Others have spoken to this, but I think it demands a headline...
New film production will stop around Tax Day if productive talks that seem to mean avoiding a strike are not well underway by then. As with so many of the windmills of the WGA strike, it's not personal... It's math.
Many of you know this already, but if you are mid-production with a flawed script, things are not optimal, but you don't shut down either. If the actors walk, however, you do. That minute. Forever.
A SAG strike, even in the last week of production of an 8 week shoot is a disaster.
So, even if there never is a SAG strike, months of work can be lost. This time, it is a movie problem in a real way.
This is not to say that SAG shouldn't strike if they feel they aren't getting a good deal in bargaining. In fact, the ongoing threat of a SAG strike are far more potent than WGA's were, if only because the economies of the WGA strike, for the studios, will not be revisited. A SAG strike would hurt from Day One and never stop hurting. Even reality programs would be hit, with star and host talent unlikely to be willing to cross the lines, even out of jurisdiction (meaning talk shows again).
This may all seem obvious to many of you, but like I said, it needs pointing to. Late June feels far away and people need time to heal. But the clock has started... And we're just 2 months away from the first major shots across the bow.
(podded)
Read the complete post at http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/archives/2008/02/the_one_where_h.html