Strike 2? Hollywood nervous about contract talks

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_9729737

By DAVID GERMAIN AP Movie Writer
Article Launched: 06/28/2008 11:13:53 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES—Hollywood loves a good sequel, but here's one it could do without: Another union strike just months after the town got up and running again from a devastating walkout by writers.

The contract between the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers expires Monday, and negotiations have dragged on for weeks with no apparent headway.

SAG leaders have said they are willing to continue talking beyond the contract deadline. Yet their hard-line rhetoric and a squabble with another actors union could put performers on the sidelines, taking electricians, set-builders, caterers and other Hollywood working stiffs along with them.

"If you're a below-the-line worker, your blood is probably running cold, because they're the ones that took the biggest hit from the writers strike," said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., which estimates the WGA walkout cost the town $2.5 billion in lost wages and other revenue.

A strike in July—or a potential actors lockout if producers decided to play tough—could delay the return of many fall TV shows, which normally would be going back into production then.

With a longer lead time, big-screen movies generally are in good shape through the early part of summer 2009, with studios rushing to finish production on most films before the actors' contract expired.

FULL story at link.

[givemebackmycountry]

1. Here we go again...

I heard Maher say the other night that he had deliberately scheduled George Carlin to appear on the last show of the season.
That show was canceled by the writers strike.

I would have liked to have seen that.
Carlin on Real Time with Bill Maher.
That would have been must see TV.

[ChazII]

2. Redistribute the wealth. n/t