2007–2008 Nazko earthquakes, Preparedness and hazards
Although the available data do not allow a clear conclusion, these observations are indications that some of Canada's volcanoes may be active, with significant potential dangers. This seismic activity correlates both with some of Canada's most youthful volcanoes and with long-lived volcanoes with a history of significant explosive activity, such as Hoodoo Mountain and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.


2007–2008 Nazko earthquakes, Preparedness and hazards
If magma were to rise towards the surface of Nazko, new earthquake swarms would occur, with a significant increase in the size and number of earthquakes. An eruption in the Nazko area would probably create a small cinder cone, similar to what formed Nazko Cone 7,200 years ago. Immediate hazards related to cinder cone eruptions in the Nazko area would probably be forest fires and, if an eruption column were produced, redirection of nearby air traffic.


2007–2008 Senegalese protests
The 2007–2008 Senegalese protests were ongoing opposition protests and civil demonstrations, riots and strikes in Senegal over many issues. One of the main issues were deteriorating economic conditions and food price hikes due to the 2007–2008 world food price crisis. Hundreds attended rallies from January, March and September, before the biggest wave of protests. Demonstrators were met with bullets and tear gas. Water cannon was also shot at demonstrators demanding democratic reforms and justice from the government, yet the resignation of president Abdoulaye Wade. Thousands threw stones on demonstrators in November 2007, after a week-long uprising and bloody crackdown nationwide.


2007–2008 Senegalese protests
Clashes between protesters and security forces, who launched strike action. After protests in December, protests calmed and ceased for 2–3 months until March–April 2008 when tanks was deployed after opposition protests and food riots in Dakar. Four people were killed in the uprising and ensuing clashes. Violent protests rocked the country until 28 April 2008, when two demonstrators were killed in clashes.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
From November 5, 2007, to February 12, 2008, all 12,000 film and television screenwriters of the American labor unions Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), and Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) went on strike.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike sought increased funding for the writers in comparison to the profits of the larger studios. It was targeted at the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade association representing the interests of 397 American film and television producers.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The most influential of these were eleven corporations: CBS (Les Moonves), MGM (Harry E. Sloan), NBCUniversal (Jeff Zucker), The Weinstein Company (Harvey and Bob Weinstein), Lionsgate (Jon Feltheimer), News Corporation (Peter Chernin), Paramount Pictures (Brad Grey), Liberty Media/Starz (Chris McGurk), Sony Pictures (Michael Lynton), The Walt Disney Company (Bob Iger), and Warner Bros. (Barry Meyer).


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
Negotiators for the striking writers reached a tentative agreement on February 8, 2008, and the boards of both guilds unanimously approved the deal on February 10, 2008. Striking writers voted on February 12, 2008, on whether to lift the restraining order, with 92.5% voting to end the strike. On February 26, the WGA announced that the contract had been ratified with a 93.6% approval among WGA members. The Writers Guild later requested a court order seeking that the agreement be honored and implemented.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The guilds were on strike for 14 weeks and 2 days (100 days). In contrast, the previous strike in 1988, the longest in the history of the Guild, lasted 21 weeks and 6 days (153 days), costing the American entertainment industry an estimated $500 million in opportunity costs. According to a National Public Radio (NPR) report filed on February 12, 2008, the strike cost the economy of Los Angeles an estimated $1.5 billion. A report from the UCLA Anderson School of Management put the loss at $380 million, while economist Jack Kyser put the loss at $2.1 billion.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The big win for the Writers Guild was jurisdiction over new media, which was precedent-setting. Streamers would have to hire WGA writers, on shows over certain budgets. Other than that, they received a new percentage payment on the distributor's gross for digital distribution based on the deal that the DGA made during the strike.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike
We are ready to meet at any time and remain committed to reaching a fair and reasonable deal that keeps the industry working, but the DVD issue is a roadblock to these negotiations.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike
Every issue that matters to writers, including Internet reuse, original writing for new media, DVDs, and jurisdiction, has been ignored. This is completely unacceptable.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike
Every three years, the WGA negotiates a new basic contract with the AMPTP by which its members are employed. This contract is called the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA). In 2007, negotiations over the MBA reached an impasse and the WGA membership voted to give its board authorization to call a strike, which it did on Friday, November 2, 2007; the strike began the following Monday, November 5, 2007.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike
Among the many proposals from both sides regarding the new contract, there were several key issues of contention including DVD residuals, union jurisdiction over animation and reality program writers, and compensation for "new media" (content written for or distributed through emerging digital technology such as the Internet).


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, DVD residuals, Background
In 1985, the Writers Guild went on strike over the home video market, which was then small and primarily consisted of distribution via video tape. At that time, the entertainment companies argued home video was an "unproven" market, with an expensive delivery channel (manufacturing VHS and Betamax tapes, and to a smaller extent, LaserDisc). Movies were selling in the range of between $40–$100 per tape, and the Guild accepted a formula in which a writer would receive 0.3% of the first million of reported gross (and 0.36% after) of each tape sold as a residual.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, DVD residuals, Background
As manufacturing costs for video tapes dropped and the home video market widened, writers came to feel they had been shortchanged by this deal. DVDs debuted in 1996 and rapidly replaced the more-expensive VHS format, outselling VHS for the first time on the week of June 15, 2003. The previous VHS residual formula continued to apply to DVDs.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, DVD residuals, Background
Prior to the strike, the home video market had become the major source of revenue for the movie studios. In April 2004, The New York Times reported the companies made $4.8 billion in home video sales versus $1.78 billion at the box office between January and March.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, DVD residuals, Proposals
WGA members argued that a writer's residuals are a necessary part of a writer's income that is typically relied upon during periods of unemployment common in the writing industry. The WGA requested a doubling of the residual rate for DVD sales, which would result in a residual of 0.6% (up from 0.3%) per DVD sold.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, DVD residuals, Proposals
The AMPTP maintained that studios' DVD income was necessary to offset rising production and marketing costs. They further insisted that the current DVD formula (0.3%) be applied to residuals in other digital media—an area which was also contested by the Writers Guild.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, DVD residuals, Proposals
The WGA provisionally removed the increased DVD residual request from the table, in an effort to avert a strike and on the understanding of certain concessions by the AMPTP, the night before the strike began.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, DVD residuals, Proposals
However, after the strike began, WGAW President Patric Verrone wrote that the membership exhibited "significant disappointment and even anger" when they learned of the proposed removal of the request; and Verrone also wrote that, since the removal of the increased DVD residual request was contingent on concessions by the AMPTP which did not happen, the writers would and should continue to "fight to get our fair share of the residuals of the future."


