Daily Digest for Tuesday
Because scores of businesses rely on the industry, a long walkout would inflict pain beyond Hollywood's studio gates.
And a look at
NEWS:
Unraveling the unraveling:
Despite the aid of a federal mediator and back-channel talks between top writers and studio executives, the sides were ultimately too far apart to bridge the massive divide between them and avert the first writers strike in nearly two decades. How did it all fall apart?
Day 1: Striking on either coast:
The consequences of Sunday’s breakdown in talks were felt far and wide on Monday as writers fanned out across New York and Los Angeles. Amid the protests, there were no indications that hte parties were going to return to the table any time soon.
THE SCENE:
Stars give writers support
Jay Leno pulled up to NBC’s West Coast headquarters in Burbank atop his Harley, wearing a black leather jacket and blue jeans. He took off his helmet and delivered three boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. “This is writers’ food. See the bodies of these people. They don’t get that way eating tofu,” he said.Blog post
At Warner in Burbank, actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus showed up to support writers. “I want to show solidarity,” she said. “How this is resolved is going to affect the actors’ guild.” Blog post
In New York, “Saturday Night Live” cast member Amy Poehler joined a large contingency of writers and actors from the show on the picket line.Blog post
In front of New York’s Rockefeller Center, Ron Rifkin of “Brothers & Sisters” joined picketers. Rifkin said he came out “for my colleagues.” “There’s nothing for actors to do if we don’t have writers,” he said.Blog post
“30 Rock” writer-actor Tina Fey joined strikers outside Rockefeller Center. Fey managed to hand a yellow flier detailing the writers’ grievances to one onlooker before one of the dozen police officers on hand instructed her and a colleague to return to their designated metal pen across the street.Blog post
FOR FUN
- Did they write this stuff themselves?
Strikers at Rockefeller Center hoisted “On Strike” signs and chanted, “Writers want fair share,” but a nearby police officer was unimpressed. “They’re writers. Couldn’t they come up with anything better than ‘On strike’?” mused the officer. Have a better one?
-- Compiled by Michelle Maltais and Scott J. Wilson
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