The loudest noises coming from Hollywood right now aren't from the gnashing of teeth at the yawnfest that has greeted the new fall season (those are pretty loud, though). The news is on the street: the Writers Guild of America (WGA) is talking about striking as early as this November. The previous news had linked the Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild to the WGA strike, since all three guilds are approaching the ends of their contracts. This week, however, the presidents of WGA West and WGA East sent out a Strike Authorization letter, asking memebers to grant them the ability to "call a strike in the event that a fair and reasonable contract cannot be negotiated with the networks and studios."

Their beef is with the studios, currently in the persons of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (A.M.P.T.P.) over the rights to residuals, especially those in new media. The short form of the trouble comes from the fact that current contracts reflect a time when television series especially almost never went to video. That boxed set of Moonlighting DVDs you've got on your shelf? Gave less than a nickel to be divided among the writing staff. And then there's the internet, which is the big elephant in the room. The explosion of online-ready material has changed the landscape of how people view their favorite programs and movies, and the people who write and direct and act in those programs and films want a cut of the profits, especially as traditional television viewing shrinks.

Josh Friedman, showrunner for The Sarah Connor Chronicles, said, "We have to address new media."

Shorter: more people are watching streaming videos and fewer people are watching commercials. The studios are pleading poverty from the sea-change, not to mention inflation and the rising prices of everything from makeup to gasoline for the on-set vehicles. The writers (and directors and actors) are pleading poverty from their end, as rising prices hit everyone and lowered viewership in the traditional formats turns into lower pay and benefits. The WGA estimates that 30%-50% of their members' incomes are derived from new showings of previously-viewed work.

A.M.P.T.P. president J. Nicholas Counter III responded to the notice in a statement: "The Writers Guild's strike authorization is notable only because its negotiators seem intent on striking without seriously addressing [our] proposals, and with no regard for the devastating impact on their members, fellow unions and this industry. We are committed and prepared to make a fair deal with the WGA, but at this point the WGA is not of the same mind."

And where do you come in?

If you're a fan of anything currently on American television, the show you're watching now is probably on the edge of losing its writers. Genre shows rely on solid scripts to function. Bionic Woman, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Supernatural, Smallville, The 4400, Moonlight, Pushing Daisies, and anything else that doesn't involve people acting stupid on their own in front of live audiences will be on hiatus as soon as the currently written episodes run out. Expect more reality shows. (Because what we really need is So You Think You Can Dance Better Than a Fifth Grade Superhero.)

Movie projects are going on hold, too. The "Justice League" movie is already heavily favored to be axed by the strike.

Moviehole has a list of projects that are about to head to development hell, including the next Bond flick, the next Punisher movie, "Wolverine," "Voltron," "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and "Escape From Witch Mountain." Movies that had been fast-tracked into production to beat the deadline are about to be swinging in the wind if the strike does go through, and worst of all, entertainment writers will have nothing to say. (Won't someone please think of the poor entertainment writers? *puppy eyes*)

Mark Evanier has more information on his blog, written from his perspective as a WGA member:

Will there be a strike? I think so, and I don't think it will be a brief one. The Producers are acutely aware that they will have to negotiate next year with the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild, and that any increases won by the WGA will be multiplied by similar concessions to those unions. To the extent they do have to improve terms for the WGA, they'll look for ways to make those gains non-precdential

[sic]; to configure them in ways that will not benefit the other guilds. But you can only do so much of that. For the most part, the A.M.P.T.P. knows that every dollar they give us means another dollar they'll wind up giving the Directors in some form...and because there are more actors on any project than there are Writers or Directors, it usually means three or four dollars to the Screen Actors Guild.

Mike Seate, a columnist at the Pittsburg Tribune-Review, had a warning for the guild, based on what he sees as lackluster shows this year:

"Maybe the writers guild is forgetting something known even to the cucumber waxers' local: In order to strike, your labor must first be considered indispensable by someone. Network TV certainly doesn't fall under that banner."

How dire is the situation? Well, those of us who still remember the last time the writers walked out get a little shudder when describing that season of television. Second season TNG started with "The Host" because it was an old script for Star Trek II (um, the series that was never made, not the movie) that was gathering dust in a drawer. Dark times, people. Dark times.

Still, there's hope. As Evanier says, the eleventh-hour offer from the studios will now include the understanding that the writers intend to walk, so they might dig deeper in their pockets. The talks could wind out further past the deadline. The studios might even look closely at the way media formats are changing are actually redesign the compensation packages to make room for the new techonologies that the rest of the world is embracing. Or, we're in for a lot more reality tv and many more Canadian and British imports.

I suggest stocking up on comic books.

(Additional Sources: Chicago Tribune, LA Times, The Modesto Bee)