March down Hollywood Blvd

The SEIU and United Healthcare Workers joined the WGA yesterday to march down Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles, and gathering in front of the historic Grauman's Chinese Theater. Thousands turned out to support the teamsters. They both spoke on the message of solidarity amongst the unions.

Movies delayed

Johnny Depp's latest movie is the latest victim of Hollywood's writer's strike. "Shantaram," based on the novel by Gregory Roberts has stop production until the end of the strike. Both Depp and director Mira Nair plan to continue as soon as a deal is reached.

Oliver Stone's new movie on the Vietnam war name, "Pinkville" has also been delayed. The movie has been delayed indefinitely because both Stone and "Pinkville" screenwriter Mikko Alanne are members of the WGA and the script is not quite ready for filming.

Katie Couric is on her own

CBS News staff who are represented by the WGA voted to authorize a strike against CBS. This vote allows the guild to start a strike at anytime, however a walkout is not planned at this time. The strike would effect not only CBS television but their radio newscasts as well.

College students affected

College students hoping to intern in the film industry are looking to change course in life after college. Most major colleges work directly with studios to place their students into internship programs for a semester. Boston University worked in the past with Fox, Miramax, and HBO, but students at that college are now being forced to switch to a backup plan.

Networks to skip big critic event

Citing "challenging times" due to the strike, NBC as reported by the New York Times has pulled out of the big Television Critics Association event. Other networks (CBS, ABC, Fox, the CW) are said to be considering whether they will be attending. Chris Ender, a CBS spokesman told the NYT, "There are just too many unknowns to make a commitment at this point."

The Television Critics Association hosts two big events to allow the networks to showcase their new and existing shows to critics to begin growing a buzz on upcoming shows.

Strike starts to touch awards shows

Jimmy Kimmel had basic notes written for his American Music Awards hosting gig, but ended up improvising most of his jokes for the three-hour live show. Early buzz is that he did a good job. The Oscars and Golden Globe shows won't have the luxury of prewritten notes, as both organizations announce nominations mid-December. Maybe the folks from "Whose Line is it Anyway?" can host the shows.