Hollywood Dilemmas
Hands up who knows what the number one stress is at the moment inside of Hollywood?
For those of you who answered Tom and Katie’s relationship, you were close, but just a shy off the mark. The actual answer is the looking strike of the Screenwriters Guild.
What does that mean?
Simple; without screenwriters, there are no people to write scripts for TV shows or movies. So while there may be a stockpile of scripts to make it through most of the TV shows currently airing, and a similar stockpile of movies, how long can they really hold out?
Consider what it would do to the Fall of 2008 TV season. Here’s what the Hollywood Reporter has to say;
Only 30% to 50% of all commissioned scripts — normally due by year’s end — have been turned in to date.
Look at all the TV shows that normally make their debut on your TV screens each Fall. Without a full load of scripts, that pool of shows will drop dramatically, and that is something that should not happen, considering how little decent television there is even with a full pool of options to look at!
A prolonged stoppage of a strike that could very well start this Thursday, the first of November, would mean shortened series however. TV shows that are airing now like Californication, NCIS, Bionic Woman, etc, would all be affected. The result would mean that networks would be running 10 episode long seasons in some cases.
From the Hollywood Reporter again;
Indications are that both Fox and ABC are sticking to their original plan to launch “24″ and “Lost” in January and February, respectively. Fox’s “24,” which started production late and was affected by the recent wildfires, is working on episodes seven and eight, one-third of its 24-episode season. “Lost” has almost reached the 10-episode mark, closer to the show’s 16-episode season order.
So what happens when the shortened seasons reach their untimely ends? Repeats, acquisitions, repeats, unscripted shows, repeats… getting the picture?
So while everyone in Hollywood at the moment is crowing at the happy-chappy nature of working together towards a common goal, what about the long term? What about the fact that the major studios are going to be left without anything new?
And this doesn’t just affect TV and movie studios either. A clause in the strike rules affects producers of web content as well!
Of course, movie studios get it a little bit easier, as they’re not restricted by a time schedule as the TV studios are. They can stretch out their script stockpiles for a little longer.
But the issue is that movie execs and scriptwriters are currently frantically writing and editing and rejecting and accepting scripts that, in all reality, cannot be up to the level we want.
Look at the Justice League movie. No one’s even sure if that’ll get through before the strike is enacted. And even then, I’ve no hope that it’s going to be any good whatsoever. The rushed scripts are just making me even more nervous.
I’m doing my best to keep on top of the strike news, and when November 1 hits, I’ll make sure I keep you all abreast of what happens. So stay tuned, and keep your fingers crossed!
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This doesn’t look good indeed and I feel where you’re coming from concerning The Justice League of America film. My main concern is for X-men Origins: Wolverine film. That they don’t mess this opportunity to do Wolverine some justice that they fell short on during the X-Men trilogy. I’ve been a fan of Wolverine since issue #1 and have looked forward to seeing him on the big screen in full attitude. Like JLA the rush to get things done inevitably will impact potential quality of the movies we want to be done well. If JLA does well this could push green lights for spin-offs, like the Flash (which I’d really like to see it make the big screen). So I have my fingers crossed that they hit the bullseye with the few shots they have, to do a good movie.