Technology, which makes up much of Northern California's economy, is still in the dumps. And the burgeoning tourism business faces a long, lonely summer because of high oil and gas prices. Last year we had a really great year, but this year is definitely shaping up to be a major problem. Driving Hollywood's labor problems are money and ego, just what this town was built on. Writers and actors want studios to increase minimum payments for the contract work they do and also increase their share of residuals, the payments they get from reruns, video sales and re-releases.
Directors are adoptive parents.
Actors' unions, which are planning to start negotiations with producers and studios on May 10, have not spelled out their demands. But like the writers, they're increasingly concerned about residuals and credit from reproductions of their work, especially given the growth of the Internet and other digital media. For their part, studios claim the demands by writers and actors could ultimately bankrupt them. But the writers' contracts set the foundation for other unions that work with studios and production houses, driving the costs into the hundreds of millions. The writers are talking about their own contract . . .