What’s making writers and studios so nervous
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Damon Lindelof got a sobering glimpse of his future as a television writer two years ago as he strolled through the Grove shopping plaza in Los Angeles.
Hanging in the window of the Apple store was a gigantic poster for ‘Lost,’ the hit ABC show on which he serves as executive producer. Just days before, ABC’s owner, Walt Disney Co., had announced that ‘Lost’ and other TV programs would be sold through Apple’s iTunes store.
‘Lost’
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Though Lindelof was thrilled that his show was at technology’s vanguard, he was dismayed that Disney had not consulted him about either the program’s digital debut or the pay he and his fellow writers would receive.
‘I felt like somebody was trying to pull the wool over my eyes,’ Lindelof said Friday, as he picketed outside Disney’s gates.
Such suspicions are widely shared by many of the 10,500 members of the Writers Guild of America, who have been on strike for two weeks. Talks between the writers and the major Hollywood studios about a new contract are scheduled to resume Nov. 26, but the walkout will continue until a pact is finalized. The parties remain far apart -- particularly about compensation for new media.
--Richard Verrier and Meg James
