There’s an old saying in Hollywood, “Nobody knows nothing.” And there’s no better example of this adage than the current Hollywood writer’s strike, in which neither the Writers Guild of America, nor the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, seem to know how to solve this crisis. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has even stepped into the fray, urging both sides to settle a strike that could have serious economic consequences for the industry. According to Variety, when it comes to feature films, studios that scrambled to stockpile scripts in advance of the writers’ strike are now finding themselves in a dilemma: They must pick the fittest projects and possibly jettison others for which scripts are not “locked” or still require rewrites. In Vancouver, The X-Files sequel, tentatively titled Done One, will still kick off production next month; the script is complete. The Day The Earth Stood Still similarly has a locked script and will also go forward with production here in town. Local series aren’t faring so well, with the Vancouver-shot Bionic Woman one of the first casualties. Out of scripts and suffering from plunging ratings (the series lost 50 per cent of its audience as of last week’s episode) the show is in the process of shutting down and is unlikely to return. Other shows are down to a handful of scripts and will soon go dark.
Dan Rather in Vancouver to shoot exposé: Legendary former CBS anchorman Dan Rather dined with unknown persons at FigMint on 12th Avenue last week, following a series of interviews he was conducting as part of a story about the squalor of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The story, told in relation to Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic Games, will air on his new HDNet program, Dan Rather Presents.
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David Beckham
Beckham delights locals:
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Kid Rock
Rockers in the house:
Chad Kruger and his band Nickelback dined on their favourite pasta, Strozzapreti Bolognese, at La Terrazza early last week, while musician Kid Rock went classic American with a large steak at Gotham Steakhouse and Cocktail Bar.
