The Writers Guild of America, which represents 12,000 television and cinema scriptwriters, was locked yesterday in last-minute contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the bargaining unit for 350 production companies.
The guild is looking to renegotiate its contract with the motion picture industry, demanding a greater share of profits when TV shows are repurposed as DVDs, mobile downloads and internet streams.
Its current contract expired at 7am (GMT) this morning, and the guild has scheduled a members' meeting today to discuss its next move after eleventh-hour talks broke down last night.
The president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, Nick Counter, said in a statement that the organisation was eager to settle the dispute: "We want to make a deal. We think doing so is in your best interests, in your members' best interests, in the best interests of our companies and in the best interests of the industry.
"But, as I said, no further movement is possible to close the gap between us so long as your DVD proposal remains on the table."
If the walkout goes ahead, it will be the first time in almost 20 years that Hollywood writers have taken industrial action -- and could severely affect both the American television industry and the overseas broadcasters that buy in its programmes.
A writers' strike in 1988 dragged on for five months, disrupting a number of television shows and denting audience figures.
As the lead times for the big-budget US shows are relatively long, it would be at least a year before any delay in the production process has an impact on UK television schedules.
.jpg)
.jpg)