Early Friends Of Hollywood Writers Will Desert Them

The support of the actors for the Writers Guild of America will wane very soon. Solidarity does not include any threat to the pocket books of Screen Actors Guild (SAG) members. The actors are supportive as long as their paychecks keep coming. But if the strike continues, not only will the paychecks of the actors be threatened, their jobs and livelihood could also be threatened. The actors will be screaming at the writers and the standoff will be over. The WGA will be broken and the producers will hire new nonunion writers. Now do not get angry at us as the messengers. We are simply describing how the writers strike will end. And it will not be pretty.

The first signs of retreat were the late night shows, notwithstanding Dave's special deal. Now the awards shows (money making cash cow parties) are being cancelled and the celebrities do not get to dress up and preen like peacocks in free clothes and jewelry. Nobody watches the Critics' Choice Awards (highest viewership: 3 million) so the Dave Deal the WGA gave them does not count. Queen Latifah gamely hosted the People's Choice Awards without an audience. Taped clips. Now the Golden Globe Awards will present a 'news conference' format with a Matt Lauer "Going For Gold" preshow of interviews. Huh? And the Academy Awards people are talking a big game but they will probably have to pervert their show too. Anybody mad at the writers yet?

And what about the money being lost. It is being estimated that the local economy will lose $80 million over the Golden Globes alone, according to the L.A. County Economic Development Corp. Stylists, makeup artists, fashion houses, designers, well you get the idea, will all be hurt economically by the cancellation of actor participation. Approximately 20 million people watch the Golden Globes generating $27 million in ad revenue and the Oscars are watched by about 40 million people generating $80 million in ad revenues. The Oscars (so far scheduled for Feb 24) is the second biggest ad night after the Super Bowl. Now if we know that more and more people will get mad at the writers, don't you think the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) know it too? Just go to their site and look at the money billboards for money losses for the writers and the Motion Picture Industry Pension & Health Plans.