Tonight at 8 pm, PEN Center USA and Dirty Laundry Lit present a free night of readings in the program Dirty Laundry: Secrets, Indulgences & Lies at The Mandrake. Featured readers include: Heidi Durrow, Natashia Deón, Eric Layer, Katherine DeBlassie, Willie Davis and Kaitlyn Greenidge. more ›

Let the claws come out! Twentieth Century Fox has announced that they will launch a new in-house writers program, bringing on a group of emerging writers to generate original work, reports Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood. Quoting a statement released from the studio, Finke writes: "'The goal for this enterprise is to create a place where original ideas are generated and where new writers can feel supported to do their best work,' [president of production Emma] Watts said." more ›

Nokia Theatre was packed Tuesday night for a one-off chat and Q&A at which Steve Martin and Tina Fey expanded on highlights from her new book "Bossypants." What was billed as a summit of two comic writers with recently released books was more of a casual three-way love fest between Martin, Fey and the audience, which laughed and applauded with near-absurd frequency. more ›

The Haitian people are going to need a lot of help for a long time to come, so we'll continue to pass along interesting fundraisers as they come along. more ›

As the Screen Actors Guild and the movie studios, represented by AMPTP, meet for the first time in four months today, the Writers Guild of America announced that writers are not getting paid for new media residuals, which was the core issue they held a 100-day strike over. That can't help today's meeting, which will include a federal mediator, because new media is one of the big reasons that SAG and AMPTP have not come to a deal yet. more ›

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True, the strike has been over for awhile now and things have pretty much returned to normal. But I don't want you writers to think we are taking you for granted just because we're not honking anymore. We are honking with our hearts. more ›

• Boy am I glad I don't live in this Torrance neighborhood, where a cache of machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition were found in a house Friday. The residents may be terrorists, police say, but the owner of the weapons said he is just a collector. Do you think he also collects dead bodies in the basement?
• Does the name Chuck Quackenbush ring a bell? He was the Insurance Commissioner for Califorina until he was forced to resign amid corruption allegations in 2000. Gosh, I wonder what he's doing now. Probably tanning on a beach...wait, oh, um, turns out he is now a Sherrif's deupty and just shot a suspect in Florida who was allegedly resisting arrest. OK, now he can go and tan on the beach as Chuck was placed on paid administrative leave.
• More bad news for area newspapers as positions at the Long Beach Press-Telegram were eliminated recently. Earlier in February, the LA Times reported they were going to cut up to 150 jobs and this week, the Daily News cut 22 people from their staff. Christ people, don't you read on paper anymore? I mean, when you're not checking LAist and the hundreds of other sites we link to, that is?
• Speaking of the LA Times, new owner Sam Zell stands to profit to the tune of $15 million if an eminent domain a June ballot initiative passes. Just think how many strip club ads he could buy with that.
• Owing mostly to the Writers Strike, L.A. County lost more than 75,000 jobs from December to January.
• Victoria's Secret is saying its line of revealing lingerie is too sultry and will "get back to the ultra feminine and not just sexy look." In other news, 300 million men started a letter writing campaign today with Justin Timberlake as their spokesman.
• John Wooden, Bruin legend and inventor of winning, remains in the hospital but is "in good spirits" after he fell Thursday night and broke his left wrist and collar bone. I have a feeling beating Arizona tomorrow will really help lift the spirits of the 97-year-old former UCLA coach.
• Tomorrow is the L.A .Marathon. Don't say we didn't warn you. Good luck to all those running, walking, cycling and wheelchairing! more ›

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is always kicked off by a ceremony that awards one book in each key category with a Book Prize. The nominees in each category were just announced and we're both thrilled and a tad flummoxed by some of their picks, listed below. more ›

How many ways can you say “Today I walked in a circle for three and a half hours”? more ›

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State Senator Sheila Kuehl is at it again, but this time it's not about speed cameras in Beverly Hills, it's about writers and other artists getting their fair share of residuals. In a press release from the Writers Guild of America, they explain the problem of underselling television series and movies and what SB1765, the "Fair Market Value Bill," aims to do:

Since the major media networks in the United States have come to own many cable channels, the practice of selling TV series or movies for less than the fair market value of the content has become more and more prevalent. In many cases, the product is sold or licensed from one entity to another entity within the same parent company. This creates a problem for actors, writers, and performers who rely on the amount of a sale of material for their residuals – payments made to the creators or performers of a work for showings or screenings after an initial use.

