Astorm brews on the horizon in Hollywood. It carries the destructive power of Godzilla, Mothra and Lindsay Lohan combined.
The Hollywood strike of 2008 is upon us.
This October, the Screenwriters' Guild's collective bargaining agreement with the studios will expire, but rather than negotiate a new contract, the writers will work without a contract until next June when both the Actors' and Directors' Guilds' contracts expire. Potentially, it means Hollywood could shut down after June, halting the production of every film in the pipeline: Picture the 1994 Major League Baseball strike, but fewer steroids and more fake breasts.
While a strike isn't much of a possibility - there's far too much money at stake for all sides not to come to a consensus on a new agreement - the potential trouble for moviegoers is in the studios' preparations in case a strike does occur. The fear of being left with an empty slate of films causes studios to greenlight whatever material they can produce before the talent strikes, no matter how bad it may be. In this case, quantity reigns while quality takes a back seat.
Even if the strike is averted, these poorer-quality movies will still be on track to crash-land in cinemas in 2009. Hollywood already doesn't have the greatest record of quality control, and that's with a load of time to sift through new prospects for films.
Consider the following: The last time talk of a Hollywood strike reared its ugly head (before summer 2001) a batch of undercooked, underdeveloped and just plain bad movies were released shortly after. Men in Black II,"" ""Reign of Fire,"" Tim Burton's ""Planet of the Apes"" remake, ""Dark Blue"" and ""The Truth About Charlie"" were all products of pre-2001 strike paranoia. Though there was no strike, the damage was already done.
According to the L.A. Times, some studios aren't even waiting for scripts to go into production on movies. Universal is trying to make a fourth installment of ""The Fast and the Furious"" even though they currently have no director or script. In fact, most major studios have some pre-strike projects that are being produced this way.
The problem lies in movies' bloated production schedules - movies often take a year or more from the writing stages to the screen. The supply of sub-par movies that Hollywood is beginning to hoard now may not have completely been exhausted until 2009 or 2010.
There may be one bit of silver lining to this cloudy situation for moviegoers: With the major studios spending all of their money on projects wrapping before June, if a strike is averted, there will be a lot of high-profile names with free time in their schedules. Smaller, independent studios could potentially sign big-name talent for their projects. The bitter taste of the major studios' 2009 slate may be sweetened by a slew of great independent films with the superior talent they deserve. But that's a long way away and only one possible end to this strike's story.
Anyway, the clock is ticking. Beware: The movie you see in 2009 might have been an idea quickly scribbled on a cocktail napkin at Chili's. In fact, that may have been the shooting script.
Do you do most of your creative writing at Applebee's, not Chili's? Let Brad know at boron@wisc.edu._
