Strike Could Put Publicity in a Spin

The possibility of a Hollywood actors’ strike has thrown the celebrity-driven television talk shows and glossy magazines into a panic with stars expected to walk off the publicity circuit as well as the set.

Labor tensions have producers at “Access Hollywood” frantically orchestrating interviews with the stars of the summer and fall movies, hoping their canned questions still feel fresh months from now when they air. At Interview, Premiere and Movieline, editors are ordering up photo shoots for magazine covers scheduled to hit newsstands as far into the future as November.

Publicists around town who book their stars on TV talk shows such as “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and “Late Show With David Letterman” say they will be balancing their clients’ loyalties to the guild against their desire to support their projects.

Drew Barrymore stars in director Penny Marshall’s comedy/drama “Riding in Cars With Boys,” which is scheduled to debut this fall. Her publicist Eddie Michaels said, “She will do anything to promote the movie. If October rolls around and there are no talk shows on, you know what we do? We go on the street corner and wave a sign that says, ‘Honk if you’re going to see my movie.’ ”

With hundreds of millions of dollars in box office riding on the outcome, studios are cranking up their massive marketing machines for their summer blockbusters--movies such as “The Mummy Returns,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Tomb Raider,” “Atlantis” and “Dr. Dolittle 2.” A key element of any movie campaign--particularly for big, mainstream films--is the publicity generated by actors hitting the television talk-show circuit, chatting up their latest films with Leno, Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, Rosie O’Donnell and Regis Philbin.

But if the Writers Guild of America goes on strike next week, possibly shutting down shows such as Leno and Letterman, and if there is a subsequent work stoppage July 1 by the Screen Actors Guild, in which SAG could bar its members from doing publicity, it could have a profound effect on the marketing of this summer’s movies.

For Hollywood’s biggest stars, a strike by SAG would place them in an uncomfortable dilemma: whether to be loyal to their guild or to their signature on a contract obligating them to promote their films on behalf of a studio.

But entertainment attorney Tom Hansen said that contractually, the big stars have to follow their union.

“The union collective bargaining agreement will always trump the individual actor’s agreement,” Hansen said. “If the guild says you cannot render publicity services, you will not be in violation of your contract.”

Already, studios are jamming to get the lion’s share of publicity completed by June on their summer releases, fearing that a dual strike by writers and actors could toss a giant monkey wrench into their extensive and expensive marketing schemes.

A survey of studios reveals the extent of the frenzy: There are more than a dozen press junkets currently scheduled in June for films coming out after July 1. These junkets, in which studios fly in print and broadcast journalists from around the country to watch early screenings of their films and to conduct round-table interviews with the stars and directors, are part of a film’s normal publicity campaign. But studios, fearful that actors won’t be available after July 1, are front-loading junkets.

Twentieth Century Fox, for example, currently has June junkets planned for five films: sci-fi adventure “Planet of the Apes”; the Jet Li action film “Kiss of the Dragon”; singer Mariah Carey’s romantic drama “All That Glitters”; a Johnny Depp film about Jack the Ripper called “From Hell,” which debuts in October; and another fall release, a thriller called “Joy Ride.”

Interviews with publicists, studio marketing executives, magazine editors and television producers leave little doubt that a dual strike by writers and actors would ripple through the nation’s television and print media, creating havoc.

Several weeks ago, about 40 publicists gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel for an unusual meeting to share information about the strike talks and to hear from veteran publicists about how they weathered the last big actors’ strike in 1980.

Publicist Sue Patricola, whose firm Patricola-Lust Public Relations represents 70 movie clients including rising stars such as Josh Hartnett (“Pearl Harbor”), as well as 95 television clients, said no one can yet gauge what effect a strike would have on publicity. But she agreed its financial reverberations on the business “would be immediate.”

At “The Tonight Show,” executive producer Gary Considine of NBC Studios said that if a writers’ strike occurs, all 17 of Leno’s writers would not be allowed to work. Leno is also a member and would support the guild, sources added.

Considine, who also is executive producer of “Access Hollywood,” said a strike would severely affect that show as well because it relies heavily on celebrity interviews.

A spokesman for Letterman’s show said the late-night host has gone on record saying that as a longtime WGA member he would support the guild. But sources also say that behind-the-scenes negotiations could result in an interim agreement that would permit Letterman to remain on the air.

As for Oprah and Rosie O’Donnell, those shows go on hiatus during the summer months and would, presumably, not be immediately affected by an actors’ strike.

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Since the last SAG strike paralyzed the town two decades ago, Hollywood has seen an explosion of TV, magazine and Internet outlets devoted to covering show business.

“Even a strike lasting a few weeks will have major reverberations throughout the magazine business,” said Scott Lyle Cohen, Interview magazine’s senior editor. “Stars move magazines.”

Mike Solomon, editor in chief of Premiere, said he is breathing easier these days because “we have already shot all of our covers through August, [and] we are about to shoot a November cover. That eases my mind somewhat.”

For the record, SAG has not yet made a determination whether to allow its members to publicize their movies and TV shows. A spokesman said the issue is currently “under review.” That uncertainty has caused publicists in Hollywood to advise their clients to proceed as normal until they receive the official word.

Pat Kingsley, whose agency PMK handles roughly 130 clients including many top movie stars such as Tom Cruise and Al Pacino, said her firm won’t make any contingency plans on what to advise clients until they hear what SAG has to say.

“We’re saying what we should do is go on with business as usual,” she said. “Some things we need to do now because the timing is now. If we’ve got late summer or early fall movies coming out, this is the time you do those interviews and photo shoots. The short-range stuff--TV and newspaper stuff--we’re not dealing with yet.”

Paul Bloch, co-chairman of Rogers & Cowan, which represents such stars as Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis, John Travolta and Eddie Murphy, said his publicists are advising their clients to wait to see what the union advises them to do.

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Previous stories about labor issues in Hollywood are available at https://www.latimes.com/hollylabor.