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February, 8th 2008
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Striking Hollywood writers could be back at work as early as Monday for the first time in three months if they embrace terms of a tentative contract deal that union leaders are expected to present them this weekend.
The outcome hinges on meetings set for Saturday in New York and Los Angeles where rank-and-file members of the Writers Guild of America will be briefed on a labor pact taking shape in talks with studio executives over the past two weeks.
Sources familiar with those talks have said a breakthrough was reached last Friday on key issues of paying film and TV writers for work distributed over the Internet, and the two sides have been busy since then fine-tuning contract language.
If reaction from union members on Saturday is positive, the governing boards of the WGA's East and West Coast branches could move quickly to endorse the pact and order the 10,500 striking writers back to work while the deal is submitted to them for ratification.
Board action to lift the strike, perhaps as early as Monday, would probably not come before Sunday and would likely follow a formal vote by the WGA's 19-member negotiating committee urging approval of the deal.
If Saturday's response from the rank-and-file is negative or sharply divided, union leaders might opt to keep writers on the picket lines pending a ratification vote.
Neither WGA officials nor studio representatives would comment on the record, citing a strict media blackout imposed by the two sides since contract talks resumed on January 23.
But one union insider said the outcome of Saturday's meetings was hardly certain, adding, "We're signing up people for picket duty next week."
Striking WGA members in red-and-black T-shirts paraded with signs again on Friday outside NBC Studios in Burbank, California, and in front of Time Warner Center in Manhattan.
STUDIOS HOPE FOR BEST
Meanwhile, Hollywood is chomping at the bit to get its writers back at their computer keyboards.
TV studios and networks are waiting to jump-start production on some of the biggest prime-time dramas and comedies knocked off the air or into reruns by the strike, hoping to salvage what's left of the broadcast season.
Fresh episodes of such hits as "CSI," "Grey's Anatomy," "House" and "The Office" could return to network schedules by early April if the strike were ended next week.
On the film side, a back-to-work order would allow producers to resume production on several movies put on hold due to the labor clash. Among them, according to trade publication The Hollywood Reporter, are Steven Spielberg's political drama "The Trials of the Chicago 7" and superhero movies "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," and "Justice League."
The Reporter also said agents, producers and studios are bracing for a flood of "spec" scripts, unsolicited screenplays pitched by writers to studios in hopes of making a deal.
The flurry of script purchases could be intense as studios look to replenish a pipeline of material that had run dry since the strike began on November 5, and writers seek to take advantage of what one executive said "could turn into a feeding frenzy."
Still, studios will be wary of rushing too much into production too soon out of concern about another potential Hollywood labor confrontation with the Screen Actors Guild when its contract comes up for renewal in June.
Movie executives will likely keep a close eye on the reaction of SAG leaders in the coming days and weeks to whatever deal is ultimately approved by the writers to gauge the likelihood of an actors strike later this year.
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