Foreign

Hollywood: Writers Go On Strike

By Web News 532

Television and movie writers in Hollywood late Monday declared they will launch a strike for the first time in 15 years over fair pay in the streaming era.

The Writers Guild of America said its 11,500 unionized screenwriters will head to the picket lines on Tuesday. 

Negotiations between studios and the writers, which began in March, failed to reach a new contract before the writers’ current deal expired just after midnight, at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday.

All script writing is to immediately cease, the guild informed its members.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade association that bargains on behalf of both studios and production companies, signaled negotiations fell short of an agreement before the current contract expired. 

Streaming has exploded the number of series and films that are annually made, meaning more jobs for writers.

But WGA members say they’re making much less money and working under more strained conditions as WGA claims Content is booming, but the pay is down.

The guild is seeking more compensation on the front-end of deals as many of the back-end payments writers have historically profited from, like syndication and international licensing have been largely phased out by the onset of streaming. 

With a walkout long expected, writers have rushed to get scripts in and studios have sought to prepare their pipelines to keep churning out content for at least the short term.

FRCN Abuja/Adetutu Adetule

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Foreign

Weinstein Receives Sentence Another for Rape, Begs for Mercy

By Web News 334

Ex-film mogul Harvey Weinstein begged for leniency in a Los Angeles court moments before he was given an additional 16 years in prison for rape.

He was convicted of attacking an actress in a hotel room during a film festival in the city in February 2013.

“Please don’t sentence me to life in prison,” the disgraced Hollywood star told the court. “I don’t deserve it.”

More than 80 people have made rape and misconduct claims about Weinstein dating back as far as the late 1970s.

The 70-year-old is already serving a 23-year prison sentence for a separate conviction in New York.

Before Thursday’s sentencing, Weinstein maintained he was innocent and the victim of a “set-up”.

On 19 December, a Los Angeles jury convicted him of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault involving an actress.

The victim, known as Jane Doe 1 to protect her anonymity, spoke in court before the sentence was read.

She recounted the trauma she had endured for “many years” since the assault.

“Before that night I was a very happy and confident woman,” she said.

“Everything changed after the defendant brutally assaulted me. There is no prison sentence long enough to undo the damage.”

Weinstein, meanwhile, told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench he did not know the victim.

“I never raped or sexually assaulted Jane Doe 1,” he said.

He told the court there were “so many things wrong” with the case and too many “loopholes”.

Weinstein called his accuser an “actress with the ability turns on her tears”.

His attorneys – who had sought a three-year sentence for Weinstein – asked the judge to take into account his deteriorating health, his children and his “generous” donations to charity.

Weinstein sat in court looking away for most of the time and did not react when the sentence was read, which came after the judge rejected a motion by defence lawyers for a new trial.

He was acquitted during the same Los Angeles trial of sexual battery against another accuser.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict on three other sexual assault counts, including one involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom. A mistrial was declared.

He is thought likely to appeal against the sentence.

The Oscar-winning movie producer had been facing up to 18 years in prison in the Los Angeles case.

He avoided a sentence of up to 24 years after a jury was unable to agree on whether Weinstein had planned the rape or whether the victim was “particularly vulnerable”.

In 2020, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault against a production assistant in 2006 and an aspiring actress in 2013. He has appealed.

The conviction was seen as a milestone in the #MeToo movement, which had shone a light on rampant sexual abuse and harassment in the film and television industry.

BBC/Simeon Ugbodovon

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Entertainment

Hollywood Actress, Cicely Tyson Dies at 96

By Web News 1028

Pioneering Hollywood actress Cicely Tyson – who was known for portraying strong African-American characters – has died aged 96, her manager has said.

No cause of the death was given. The former fashion model had a career that spanned seven decades.

Tyson won two Emmys for her performance in the 1974 civil rights-era film The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.

She also became the first black woman to take on a main role in the TV drama East Side/West Side in the 1960s.

Presenting Tyson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, the then US President Barack Obama said that apart from her achievements as a actress, she had also shaped the course of history.

Tyson turned down stereotypical roles for black women, agreeing only to play characters that were strong, positive and realistic.

“I have managed Miss Tyson’s career for over 40 years, and each year was a privilege and blessing,” her manager Larry Thompson said in Thursday’s statement announcing her death.

“Cicely thought of her new memoir as a Christmas tree decorated with all the ornaments of her personal and professional life. Today she placed the last ornament, a star, on top of the tree,” the manager said, adding that she died peacefully.

Tyson’s memoir Just As I Am was published on Tuesday.

Paying tribute, US broadcaster and actress Oprah Winfrey said: “She used her career to illuminate the humanity of Black people. The roles she played reflected her values; she never compromised.”

Tyson recently told CBS interviewer Gayle King: “I had no idea I would touch anybody.”

BBC