just in case you're living under a rock...
Posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2008
from E! News...
Writers Say Yea to Ending Strike
By Natalie Finn
Tue, 12 Feb 2008 07:34:02 PM PST
So let it be written.
As expected, members of the Writers Guild of America have voted to end the writers' strike that has been plaguing the entertainment industry for more than three months, meaning film and TV scribes can go back to living off of caffeine and adrenaline as soon as Wednesday.
Per the official tally of those who weighed in Tuesday in Beverly Hills and New York, 92.5 percent of WGA members approved the measure, with 3,492 saying yea and 283 voting against pulling the plug.
"The strike is over. Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work," WGA West president Patric Verrone said Tuesday evening.
“This was not a strike we wanted, but one we had to conduct in order to win jurisdiction and establish appropriate residuals for writing in new media and on the Internet. Those advances now give us a foothold in the digital age. Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as TV migrates to the Internet and platforms for new media are developed.”
But while most everyone was in agreement that returning to work is the way to go, the writers have not yet officially approved the terms of the new three-year contract hammered out last week by guild leaders and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Writers in New York and Los Angeles were briefed on the arrangement on Saturday and a separate contract ratification ballot will be mailed out over the next few days. Members have until Feb. 25 to cast their votes. Meetings will be held that day to vote in person, as well.
In the meantime, the scribes can get to scribblin' again.
While the late-night talk show scene has been back in business since New Year's, now the shows not presided over by David Letterman or Craig Ferguson will again have writing staffs in addition to beleaguered hosts scrabbling for jokes.
Although campaign season perked up when The Daily Show and The Colbert Report returned to TV, the 2008 presidential hopefuls will have to enjoy these last few days of comparable peace. Saturday Night Live, in all its candidate-spoofing glory, will be back in business Feb. 23. Ellen Page, an Oscar nominee for Juno, will host the first new episode since the strike began Nov. 5.
And then Page can go to the Oscars on Feb. 24. With the news over the weekend that the warring parties had struck a deal, the 80th Annual Academy Awards once again became something to look forward to.
Free from the fear of picketers, boycotting SAG members and an embarrassing ratings plunge, the soft breeze you felt Saturday was the telecast's producers breathing a sigh of relief.
"I am relieved that the men and women of the entertainment industry are going back to work," Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said in a statement, "and I am ecstatic" that the Oscars can proceed "full steam ahead with talented writers working on the show, a fantastic array of presenters and performers and, most importantly, the ability for all of our honored nominees to attend without hesitation or discomfort."
On the sweet and sour side of things, production can resume on dozens of sitcoms and dramas that have been shut down for weeks—but not on all of them. While more than 60 series were affected, not all of them were established enough to weather the storm.
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