Dozens of picketers, including Matt Steiner (blue shirt, foreground), can be seen assembled at the front gates of Paramount Studios during 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike. On November 5, 2007 more than 12,000 television writers from the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW), and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) participated in a nationwide strike against studios and production companies. The writers' union said this strike was necessary to protect their members' future incomes as the shows they write for are increasingly distributed over "new media" (such as content written for/distributed through emerging digital technology, primarily video iPods and Internet downloads), as well as other key issues including DVD residuals and union jurisdiction over animation and reality programs. The WGAW and WGAE guilds were on strike for 14 weeks and 2 days (100 days), ending on February 12, 2008. According to different sources, the strike cost the economy anywhere from $380 million to $2.1 billion dollars. In comparison, the last WGA strike 20 years ago lasted 5 1/2 months and cost the entertainment industry an estimated $500 million dollars. The WGAW and WGAE labor unions represent film, television and radio writers working in the United States.
Steiner, Matt Paramount Pictures Corporation Writers Guild of America, West Writers Guild of America, East Writers Guild of America Los Angeles Photographers Collection photographs Stone Ishimaru Collection photographs Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.)
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