By DPA
Los Angeles : Thousands of screenwriters returned to work after a 14-week strike that devastated film and television production schedules and idled some 50,000 workers in the entertainment industry.
The strike cost the Los Angeles economy $2.1 billion, according to economist Jack Kyser who tracks the entertainment industry.
The resumption of work Wednesday came after members of the Writers Guild of America voted by a majority of 93 percent Tuesday night to accept an agreement reached with representatives of the major studios. The deal gives writers two percent of revenues for work distributed over new media.
A dispute over Internet broadcasting had been the major sticking point in the negotiations.
Producers welcomed the agreement, saying that it would allow the entertainment industry to “grow and prosper in the digital age”.
“This is a day of relief and optimism for everyone in the entertainment industry,” said the heads of the major studios in a joint statement. “The strike has been extraordinarily difficult for all of us, but the hardest hit of all have been the many thousands of businesses, workers and families that are economically dependent on our industry.”
Industry figures predicted that it would take six to eight weeks for broadcasters to resume normal scheduling, as new scripts must be completed before production can begin. Broadcasters may need six to eight weeks to return to full production, union and industry officials said.
CBS announced that new episodes of hit shows like “Two and a Half Men”, “CSI: Miami”, and “Cold Case” will be on the air next month, while Disney-owned ABC hopes to have five or six new episodes of its most popular shows including “Desperate Housewives” and Grey’s “Anatomy” back on the air beginning in April.
The decision to end the strike averts a possible boycott of the Feb 24 Academy Awards ceremonies by actors, which would have forced ABC to air a show of film clips and Oscar history.
“The 80th Academy Awards presentation can now proceed full steam ahead,” Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said in a statement.