Deadline looms for scriptwriters' walkout

Hollywood was today bracing itself for an all-out strike by scriptwriters as talks on a pay dispute went down to the wire.

Film and television writers will stage an indefinite walk-out if an agreement with studio bosses is not reached by midnight tonight.

The dispute is about the amount of cash writers receive when shows and movies are screened outside the US and as repeats.

A walk-out would paralyse the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, leave television series with no ending and films without sequels.

And it could be the stage-setter for an even more damaging strike by actors over the same issue.

Hollywood’s biggest names will stop work at the end of June if a pay deal cannot be hammered out.

Currently the writers’ pay deal is being hampered by a 100 million dollar (£69.4m) gap between what they want and the cash on offer.

Writers claim they earned 1.2 billion dollars (£833m) last year and calculate their claim will give them 99.7 million dollars (£69.2m) over the next three years.

But the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents bosses, say the demand would equal 227.4 million dollars (£168m) over three years - which they are not prepared to pay.

There seems to be little movement towards compromise in Hollywood.

‘‘It might be the winter season before the public starts seeing a lot of new shows,’’ said Doug Lieblein, a writer and union member.

And film mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, head of DreamWorks studio, said: ‘‘The notion, which has been offered by some, that the gap between us can possibly be bridged by simply meeting in the middle is ill-informed and, unfortunately, a non-starter for us.’’

The claim centres on repeat fees for film and television shows after their first screening in the US.

Shows such as Friends, Frasier and The Sopranos rake in cash for their makers overseas, video and DVD sales as well as re-runs in the US - revenues which The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists claim their members are missing out on.

Between them, the unions want to get what bosses claim could be as much as 1 billion dollars (£695m) more each year from ‘‘residuals’’ - the profits made when rights are sold abroad and shows are re-run.

Re-writing the basis of contracts for writers and actors would also shift the balance of power in Hollywood - which insiders say is the sticking point for studios, not the cash involved.

A writers’ strike would end shooting of hit shows quickly, as there are few scripts in reserve - with reality television the winner.

Anne Robinson’s Weakest Link is one of the programmes which could benefit.

Reality television and repeats will dominate American television, with a new Big Brother, another version of the hit Survivor series, and more quiz shows being made.

The first casualty will be soap operas, which will run out of fresh scripts within days of a walk-out.

Next to be affected will be dramas, followed by films towards the end of the year.

Although Hollywood commentators estimate there are enough scripts to keep films shooting until the end of the year, the threat of an actors’ walk-out is hanging over the industry.

Already directors have been shooting seven days a week in a bid to get films in the can before the July 1 deadline for talks to bring about a resolution.

Big names have vowed to walk out if there is not a resolution to the dispute, but low-paid artists and writers may move to Britain and Canada for work.