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, DVD residuals, Conclusion
There was no change to the calculation of DVD residuals.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, New media
Driven by the then-recent contract between Viacom and the creators of South Park, one of the critical issues for the negotiations was residuals for "new media", or compensation for delivery channels such as Internet downloads, IPTV, streaming, smartphone programming, straight-to-Internet content, and other "on-demand" online distribution methods, along with video on demand on cable and satellite television.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, New media, Background
Prior to the strike, the WGA had no arrangement with producers regarding the use of content online, and two models of internet distribution were negotiated. The first is "electronic sell-through" (also known as "internet sales" or "digital sell-through"). In electronic sell-through, the consumer purchases a copy of the program and downloads it to a local storage device for subsequent viewing at their convenience. Examples include movies and television shows purchased through the iTunes Store and Amazon Video on Demand.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, New media, Background
In the second model, "streaming video", the consumer watches a program in real time as it is transmitted to their computer but is usually not saved. Current examples of this model include advertising-supported television programs streamed free to the audience, such as those available at nbc.com, abc.com, fox.com, cbs.com, thedailyshow.com, and hulu.com.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, New media, Background
In either case, the program may be viewed directly on a computer or on a traditional television via media distribution devices (e.g. TiVo). The convenience of both these technologies lowers the barriers to entry into the digital distribution marketplace making it more accessible to mainstream consumers.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, New media, Background
It was widely expected by industry observers that new media would eventually supplant both DVD in the home video market and television in the broadcasting market as the primary means for distribution. As in the mid-1980s, the companies argued that new media represents an unproven and untested market and asked for additional time for study. However, feeling resentment from the 20-year-old home video deal and unwilling to make similar concessions in a so-called "new market" yet again, WGA members remained adamant that whatever deal they made for new media, it could not resemble the DVD formula.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, New media, Background
New media was widely seen by most WGA writers as the central issue for the strike. Writer-director Craig Mazin (Scary Movie 3) has dubbed new media "the One Issue" that matters.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, New media, Background
This sentiment was further articulated by a self-described "skeptic", writer Howard Gould, at a meeting of the full WGA membership the night before the strike date was announced. He said, to a standing ovation:


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, New media, Background
Soon, when computers and your TV are connected, that's how we're all going to watch. Okay? Those residuals are going to go from what they are towards zero if we don't make a stand now. ... This is such a big issue that if they see us roll over on this without making a stand - three years from now, they're gonna be back for something else. ... I might have been the most moderate one up here when we started, but I sat there in the room the first day and they read us those thirty-two pages of rollbacks.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, New media, Background
And what they wanted us to hear was that "if you don't give us what [we] want on the important thing, we're gonna come after you for all those other things." But what I heard was, if we give them that thing, they'll still come after us for those other things. And in three years, it'll be "we want to revamp the whole residual system," and in another three years, it'll be "y'know what, we don't really want to fund the health fund the way we've been." And then it will be pension. And then it'll be credit determination. And there just is that time when everybody has to see—this is one where we just gotta stand our ground.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, New media, Conclusion
The WGA established the groundwork for Guild-covered writing in streaming, years before the technology changed the business. Once Netflix and Amazon began producing shows, they were obligated to hire Guild writers, because of the rules created in 2008. On back end, the WGA took the DGA's deal: For downloads, writers were granted 1.2% of distributor's gross receipts for rentals and 0.65%-0.7% of gross receipts. For ad supported streaming writers were granted 2% of gross receipts beyond the initial 17 days.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation
The WGA's membership of approximately 12,000 writers (more than 7,000 in WGAW and more than 4,000 in WGAE) primarily work on live-action, script-driven movies and television programs.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation
Exactly if and how the WGA's Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) should apply to other TV and film categories such as reality television and animation had been inconsistent over the years and were an area of much dispute.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation
The WGA had been pushing for jurisdiction of reality and animation, but dropped these issues as the WGA and AMPTP entered into informal negotiations.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation, Background
The negotiations between the AMPTP and the WGA are at an impasse because the WGA has continued to press a series of unreasonable demands that have nothing to do with new media and the real concerns of most working writers.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation, Background
—  AMPTP statement: The State of the Strike: Day 47


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation, Background
Programs such as Real People and That's Incredible!, which were arguably "reality" shows of the 1980s, were covered by the MBA, whereas more recently produced reality shows such as Survivor and America's Next Top Model are not. Many producers of reality programming argue that since these shows are mostly, if not entirely, unscripted, there is no writer. The WGA counters that the process of creating interesting scenarios, culling raw material, and shaping it into a narrative with conflict, character arc, and storyline constitutes writing and should fall under its contract.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation, Background
In the summer of 2006, the WGAW attempted to organize employees of America's Next Top Model. The employees voted to join the WGA, but then they were fired and production continued without them.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation, Background
Animated films and TV programs have also been an area of heavy contention. The majority of animated film and television writing is not covered by the WGA's MBA. Most animated feature films have been written under the jurisdiction of another union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 839, also known as The Animation Guild. IATSE's jurisdiction stemmed from Walt Disney's tradition of creating an animated feature via storyboards written and drawn by storyboard artists. In the years up until the strike, most studios began hiring screenwriters to write script pages which are then storyboarded.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation, Background
According to the WGA, 100% of animated feature film screenplays in 2005 were written by at least one WGA member. Some animated features, such as Beowulf, were written under the WGA contract. The only animated television programs affected by the strike were Fox's The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill and American Dad!


