By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net

AMERICA, together with the entire world, is holding its breath as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) continues to hold a strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

The cause of the strike was a disagreement concerning writers’ residuals or royalties in DVD sales and new media profits. According to WGA, writers are entitled to residuals or profits made by major networks with DVD and online sales, since it is a major source of income of writers during times of unemployment. Hence, the WGA has proposed a doubling of the residual rate received by writers, or equivalent to eight cents per DVD sold. This was promptly rejected by the AMPTP, and the impasse that followed resulted in a massive strike that is coming close to paralyzing Hollywood.

Below is the official statement issued by both WGA East president Michael Winship and WGA West president Patrick Verrone.

This is the full statement released by the WGA on December 3.

Among the talk shows affected are “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” and “Late Show with David Letterman.” Meanwhile, top-rated TV shows “Heroes,” “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” “CSI,” and “Ugly Betty” also suffered from the strike, announcing that they will be running out of fresh episodes to air come next year.

Nevertheless, a number of Hollywood stars have expressed sympathy for the writers’ sentiments, including “Grey’s Anatomy” stars Patrick Dempsey, Ellen Pompeo, Katherine Heigl, and Sandra Oh. Politicians John Edwards and Barak Obama have also expressed support for the writers.

Currently talks have resumed between WGA and AMPT. The issue still remains unresolved, though, thus putting many actors’ careers on hold.

Here in the Philippines, the effects of the strike are yet to be felt. Local fans of talk shows like that of Jay Leno are mainly the ones affected, as only reruns are now being aired here. But other TV shows like “Ugly Betty” and “Grey’s Anatomy” are still airing fresh episodes, so viewers are unperturbed by the incident abroad.

But come next year, when the US runs out of fresh episodes to distribute here, how will local viewers react? On the one hand, it can be viewed as a positive thing, because maybe it will prompt viewers to patronize local TV shows like the teleseryes aired on local channels. But on the other hand, there is also the possibility that others will participate in the protest even when they are miles away from America. As early as now, many Filipinos have expressed concern over the unsolved issue abroad. Sooner or later, the effects are going to be felt full blast here, and maybe local networks are going to have a party.

The end of the disagreement between the WGA and the AMPT still seems far away and Americans — and Filipinos — can only hope for the best. Can you imagine passing a week without watching “CSI” or “Grey’s Anatomy?” We all got hooked on “Heroes” and we all laugh at the satirical comments made by Jon Stewart.

Piracy is one thing that contributed to this mess. Piracy has affected the profits earned by writers, actors, producers, and even major TV networks. It brought down their profits, and in turn, caused a chain reaction that affected even the writers’ residuals. In fact, Hollywood stars are now bearing the brunt of the effects of piracy, as major networks are cutting the pays of these stars and even demanding concessions from talents to cope with rising budgets and decreasing profits as a result of rampant piracy. Will there be an actors’ strike anytime soon?

Which leads to the question, what if a writers’ strike also occurs here? How would society react? Would they be as sympathetic as Americans are? Or would they turn their backs on the issue instead? After all, the Philippines is one place where pirates abound, incurring losses for industries all over. Nevertheless, the WGA strike is an eye opener for the local entertainment industry and should not be ignored by Filipinos.