Hollywood Strike Might Produce Great Novels

Repercussions from the writer’s strike currently clogging up the Hollywood film-making arteries will felt far beyond the film industry, according to Josh Getlin in the Los Angeles Times:

If the writers strike continues for a long period, some book agents fear that many option deals will be nixed, causing major disruptions in the business. Others worry that the market for new literary materials will dry up altogether, as the major studios dig in for the long haul.

The article suggests that, though agents and studios will continue to find ways to put together deals for the theatrical rights of major literary works, books by less well known authors will be neglected for the duration of the strike.

Some observers already see signs that the books-to-film pipeline has been affected: “I don’t think there are going to be any major negotiations concluded, maybe not even any offers tendered, while the strike is on,” said Richard Curtis, a New York literary agent.

Simon Lipskar, another NYC literary agent, offered a more positive spin, suggesting that, in the long run, the strike might have a positive side. “Writers are writers, after all,” he told the Times, “and there’s nothing stopping them from dusting off that novel they’ve meant to get back to when they had time. Obviously, they now have the time.”

The Times piece is here.