Studio executives insisted Wednesday that the Hollywood writers strike did not hurt their movie-release plans through summer 2009. That was the good news. The bad news is that looming contract talks for actors could screw up things beyond then. "It's not a foregone conclusion that it's going to work itself out," Sony Pictures Entertainment vice chairman Jeff Black said during a panel discussion at the industry's annual ShoWest convention. Other film executives also expressed concern that sabre-rattling by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) could presage another troublesome labor dispute. The union's contract expires June 30, and no start date has been set for talks. The uncertainty has forced studios to delay projects rather than risk having them shut down by a walkout.
See "Hollywood Studios Troubled By Labor Pains", Reuters, The New York Times, March 12, 2008