With the delays in script alone, I doubt the production has move fast enough to dodge this bullet if it comes. Depending on how fast this all happens of course.
ComingSoon.net has gotten its hands on a list that is being circulated around major talent agencies in Hollywood which includes all the movies that the studios are making a priority before the impending Writers Guild, Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild strike next year. The list contains a lot of interesting information about upcoming movies and directors that are currently attached.
Strike threat spreads panic in Hollywood
Desperate studios are rushing to hire A-list stars and finish films before a threatened walk-out
David Smith
Sunday September 9, 2007
The Observer
The bright lights of Hollywood could be about to flicker. America's film and television industry is facing a strike by actors, directors and writers which threatens to cripple its output and hit the production of major films in Britain.
The dispute is over pay, including awkward new questions about how much artists should earn from the internet when their work is shared or downloaded thousands of times via websites such as YouTube or iTunes.
Screen Antagonists' Guild
As the film industry's key talent groups--the Directors, Writers and Screen Actors guilds--marshal their forces against the producers and studios for a tough fall negotiating season that may usher in a strike, the personalities are assembling in the arena. (Meanwhile, somewhat behind the scenes, producers, networks and studios are stockpiling scripts and green lighting projects at an avid pace to churn out product, with a March start necessary for the bigger film projects to get made before a potential June strike or lockout. I recently had a production manager tell me that any below the line workers who don't have a gig now are really not trying hard enough.)
Hollywood faces potential production standstill
In the wake of a wave of summer blockbusters, Hollywood is facing an impending standstill in production. The first issue at hand is the upcoming contract talks between the AMPTP (or the producers/money behind the major movies and television studios) and the Writers Guild of America (the imaginations). This could potentially bring an abrupt halt to film and television production if the WGA holds a major strike.
The contract ends October 31st, yet both sides seem ready and able to fight for their respective members. The debate is about writer compensation for the 21st century media outlets of on demand content and internet distribution. However, the producers are proposing a plan that would not pay the writers any back-end residuals on such content until the studios recoup the financial hits to their wallet that occurred during production. This mutual stubbornness has led to some hot debate in their initial talks in July. Now Hollywood must hold its collective breath as the second round of debate begins in a non-stop fashion on September 19th.
This is far from the only issue plaguing the producers in Tinstletown. The other two major talent guilds, The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA), may join the Hollywood screenwriters in the picket lines as their contracts end on June 30th of next year.
If all three of these powerful guilds join forces against the studios, this will undoubtedly cause a halt in production.
We do know that they are packing every minute of their schedules with films that can be wrapped by March in order to allow time for post production. But this could potentially shut down any filmmaking next summer.
