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| Squeezed: Judi Bell's firm rents graphics for TV shows and movies. It's been hit hard by the strike. Francis Specker/Special to The Christian Science Monitor |
Writers' strike's wide ripples
The strike, now in Week 2, reverberates through the broader Los Angeles economy.
from the November 13, 2007 edition
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Personal bankruptcies rose during the last big strike – and are likely to do so again, notes Century City bankruptcy lawyer Peter Davidson. Despite tightened rules in recent years for bankruptcy filing, he says, inevitably people will go into debt to bridge the employment gap.
This time, though, the safety net is smaller, he adds. The No. 1 source of emergency income for homeowners is their home mortgage, but the continuing meltdown in the housing market will make new loans nearly impossible for out-of-work industry gypsies. That means more people will be running up their credit cards, a trap that sucks many into bankruptcy when the bills come due, says Mr. Davidson.
A cruel irony of bankruptcy law, he adds, is that courts regard future "residuals" as assets. These are the monies paid to writers in perpetuity, every time their work is used in some fashion. They are also at the heart of the current contract impasse. In bankruptcy, these future payments enter the estate and, like an annuity, can be sold to pay creditors.
The Studio City Chamber of Commerce sits on the CBS production lot. While filming doesn't appear to have slowed yet, all the chamber's merchants are concerned, says executive director Esther Walker. "This is going to hit everyone, especially with the holidays coming."
Businesses out on Ventura Boulevard already report losses. Industry luminaries have trooped across the street to Du-Par's Restaurant since the days of Humphrey Bogart and Lana Turner, but on this late afternoon, as the sounds of nearby picketers float through the front door, manager Jaysee Paz frets.
"People aren't coming in for breakfast and lunches like they used to," he says, adding that business is down 6 to 7 percent. He's going to have to lay off help and cut back hours, he adds with a frown, looking around at nearby waitresses with no tables to serve.
Next door at La Salsa, a fast-food spot, the story is the same. Business is down; people aren't coming in, even for fast food. But in a particularly Hollywood-like twist, one local establishment actually reports an uptick in business: Sunset Tan, a tanning salon.
"We've actually seen an increase in people coming in and paying for reservations ahead," says a worker behind the counter. "They're not going to stop going to the salon just because they don't have a job," she says. Upon reflection, she adds, it's all the more reason to look good and feel good about yourself when you're looking for work.
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