Writers strike Q&A
Q: Will the strike only affect writers in Hollywood?
A: Not in a geographic sense. Although the impending walkout is frequently referred to as a Hollywood strike, the strike will include television and film writers on both coasts. That’s because, while the Writers Guild of America is split into two guilds, West and East, the two were jointly negotiating the new writers’ contract and are going on strike together. (The guilds split the country at the Mississippi River.)
That means there will be picket lines in New York as well as Los Angeles. (There has also been talk of picketing location shoots in Boston, Las Vegas and Canada.) A WGA East spokeswoman said the final locations were still being determined, but the television networks’ Midtown Manhattan headquarters are obvious targets.
With 4,000 members -- 2,500 of whom work under the contract that just expired and will be walking out -- WGA East represents a smaller number of writers than its West Coast counterpart. But the work stoppage will trip up the production of 30 television shows based in New York, including “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “30 Rock,” “Gossip Girl,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and “The View.” Soap operas will be hard hit, as will late-night shows like “Saturday Night Live,” “The Daily Show,” “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” and “The Late Show With David Letterman,” most of which are expected to immediately go into repeats.
-- Matea Gold
