On Monday November 5th 2007 movie and TV scribes from the palm lined shores of LA to the concrete jungle of Manhattan put down their pens. It was not writers block, or laziness because they loved their job. Creating characters that viewers felt they knew as well as their own family. Orchestrating plot twists that were discussed around water coolers. Coining catch phrases and one-liners that were repeated ad nauseam in school yards until they became imbedded in pop culture. Though they may not be household names like movie or TV stars, Hollywood writers are the architects of celluloid worlds we visit daily, in the theatre or our living room. No one wanted it to come to this, not the writers walking the picket line, not the producers who were left scrambling for material. But the sand ran out and the sword that had been hanging by a thread over Hollywood for the past few months finally fell.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA), voted by a margin of over 90% to authorize their leaders to call a strike. Writers were told as late as Friday to go to work and continue business as usual while last ditch attempts were made at shoring up deteriorating negotiations. But even the most optimistic among them knew that come Monday they would be trading paper and pencils for bull horns and picket signs. For some of them it was déjà vu. The last WGA walkout back in 1988 stretched out 5 months and when it was over the entertainment industry had taken a hit to the tune of an estimated $500 million. A similar demonstration in the present day considering the already volatile financial state of the industry could make that one look tame in comparison.

The WGA despite its docile sounding moniker and unglamorous activities wields considerable clout in Hollywood. It represents an estimated 12,000 film and TV writers. The guild's contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) came to an end on October 31 st and new contract negotiations that had been initiated months earlier were derailed by the inability to reach an agreement over among other things, 'new media content'. As lucrative internet based extensions are found for movie and TV properties, networks and studios are certainly going to benefit enormously and it seems only fair that the writers of those materials receive their dues for their efforts. The same goes for residuals from the sale of DVDs. The new WGA AMPTP contract should enable writers to reap the rewards from the success an ever-expanding global industry. This is not avarice but acknowledgement of the essential contribution of the writer in making the content possible. Both sides are digging their heels in and turning to their contingency plans hoping to ride out the strike for as long as possible. But this is not about who can hold their breath the longest, it is about doing the right and fair thing for all involved in what is very much a collaborative business.

So while it may take as long as mid or late 2008 for movies to be significantly affected by the action, you will witness the TV fallout much sooner. Gods of late-night; Dave Letterman, Jay Leno, Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert will suddenly be less funny because the rapid fire wit, perfectly turned standup routines and hilarious insights that make them so watchable come from their unsung writers. Your favorite shows will fall back on reruns because talented writers toil daily to make sure that 'CSI', 'Lost', '24', '30 Rock' and other brilliant serials and sitcoms continue to work their magic and help you survive another dreary work week. Yes even so called unscripted shows will take a hit because those too have literary elves working tirelessly to enhance all that televised reality.

But it will affect the writers most of all and not just because of the financial hardship that comes from having the courage to forfeit a weekly paycheck while still having to honor a mortgage, car payments and family budget. It will affect writers because they have to write. It is as necessary and natural a process to them as breathing. But if they are to be true to their craft they need to take a stand and ensure that the contribution they make to entertainment is acknowledged. Writers vanquish demons on paper; capture hopes between paragraphs and teleport you into the screen through their words. They may not be the shiny exterior, the recognizable façade of Hollywood but they are the engine that runs the dream factory.