Hollywood writers begin first strike since 1988, citing Internet revenue, DVD profits

LOS ANGELES – Film and TV writers resolved to put down their pens and take up picket signs after last-ditch talks failed to avert a strike.\nThe first picket lines were set to appear Monday morning at Rockefeller Center in New York, where NBC is headquartered.\nIn Los Angeles, writers were planning to picket 14 studio locations in four-hour shifts from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day until a new deal is reached.\nThe contract between the 12,000-member Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers expired Oct. 31. Talks that began this summer failed to produce much progress on the writers’ key demands for a bigger slice of DVD profits and revenue from the distribution of films and TV shows over the Internet.\nWriters and producers gathered for negotiations Sunday at the request of a federal mediator.\nThe two sides met for nearly 11 hours before East Coast members of the writers union announced on their Web site that the strike had begun for their 4,000 members.\nProducers said writers refused a request to “stop the clock” on the planned strike while talks continued.\n“It is unfortunate that they choose to take this irresponsible action,” producers said in a statement.\nProducers said writers were not willing to compromise on their major demands.\nWriters said they withdrew a proposal to increase their share of revenue from the sale of DVDs that had been a stumbling block for producers. They also said the proposals by producers in the area of Internet reuse of TV episodes and films were unacceptable.\n“The AMPTP made no response to any of the other proposals that the WGA has made since July,” writers said in a statement.\nThe strike is the first walkout by writers since 1988. That work stoppage lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry more than $500 million.\nThe first casualty of the strike would be late-night talk shows, which are dependent on current events to fuel monologues and other entertainment.\nDaytime TV, including live talk shows such as “The View” and soap operas, which typically tape about a week’s worth of shows in advance, would be next to feel the impact.\nThe strike will not immediately impact production of movies or prime-time TV programs. Most studios have stockpiled dozens of movie scripts, and TV shows have enough scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year.