HOLLYWOOD—Writers’ Deal In Place, Film Action Restarts

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With the Writers Guild of America’s threatened strike effectively a thing of the past, there are strong indications that Hollywood is gearing up for a new round of production activity and at a faster pace than most insiders had expected.

A slew of new projects was unveiled last week by the major studios and several key independents, along with a number of other production-related deals. The announcements seem to indicate that most significant entertainment companies are unconcerned about a strike threat by Screen Actors Guild, which as of late last week still loomed as a possibility.

Among the latest batch of films heading into production this fall (the earliest date that shooting can kick off, given time requirements for script development and pre-production) are features from the likes of Paul Verhoeven (“Basic Instinct”) and Ridley Scott (“Gladiator”).

Other major directors like Richard Donner (“Lethal Weapon”) also are visibly active again, and Donner chose last week to unveil a long-term deal with indie producer Winchester Films.

These new commitments send a message to the industry that A-list directors are ready to go back to work after many had been stalling to see if there would be a strike. Their actions indicate that SAG negotiations are almost universally expected to end well.

This is good news for Los Angeles, which is still waiting for members of the WGA to officially ratify their new contract with the studios a contract that would save the city from potential business losses of $500 million a week.

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