Golden Globes face WGA boycott
The Golden Globes could be the latest victim of the Hollywood writers' strike.
Thursday, 03, Jan 2008 12:33
The Golden Globe awards could be the latest victim of the Hollywood writers' strike, it has emerged.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which organises the prestigious ceremony, had hoped to secure an interim agreement with the Writers' Guild of America (WGA) to allow the January 13th show to go ahead without the threat of picketing from striking writers.
But despite the WGA reaching a similar agreement with David Letterman's Worldwide Pants company to allow his talkshow to return to air, the union has refused to abandon its plans to picket the awards.
"We feel that The Late Show with David Letterman agreement is very reasonable, and hope and expect the WGA will agree to the same terms and ultimately permit the Golden Globe awards to be broadcast as scheduled, without picket lines, on January 13th," HFPA president Jorge Camara said in a statement yesterday.
But the WGA, representing thousands of writers angered at allegedly unfair royalty agreements regarding the distribution of their work on DVDs, the internet and mobile phones, said its members will still picket the show, saying it was engaged in a "crucial struggle that will protect our income and intellectual property rights for generations to come".
And the Screen Actors Guild has added to organisers' woes by confirming it will advise Hollywood stars to boycott the show.
Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg said: "We will advise our members of their rights with respect to not crossing WGA picket lines and/or not appearing on programmes using non-union writers."
Writers have been on strike since November 5th 2007 in what has become the most expensive industrial action to hit Tinsel Town in almost 20 years.