Oscars could still go ahead

Last Modified: 18 Jan 2008
Source: ITN

There is fresh hope the Oscars could still go ahead in February after Hollywood directors reached a tentative deal with studios.

The move could increase pressure on writers to follow suit: they have been on strike since November.

The two-month strike has had a devastating effect on the showbusiness industry and the Golden Globes Awards show was reduced to a televised press conference which was boycotted by film stars.

Gil Cates, chairman of the Directors Guild of America's negotiations committee, said the deal with the studios was "groundbreaking and substantial".

Oscar-winner George Clooney praised the deal. He said: "I'm very pleased with the new agreement and I hope it helps speed up the negotiations (with the Writers Guild of America)."

The central issue of the writers' strike was compensation for programmes offered on the internet - and the three-year agreement between directors and studios establishes a key provision for this.

Top executives from eight major companies - Fox, Paramount Pictures Corp, The Walt Disney Co, CBS Corp, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros, MGM and NBC Universal - urged the writers to restart talks following the deal between directors and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios.

The Writers' Guild of America (WGA) said it would look at the directors' proposed contract and said it had been calling on the studios to resume negotiations.

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