Hollywood on Strike: Golden Globes a Bust

Thanks to the striking Writer's Guild of America (WGA), annual awards ceremony, the Golden Globes, has been scaled back to almost nothing this year. The normally star-studded, opulent 3 hour event will now be a severely scaled back one hour mini news telecast on NBC with no pre-ceremony or post-ceremony red carpet commentary.

For most of the viewing public, this is not a terrible loss. In recent years, the awards shows on television, such as the Academy Awards, have had to scale back, time limit speeches, and find inventive ways to keep their television audience. In fact, the People's Choice Awards, recently aired on CBS, saw dismal numbers.

However, the effects of having almost no show at all hit Hollywood hard. Fashion and jewelry designers use the red carpet interviews to plug their items; caterers, party planners, and limousine drivers make a good portion of their income at these events; and the movie studios depend on awards to continue promoting films. Actors also depend on the awards ceremonies to get their name out for future work. NBC is also taking a hit financially speaking. Since the length of the show has been shortened, advertising during the program has been cut and they will be taking in about a third of the normal $10-15 million.

Fashion seems to be taking one of the harder hits. Awards ceremonies tend to set the tone for color, trend, style, et cetera. Head of ABS fashion house, Allen Schwartz said of the cancellation/scaling down of the show, "It's very disgusting. Consumers won't know what to look for." Schwartz will see a significant impact to his business as he replicates gowns the stars wore to galas for the average woman.

Movies sometimes depend on the awards ceremonies to increase viewership. Nominated films, such as Atonement and Sweeney Todd, are doing respectably in theaters but would expect to see a nice spike after being plugged at the ceremony. Actors, such as Casey Affleck, who generally are not seen with awards nominations, could potentially get a career boost whether an award was won or not.

Many actors, such as George Clooney, pledge not to cross picket lines. Keira Knightley, a nominee for Best Actress for her work in Atonement, also refuses to attend in support of the WGA. With this show of solidarity from the actors and the Screen Actor's Guild, the Golden Globes was very nearly cancelled. Tom Hanks lamented the situation. "It's a shame, the Globes are one of the best bashes. They ply you with food and really nice champagne. I was always satisfied with a little tipple, and you get to catch up with loads of friends."

Steven Spielberg, who was to be awarded the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille award, will not receive it this year due to the news broadcast style ceremony. Instead, he will receive the honor at the 2009 ceremony when the pomp and glamour hopefully will be back.

For those who loved the glamour and glitz of the awards ceremonies, look to next year. The outlook for the 2008 Academy Awards ceremony is looking grim in light of the Golden Globes situation.

Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=506306&in_page_id=1811&ito=1490

http://www.hollywood.com/news/Spielbergs_Golden_Globes_Honor_Postponed/5037805

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080111/en_nm/globes_dc

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/wenn/20080111/ten-hanks-laments-golden-globes-cancella-c60bd6d.html

http://www.kansascity.com/238/story/440173.html