PCV believes this is worth watching because of the domino effect it has had on all aspects of industry in Hollywood in the past.
April 18, 2017
A “Yes” vote is expected, and would give guild leadership the power to call a strike as soon as the existing contract expires May 1, which they’ve said they will do if no successor deal is in place by then.
It’s understood that since then there has been some movement on both sides, but observers find it difficult to see how a $350 million gap could have been bridged in such a short time — or indeed how it will be bridged prior to contract expiration, which comes just a week after talks resume.
That may be what the path to a strike looks like. The last Hollywood strike, the 2007-2008 writers’ walkout, cost the economy an estimated $2.1 billion to $2.5 billion. The impact this time would depend on a strike’s length, but a job action that persisted for any significant period of time would likely drive viewers away from broadcast and cable scripted fare to a range of alternatives such as sports, news, reality, internet video, apps and library content on digital services such as Netflix.