Was This Strike Necessary?

Host:

Warren Olney

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It's Day One of the Writers Guild Strike against film and television producers, the first such action since 1988. Picket lines went up at 9 o’clock this morning at fifteen studios from Burbank to Hollywood to Manhattan Beach. The strike is all about DVD residuals and how to divide the spoils of the Internet—if anybody can figure out how to make money in cyberspace.

The Writers Guild claims it withdrew its proposal on DVD residuals yesterday, but claims the Alliance of film and TV producers still made unfair demands. After the walk-out began in New York this morning, the Alliance says it tried to “stop the clock” to resume negotiations but claims that the writers refused.

Photo By: GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Guests:

Rebecca Winters Keegan: Hollywood Correspondent, Time magazine
Jonathan Handel: Entertainment Industry Attorney
Paul Levinson: Professor and Chair of Communication and Media studies at Fordham University
Brian Walton: Former Executive Director of the Writers Guild of America, currently teaches Law and Practice at Loyola Law School

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A CD copy of Which Way L.A.? is a available by calling 1.888.600.5279.
Transcripts are not available.

Underwriters

Which Way L.A.? is made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, which supports study and research into policy issues of the Los Angeles region.

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