THURSDAY - WGA STRIKE SET FOR MONDAY

WGA STRIKE SET FOR MONDAY

Hollywood is to be hit by an historic strike after negotiators for the screenwriters' union recommended industrial action.

Union leaders are to meet in New York and Los Angeles after negotiations between the Writers' Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke down on Wednesday. An existing contract agreement expired at 00:01 local time (07:01 GMT) on Thursday.

A federal mediator attended the eight-hour talks, with the writers' union seeking extra revenue for the re-use of their work when reproduced on DVD, the internet and mobile phones.

But studios issued a statement confirming increased demands from the WGA had constituted a "complete roadblock to any further progress".

While the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers stresses the WGA should "take the necessary steps now to break this impasse", the union argues its demands have been overlooked.

"Every issue that matters to writers, including internet reuse, original writing for new media, DVDs, and jurisdiction, has been ignored [in the negotiations]," said the WGA.

"This is completely unacceptable."

Harris Goldberg, screenwriter of Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo, told the BBC: "The guild has never had the resolve to go the distance.

"They feel that if they don't do it now, they're never going to be able to do it again."

Fellow writer Dave Garrett, told the Associated Press that the strike announcement has been met with an enthusiastic reception.

"There was a unified feeling in the room. I don't think anyone wants the strike, but people are behind the negotiation committee."

Studios have fast-tracked scripts in recent weeks, while increased repeats, news programming and reality TV are expected to fill US TV schedules during any strike.

Topical shows such as the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Colbert Report and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno would be hit hard by lengthy industrial action.

The last significant WGA strike - in 1988 - lasted 22 weeks, costing the industry an estimated $500 million.