With strike averted, Hollywood wonders what next

In this story: Summer and fall slates A few dark clouds RELATED STORIES, SITES

HOLLYWOOD, California -- Not long ago, Hollywood producers and network executives were convinced a writers' strike was inevitable. To protect themselves, they put projects into high gear, ordering new episodes of hit shows and banking on reality programs to fill the gaps.

Then on Friday, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) settled their differences and reached a new contract.

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Writers' strike?

Now, Hollywood is asking, what happens next?

At the very least, there will be fresh programming for the rest of the year.

"This gives us the flexibility to start some shows earlier, make lots of episodes and have fewer repeats," one network executive told industry publication Daily Variety. "You'll also see a lot more shows in mid-season."

"The networks have been looking to be more relevant in the summer," a studio head said to Variety. "Now they literally have a crop of summer programming."

Summer and fall slates

The networks may run some of their recently ordered reality shows during the summer. Variety reports that Fox may run the new shows "Endgame" and "Love Cruise" over the next few months, while CBS could air the second edition of "Big Brother."

Meanwhile, the fall will likely see more sitcoms and dramas. ABC, which was going to run more episodes of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in case of a strike, will now cut back, shelving some newsmagazines and reality shows in the process. NBC, which pushed producers to prepare more episodes of "Law & Order" and its spinoff "Special Victims Unit" in case of a work stoppage, will now be well stocked and may order more.

Producers are pleased to be ahead of the game.

"What we now have is a comfortable lead time that I would like to keep," one series creator told Variety. "The unintended benefit for us is it forced a new discipline into work habits. People are tired but feel really good."

A few dark clouds

But not all is sweetness and light in Hollywood. A number of writers, though admitting they will accept the deal, aren't happy with its details. And with the Screen Actors Guild contract running out June 30, producers face another possibility -- though reduced -- of a strike.

"I still don't know if we won or lost," Variety quoted screenwriter Tim Herlihy as saying. "It's so complex. Everyone's going to need more time to see how it's going to affect them."

"Do I think we deserved more? Absolutely. But I'm trying to think positive: I think they got what they could in this (difficult economic) environment. I don't think it's a tremendous deal, but it's a good one," said "The Mask" screenwriter Mark Verheiden.

The writers received large boosts in residuals from Fox television and pay cable, but only modest increases in residuals from video and DVD, international TV and Internet coverage.

Observers are mildly optimistic that, with the WGA/producer agreement in hand, the actors' unions -- the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) -- can work out a deal as well. But the unions themselves are cautious.

"SAG and AFTRA look forward to analyzing the new WGA deal in detail to see if it will be helpful in finding a way to address the specific needs of actors in our upcoming negotiations," said a statement released by the unions. "SAG and AFTRA will have no further comment on the WGA deal until our analysis of it is completed."

Among the actors' concerns are pay for work distributed on the Internet, along with other arenas for residuals.

"A lot of the shows (offered over the Web) can potentially exist forever online. You can click on them 100,000 times. I suppose it's comparable to DVDs and videos," Rob LaZebnick, a co-founder of the Internet animation site Icebox, told The Associated Press.

Last year, SAG and AFTRA staged a six-month commercial actors' strike.

Hollywood writers clinch deal with producers
May 4, 2001

Writers Guild of America
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers

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