It's a script many had hoped would not be written. Hollywood's film and TV scribes and their employers failed to reach an agreement before their contract expired at midnight Wednesday, setting the stage for a possible showdown that could ripple across the streets of Los Angeles and spill into America's living rooms.
Despite the presence of a federal mediator this week and more than a dozen bargaining sessions since July, negotiators for the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke off talks six hours before the deadline.
The development doesn't guarantee an immediate walkout by writers but certainly heightens the prospect of Hollywood's first major strike in nearly two decades. Although writers could continue to work without a contract, a more probable scenario is a strike being called as early as Friday, people close to the guild said.
In a statement, the alliance said talks foundered after its chief negotiator, Nick Counter, outlined the producers' opposition to raising the pay writers received when their work appeared on DVD and is sold via the Internet -- key guild demands.
"We want to make a deal," he told WGA negotiators. "But, as I said, no further movement is possible to close the gap between us so long as your DVD proposal remains on the table."
The alliance said WGA members refused to meet today. "When they were asked about Friday, they advised they would call us," the statement added.
Writers Guild officials said it was the alliance that brought negotiations to a halt.
"Every issue that matters to writers, including Internet reuse, original writing for new media, DVDs and jurisdiction, has been ignored," the guild said in a statement. "This is completely unacceptable."
The dispute comes as Hollywood is in the throes of a digital revolution that is transforming the way entertainment is delivered, heightening friction between labor and management.
The writers' previous strike, in 1988, lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry an estimated $500 million. Economists believe that a strike could be more painful this time around because the entertainment industry has grown, accounting for roughly 7% of the county's economy, or about $30 billion annually.
Writers Guild members had voted by a 90% majority to authorize their leaders to call a strike anytime after their contract expires.
