Writers Picket Silvercup

Members of the Writers Guild of America-East began walking a picket line outside Silvercup Studios in Long Island City on Tuesday. Writers of scripts for television shows and movies want a greater share of the monies earned by their product when it is distributed on non-traditional media such as DVDs or downloaded from the Internet. The strike by the Writers Guild of America, whose members produce the scripts for sitcoms, hour-long television dramas and films, came to Queens yesterday. Writers Guild of America East members formed picket lines and carried placards at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, the site of filming of the sitcom "30 Rock" and other series and movies.

The strike started early Monday and by nightfall picket lines had formed outside Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. The first effects of the strike in the New York metropolitan area were repeats of "The Late Show With David Letterman" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". Repeats were aired in place of the original shows that had been scheduled to be aired, but were cancelled when the writers who produce the jokes and most of the monologues both hosts deliver laid down their pens and pencils and walked out of their respective studios.

On the West Coast, networks announced yesterday that production of three sitcoms filmed before live audiences was halted because of the strike by Writers Guild members working in Hollywood. "Back to You'' starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, which airs on 20th Century Fox Television, will not return from a planned hiatus. "'Til Death'' also on Fox, and "Rules of Engagement'' on CBS also halted production. Such shows are usually written in the same week they are filmed.

The writers are demanding a greater share of new media sales such as DVDs of television programs and movies. Contracts with producers should reflect the changes in production and distribution technology, Writers Guild members claim. According to producers, however, such a development would block their ability to experiment with the new forms of distribution.

A writer for a late-night "live" comedy show said the writers want assurance that they will be compensated sufficiently for the ways in which television and movies and the way viewers watch them are changing- inserting a DVD into a player or computer drive, for example, rather than simply turning on a television set or going to a movie- and different ways people are watching them.

So-called reality programs do not require that their writers belong to a union. They are not expected to be affected by the strike. However, late-night shows slated to begin airing reruns shortly include "Last Call with Carson Daly", "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson", "The Daily Show", "Colbert Report", "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!".

The Writers Guild negotiating committee plans a meeting of its members, but no new negotiations with producers and their representatives have been scheduled, The producers' chief negotiator said that his organization is ready for what could be a long strike. The last walkout by the Writers Guild took place in 1988 and lasted 22 weeks- a little over five months.