Big Picture

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The threat of an actors’ strike makes entrepreneur Eric Golden so upset he has produced a YouTube video in protest.

The 90-second viral video, titled “Save the Biz,” shows a busy movie set that goes dark, eliminating jobs for cast and crew.

“Filming in L.A. County is now down to half of what it was two years ago,” said narrator James Cromwell, star of the TV show “The Big Bang Theory.” “The question is: During one of the worst economic crises in generations, if there is a strike what would be left of the film industry?”

Fade to black.

Golden said he and David Pringle, partners at special-effects lighting company Luminys Systems Corp. in Hollywood, made the video out of a sense of frustration.

“We don’t really take a position on who’s right or wrong, but we feel the industry can’t take another body blow right now,” Golden said. “We’ve seen the movie business hurting over the past year, and we feel if we don’t get it resolved, it will kill the industry. I know companies and crew members who are on the verge of financial collapse.”

“Save the Biz” has been viewed about 10,000 times on YouTube.

Golden said he has received hundreds of e-mails from industry people. “The vast majority feels the same way we do.”

Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney at Troy Gould PC and a popular blogger on Hollywood unions, said the Writers Guild of America strike and the current Screen Actors Guild contract negotiations have produced many homemade videos, but “Save the Biz” is the first professional piece made by observers, not unions.

“It reflects the fact that a strike would have wide-ranging effects on the L.A. economy,” Handel said.

Golden and Handel agree that the continued threat of a strike is almost as bad as a real work stoppage, because the uncertainty means studios won’t commit to make movies or TV shows.

The SAG board is split, with hardliners calling for a strike and moderates demanding a new negotiating team to find a compromise with the studios. The studios haven’t negotiated since they put a final deal on the table June 30, 2008. The next step is a strike authorization vote by the guild, although Handel doubts the tally could meet the required 75 percent.

“What we can expect is many more weeks of stalemate,” he said.

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