Wednesday, 13 February 2008

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It's official: The writers' strike is over

Our fave shows from the US will return

The votes are in. After 100 days on the picket lines, members of the Writers' Guild of America voted overwhelmingly – 92.5 percent in favor, to be exact – to accept a deal with producers.

Hollywood scribes are expected to get back to their keyboards Wednesday.

The agreement – which still needs to be formally ratified – removes the boycott threat that had been looming over the Feb 24 Oscars.

"I am ecstatic that the 80th Academy Awards presentation can now proceed full steam ahead," Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the ceremony, said in a statement.

Under the new deal, producers agreed to give writers a piece of the profit from programs that run on the Internet. Writers also will receive an increase in residual payments for movies and TV shows downloaded online.

Thanks to the new agreement, "writers will lead the way as TV migrates to the Internet and platforms for new media are developed," said Patric M Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West.

As a key concession, the Guild did give up its push to have its membership include animators and reality television workers.

Sara Hammel