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation, Background
The WGA and the IATSE have an ongoing disagreement as to which union should represent animation writers.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation, Proposals
Regarding reality programming, the WGA requested contract language clarifying that reality programming does fall under its jurisdiction. They further proposed the adoption of a credit, "Story Producer" and "Supervising Story Producer" to be given to those writers performing story contributions to a reality show.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation, Proposals
As for animation, the WGA proposed clarifying its jurisdiction to cover all animation in TV and film that did not encroach on the jurisdiction of another union.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Issues in the strike, Jurisdiction in reality and animation, Conclusion
WGA president Patric Verrone announced that the reality and animation jurisdiction proposals were formally removed from the table.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
The final negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP before the WGA's contracts expired on October 31, 2007, began on October 25, but the talks broke down due to the issues surrounding new-media royalties. After the contracts expired, the WGAW held a meeting at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which was attended by 3,000 WGAW members, and the negotiating committee formally recommended a strike, after which the WGAE and the WGAW officially announced that the strike would begin at 12:01 AM on November 5.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
In a last-ditch conciliation to try to avoid the strike, the WGA temporarily withdrew its DVD proposal on November 4, but the companies still insisted on a lack of residual for new media, and the talks subsequently broke down, with both sides accusing the other of walking out. Thus, on November 5, nearly 3,000 WGAW members, plus additional SAG and Teamsters members, picketed or refused to cross the picket lines at 14 targeted studios in Los Angeles, and many more Writers Guild of America, East picketers marched in locations in New York including Rockefeller Center. The picket lines continued, along with various rallies, throughout the strike period in both cities.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
Following four days of targeted picketing, a large rally was held outside the Twentieth Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles on Friday, November 9, drawing an estimated 4,000 WGAW members and supporters, including a sizeable number of SAG members. Speakers included WGA West president Patric Verrone, Family Guy/American Dad! creator Seth MacFarlane, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, and producer Norman Lear. The rally was opened with a two-song performance by Zack de la Rocha and Tom Morello (as The Nightwatchman) of Rage Against the Machine.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
On November 16, 2007, both the WGA and the AMPTP made the following announcement: "Leaders from the WGA and the AMPTP have mutually agreed to resume formal negotiations on November 26. No other details or press statements will be issued." The AMPTP then submitted a new proposal to the WGA on November 29, 2007, reportedly worth an additional $130 million in compensation. The WGA responded that it did not understand how the $130 million figure had been calculated, but was pleased the AMPTP was proposing figures in that range. Both sides agreed to a four-day recess at the WGA's request. Talks were resumed on December 4.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
Following a renewed push on jurisdiction in reality programming by the WGA, including a rally outside North American headquarters of non-signatory reality producer FremantleMedia, talks again broke off on December 7 when the AMPTP walked away from the table, issuing a press release that they would return only upon the WGA dropping several key proposals, among them the reality proposal. This move had been predicted by reporter Nikki Finke and others, many of whom suspected the AMPTP was intentionally delaying negotiations so that it could terminate unwanted production contracts via force majeure. According to Wall Street, the impact of accepting all of WGA's proposals was "largely negligible" and "financially small", suggesting that the studios were afraid that reaching a favorable settlement with the writers might "embolden directors and actors in their coming renegotiations."


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
In mid-December, the WGA announced plans to try to negotiate with individual production companies to end the impasse. The AMPTP and WGA agreed to resume informal talks in an effort to organize formal negotiations on January 19, 2008. This was accepted and both parties decided to go back to the negotiating table as of that date, however the president of the WGA had ordered a media black-out, with no WGA employees reporting any news to the media. WGA President Patric Verrone did, however, report on January 22 that the animation and reality jurisdiction proposals had been dropped.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
On January 25, it was announced that the WGA had made an interim agreement with Lionsgate and Marvel Studios. However, the AMPTP has commented on these types of agreements as "meaningless", although talks between them and WGA continued and many critics believed the strike could be over within two weeks.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
On February 2, 2008, despite a media blackout agreed to by both parties during unofficial negotiations, multiple media reports suggested there had been significant progress involving breakthroughs on key issues in the talks. Further reporting suggested that by the end of the business week starting February 4, 2008, a contract proposal might be announced. Pro -WGA blog UnitedHollywood.com confirmed that "creative solutions to the biggest differences between the AMPTP and the WGA have gotten the tentative and cautious approval of both sides", but cautions that the specific legal language has not yet been drafted. The next day, rumors continued to mount; Deadlinehollywooddaily.com reported that Peter Chernin had told fellow Super Bowl XLII attendees that "the strike is over."


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
This is not over. Nor is it close. Until the moment it is over, it can never be close. Because if we see the finish line we will flag and they are absolutely counting on us to do that. In the room, reason. On the streets, on the net, I say reason is for the 'moderates'. Remember what they've done. Remember what they're trying to take from us. FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
On February 5, 2008, the WGA leadership scheduled a meeting for active members on Saturday, February 9, 2008, to discuss and gain feedback on a proposed contract. TV executives had described the deadline as February 15 for new material to be produced for the 2007–2008 television season. On February 9, 2008, WGA President Patric Verrone emailed the membership announcing that the WGA leadership and AMPTP had reached a tentative deal. The tentative contract proposals were provided to the membership, and a meeting to discuss them as well as future process was scheduled the same day on both coasts.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
According to reports, the first deal discussion meeting for WGAE's members, ended on an optimistic note.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
The WGA started a 48-hour vote for guild members on February 10, 2008, regarding a motion on ending the three-month-old strike. Voting ended for WGAE at 7PM EST, on February 12, 2008. The WGAW voted from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. PST, and at approximately 6:51 PST, WGA president Patric Verone announced that 92.5% of the membership voted to end the strike. On February 26, about 93.6% of WGA members approved a new three-year contract that would be effective until May 1, 2011, with pay hikes ranging from 3 to 3.5%.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Negotiations and strike activity
At the beginning of April 2008, about one and a half months after the end of the strike, the Writers Guild of America, East filed lawsuit against the ABC television network and Corday Productions over alleged violations of a strike-termination agreement. The legal basis for the suit was that ABC and Corday continued using strike-replacement writers for the soap operas All My Children and Days of Our Lives rather than allowing the original writers to return to work after the end of the strike.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, AMPTP
The WGA organizers are grasping for straws and have never had a coherent strategy for engaging in serious negotiations. The AMPTP may have different companies with different assets in different businesses, but they are all unified in one common goal – to reach an agreement with writers that positions everyone in our industry for success in a rapidly changing marketplace.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, AMPTP
Foreseeing the possibility of a strike, production companies accelerated production of films and television episodes in an effort to stockpile enough material to continue regular film releases and TV schedules during the strike period. A list of 300 high-priority film projects reportedly circulated around talent agencies in accordance with this effort.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, AMPTP
Following the refusal of many showrunners (writer-producers) to cross the picket line in the first week of the strike, production companies sent breach-of-contract letters and suspended many of them without pay.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, AMPTP
There was also speculation the companies were seeking out other sources of writing services, including in the UK. The Writers' Guild of Great Britain attempted to thwart this effort, however, by discouraging British union members from participating. Paul Cornell, a writer for several successful television series in the UK, mentioned in a post on his blog on December 14, 2007, that he had declined an approach to cross the WGA picket line and write for an American series.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, AMPTP
The AMPTP announced on December 6 that it had hired the public relations services of Chris Lehane and Mark Fabiani, self-dubbed the "Masters of Disaster", who had previously worked for Democratic politicians (including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, and Gray Davis) and who, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, "earn up to $100,000 a month for pulling their clients out of public relations quicksand." The AMPTP also hired former Arnold Schwarzenegger campaign manager Steve Schmidt of Mercury Public Affairs in Sacramento.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, AMPTP
Fabiani & Lehane's strategy appeared to be to try to weaken the WGA membership's resolve and foment resentment and doubt regarding WGA leadership within its ranks and in the film industry at large, especially with below-the-line workers, by framing the strike as "havoc... wreaked... by the WGA's actions" (paraphrased) and by blaming the WGA for "start[ing] this strike". They also appeared to be attempting to recast language in terms more favorable to the AMPTP, such as referring to WGA negotiators as "organizers" and branding the AMPTP proposals as a "New Economic Partnership".


