Hollywood writers rally ahead of union talks

Striking American film and TV writers joined with actors, other union members and even tourists in Los Angeles for a last rally before contract talks resume next week with studios and producers.

About 4,000 people marched down Hollywood Boulevard yesterday, accompanied at one point by a small brass ensemble from the musicians’ union playing the theme song from Rocky.

R&B singer Alicia Keys entertained the crowd from the back of a lorry with a song from her new album.

When the crowd reached historic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, John Bowman, chief negotiator for the Writers Guild of America, urged a swift conclusion to the standoff that began when writers walked off the job on November 5.

“You have an enormous strategic advantage online – us, your writers,” Bowman said in remarks aimed at studio chiefs and producers.

The two sides have clashed over paying writers for reruns of their work online and for original work written for the internet.

“We are your partners, and together, we’ll conquer the internet. Pay us and we’ll shut up and go back to work.

“Let’s get this done by Christmas,” he concluded.

Writers will meet with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Monday for the first time since they went on strike.

Studio chiefs and the heads of TV networks sounded a conciliatory note yesterday in messages sent to their employees.

“The resumption of talks is very welcome news indeed to everyone in our business,” the message read. “We are all, producers and writers alike, looking forward to an end to this strike and realise that there’s no way it can be resolved unless both sides are talking.”

The message was sent by the heads of Warner Bros, CBS and other studios.

“We believe that a new, fair deal is possible,” the message read. “As an industry, we have done such deals before. We will do them again.”