Studios Act on Strikers

I can be very naive at times. I was actually hoping the strike is over this week. But apparently, that's really just wishful thinking...

A day after Hollywood's writers went out on strike, the major studios are hitting back with plans to suspend scores of long-term deals with television production companies, jeopardizing the jobs of hundreds of rank-and-file employees whose names never appear in the credits.

Assistants, development executives and production managers will soon be out of work, joining their better-paid bosses who opted to sacrifice paychecks as members of the Writers Guild of America. At some studios, the first wave of letters are going out today, hitting writer-producers whose companies don't currently have shows in production.

"Anyone who's not working on pilots or shows is going to get suspension letters," said one top studio executive.

The major studios that have issued or are planning suspensions include Fox, CBS Paramount, Disney, Warner Bros. and NBC Universal.

From LA Times