Hollywood writers voted overwhelmingly Tuesday in a special election to end the 100-Day Strike. Now it is up to the actors to settle their contract next.

By Alex Ben Block

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) – 2/13/08 – It may well be remembered as the “100 Day Strike.” The job action by the Writers Guild of America against the major studios and broadcast networks that began this past November officially ended on Tuesday after writers in Hollywood and New York voted 92.5 percent in favor of going back to work even before the official vote is tabulated in a week or two.

The positive outcome was widely expected, but it was still an impressive margin after several days of heated discussion among some guild members over whether the gains made in the new contract were enough, and whether they justified the strike. The vote is the members way of saying they got a fair deal, and the strike was worth it or they would not have made the same level of gains.

This 48-hour vote, as it was known, did not allow for guild members to vote by mail, phone or on line. They had to either come to a designated polling place or send in a proxy vote by fax, which was then entered by another guild members. Using this method, 3,775 writers voted out of a membership of more than 10,000.

“The strike is over. Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work. This was not a strike we wanted, but one we had to conduct in order to win jurisdiction and establish appropriate residuals for writing in new media and on the Internet,” Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West said in a statement Tuesday. “Those advances now give us a foothold in the digital age. Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as TV migrates to the Internet and platforms for new media are developed.”

This strike ends on a harmonious note for the guild, which has reason to feel good about the way the leadership prepared for the strike, and then used every tool at their disposal to make their views known, often pulling stunts that got under the skin of the top corporate executives. The guild’s decision to blow away the Golden Globes and threat to do the same to the Oscars was also an effective psychological tool.

This is in sharp contrast to the way the last writer’s strike ended 20 years ago. The strike had dragged on for five long months, and there were vocal splinter groups within the guild threatening to quit and become a financial core member if the strike was not brought to a swift conclusion. The bitterness of that split within the guild lingered for years afterward.

Now that the writer’s activist leaders have made headway, the spotlight turns to the actors who have indicated they have their own issues, and they may not be satisfied to follow the formula created first by the directors and now the writers. So one act in the Hollywood labor drama ends, and the next is ready to begin.

Over the weekend, the Screen Actors Guild responded to an offer by sister acting union AFTRA to once again bargain collectively; after an agreement to stand together in negotiations in place since 1981 was ended in acrimony between the two guilds. It remains unclear if they will work together. Both unions have said they are looking to start their talks on a new contract in March.

The actors may want to show their independence, the outline of a deal is now in place, and all they have to do is tweak that to figure out where they should land. That is a big advantage over what the writers faced when they entered talks, and it should help speed the actors along. But then being actors, first we must have our full measure of drama and angst.

For now, however, it was still the writer’s moment in the sun. “The success of this strike is a significant achievement not only for ourselves but the entire creative community, now and in the future,” said Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East, in a statement. “The commitment and solidarity of our members made it happen and have been an inspiration not only to us but the entire organized labor movement. We will build on that energy and unity to make our two unions stronger than ever.”

In a letter to guild members, Veronne and Winship wrote: “The decision to begin this strike was not taken lightly and was only made after no other reasonable alternative was possible. We are profoundly aware of the economic loss these fourteen weeks have created not only for our members but so many other colleagues who work in the television and motion picture industries. Nonetheless, with the establishment of the WGA jurisdiction over new media and residual formulas based on distributor’s gross revenue (among other gains) we are confident that the results are a significant achievement not only for ourselves but the entire creative community, now and in the future.”

The top moguls and corporate CEOs who call the shots inside the AMPTP, and helped finally engineer an end to this strike, also issued an optimistic statement: “This is a day of relief and optimism for everyone in the entertainment industry. We can now all get back to work, with the assurance that we have concluded two groundbreaking labor agreements – with our directors and our writers — that
establish a partnership through which our business can grow and prosper in the new digital age.,,We hope now to focus our collective efforts on what this industry does best – writers, directors, actors, production crews, and entertainment companies working together to deliver great content to our worldwide audiences.”

It was signed by Peter Chernin, Chairman and CEO, the Fox Group; Brad Grey, Chairman & CEO, Paramount Pictures Corp; Robert A. Iger, President & CEO, The Walt Disney Company; Michael Lynton, Chairman & CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment; Barry M. Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros.; Leslie Moonves, President & CEO, CBS Corp; Harry Sloan, Chairman & CEO, MGM; and Jeff Zucker, President & CEO, NBC Universal

The end of the strike was also cause for celebration at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, now that the Oscar show can go on with union writers and nominated celebrities. Academy President Sid Ganis said: “I am relieved that the men and women of the entertainment industry are going back to work and I am ecstatic that the 80th Academy Awards presentation can now proceed full steam ahead with talented writers working on the show, a fantastic array of presenters and performers and, most importantly, the ability for all of our honored nominees to attend without hesitation or discomfort.”

Ganis said on Thursday he and Oscar telecast producer Gil Cates will provide additional details about this year’s show during a morning press conference at Academy headquarters in Beverly Hills.

Show runners who produce as well as write were back at work yesterday, and everyone else who still has a job, a show or a movie is due back tomorrow. The networks have been busy announcing which shows will get a late season pick up order. Most of the shows, even hits, will have fewer episodes overall this season than normally would be the case.