On 2nd January 2008, the ongoing strike of the writers’ association reached a new high when they declined to consult and come to agreeable terms with the authorities of the Golden Globe Awards on the occasion of hosting the ceremony without any protest. This new development has made the fate of the popular Golden Globe Awards highly uncertain.
The show is planned to be telecasted on NBC channel on 13th January. The protesting actors’ guild announced that it is going to recommend the award nominees and program hosts to shun the event. Such a boycott would surely bring disgrace to the famous Golden Globe Award show, which initiates the awards season of Hollywood.
The official presenter of the Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, is still optimistic hoping the Writers Guild of America will finally allow them to peacefully stage the show. However, the protesting union confirmed on Wednesday that it would continue with the strike. In an issued statement the guild said,
The WGA has great respect and admiration for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, but we are engaged in a crucial struggle that will protect our income and intellectual property rights for generations to come…We will continue to do everything in our power to bring industry negotiations to a fair conclusion.
Prior to this, the President of HFPA, Jorge Camara issued a statement on Wednesday saying that they were in a process of negotiating with the union to come to ‘an interim agreement’ that would
ultimately permit the Golden Globe Awards to be broadcast as scheduled, without picket lines.
NBC network, who had revealed that 20 million people had watched the broadcast last year, made no comments on Wednesday. According to some celebrities from Hollywood, the awards show this year will merely remain a small private affair on television without scripts and presence of stars.
However, the organizers of Oscars and Globes still strive hard to televise their shows anyhow as they make millions of dollars by broadcasting on television from network licensing contracts. David Letterman’s show was back on television on Wednesday night after he sought an agreement with the guild writers on last Friday.
As per the new deal, the writers from the guild can now write on his show named ‘The Late Show with David Letterman.’ According to Camara, David’s show and the Globes are similar in nature as far as administration and structure goes as both the shows are produced by an autonomous company and are not the properties of television channels televising them.
So, the Globes authorities tried to seek an analogous negotiation with the guild akin to that of David Letterman. However, they failed in their objective to convince the guild and later, the statement from the guild added,
As previously announced, the Writer’s Guild will be picketing the Golden Globe Awards.
On Wednesday, Alan Rosenberg, President of Screen Actors Guild doubted whether celebrities and presenters of the show will participate in the function. He said,
Unless and until there is an agreement between the WGA and HFPA, we will advice our members of their rights with respect to not crossing WGA picket lines and/or not appearing on programs using non-union writers.
He also confirmed that a meeting with the Globe award nominees was scheduled for later this week. The fate of the Golden Globe Awards is still indecisive. People across the world are hoping that a last-minute negotiation is reached which will ensure the television broadcast of the show as planned.
Source: Omg
