WGA Strike Vote; Slowly They Turned...

From a Writers Guild press relase that went forth minutes ago at 2:15 p.m. Pacific time:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 19, 2007

Results of WGA Strike Authorization Vote Delayed

Due to Overwhelming Turnout

LOS ANGELES - The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) issued the following update on today's WGA Strike Authorization Vote:

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) reports that it has received the largest turnout in the history of the Guild. Nearly 5,000 ballots have been cast by WGAW members. Nearly 1,000 ballots were also cast by Writers Guild of America, East members. At this moment, the WGAW Tellers Committee is counting WGAW ballots and, because of the unprecedented turnout, now expects to have a result late this afternoon. The WGAE vote count is complete.

A brimming turnout would seem to corroborate the early word on the jungle telegraph that a good majority of voting writers' support has been handed to president Patric Verrone as a mandate. The further speculation is that the guild will permit some sort of extension to keep the membership working while further negotiations plow toward the new year. I know of at least one producer who has his fingers crossed hard, having just replaced a key cast member in an important project and now fervently hoping his writer will get the time to do the needed and logical rewrite.That story stands in for any number of projects that are poised on a knife edge between ready to shoot, and needing work.

Meanwhile, there was a nerved-up spat yesterday on the bellwether Artful Writer site, which included colleagues Craig Mazin and Ted Elliott (who initially wrote to Mazin, "I'm defending the guild on this one. Shut up.") starting far apart and gradually moving together on issues of how secret the balloting process was. Wrote one aggravated poster in the comments on the site, "The [producer's alliance] must be laughing their asses off over all of this."