Section B · Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, October 30, 2000
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Hollywood prepares for possible strikes
The WGA contract, which covers 11,000 writers, expires May 1 and the guild contracts, covering 135,000 actors, expire July 1.
Among key issues for the writers are increases in residual fees for TV shows and movies, and changes in screen credits. The foreign residuals formula, for instance, hasn't changed in 30 years despite a sharp increase in the number of U.S. shows sold overseas.
For actors, issues include cable TV residuals and compensation for foreign usage.
The WGA has decided to forgo the more informal talks of recent years in favor of full negotiations — an approach last employed, unsuccessfully, in 1988.
"It's about the little guy, our rank-and-file member," SAG president William Daniels said.
LOS ANGELES — In 1988, a Moonlighting episode cut abruptly to a backstage scene featuring stars Bruce Willis, Cybil Shepherd and protesters armed with "On Strike" nickel signs.
"I've never seen such rhetoric starting so tar in advance," said writer-producer Marshall Herskovitz.
A strike would be a tragedy, CBS Entertainment president Nancy Tellem told a recent industry gathering.
The Associated Press
Now, Hollywood is braced for a potentially darker sequel. Both the Writers Guild of America and the unions representing TV and film actors are threatening to go on strike next year, shutting down the industry. A prolonged walkout could delay the start of the fall 2001 television season, affect the number of new movies, and exact an economic toll on Hollywood-dependent businesses.
"We're still suffering from the last strike in 1988," Tellem said. "We have to do everything we can to resolve this."
Even before negotiations begin, and months before the guild contracts end, pessimism has invaded Hollywood. Some producers are trying to coax extra scripts out of TV writers and studios are fast-tracking films as safeguards.
Explaining there had been a screenwriters' walkout, Willis called on cast member Curtis Armstrong to amuse viewers. Armstrong grudgingly donned a turban to lip-sync to the pop tune "Wooly Bully."
Talks are unlikely to begin before next year.
The bit was funny; the 22-week strike wasn't. It played havoc with the start of the fall television season and cost the entertainment industry millions.
Crossword
A CROSS
1 Dumbo's wings?
2 Frosh abode
3 Choreographer Tharp
4 Elder or alder
5 Isle near Corisca
6 In the lead
7 Jalopy
8 VIP in a will
9 Cry of completion
10 Caruso and Fritch
12 Burn slighty
12 "fcestaary" star
15 Heaths and bogs
16 Sound judgment
17 Newspaper bwgw
18 Detective Spade
19 Scale
19 Stellar blast
20 Filer
20 Consumed
21 Nixon's V.P.
22 Evaluate
23 Rouse
24 Goffer Ernie
24 Quantity
24 "48 Hrs." star
20 Zero
20 Losing streaks
26 __ mater
26 __ ferryman (Charon)
28 Wild guesses
61 Ceremony
61 Montreal player
61 Phone greeting
65 "Cheetah" Heart
66 Get closer
66 DeGeneres or Greene
66 Backups, in brief
69 Perry's penner
DOWN
1 Singer Merman
2 Showplace
3 Upgrade guns
4 Brown shades
5 Disarms, as a bull
6 Corrida calls
© 2000 Tribune Media Services, Inc
All rights reserved.
10/30/00
7 Slugger's stat
8 Mr. Polo
9 Knight's tunic
10 Revoking rapidly
11 Crawling
12 Trail behind
13 Ruckus
14 Squeaking sound
15 Tilled
16 Encounter
16 More amends
17 Book of fiction
18 Ties
19 Skedaddlet
20 Scrawny person
21 Crockett's Waterloo
22 Two words of agreement
23 Stouff's Wolfe
24 Not a throwaway
24 In a proper way
24 Staunch
24 Northern Ireland overcoats
47 Willie or Ozzie
49 Oregon city
50 Busey and
Sinise
53 Ouquainted
dance
54 Of the Vatican
55 Sleep soundly?
57 Rain check
58 " Loves You"
59 Aviv-Jaffa
60 Everyone
62 Promise
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