As writers strike ends, studios scramble to ramp up production.
The Hollywood writers strike is finally over. Over 90 percent of the roughly 3,775 Writers Guild of America members in Los Angeles and New York voted yesterday to end their 100-day walkout.
The vote comes after WGA board members recommended a contract which will grant writers increased revenue and jurisdiction for internet-related content. It’s not everything the writers hoped for, but it’s a heck of a lot better than what they had. Kudos to the writers for hanging tough.
Kudos as well to News Corp. President Peter Chernin and Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger, who finally stepped in to negotiate on the studios’ behalf. The two were seen as much less contentious, and much more willing to negotiate, than Nick Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
It will take some time to assess the fallout, as studios scramble to ramp up production of current projects before actors’ contracts expire this summer. Keep your fingers crossed.
Studios are also going to have to fight to win back some of the viewers who fled to the internet during the strike. The Los Angeles Times reports today that the number of videos streamed on YouTube spiked 12 percent from November to December, with the amount of time the average viewer spent watching videos increasing from an average of seven minutes to 111 minutes.
