Feb 10, 2008 3:09 pm US/Eastern
Hollywood Writers Strike May See Its Final Act
Source: WGA To Vote On Possibly Ending Strike
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Members of the Writers Guild of America, East picket Rockefeller Center, the headquarters of NBC, 05 November 2007, in New York as a strike by film and television writers begins. Hollywood writers went on strike Monday despite last-minute talks aimed at en
Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
Writers for your favorite television shows could be hours away from returning to work. Writers in New York and Hollywood are going over the details of a tentative deal that could end the strike that has forced most shows into re-runs.
The tentative agreement must be approved in a formal vote. New York based writers met in a hotel in Times Square Sunday.
"I like every other writer want a fair settlement," writer Mark St. Germain told CBS 2 HD.
As members of the writers Guild met to hear details of the tentative agreement with film and television producers, some were cautiously optimistic their three-month-old strike was over.
Writers struck over payment for Internet and digital media use. In meetings in Hollywood, Producers and union leaders worked out the tentative agreement.
"It covers a lot of what we were asking for. We were asking for jurisdiction in new media we are asking for part of the distributors gross and we have achieved those goals," said Michael Winship, President WGA East.
The writer's strike, symbolized by the Golden Globes non-ceremony, devastated the entertainment industry, forcing network shows into early reruns and stopping new work for film and television shows. Filmmaker Michael Moore, a guild member, attended the New York writers' meeting. He argued media moguls wanted to break the union.
"Writers were only asking for 2 cents for each DVD," said Moore.
This is an informational meeting, but if it turns into a consensual one without a lot of opposition to this propose settlement, then the leaders of the Writers Guild could meet Sunday and vote to end the strike so that work could begin as early as Monday or Tuesday.
This possible end to the strike would be just in time for the all-important Oscars, which was facing possible boycotts from many famous actors and directors.
"The Academy Awards had something to do with the timing," feels Sex & The City writer Liz Tucillo.
If the writers strike does end, it's estimated it will take one to two months before viewers will start seeing new non-reality programs on television.
The writers strike will not affect Sunday's Grammy Awards, which have received permission from the union to go forward.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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