Green light for the Oscars as writers return to work

LIGHTS, camera, action — but first, here come the writers.

Members of the Writers Guild of America returned to work yesterday, after voting to end their strike on its 100th day, thus allowing Hollywood to jump-start stalled production of numerous TV sitcoms and dramas.

“It will be all hands on deck for the writing staff,” said Chris Mundy, co-executive producer of the CBS drama Criminal Minds. Actual production won’t begin, however, until scripts have been completed.

Broadcasters said it may take six to eight weeks for popular shows such as Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy to return to full production.

For the February 24 Academy Awards, the vote on Tuesday by East and West Coast guild members ended the threat of a boycott by writers and actors that would have robbed the ceremony of its celebrity lustre. Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which stages the Oscars, responded effusively.

“I am ecstatic the 80th Academy Awards presentation can now proceed full steam ahead,” he said, and without “hesitation or discomfort” for the nominees.

The writers decided overwhelmingly in favour of ending the strike: 3,492 said yes, with only 283 voting to stay off the job. Under the tentative agreement, writers would get a maximum flat fee of about $1,200 (€820) for programmes streamed on the internet in the deal’s first two years and then get 2% of a distributor’s gross in year three — a key union demand. Other provisions include increased residual payments for movies and TV programmes downloaded from the internet.