Top 12 Film Industry Stories of 2007: #1:
Writers Strike, Hollywood Braces for Later Impact
By David Mumpower
January 1, 2008
The bigger impact, however, is the reason why this is the biggest industry story of the year. With the striking occurring this past November, the period 12 months later will be right in the middle of awards and holiday season at the box office. This is a double strike for the industry. After the usual lackluster fall campaign, studios will be relying upon the November/December period to provide the box office revenue to end the year on a high note. Anyone reading this site over the past week knows that the box office period from mid-December to New Year's Day is the most lucrative of the year. If a compromise were brokered tomorrow, any project would be facing a huge rush to be finished in time for that period. If the strike goes on for another four months as many expect, those two months are going to be barren in terms of major releases. Studios have stockpiled a few additional movies to counteract this, but they largely failed to anticipate the length of the strike. There simply will not be enough product to cover the period.
The awards season aspect is also crucial. With the Academy Awards moved up a month these days, the late fall/early winter period is when all of the major contenders for such awards are released. As things stand, there will be a scarcity of noteworthy candidates for the 2008 awards season. That situation will only deteriorate if any projects miss their deadlines, which is much more likely to occur what with the scarcity of writers on-set and all. There is also the issue of movie quality for the same reason. With all the most talented scribes in the industry on a break, we might be begging for the subtle wisdom of Tyler Perry before this is all said and done. And if that thought is not enough to make you hope for a quick resolution to the writer's strike, I don't know what will.
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