Studio Executives Call for Strike “Restraint”

LOS ANGELES, November 21:
CBS Corporation’s president and CEO, Leslie Moonves and Warner Bros. Entertainment’s
chairman and CEO Barry Meyer have sent letters out to their employees updating
them on the status of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike and both
executives called for restraint.

The letters went out prior
to the resumption of negotiations between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion
Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) scheduled for Monday, November
26.

According to The
Hollywood Reporter, Moonves’s
email to CBS employees stated: “We think that restraint is important going
forward and will make sensible, productive talks far more likely than those
surrounded by the atmosphere we've witnessed the past couple weeks. The
resumption of talks is very welcome news indeed to everyone in the business. We
are all, producers and writers alike, looking forward to an end to this strike
and realize that there's no way it can be resolved unless both sides are
talking.”

Meyer’s letter had very
similar wording: “We think that restraint is important going forward and will
make sensible, productive talks far more likely. The resumption of talks is
very welcome news indeed to everyone in our business. We are all, producers and
writers alike, looking forward to an end to this strike and realize that
there's no way it can be resolved unless both sides are talking.”

—By Anna Carugati