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News Corp.'s Fox and CBS Corp.'s television studio were sending such letters concerning what are known as overall writing deals and pod production deals, people familiar with the moves said.
Though it's logical to stop paying special salaries to writers who are on strike, agents and executives said they were surprised the suspensions came so quickly.
More serious, they said, was the suspension of pod production deals, which give development money to writers and producers. Cutting that money will quickly force layoffs of nonwriters, including producers, assistants and secretaries.
Despite the gravity of the dispute, the mood on the picket line was often convivial. In New York, three members of Local 802 of the Musicians Union, outfitted with trumpet, trombone and French horn, serenaded the strikers. In Los Angeles, striking screenwriters chanted, "Network bosses, rich and rude, we don't like your attitude!"
The atmosphere "has been incredibly supportive," David Abramowitz, a strike captain and "MacGyver" screenwriter, said outside CBS' Radford studios in Studio City. "I've been in the guild for about 26 years, and I've never seen it so united."
Exhausted after walking the picket line on crutches, "Simpsons" screenwriter Mike Scully said he was taken aback by the outpouring of public support, most of it voiced in shouts and honking horns from passing cars. "I'm surprised by just how behind us people seem to be so far," he said. "I wouldn't blame people for not caring or understanding what the issues are."
The picket lines were filled with A-listers and anybodies.
"It really doesn't matter what business you are in if the living you make is threatened," Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning author of "Chinatown" said outside Sony.
"A strike is like war in a way: Nobody wins but they are also sometimes unavoidable. I guess this is unavoidable."
Picketing alongside Towne was a fellow Oscar winner, writer and director Paul Haggis. The "Crash" filmmaker called the current dispute with producers "another example of corporate greed." He accused them of trying to "shut down the entire town," and said he was prepared to walk the picket line for as long as it took.
Walking in front of the Paramount gate was first-time screenwriter Matt Lazarus, who officially joined the WGA in July. The 23-year-old high school dropout from Vermont made his first writing sale in May with a remake of 1945's Boris Karloff movie "Isle of the Dead."
"I'm the youngest guy on this line. It's easier for me to be out here because I've got to live with this contract much longer than anyone else here," Lazarus said. Still, he said, his first script sale didn't bring him a huge payday and he may have to take a night job in a couple of months to support himself. "I'll survive; I'm young," he said. "I don't have a wife, kids or a mortgage."
Many other writers do, and that could prove disastrous.
Although top screenwriters like Haggis can make as much as $250,000 a week, many WGA members collect middle-class wages and can go months between jobs; the threat of an extended work stoppage could have grave consequences for the industry's lesser lights.
Bernard Lechowick, a writer for "The Young and the Restless" who struck for 22 weeks in 1988, said he expected the financial loss to be difficult.
"It's a huge stress when you lose your income, which I did starting today," said the longtime television writer and executive producer. "But what would be worse is to take a lousy contract. When you sign up for a job in Hollywood, you're guaranteeing yourself irregular employment. And if there's one thing this industry teaches you, it's to budget."
Adam Armus, 43, a writer and producer on "Heroes," said at Sunset Gower Studios that he had a long talk with his 4- and 7-year-old daughters, telling them that Christmas was going to be different this year.
"Normally at this time of year, we would be going shopping, but I've had to explain that Daddy is fighting for them right now," he said.
"We're going to have to make some sacrifices this year so that we can have a better Christmas next year. And they totally understand."
john.horn@latimes.com
Times staff writers Kate Aurthur, Greg Braxton, Andrea Chang, Maria Elena Fernandez, Matea Gold, Chris Lee, Meg James, Joseph Menn, Martin Miller and Robert W. Welkos contributed to this report.
Though it's logical to stop paying special salaries to writers who are on strike, agents and executives said they were surprised the suspensions came so quickly.
More serious, they said, was the suspension of pod production deals, which give development money to writers and producers. Cutting that money will quickly force layoffs of nonwriters, including producers, assistants and secretaries.
Despite the gravity of the dispute, the mood on the picket line was often convivial. In New York, three members of Local 802 of the Musicians Union, outfitted with trumpet, trombone and French horn, serenaded the strikers. In Los Angeles, striking screenwriters chanted, "Network bosses, rich and rude, we don't like your attitude!"
The atmosphere "has been incredibly supportive," David Abramowitz, a strike captain and "MacGyver" screenwriter, said outside CBS' Radford studios in Studio City. "I've been in the guild for about 26 years, and I've never seen it so united."
Exhausted after walking the picket line on crutches, "Simpsons" screenwriter Mike Scully said he was taken aback by the outpouring of public support, most of it voiced in shouts and honking horns from passing cars. "I'm surprised by just how behind us people seem to be so far," he said. "I wouldn't blame people for not caring or understanding what the issues are."
The picket lines were filled with A-listers and anybodies.
"It really doesn't matter what business you are in if the living you make is threatened," Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning author of "Chinatown" said outside Sony.
"A strike is like war in a way: Nobody wins but they are also sometimes unavoidable. I guess this is unavoidable."
Picketing alongside Towne was a fellow Oscar winner, writer and director Paul Haggis. The "Crash" filmmaker called the current dispute with producers "another example of corporate greed." He accused them of trying to "shut down the entire town," and said he was prepared to walk the picket line for as long as it took.
Walking in front of the Paramount gate was first-time screenwriter Matt Lazarus, who officially joined the WGA in July. The 23-year-old high school dropout from Vermont made his first writing sale in May with a remake of 1945's Boris Karloff movie "Isle of the Dead."
"I'm the youngest guy on this line. It's easier for me to be out here because I've got to live with this contract much longer than anyone else here," Lazarus said. Still, he said, his first script sale didn't bring him a huge payday and he may have to take a night job in a couple of months to support himself. "I'll survive; I'm young," he said. "I don't have a wife, kids or a mortgage."
Many other writers do, and that could prove disastrous.
Although top screenwriters like Haggis can make as much as $250,000 a week, many WGA members collect middle-class wages and can go months between jobs; the threat of an extended work stoppage could have grave consequences for the industry's lesser lights.
Bernard Lechowick, a writer for "The Young and the Restless" who struck for 22 weeks in 1988, said he expected the financial loss to be difficult.
"It's a huge stress when you lose your income, which I did starting today," said the longtime television writer and executive producer. "But what would be worse is to take a lousy contract. When you sign up for a job in Hollywood, you're guaranteeing yourself irregular employment. And if there's one thing this industry teaches you, it's to budget."
Adam Armus, 43, a writer and producer on "Heroes," said at Sunset Gower Studios that he had a long talk with his 4- and 7-year-old daughters, telling them that Christmas was going to be different this year.
"Normally at this time of year, we would be going shopping, but I've had to explain that Daddy is fighting for them right now," he said.
"We're going to have to make some sacrifices this year so that we can have a better Christmas next year. And they totally understand."
john.horn@latimes.com
Times staff writers Kate Aurthur, Greg Braxton, Andrea Chang, Maria Elena Fernandez, Matea Gold, Chris Lee, Meg James, Joseph Menn, Martin Miller and Robert W. Welkos contributed to this report.
WRITERS STRIKE
Late-night drama in two time zones
Talks in West Hollywood ended abruptly when the strike began on the East Coast. Business, C1
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