When it rains, it pours. As the entertainment industry continues to suffer from the effects of the ongoing writers’ strike, the bankruptcy filing of payroll company Axium International has heaped additional woes upon Hollywood. Many believe that economic damage from the strike pushing Axium over the edge. But as the following story by Below the [...]

• 3 Comments

From the great (greening) north, and our BTL compadre on the ground there, Scott Lehane, comes this report on how American-based networks are plugging the strike-spawned “content holes” on their schedules. And this, after the news that NBC/Universal/GE was buying a large stake in India-based NDTV. Content, thy name is “outsourcing!”:
Strike-beleaguered CBS picking [...]

• 2 Comments

Perhaps, still wracked by guilt decades after butchering Orson Welles’ “Magnificent Ambersons,” RKO has chosen to “settle up with the artists,” or at least the scribes, becoming the latest production outfit to ink with the writers. From the WGA’s official statement:
RKO SIGNS INTERIM AGREEMENT WITH WRITERS GUILD
LOS ANGELES - RKO Productions, Inc., a subsidiary [...]

• 4 Comments

So the WGA made a long-expected deal with Lionsgate this afternoon, and promptly released the following statement:
LIONSGATE SIGNS INTERIM AGREEMENT WITH WRITERS GUILD
LOS ANGELES - Leading independent filmed entertainment studio Lionsgate is the latest company to sign an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America. The company is one of the largest independent producers [...]

• 4 Comments