Writers warned of new ‘dark age’

An early end to the Hollywood writers' strike looked possible this weekend after a breakthrough on Friday in the negotiations to end the three-month-long strike. But Linda Lichter, an entertainment lawyer whose clients have included prominent screenwriters like Guillermo Arriaga (Babel and 21 Grams) [pictured], is warning that post-strike Hollywood may actually prove tougher for writers. Lichter told the New York Times she is concerned that the film studios and TV networks, squeezed by a three-month disruption which has cost the industry £1bn, will now "try to cut prices, try to use the economic climate to make people take what they're offered".

The breakthrough came during informal talks between production companies and the Writers Guild of America. The Associated Press news agency reported that the two sides had finally 'bridged the gap' over the crucial issue of writers' fees for projects distributed over the internet. Sources close to the talks said an agreement could be in place within a week, in time to save the doomed Oscars ceremony.

Because of the strike, last month's Golden Globes were announced at a press conference instead of the normal glittering celebration. While the WGA was prepared to negotiate a deal to allow the Grammys - the annual music industry awards - to go ahead next Sunday, there has been no hint of the guild being prepared to negotiate over the Oscars. With no one available to write the host's nor the presenters' banter, and with virtually no actors and directors prepared to walk through picket lines, the chances of a proper Oscars ceremony appeared hopeless until now.

But the glitz of the Oscars may be followed by something of a dark age, if the fears of entertainment lawyers are realised. After the five-month-long writers’ strike in 1988 studio lawyers put in place changes that angered writers, such as insisting on longer option periods for material and extending a writer’s legal liability should a screenplay be thought to invade someone's privacy. There are fears that the same will happen again. Lawyer David Colden told the New York Times: “Only somewhat facetiously, I’ve said it’s taken us 20 years to climb back from setbacks that followed the 1988 walkout."