In overseeing some 400 labor contracts with writers, actors, film crews, musicians and scores of other professions, J. Nicholas Counter III has deftly kept Hollywood working, save for one major strike by writers in 1988. Despite his being the designated nemesis of Hollywood labor and taking the public slings and arrows that come with being the industry's chief negotiator, even his opponents can rarely recall Counter losing his cool. But Counter's nerves are in for a big test starting next week. Formal talks begin with an increasingly restless union for about 12,000 TV and film writers, followed next year by similar negotiations with representatives of nearly 120,000 actors.
See "Studio labor negotiator J. Nicholas Counter - Hollywood's Dr. No", Richard Verrier, Los Angeles Times, July 10, 2007