The Writers Guild of America (WGA) on Monday denied requests to allow their members to write for the Oscars and the Golden Globes.
The WGA's move was seen as part of the union's effort to sustain pressure on studios to return to the bargaining table and hammer out a new contract to replace the one that expired at midnight Oct. 31.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had asked the guild for permission to use clips from movies and past awards programs that could be shown during the Oscars on ABC in February.
In a letter Monday to the academy, the WGA denied the academy's request, saying it opposed the use of clips from movies and past awards programs that could be shown during the Oscars award show in February.
Meanwhile on Monday, the guild released a separate letter rejecting the request from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which awards the Golden Globes.
In the letter, Patric M. Verrone, president of the WGA, said that granting a waiver "would not advance" the guild's ongoing battle with studios to negotiate a new contract.
"We must do everything we can to bring our negotiations to a swift and fair conclusion for the benefit of writers and all those who are being harmed by the companies' failure to engage in serious negotiations," Verrone wrote in the letter.
"Our board concluded, reluctantly, that granting a waiver for the Academy Awards would not advance that goal," Verrone said.
People close to the guild's board said the union also had decided not to grant any waiver that would allow writers to work on the awards show, although the academy has not yet asked for such a waiver.
In a statement, the Globe organization expressed measured unhappiness.
"The Golden Globe Awards, which has a long and friendly relationship with the Writers Guild of America, is obviously disappointed that the WGA denied its request for a waiver," the group said.
But it said it was "encouraged by the fact that the WGA has announced that it plans to negotiate agreements with independent production companies" and would attempt to reach a deal for the upcoming Globe ceremony.
Negotiations between striking Hollywood writers and producers broke off on Dec. 7 over the WGA's demand to extend union jurisdiction over so-called unscripted series and animated programs. The strike began on Nov. 5 over a dispute focusing on residual payments to writers for work distributed via the Internet, video iPods, cellphones and other new media.
(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2007)
