Hollywood, LA Owners Breathe Easier

LOS ANGELES-Officials of the Writers Guild of America say they’re confident their union members will approve a preliminary contract hammered out with producers, avoiding a strike that could have pushed the region’s shaky economy into recession and worsened its already wobbling office market.

Under terms of the tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the union’s 11,000 members will get a slight pay raise and more money when their shows or movies are put into syndication or sold overseas. The Fox network, which previously could pay union writers less under the theory that it was still developing, will have to start paying the same amount as the older networks within a few years.