Video of the Week

Tom Hanks (who in the not-so-distant past made a point to mention "the opera at Wolf Trap" during an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman), yesterday commented to Reuters that he is eager to see the conclusion of the writer's strike that has been in effect since early November. Given the cancellation of the Golden Globe awards in favor of a news conference that will likely draw a very thin attendance, Hanks is concerned that the Academy Awards will suffer a similar fate, and as a member of the Screen Actor's Guild, Director's Guild and the board of governers of the Academy, he views this as unacceptable. I think it was important for someone with Hanks' celebrity status to step forward given the significance and industry impact of the Oscars, and I appreciate his apparent concern for caterers, carpenters, electricians, gaffers, and other technical professionals who are equally affected by this stopage in labor.

With NBC recently announcing that they will exceed $1 billion in digital revenue for 2008, maybe it's time for the corporate bigwigs to concede and allocate a percentage to their writers? Even from a professional PR and general editorial standpoint, it's been a slightly frustrating few months considering that much of our local and regional arts news coverage is getting bumped by coverage given to the strike (and the obligatory content surrounding presidential caucus and primary season). Plus I'm sure many of us are fiending for new episodes of "The Office" and "30 Rock". But, I digress.

I thought an appropriate video of the week would be this update of the writer's strike.....so far.

Have a great weekend.

-Graham