Golden Globes 2008 ceremony to be scrapped
Story by Jack Foley
THE 2008 Golden Globes ceremony – due to take place on Sunday, January 13 – is to be scrapped due to the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike, it has been confirmed.
This year’s winners will now be revealed in an hour-long press conference by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that is due to be aired at 6pm local time (2am GMT) in Beverly Hills.
The decision was taken after the cream of Hollywood’s actors vowed to boycott the event in support of the ongoing writers dispute over royalties, particularly as most TV networks had threatened not to screen the ceremony without their involvement.
In a statement issued on the HFPA website, Jorge Camara, president of the Golden Globe organisers, explained: “We are all very disappointed that our traditional awards ceremony will not take place this year and that millions of viewers worldwide will be deprived of seeing many of their favourite stars.”
The Golden Globes are widely regarded as second in prestige only to the Oscars and the cancellation of this year’s ceremony will come as a massive blow to TV stations, advertising deals and, of course, fashion houses, who typically get the chance to parade their latest designs whilst the stars arrive.
But it marks a major coup for the striking writers, who now know they have the type of support required to strengthen their claims.
The Screen Actors’ Guild union, which represents Hollywood actors, maintained their was “unanimous agreement” that none of their stars would cross picket lines set up by writers to attend the ceremony.
Alan Rosenberg, Union president, told the BBC: “After considerable outreach to Golden Globe actor nominees and their representatives over the past several weeks, there appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross WGA (Writers’ Guild of America) picket lines.”
The WGA, which has been on strike since early November, has subsequently thanked the actors’ union for its “solidarity and support”.
The dispute in question concerns so-called “residuals”, or royalties for work distributed online or released on DVD.
The WGA says the issue is designed to protect its members’ income and intellectual property rights for generations to come.
And the Golden Globes ceremony is the latest high profile event to have suffered from the fallout. The production of TV comedy and drama shows in the States has virtually been halted, several talk shows went dark [a couple have since returned] and many films have been postponed while negotiations continue.