Strike Claims Awards Show

HOLLYWOOD, January 8: The 65th Annual Golden
Globe Awards gala ceremony, slated to take place at the Beverly Hilton in Los
Angeles on Sunday, has been scrapped as a result of the Writers Guild of
America (WGA) strike and replaced with a press conference.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and dick clark
productions had been trying to seal an interim deal with the WGA in order for
the ceremony to go forward. The guild refused to grant a waiver to the event
and promised to picket should the ceremony proceed. The Screen Actors Guild,
meanwhile, said it would boycott the awards.

The 25 Golden Globe awards will instead be presented at a
press conference at the Beverly Hilton at 6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST on Sunday. It
will be covered live by NBC News.

“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 favorite stars celebrating 2007’s
outstanding achievements in motion pictures and television,” said Jorge Camara,
the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. “We take some comfort,
however, in knowing that this year’s Golden Globe Award recipients will be
announced on the date originally scheduled.”

According to reports, NBC will air the press conference
after a one-hour Dateline special on the
nominees. Following the awards presentation, the network is expected to feature
an entertainment magazine show about the Golden Globes parties across Los
Angeles.

The fate of the upcoming Academy Awards, set for February
24, is now also in doubt. There are, however, a few awards shows going ahead as
planned: both the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards
have received waivers from the guild.

—By Mansha Daswani