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, AMPTP
In response to their work for the AMPTP, Fabiani & Lehane's union clients SEIU Local 99 and Change To Win terminated their contracts with the consultants.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, WGA
If they gave us everything we had on the table right now, if they gave us everything we wanted—everything—and they then made a deal with the DGA and matched it, which is what they'll do, and then they made a deal with the Screen Actors Guild and tripled it, which is typically what happens…if they did that—if they gave us everything—on a company-by-company basis they would be giving all of us less than each of their CEOs makes in a year. And in some cases, a lot less.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, WGA
It was initially expected that the strike, if it occurred, would be scheduled for the summer of 2008 to coincide with the expiration of the Screen Actors Guild's contracts. Instead, the strike started shortly after the WGA's contracts expired. This was apparently done to give the AMPTP less time to stockpile scripts and otherwise prepare for a strike in 2008.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, WGA
During the pre-strike negotiations, the WGA created "contract captains" in order to keep the general membership informed on a person-to-person basis of the latest developments. Once the strike started, these members became "strike captains," tasked with communication duties as well as helping to coordinate pickets.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, WGA
The WGA assigned picketers to location shoots in an attempt to shut down production, and set up picket lines in front of studio gates to encourage Teamsters, particularly truck drivers, not to cross the line.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, WGA
For its second week of picketing, the WGA reduced their studio strike list from fourteen to ten, shifted picketing hours to earlier in the day, and scheduled a series of daily strike themes ranging from "Bring-A-Star-To-Picket-With-You" (also called "Cast Day") to "Bring-Your-Kids" special events.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, WGA
The WGA made a direct appeal to the public to explain the issues behind the strike, including use of online videos and blogs. WGA strike captains also encouraged fans to mail pencils to the film and TV moguls en masse. They also considered unorthodox methods, including performing a mock exorcism against Warner Bros. and holding the last rites for the former MBA.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, WGA
Additionally, the WGA appealed to members of crew and industry craft unions, including the Teamsters, and IATSE, some of whom may not have been aware that their union also received residuals to pay for health and pension programs, and that they were expected to directly benefit from residual gains made by the WGA.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, WGA
In late December, the WGA announced a new "divide and conquer" strategy designed to break the solidarity of the AMPTP by negotiating strategic interim deals with individual networks, studios, and production companies who were willing to agree to the WGA's proposals. This was intended to put pressure on the other member companies, especially those who were competing with companies that were then able to return to production. The approach resulted in deals with David Letterman's television production company Worldwide Pants, another with feature studio United Artists, and a third one with film studio The Weinstein Company. The new strategy contained some risk for the WGA, however, as there was a risk that some members may resent a few writers working while others were still on strike.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, WGA
On January 14, 2008, two additional side deals were announced by the WGA – one with Media Rights Capital, a production company working on both features and television, and the other with Spyglass Entertainment. On January 25, 2008, another side deal was reached; the WGA and Marvel Studios signed an interim comprehensive agreement.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Strategies and tactics, WGA
On February 3, 2008, the WGA made a deal with four more filmmakers in New York City.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Production employees
Because production ceased for all scripted television programming, hundreds of thousands of support staff were laid off by the studios. The AMPTP estimated that WGA writers and crewmembers in the IATSE union lost $342.8 million in wages.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Production employees
Dale Alexander, the key grip for The Office, wrote to the LA Times, expressing thoughts on the strike from the perspective of a production employee.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Shows
All scripted Hollywood shows except October Road were expected to shut down by the week of December 19, 2007. Hollywood journalist Nikki Finke reported, "CEOs are determined to write off not just the rest of this TV season (including the Back 9 of scripted series), but also pilot season and the 2008/2009 schedule as well. Indeed, network orders for reality TV shows are pouring into the agencies right now."


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Shows
Within the first week of the strike, AMPTP-member companies fired writers' assistants, production assistants, and other lower-level staffers working on shut down programs. Writer-producer Seth MacFarlane called this a "desperate, punitive act" and called on "all show-runners whose assistants are terminated, if you have the means, keep paying your assistants because this strike is about the little guys."


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Shows
Of the "Big Four" networks—CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX—NBC had the most severe ad shortfall as its prime time ratings declined sharply; none of its new shows achieved breakout success. Moreover, during 2007, NBC saw its prime time 18-to-49-year-old viewership drop by 11%. CBS dropped the same demographic by 10%, and ABC lost 5%. Fox executive Peter Chernin suggested the strike is "probably a positive" for the network, as he expected its non-WGA reality hit American Idol to do especially well given reduced competition.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Shows
Although both are WGA members who pledged support for the writers, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien announced that following the collapse of negotiations, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien would return to air on January 2, 2008, without writers, citing their non-writing staff facing layoffs as the main reason.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Shows
Unlike Leno and O'Brien, whose talk shows were produced and owned by NBC, David Letterman owned his own independent production company, Worldwide Pants, which on December 28 announced an "interim agreement" with the WGA. This agreement allowed his talk show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return to air with writers during the strike under terms contained in the WGA's previously-rejected proposals to the AMPTP.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Shows
The guild stated it had no plans to target Leno and O'Brien with protests such as were aimed at non-WGA member Carson Daly, who was accused of setting up a joke hotline as a strike-breaking effort when he returned to air. After being back on air, however, Leno was charged by WGA of strike violation after he penned and delivered monologues, but it is unclear as to what action the guild would take. Later, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced that their respective shows, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, would also return without writers on January 7, 2008.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Shows
The WGA accused Comedy Central and NBC of forcing hosts back on air by threatening the jobs of the staff and crew of their shows, and said it would picket them. To show respect to the writers, The Daily Show was renamed, for the duration of the strike, A Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Similarly, The Colbert Report was rebranded as The Colbert Report (with hard T's) for its first new episode since the strike began. In support of the strike, Screen Actors Guild urged its members to appear on programs that had independent agreements with the WGA, such as the Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Shows
After returning to air, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report experienced an increase in ratings. At the end of January 2008, The Daily Show was up 17% for viewers between 18-34 from January 2007 and up 9% for 18- to 49-year-olds in the same period. The Colbert Report was up 21% for 18- to 34-year-olds and 15% for 18- to 49-year-olds over the same time period. By contrast, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson experienced a fall in ratings against the previous year, while the Late Show with David Letterman remained level.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Shows
One reason given for the increase in The Daily Show and Colbert Report ratings was the 2008 presidential election, allowing them a large amount of political humor to use. However, one journalist commented that the raise of ratings in these two shows without the writers, "has to be a big PR setback for the WGA."


