WGA to strike Monday

From the first moment I heard about it, I had always been very afraid that it was going to happen. I know that a lot of people were certain it was just a threat, that there’s no way those writers would dig in their heels, that there was no way they wouldn’t be given more money. But the truth is, if studio heads on multi-million dollar projects are getting worried, then trust me brother, you better believe that shit is real. Now teh word is that the Writers Guild of America is to go on strike on Monday.

Variety reported that: “In a lively meeting of 3,000 guild members Thursday night, the WGA’s negotiating committee announced its unanimous strike recommendation, a pronouncement that generated an enthusiastic response from the SRO crowd at the Los Angeles Convention Center… But it’s a foregone conclusion that the WGA panels will OK a strike and the consensus is that they’ll probably select Monday as the starting day.”

As discussed in the past, the issue over residuals has made any progress almost impossible:

Hopes for a settlement cratered Wednesday night amid bitter recriminations from both sides. The meltdown occurred when companies insisted that the WGA drop its demand to increase homevid residuals, including Internet downloads.

I guess that all we can hope for is that something is worked out over the weekend. Otherwise we might be in for a bunch of films written by some guy’s nephew, like BIG MOMMA’S MANSION and DADDY DAY WHATEVER THE PROGRESSION IS FROM ‘CAMP’.