The World Will Know (…Again…*sigh*…)

It feels like it wasn’t that long ago that I was writing in this space bemoaning a potential writer’s strike. Oh…wait…that’s right – it wasn’t that long ago. Well prepare yourselves movie lovers, because as the awful hair metal song says “Here we go again”.

While the writers are happily working away on their laptops, we have found our way to another expiring union contract – this time for the actors’ unions. That’s right, unless some major progress is made, you might very well see all those shiny happy people carrying picket signs while trying to squeeze TV and Movie studios for a new deal. How major? The previous contract between management and labour expires June 30th (three days from now). There has been zero progress in drafting up a new one. That’s right – 72 hours to go…no talks.

The fallout this time will be a bit different too: production of any movie or TV show will immediately stop (unlike the writer’s strike where any existing script could still be filmed). And if you’re a fan of late night/daytime talk shows, don’t expect to see the stars promoting their summer movies, since they won’t be doing any promotional work without a contract either.

The end result? A few high profile movies being filmed might have to be shut down (TRANSFORMERS 2, TERMINATOR: SALVATION, and ANGELS & DEMONS are the biggest titles in production…though there’s countless others that would be affected). And should the strike carry on, the debut of the fall TV season could be pushed back if new episodes can’t be filmed in time.

I find it a bit harder to sympathise with the actors than I did with the writers, but of course as a union, they are entitled to their fair share. Of course it’s hard to identify with either side when many of them make more money than most of us will ever see in a lifetime.

So soak up those movies and TV shows while ya can kids…we might be in for (another) long few months.