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Shows
After the strike began, more unscripted shows were ordered by networks, most coming from the reality genre. One of those shows was the game show Duel, which was ordered by ABC as a result of the strike; the show initially aired as a six-episode long tournament in December 2007 before being renewed for 10 additional episodes as a weekly series.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Entertainment award telecasts
The writers' strike also created turmoil for various entertainment awards that were broadcast on television. Many awards were severely curtailed or canceled as a result.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Entertainment award telecasts
As a result of the Screen Actors Guild's solidarity with the WGA, they gave the SAG a waiver on December 11 granting permission for guild writers to create material for the 14th Screen Actors Guild Awards which was shown on TNT and TBS on January 27. The WGA also issued one nine days later allowing writers to write material for Film Independent's Spirit Awards on February 23.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Entertainment award telecasts
On December 18, the WGA announced it would not issue waivers for the Golden Globe Awards and Academy Awards (Oscars) ceremonies. In an act of solidarity, SAG also decided not to support the Golden Globes as well. Labor experts stated that this move was "an attempt by the guild to bring the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers back to the bargaining table."


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Entertainment award telecasts
The People's Choice Awards, which was also denied a waiver, stated it would have to revamp the format of the ceremony by releasing a taped ceremony for January 8 telecast on CBS, instead of airing it live as usual. As a result of the changes which were made, the telecast was viewed by just 6 million viewers, the lowest ratings ever in the show's history at the time. This was down from 11.3 million viewers the previous year.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Entertainment award telecasts
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which hosts the Golden Globes, tried to reach an agreement with the WGA for a waiver, but it fell through. Striking writers then threatened to picket the event, after which almost all of the celebrities due to attend announced they would skip the ceremony rather than cross the picket lines. Facing the prospect of being left without presenters or accepters, HFPA and NBC were forced to adopt another approach for the broadcast.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Entertainment award telecasts
After NBC canceled its exclusive newscast of HFPA announcing the winners, HFPA took complete control of the awards announcement and opened its press conference to all media. WGA assured HFPA that it would not picket the event, citing HFPA's honesty and its honorable and respectful treatment of the guild as reasons. The NBC telecast plummeted in the ratings from 16.0 for the full ceremony in 2007 to 4.7 for the press conference in 2008, fourth (and last) among major networks that night.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Entertainment award telecasts
The WGA issued two more waivers for awards telecast. One was issued towards the NAACP on January 15 for the NAACP Image Awards a month later, and one on January 29 to the NARAS for the 50th Grammy Awards held on February 10.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Entertainment award telecasts
The strike ended twelve days before the Academy Awards were held on February 24. Many blamed the strike for the show's low television ratings, since the writers had less time to prepare. The strike also hindered promotion at ABC, the broadcaster in the United States.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Effect on television, Television viewership
A white paper released by Nielsen Media Research on April 2, 2008 showed that most television viewers spent more time around alternative forms of entertainment outside of broadcast television, including cable television and online video sites, during the course of the strike. Compared with the same time period from 2006–2007, during the months of the strike (November 2007 through February 2008) the average primetime ratings for that time period declined by 6.8%.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Actors
They claim there's no money in the Internet. That's a shell game.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Actors
The Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) contracts with the AMPTP both contain a "no strike" clause, meaning that working members of the acting unions are not supposed to walk off their set in support of another union's strike. However, many actors, backed by their unions, expressed their support and solidarity with the writers' strike, with some marching with writers and even refusing to cross the WGA's picket line. Many actors participated in a series of short PSAs as part of the Speechless Without Writers campaign presented by United Hollywood, which was founded by a group of WGA members.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Talk show hosts
Ellen DeGeneres stated she supports the strike, but crossed the picket line, though she decided not to do a monologue on her show during the strike, explaining that she did not wish to lay off the 135 employees from her staff. The WGAE issued a statement condemning DeGeneres, stating she was "not welcome in NY."


