiver for producer Lionsgate, Showtime's filming schedule also won't be affected.
Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com

My pants will go so crazy if the guild gives everyone the OK to go back to work next week.

[Big Boy Laroux]

and the Office will come back sooner than other shows. they had like 4 or 5 scripts finsihed, i believe.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Big Boy Laroux

and the Office will come back sooner than other shows. they had like 4 or 5 scripts finsihed, i believe.

Now that just makes my day.

[Flacolaco]

I've seen it a couple of places on the internet that not very many shows will be back after the strike is over, just some of the bigger ones....CSI, a few LOST, The Office....some crappy ABC shows, 30 Rock, How I met your mother, My name is Earl.

Apparently it's a lot easier to shoot a 30 minute comedy than to ramp up production on the big 1 hour dramas.

Another thing I saw today was that Pushing Daisey's and Chuck will both be back in the Fall of '08. I'm disappointed I won't be seeing them until then, but very pleased that they will likely be back for 2nd seasons.

[MavsX]

i heard they are just going to punt this season, and release what they have straight to dvd's.

[Big Boy Laroux]

here's an article about when we can possibly expect some new shows if the deal is struck this weekend!

http://community.tvguide.com/blog-en...32698&start=15

[u2sarajevo]

So is Journeyman dead? If they can that and Bionic Woman my wife is going to go in depression. (not really, but she does enjoy her some Bionic Woman)

[MavsFanFinley]

BBL, thanks for that link. I understand it can change but nice to see a lot of my shows looking to film some new episodes to air in April/May.

[Big Boy Laroux]

i liked Journeyman a lot. it got so strong as the episodes went on. But yes, it's pretty much dead. the last episode that was aired can be seen as the series finale.

but there was an underground movement (a la the NUTS thing for Jericho), where you could send rice-a-roni to NBC. not sure where that went.

as for Bionic woman, i'm not sure how the ratings were. personally, it was my least favorite of the new NBC shows.

[MFFL]

Originally Posted by u2sarajevo

So is Journeyman dead? If they can that and Bionic Woman my wife is going to go in depression. (not really, but she does enjoy her some Bionic Woman)

All the actors for Journeyman were released from their contracts. The show isn't OFFICIALLY canceled but it is VERY unlikely to return.

[Flacolaco]

The meeting with the guild went well yesterday, and the strike is over.

LOS ANGELES - The negotiating committee representing striking Hollywood writers has voted unanimously to accept a three-year deal with the major studios, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site today citing a source familiar with the talks.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23074826/

[u2sarajevo]

I read somewhere that they won't start work until Wednesday. Not sure if that effects anything at all with Lost.

edit: I read this here...

[Flacolaco]

The word is that there will be at minimum, 3 more LOST episodes produced this season, and at maximum, 6 more produced.

Let's hope for six...for a whopping 14 episode season...but it might be only 11.

[MavsX]

woo hoo!