Surely that halt doesn't just affect writers, it affects everyone from producers to actors to lighting to sound to costume folks to make-up artists to the tea boy. Are these people still being paid or has everything just stopped?
Depends on where they work. Movies already in production or with scripts already done before the strike are mostly unaffected, though normally they have a writer on hand during filming to make tweaks to the script as they go.
For most TV shows, it's much the same. They can still continue to film as long as there are scripts, and many shows were trying to get a "stockpile" of them in case the strike did go forth. However, just like in the movie scenario, they normally have a writer on hand for tweaks.
The immediate effect is felt on daily shows, such as the latenight comedy shows, which shut down last night. Most other tv shows, from soap operas to primetime programs, tend to film about a month or so ahead of time, plus have some scripts beyond that, so they can keep running for a while.
However, some shows have also had some of their actors walk out in support of the writers, which means a total shutdown.
I'm not quite sure on what will happen to the rest of the crew if the shutdown continues for very long. It's possible some shows have some sort of insurance to cover such a contingency. I know I saw one person posting a response to an article in Variety about the strike starting, saying they were now out of a job because of it, but they didn't say what show they were working on or in what position.
Writers are one of the most powerful groups in Hollywood, even though in most cases you rarely know who they are unless they're also a director or producer. Without them creating content, nothing gets made. That's the point of the strike, to force management to pony up the dough the writers believe they should get for new media.
The last strike was in 1988, and lasted about four months. It was long enough to affect pretty much every tv show in production in some form. Star Trek: The Next Generation dipped into some scripts that were originally written for a proposed spinoff of the original series and did a "cut and paste" to adapt them to their characters.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-11-06 11:22 pm (UTC)Depends on where they work. Movies already in production or with scripts already done before the strike are mostly unaffected, though normally they have a writer on hand during filming to make tweaks to the script as they go.
For most TV shows, it's much the same. They can still continue to film as long as there are scripts, and many shows were trying to get a "stockpile" of them in case the strike did go forth. However, just like in the movie scenario, they normally have a writer on hand for tweaks.
The immediate effect is felt on daily shows, such as the latenight comedy shows, which shut down last night. Most other tv shows, from soap operas to primetime programs, tend to film about a month or so ahead of time, plus have some scripts beyond that, so they can keep running for a while.
However, some shows have also had some of their actors walk out in support of the writers, which means a total shutdown.
I'm not quite sure on what will happen to the rest of the crew if the shutdown continues for very long. It's possible some shows have some sort of insurance to cover such a contingency. I know I saw one person posting a response to an article in Variety about the strike starting, saying they were now out of a job because of it, but they didn't say what show they were working on or in what position.
Writers are one of the most powerful groups in Hollywood, even though in most cases you rarely know who they are unless they're also a director or producer. Without them creating content, nothing gets made. That's the point of the strike, to force management to pony up the dough the writers believe they should get for new media.
The last strike was in 1988, and lasted about four months. It was long enough to affect pretty much every tv show in production in some form. Star Trek: The Next Generation dipped into some scripts that were originally written for a proposed spinoff of the original series and did a "cut and paste" to adapt them to their characters.