Hollywood Writers’ Talks Break Down

The Writers’ Guild of America has publicly rejected a “final” contract offer from the major Hollywood movie studios following eight weeks of negotiations. Both sides are downplaying the possibility of a writers’ strike, but neither side has been willing to budge on issues like DVD revenue (the writers want a chunk of it; the studios want to keep it all). The WGA last struck for 22 days in 1988, delaying the fall TV schedule.

Finishing A Book From Beyond

“The mid-project death or enfeeblement of an author is one of the stranger crucibles a publisher must face. Unlike more collaborative art forms, a piece of writing bears a highly individual style, making it hard for others to complete a book without it seeming choppy or fraudulent. Nor can a company release a book’s fragment the way it might a CD; a piece of writing more than most creative efforts is an integrated whole and immune to such partialness. Yet creative legacy (if not commercial imperative) demands that a publisher find a way to get the book out–whether by hook, crook or séance.”