The guild, representing about 11,000 movie and TV writers, has been negotiating with the producers over how much the writers should be paid and how they should be treated. And a June 30 deadline is creeping closer for a possible second strike by 135,000 actors represented by the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Last year's labor dispute involved only actors in commercials. Either strike would have a devastating impact on the Hollywood economy, bringing much of the country's film and television production to a screeching halt. Should both strikes take place and drag on for months, America's entertainment industry could be a long time in recovering.
LA is a one-horse town.
Everything revolves around the movie and TV business. Sort of like the automobile industry in the Motor City. Burnstein, who was born and raised in Detroit and Birmingham and graduated from the University of Michigan, has overseen the U-M screenwriting program since 1995 as an adjunct lecturer in the Program in Film and Video. So his recent work life probably has been even more hyperactive than that of many of his screenwriting colleagues. I've been working seven days a week since the first of the year.