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Talk show hosts
DeGeneres' representatives asserted that she did not violate the WGA's agreement, arguing that she is competing with other first-run syndicated shows like Dr. Phil and Regis and Kelly during the competitive November sweeps period, and that DeGeneres must fulfill her duties as host and producers, lest her show lose its time slot or be held in breach of contract. In addition, a statement defending DeGeneres was subsequently issued by American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), pointing out that DeGeneres also works under the AFTRA TV Code, which bars her from striking. The WGAE then issued a response pointing out that DeGeneres is also a Writers Guild member, and that any writing work she does on her show during the strike constitutes struck work.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Talk show hosts
Early in the strike, it was rumored that Jon Stewart was continuing to pay his Daily Show writers out of his own pocket, but a spokesman later denied the rumor was true. However, The Daily Show temporarily changed its name to A Daily Show to show its support of the strike. Nikki Finke announced that David Letterman would pay his entire staff's salary out of his own pocket through the end of the year. She later announced that following NBC's firing of eighty staffers on The Tonight Show, Jay Leno would continue paying them out of his own pocket as well. Conan O'Brien also promised to pay the salaries of his non-striking staff through the end of the year.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Talk show hosts
Some comedy shows have performed live shows in order to provide money for the striking workers in a series of ON STRIKE! performances at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. The first two shows to perform were Saturday Night Live on November 17, and 30 Rock on November 19. On December 3, The Colbert Report held a similar performance.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Talk show hosts
Host Bill Maher vocally criticized the movement as the wrong time to carry out such a strike.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Writer-producers
Many television writer-producers, also known as "hyphenates" (or "show-runners", if they are in charge of the day-to-day production of a television show) who are WGA members found themselves contractually obligated to continue their production duties while simultaneously barred from performing writing duties during the strike. In a show of solidarity with the writers, approximately 120 show-runners marched in Burbank on November 7, 2007, and many decided to honor the picket lines entirely, refusing to perform even their production duties during the strike.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Agents
Literary agents stand to lose business when the writers they represent are not working. Some agencies reportedly eliminated assistant positions and others asked their agents to take pay cuts during the strike. A few of the larger and more prominent agencies, including William Morris, CAA, and ICM provided coffee, bagels, and churros for picketing writers. Agents had also reportedly been involved in back-channel efforts to get the two parties to return to the negotiating table before talks resumed November 26.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Media executives
Two prominent executives, both of whom headed major studios in the 1980s and moved on to Internet-related ventures, voiced their disagreement with the tactics of the WGA.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Media executives
For a writer to give up today's money for a nonexistent piece of the future — they should do it in three years, shouldn't be doing it now — they are misguided; they should not have gone on the strike.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Media executives
Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner characterized the writers' strike as "insanity". He addressed a business conference, saying, "I've seen stupid strikes, I've seen less stupid strikes, and this strike is just a stupid strike".


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Media executives
Former Paramount and Fox CEO Barry Diller also stated the strike is "stupid". In comments to Fox Business Channel, he said, "There are no profits for the work that writers do that is then digitized and distributed through the Internet". Diller is currently the CEO of the Internet conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Media executives
Diller also suggested that the Writers Guild should have waited five years to see where the revenues from new-media ventures were coming from. "We want to freeze this area until we can understand the revenues, which aren't going to develop for another few years".


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Politicians
The California governor at the time, Arnold Schwarzenegger, negotiated with both sides of the dispute "because it has a tremendous economic impact on our state." The 2008 Democratic presidential candidates, Senator and eventual President Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. John Edwards, and Gov. Bill Richardson, each issued statements of support for the WGA. Although 2008 Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani stated that "a candidate for office really shouldn't get involved," he did offer to serve as a mediator between the parties, citing his experience "settl[ing] several difficult labor disputes" as Mayor of New York City.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Politicians
Civil rights leader and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson marched with the writers and spoke at a WGA rally on November 9, 2007. On November 13, 2007, the Los Angeles County Democratic Party adopted a resolution in support of the WGA. WGAW president Patric Verrone and Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg traveled to Washington, D.C. on November 14 to meet with legislators and regulators about the unions' position on new media. On November 16, John Edwards appeared in person to picket and speak with the writers outside NBC studios in Burbank, CA. The December 10, 2007, Democratic Presidential debate that was to be held in Los Angeles, California, was cancelled on November 28, 2007, due to candidate boycott.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Politicians
On December 19, 2007, Los Angeles City Council's Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee held a hearing on the economic impact of the strike on the local and regional economy, allowing the WGA and AMPTP to testify. However, the AMPTP declined to attend, but sent in Motion Picture Association of America to issue a statement to the committee on its behalf. The Los Angeles City Council approved a resolution which urged the two sides to return to the bargaining table. Jerry Nickelsburg, an economics professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management, presented UCLA Anderson Forecast's economic report.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Politicians
He stated that so far, the strike has not affected the economy deeply, citing the network's inventory stockpiling in preparation of the strike and the increase in usage of reality shows. Ultimately, the Forecast predicted an economic impact of $380 million if the strike were to last 22 weeks, which was how long the 1988 strike had lasted.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Politicians
Jack Kyser, an economist of Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, predicted that the total amount of the direct loss and indirect loss so far was estimated at $220 million, and revenues generated for the county from the annual Academy Awards would dip if the strike were to continue and actors honored the picket lines. The strike ended twelve days before the awards show.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Politicians
On January 3, 2008, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee appeared on The Tonight Show. "I support the writers, by the way. Unequivocally, absolutely. They're dead right on this one... I don't think anybody supports the producers on this one. Maybe the producers support the producers, but I think everybody in the business and even the general public supports the writers."


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Other unions and associations
The WGA acknowledged support from several unions, including the Screen Actors Guild, the Teamsters, the Service Employees International Union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the National Writers Union, as well as writers guilds in Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, New Zealand, France, Netherlands, Greece, Ireland, Switzerland, and Belgium. Many of the various genre writers associations also came out in support of the WGA's strike, including the Horror Writers Association, the Mystery Writers of America, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Other unions and associations
The numbers speak for themselves and show that the WGA leadership is totally out of touch with the impact of their foolhardy tactics. Figures don't lie, liars figure.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Other unions and associations
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents most of the below-the-line motion picture employees (over 50,000 members) and has jurisdictional disputes with WGAW in animation, did not join the strike, citing a "no strike" provision in their contracts. IATSE president Tom Short has publicly criticized the tactics of the WGA, arguing that the Writers Guild intended to strike almost a year in advance of the expiration of the writers' contract.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, Other unions and associations
In a letter to Verrone made publicly available, Short wrote, "When I phoned you on Nov. 28, 2006, to ask you to reconsider the timing of negotiations, you refused. It now seems that you were intending that there be a strike no matter what you were offered, or what conditions the industry faced when your contract expired at the end of October."


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, General public
Several opinion polls gauged the public's response to the strike. One national survey conducted by Pepperdine University from November 7 to November 9 found that 84%, or more than four out of five Americans, were aware the strike was in progress. While 75% of respondents were found to have little to no concern over the strike, nearly two-thirds of the sample sided with the writers, one third was unsure, and only four percent sympathized with the AMPTP (1,000 American adults participated).


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, General public
A second regional poll conducted by SurveyUSA on November 11 of Los Angeles residents indicated that eight percent supported the studios with sixty-nine percent supporting the writers (550 American adults participated, with 482 identifying themselves as being familiar with the strike). According to a USA Today/Gallup Poll conducted six weeks into the strike from December 13 to December 15, 60% of Americans side with the writers, while 14% favor the studios (1,011 American adults participated).