This morning at the Marriott Downtown, Los Angles Development and Economic Corporation (LADEC) financial uber-guru Jack Kyser will be presenting the 2008-09 LAEDC Forecast Results, a 71-page document entailing the region's financial future. Highlighting a recession watch, the crumbling housing market, and growth opportunities such as tourism, one loosely dubbed as "Its NOT business as usual!" talks strike and its ill-economic impacts upon the city. From the Hollywood Reporter:

The figure includes lost wages from TV shows that were canceled and films that were put on hold as well as a plethora of support services, ranging from limo drivers to florists. Kyser suggested that the cancellation of the Golden Globes resulted in a $60 million shortfall for the community. more ›

Just moments ago, in a letter to its members, the WGA announced that writers have voted by a 92.5% margin to lift the “restraining order” and officially end the strike. The move comes on Day 100 of the labor dispute. more ›

Some productions may start up again on Monday, however, as showrunners prepare to relaunch filming. How fast episodic television series will return to air will depend on how many scripts were left unfilmed prior to the start of the strike; those that completed filming of all their scripts will need to get their writers back at the keyboards before the cameras can roll again. more ›

The Writer's Guild of America (WGA) didn't hold a gala ceremony this year (who can afford a gown when you're not getting paid?) but they did take a break on the East coast from discussing the possible end of the strike to announce the winners of their annual awards. This year's very informal and somewhat unusual gathering "was decidedly looser than past ceremonies and peppered with references to the likely strike settlement. 'WGA on Strike' signs filled the ornate lobby of the Hudson Theatre in Times Square, and writers gathered by the open bars, comparing notes about the membership meeting earlier in the day when they finally heard the details about the tentative deal." more ›

Photo by victoriabernal via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr more ›

At nearly 3am last night, WGA members received an email announcing that "we have a tentative deal." I'm told that the language of the deal could have been done earlier, but that the AMPTP attempted some last minute shenanigans - most reprehensible in the fact that it made me use the word "shenanigans." more ›

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It's still in the outline phase, but a new contract has been drawn for striking writers, and may meet with approval as early as Friday. more ›

LA readings and book signings around town for January 28th - Februar 3rd including Judith Freeman, Ron Jeremy, Tamara Jenkins, Mary McNamara, Sam Jones and Tom Dolby. more ›

Yes, we know that rainy days and Mondays can get you down. And doubly so today. But you can turn that mood around by stepping out tonight to one of these great events. Just watch for puddles. more ›

We always encourage you to press that little recommend button at the bottom right hand corner of every post if you enjoyed it. For one, it tells us what you want more of here at LAist. So here's this week's three most recommended and commented posts, as recommended and talked up by you: more ›

It seems that if you want to pick up on hot men, you apparently need to check out the WGA strikes -- those men in red t-shirts are sizzling. Radar has the exclusive scoop:

The scheme, according to a striking Fox scribe, goes something like this: "The first step in the 'picket pickup' is picking who you want to picket behind. You don't even have to worry about looking like a stalker, because you're supposed to stand close to people and follow them around. The flirting is easy, since you have a built-in pickup line: 'What did you used to do?' You angle your sign in a way that lets your target know you're interested, and then smile a lot. They get the hint. Soon it's time to go to lunch, and from that point the sky's the limit!" [Radar]

It's official, four major studios have canceled writer contracts -- the Spring 2008 TV is repeats and/of reality. Since Friday, 65 writer contracts have been canceled. Now, even if the strike ends in the foreseeable future, "the studios will no longer be obligated to pay the writers... The action saves the media companies tens of millions of dollars in payments, and is the first real sign of belt-tightening caused by the strike," according to the LA Times: more ›

Anatomy Riot is an almost-monthly series of dance/performance works and videos in a casual atmosphere. Tonight is the 21st installment curated Meg Wolfe and featuring Rebecca Alson-Milkman, Catch Me Bird Dance Theater, d. Sabela Grimes, Arianne Hoffmann, Tekla Kostek, Dance Good Damn it, Sohini Ray and Mitsu Salmon. more ›

We always encourage you to press that little recommend button at the bottom right hand corner of every post if you enjoyed it. For one, it tells us what you want more of here it LAist. So here's this week's five most recommended posts, as recommended by you: more ›

As you know, the Golden Globes will not be so tony this year. Instead, it's a press conference. And as boring as a press conference is, what's even more, is superfluous picketing.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced that instead of the usual televised three-hour gala on NBC, the HFPA will take complete control of its 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards Announcement and host a press conference open to all media to announce the winners of the Golden Globes. In light of this change to the program, the WGA gave the HFPA our assurances that there would be no picket of their press conference on Sunday. [WGAW Press Release}

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