Screenhead

The Writers Guild of America may be calling for a strike as early as Thursday, and it looks like the chances of it happening are even more likely than we’ve thus far been led to believe. And as such, the tensions between the WGA and the studios are heating up. Clearly the studios hoping to avert a strike, which would significantly affect their pocketbooks, but they are now faced with the very real possibility that it may occur. And while that may upset them enough already, they’re even more upset by the strike instructions being laid down by the WGA, in particular their desire to know the status of all unproduced material that has been written for the studios.

The WGA insists that the demand to know the status of unproduced material is in the interest of the writers, and that by knowing the status of these scrips, the WGA can keep track of what changes have been made, and whether scab writers have been brought in to make the changes. However, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers are viewing this request as an illegal move that breaches corporate secrets.

Two studios – Universal and New Line – have responded to the WGA’s request with a statement indicating that writers alerting the WGA of project statuses will be in breach of contract. Additional studios, including Fox, Warner Bros., Paramount, and Dream Works are said to be contemplating similar action.

While it is a good sign that the two parties continue to engage in ongoing talks, the fact that they are arguing over script validation indicates that real trouble is brewing.

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