WGA West To Allow NAACP Awards

The Writers Guild of America West has given the green light to allow next month’s N.A.A.C.P. Image Awards to proceed without threat of picketers.

At a news conference yesterday at the Guild’s L.A. offices, President Patric M. Verrone added that the board has not voted on an agreement for the Grammys, but that it has already voted against granting approval for the Academy Awards ceremony.

Ok, does anyone else think this smacks of favoritism? Verrone says the guild’s rationale is based on the fact that the N.A.A.C.P. is dedicated to social change, and thus, should be treated differently from “organizations that give out televised awards that happen” to do good.

Meanwhile, producers of the Grammys say they’ll take whatever action is necessary to ensure the music awards show will be held as planned.

Tensions continue to mount as production companies such as Warner Brothers Television, CBS Paramount, and 20th Century Fox Television begin making good on their contractual right to terminate deals with writers as a result of the strike. More than 70 production deals were cut, each representing $500,000 to $2 million in annual costs.