IT sounds like Hollywood’s long-running and destructive strikes are coming to an end, after a tentative deal was struck between studio chiefs and the Writer’s Guild of America.
And it is not before time – because the music business has been running dangerously close to setting fire to itself in recent months in a misguided attempt at “standing up for the little guy”.
The union action has so far lasted 146 days, halting multi-million dollar blockbusters already in the pipeline including the next Mission Impossible movie, and also impacting promotional activities around films as actors refuse to attend premieres, conduct interviews or even attend some major awards events.
But while initially well-intentioned, it has proved a kamikaze mission as cinemas buckled under pressure with big releases failing to perform in recent weeks and studios now scratching their heads over whether major projects will see the light of day at Christmas and into the New Year.
Because while virtue-signalling actors may have taken great delight in “standing by” their writer colleagues – more often than not in their Tinseltown mansions rather than on the picket line – they have simultaneously been battering thousands of movie staffers who have been left out of work, out of pocket, and out of ideas the longer this carries on.
It won’t cost leading men and women their livelihoods, but it will impoverish the stagehands who make the tea and clean the sets.
It already has done.
From caterers, costume designers, drivers and security staff to production assistants, electricians, camera crew and everything in between, A-list stars have put all sorts of hard working ordinary people out of work in the US, UK and further afield – rather than urging the studios and writers to strike a deal and get back to work.
I know from personal connections that many in the movie business may now never return, having been forced to take up sideline jobs in shops, bars and beyond to make ends meet.
Which doesn’t feel like a roaring success for film workers to me.
The new deal came after a marathon five days of negotiations by representatives for writers and studio chiefs, and now needs to be agreed by their members – with top executives from Disney, Warner Bros, Netflix and NBC Universal all involved in the talks.
It is thought Hollywood’s late night TV shows will resume shooting shortly, but many actors remain on strike until separate deals can be reached – with the Screen Actors Guild releasing a statement yesterday congratulating writers on their deal.
Here’s hoping they can get things sorted now as quickly as possible, so that more people can get back to work and the entertainment business – already battered by Covid two years ago – can get back up and running properly.
It’s all well and good for the A-list in their ivory towers, but this is about to cost an entire industry its future.
