WGA STRIKE UPDATE: WGA Says Golden Globes Picket Still On

Screen Actors Guild to Meet with Nominees

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/2/2008 8:31:00 PM

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which administers the Golden Globe Awards, and the Writers Guild of America were apparently unable to reach a deal to allow striking writers to contribute to the Jan. 13 Dick Clark Productions awards show without crossing the picket lines.

The HFPA had announced Wednesday that as of Dec. 29, its attorneys were discussing an interim agreement, similar to one between the WGA and Worldwide Pants that allows guild members to return to work on CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman. But in a statement Wednesday, the WGA said: "“Dick Clark Productions is a struck company. As previously announced, the Writers Guild will be picketing the Golden Globe Awards."

HFPA president Jorge Camara had been hopeful, saying, "We expect the WGA to agree to the same terms and ultimately permit the Golden Globe Awards to be broadcast as scheduled, without picket lines, Sunday, Jan. 13.”

The guild reached an agreement with David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants production company Friday, allowing CBS’ Late Show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to resume production Wednesday with their full complement of writers.

As for the actors who are in line to pick up those awards, Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg said in a statement Wednesday that SAG was meeting with nominees later in the week, but "unless and until there is an agreement between the WGA and HFPA, we will advise our members of their rights with respect to not crossing WGA picket lines and/or not appearing on programs using nonunion writers."

For full coverage of the strike, click here.