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, General public
Among the viewers, 49% said they were more likely to watch reruns, 40% said they planned to watch reality series and other programming not disrupted by the strike, and 26% were more likely to buy or rent DVDs of television series from past seasons. Viewers of late-night talk shows have already changed their habits: out of 25% of the poll respondents who said they frequently or occasionally watch late-night talk shows, 27% watched another show, 25% went to bed earlier, and 25% read. Only 12% watched reruns, indicated by the shows' decreasing ratings.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, General public
Viewers of individual television shows organized to support "their" writers. Fans4Writers, an outgrowth of Joss Whedon's fan base, walked the picket line and provided regular food drops to picketing writers. Additionally, one of the largest fan-based pickets began the morning of January 24, 2008, at NBC Studios in Burbank when fans of the series Xena: Warrior Princess, a popular series which had ceased production in 2001, lined up to march in support of the WGA.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, General public
Producers and actors from the TV show joined the line, including performers Renee O'Connor, Adrienne Wilkinson, Tim Omundson and producers Robert Tapert, RJ Stewart, Steven L. Sears, Liz Friedman, and others. As with Fans4Writers, Xena fans had been donating food and water to the picket lines for the duration of the strike and an upcoming Xena Convention in Burbank offered the opportunity of a focused show of support from fans worldwide.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Response, General public
The long-term effect on the viewing habits of the general public is difficult to gauge. For reference, estimates suggest that 10% of the overall television-viewing audience was lost as a result of the 1988 writers' strike, a drop-off that has not been reversed.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Related work stoppages, 2007–2008 CBS News writers strike
On November 19, 2007, news writers for CBS News and CBS-owned stations voted to authorize strike action against their employers. Timed closely to the WGA strike, this action has resulted in statements from politicians unwilling to cross picket lines for interview shows and candidate debates. On January 9, the WGAE and CBS News struck a tentative deal. On January 24, 2008, the WGA announced that its members had voted to ratify the contract, which runs to April 1, 2010.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Related work stoppages, Other 2008 industry-wide strike threats
Any increase for the benefits of health insurance, pension, or residual gains made by the WGA are also likely to be demanded by other entertainment industry labor unions when their contracts expire. This is a practice known as pattern bargaining — the first union to reach a contract with the AMPTP usually sets the template for the agreement with other unions. The contracts for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Directors Guild of America (DGA) expired on June 30, 2008.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Related work stoppages, Other 2008 industry-wide strike threats, Directors Guild of America
The Directors Guild of America (DGA), whose members are directors as well as below-the-line workers (1st and 2nd assistant directors), was less focused on the WGA's most contentious issue, new media residuals. The DGA's negotiations with the AMPTP started on January 12, 2008, and on January 17, the DGA announced they had reached a tentative agreement.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Related work stoppages, Other 2008 industry-wide strike threats, Directors Guild of America
Following the DGA announcement, ER executive producer and former WGA president John Wells stated he believes that using the DGA agreement as a template, the strike could be easily resolved within two weeks. Other writers disagreed with Wells' positive assessment.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Related work stoppages, Other 2008 industry-wide strike threats, Screen Actors Guild
Like the WGA, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is very concerned with residuals in new media and were especially supportive of the WGA's strike effort. SAG president Alan Rosenberg suggested that SAG could choose to ignore the tradition of pattern bargaining if terms of the DGA's deal were deemed insufficient to the actors. Thus, if the new media issue was not resolved to their satisfaction by the DGA or WGA by July 2008, SAG was likely to strike when their contract expired, a move which could potentially bring the Hollywood film industry to a near-complete standstill.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Related work stoppages, Other 2008 industry-wide strike threats, Screen Actors Guild
The previous deal between the SAG and AMPTP expired on June 30, 2008; however, on May 6 both organizations had ended talks without a deal. The SAG scheduled a rally for the morning of June 9 in Los Angeles; the WGA subsequently encouraged its members to support SAG members in that rally.


2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Outcomes
On November 19, 2008, the Writers Guild of America announced they were filing arbitration against the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers for not honoring the agreement that ended the strike. The matter was resolved with WGA and AMPTP, and a new agreement took effect on May 2, 2011.


2007–2008 world food price crisis
World food prices increased dramatically in 2007 and the first and second quarter of 2008, creating a global crisis and causing political and economic instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations. Although the media spotlight focused on the riots that ensued in the face of high prices, the ongoing crisis of food insecurity had been years in the making. Systemic causes for the worldwide increases in food prices continue to be the subject of debate.


2007–2008 world food price crisis
After peaking in the second quarter of 2008, prices fell dramatically during the late-2000s recession but increased during late 2009 and 2010, reaching new heights in 2011 and 2012 (see 2010–2012 world food price crisis) at a level slightly higher than the level reached in 2008. Over the next years, prices fell, reaching a low in March 2016 with the deflated Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) food price index close to pre-crisis level of 2006. As of May 2017 they have not reached crisis levels again, despite prices increasing.


