For long Hollywood writers have been underpaid and cruelly muscled out into the sidelines. But things have started to change in the movie industry and the balance of power appears to be shifting.
On Monday, just after the clock struck midnight, the writers’ strike commenced. About 12,000 movie and television writers bruised and battered by decades of underpayment and injustice, marched on the sidewalks of Los Angeles in a bid to change the way income is divided at the moment.
The writers are represented by the Writers Guild of America and have already gathered some much needed momentum. This is the first time that the writers have gone on strike in almost 20 years and this time, things appear much brighter and optimistic than they were in 1988. With more members and a tremendous unity, the Writers Guild of America is certainly looking to take the bull by the horns.
The strike is expected to last for almost 10 months should the producers do not start conceding to the writers. Late-night talk shows and soap operas have already been hit and in no time the producers could be searching for alternatives to fill the regular slots for television shows and serials.
The presence of big names such as writer-director James L. Brooks and NBC’s 30 Rock creator Tina Fey has boosted the objective of the association, which is to claw out deserved money and respect from the producers’ pockets. The writers’ demands for a share in the income generated from the new media are justified. Millions of money is engendered as a result of online film release, downloading and podcasting but the writers are ruthlessly kept distant from the profit. This time though, things could take a different turn as the writers, having been crippled for so long, have gathered together to wrestle justice.
Image Source: Eur
Source: The New York Times
