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2. ENTERTAINMENT: HOLLYWOOD WRITERS' STRIKE. GARY CHAISON, Ph.D.,professor of industrial relations at CLARK UNIVERSITY's Graduate School ofManagement: "The writers' strike is significant not only because of the costsinvolved (after a month or two the costs could be hundreds of millions ofdollars for the producers and the companies) but in terms of what itrepresents. This is the strike of the 21st century. It's a strike ofprofessional and creative workers who are often mobile freelancers -- sotypical of the emerging labor force -- and it deals with issues of informationtechnology that were not even imagined 20 years ago when the unions last hadto negotiate over the impact of technology on pay and profits. The strike willfirst affect TV shows that need fresh scripts and, lastly, affect the filmindustry, which has long production schedules and has stockpiled scripts. Theparties are not all that far apart and may reach a settlement before majoreconomic hardship is felt. But the significance of the strike is crucial.Compare it to the strikes of autoworkers at GM and Chrysler; both wereattempts to protect past gains -- the job security and benefits of well-paidindustrial workers -- in the face of intense foreign competition. The writers'strike is very different -- it's completely future-oriented." News Contact:Angela M. Bazydlo, [email protected] Phone: +1-508-793-7635 (11/9/07)
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3. ENTERTAINMENT: WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA STRIKE. BRUCE BENSON, seniormanaging director, FTI CONSULTING: "For the first time in more than 20 years,writers that comprise the Writers Guild of America went on strike to demand alarger share of DVD revenues and new terms for online and digital sales. Thisevent yet again highlights the media industry's inability to cope with thedigital world. Writers are demanding a larger share, but networks areunwilling because they have yet to truly make money on digital. As thenetworks will eventually make money in this space, the time is right forwriters to seek to lock in their percentage before the tides turn and writershave less influence." Benson, a recognized expert in the industry, has morethan 20 years of professional experience in all aspects of media and iscurrently responsible for leading FTI's media and entertainment consultingpractice. Benson has helped some of the world's leading companies achievetheir strategic goals, including Sony Music, Microsoft, Bertelsmann, Viacom,Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy, Harper Collins, NBC and Pearson. He pioneered variousnew forms of digital distribution and advertising over the Internet. NewsContacts: Amy Sarin, [email protected] Phone: +1-212-850-5611 and Andy Maas,[email protected] Phone: +1-212-850-5631 Web site: http://www.fticonsulting.com(11/9/07)
4. ENTERTAINMENT: THE FCC AND MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES. RACHEL STILWELL,attorney, expert in media ownership and FCC broadcast regulation, can addressthe effects of media consolidation on the public's ability to obtain locallyproduced news and entertainment in connection with the Senate CommerceCommittee hearing on media ownership rules: "Three million people haveexpressed to the FCC their opposition to further media consolidation. Thecourts rejected t
