As a card-carrying member of the Writers Guild, he'll clearly be on strike. But he's also a thesp and a member of the Screen Actors Guild. NBC's studio arm has made it clear that it expects Novak the actor to show up to work today, strike or no strike. Because it has several scribes who also serve as thesps also including Mindy Kaling and Paul Lieberstein , "The Office" is one of the most visible examples of shows where conflicting interests will be at work once a strike begins.
But all over town, a number of WGA members will be facing similarly tough calls. More than 5, members of the Writers Guild of America cast ballots, with 90 percent voting in favor of authorizing the strike, the union said Friday evening.
Members voted Thursday. Since July, the guild has been in talks with film studios and production companies represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Both sides acknowledge they have not made progress. Nick Counter, the alliance's president, said he was not surprised by the vote. A key issue dividing producers and writers, as well as actors, whose contract expires next June, is compensation for DVD sales and productions that get distributed on the Internet or in other new media formats.
The writers' current three-year contract expires Oct. Studios and TV networks have accelerated filming of shows and movies and begun stockpiling scripts in case of a strike.
The last strike in lasted 22 weeks. There is no way you will find The Office's set unless someone tells you where to look, and even then, it ain't easy.