2007–2008 world food price crisis
The initial causes of the late-2006 price spikes included droughts in grain-producing nations and rising oil prices. Oil price increases also caused general escalations in the costs of fertilizers, food transportation, and industrial agriculture. Root causes may be the increasing use of biofuels in developed countries (see also food vs fuel), and an increasing demand for a more varied diet across the expanding middle-class populations of Asia. The FAO also raised concerns about the role of hedge funds speculating on prices leading to major shifts in prices. These factors, coupled with falling world-food stockpiles, all contributed to the worldwide rise in food prices.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes
Between 2006 and 2008 average world prices for rice rose by 217%, wheat by 136%, corn by 125% and soybeans by 107%. In late April 2008 rice prices hit 24 cents (US) per US pound, more than doubling the price in just seven months.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, World population growth
Although some commentators have argued that this food crisis stems from unprecedented global population growth, others point out that world population growth rates have dropped dramatically since the 1980s, and grain availability has continued to outpace population.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, World population growth
To prevent price growth, food production should outpace population growth, which was about 1.2% per year. But there was a temporary drop in food production growth: for example, wheat production during 2006 and 2007 was 4% lower than that in 2004 and 2005.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, World population growth
World population has grown from 1.6 billion in 1900 to over 7.5 billion today.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Increased demand for more resource intensive food
The head of the International Food Policy Research Institute, stated in 2008 that the gradual change in diet among newly prosperous populations is the most important factor underpinning the rise in global food prices. Where food consumption has increased, it has largely been in processed ("value added") foods, sold in developing and developed nations. Total grain utilization growth since 2006 (up three percent, over the 2000–2006 per annum average of two percent) has been greatest in non-food usage, especially in feed and biofuels.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Increased demand for more resource intensive food
One kilogram of beef requires seven kilograms of feed grain. These reports, therefore, conclude that usage in industrial, feed, and input intensive foods, not population growth among poor consumers of simple grains, has contributed to the price increases. Rising meat consumption due to changes in lifestyle can in turn lead to higher energy consumption due to the higher energy-intensity of meat products, for example, one kilogram of meat uses about 19 times as much energy to produce it as the same amount of apple.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Increased demand for more resource intensive food
Although the vast majority of the population in Asia remains rural and poor, the growth of the middle class in the region has been dramatic. For comparison, in 1990, the middle class grew by 9.7 percent in India and 8.6 percent in China, but by 2007 the growth rate was nearly 30 percent and 70 percent respectively. The corresponding increase in Asian affluence also brought with it a change in lifestyle and eating habits, particularly a demand for greater variety, leading to increased competition with western nations for already strained agricultural resources. This demand exacerbates dramatic increases in commodity prices such as oil.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Increased demand for more resource intensive food
Another issue with rising affluence in India and China was reducing the "shock absorber" of poor people who are forced to reduce their resource consumption when food prices rise. This reduced price elasticity and caused a sharp rise in food prices during some shortages. In the media, China is often mentioned as one of the main reasons for the increase in world food prices. However, China has to a large extent been able to meet its own demand for food, and even exports its surpluses in the world market.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of petroleum and fertilizer price increases
Starting in 2007, the prices of fertilizers of all kinds increased dramatically, peaking around the summer of 2008 (see graphs by the International Fertilizer Industry Association). Prices approximately tripled for ammonia, urea, diammonium phosphate, muriate of potash (KCl), and sulfuric acid (used for making phosphate fertilizer), and then fell just as dramatically in the latter part of 2008. Some prices doubled within the six months before April 2008. Part of the cause for these price rises was the rise in the price of oil, since most fertilizers require petroleum or natural gas to manufacture.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of petroleum and fertilizer price increases
Although the main fossil fuel input for fertilizer comes from natural gas to generate hydrogen for the Haber–Bosch process (see: Ammonia production), natural gas has its own supply problems similar to those for oil. Because natural gas can substitute for petroleum in some uses (for example, natural gas liquids and electricity generation), increasing prices for petroleum lead to increasing prices for natural gas, and thus for fertilizer.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of petroleum and fertilizer price increases
Costs for fertilizer raw materials other than oil, such as potash, have been increasing as increased production of staples increases demand. This is causing a boom (with associated volatility) in agriculture stocks.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of petroleum and fertilizer price increases
The major IFPRI Report launched in February 2011 stated that the causes of the 2008 global food crisis were similar to that of the 1972–1974 food crisis, in that the oil price and energy price was the major driver, as well as the shock to cereal demand (from biofuels this time), low interest rates, devaluation of the dollar, declining stocks, and some adverse weather conditions. Unfortunately the IFPRI states that such shocks are likely to recur with several shocks in the future; compounded by a long history of neglecting agricultural investments.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Declining world food stockpiles
In the past, nations tended to keep more sizable food stockpiles, but more recently, due to a faster pace of food growth and ease of importation, less emphasis is placed on high stockpiles. For example, in February 2008 wheat stockpiles hit a 60-year low in the United States (see also 2008 global rice crisis). Stocks are often calculated as a residual between production and consumption, but it becomes difficult to discriminate between a de-stocking policy choices of individual countries and a deficit between production and consumption.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Financial speculation
Destabilizing influences, including indiscriminate lending and real estate speculation, led to a crisis in January 2008 and eroded investment in food commodities.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Financial speculation
Foreign investment drives productivity improvements, and other gains for farmers.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Financial speculation, Commodity index funds
Goldman Sachs' entry into the commodities market via the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index has been implicated by some in the 2007–2008 world food price crisis. In a 2010 article in Harper's magazine, Frederick Kaufman accused Goldman Sachs of profiting while many people went hungry or even starved. He argued that Goldman's large purchases of long-options on wheat futures created a demand shock in the wheat market, which disturbed the normal relationship between supply and demand and price levels.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Financial speculation, Commodity index funds
He argues that the result was a 'contango' wheat market on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which caused prices of wheat to rise much higher than normal, defeating the purpose of the exchanges (price stabilization) in the first place. however, a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – using data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission – showed tracking funds (of which Goldman Sachs Commodity Index was one) did not cause the bubble. For example, the report points out that even commodities without futures markets also saw price rises during the period.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Financial speculation, Commodity index funds
Some commodities without futures markets saw their prices rise as a consequence of the rising prices of commodities with futures markets: the World Development Movement (WDM, now Global Justice Now) stated there was strong evidence that the rising price of wheat caused the price of rice to subsequently rise as well.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of trade liberalization
Some theorists, such as Martin Khor of the Third World Network, point out that many developing nations have gone from being food independent to being net food importing economies since the 1970s and 1980s International Monetary Fund (and later the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Agriculture) free market economics directives to debtor nations. In opening developing countries to developed world food imports subsidised by Western governments, developing nations can become more dependent upon food imports if local agriculture does not improve.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of trade liberalization
While developed countries pressured the developing world to abolish subsidies in the interest of trade liberalization, rich countries largely kept subsidies in place for their own farmers. United States government subsidies for 2008 pushed production toward biofuel rather than food.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of food for fuel
One systemic cause for the price rise is held to be the diversion of food crops (maize in particular) for making first-generation biofuels. An estimated 100 million tons of grain per year are being redirected from food to fuel. (Total worldwide grain production for 2007 was just over 2000 million tons.) As farmers devoted larger parts of their crops to fuel production than in previous years, land and resources available for food production were reduced correspondingly.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of food for fuel
This has resulted in less food available for human consumption, especially in developing and least developed countries, where a family's daily allowances for food purchases are extremely limited. The crisis can be seen, in a sense, to dichotomize rich and poor nations, since, for example, filling a tank of an average car with biofuel, amounts to as much maize (Africa's principal food staple) as an African person consumes in an entire year.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of food for fuel
Brazil, the world's second largest producer of ethanol after the US, is considered to have the world's first sustainable biofuels economy and its government claims Brazil's sugar cane based ethanol industry has not contributed to the 2008 food crises. A World Bank policy research working paper released in July 2008 concluded that "...large increases in biofuels production in the United States and Europe are the main reason behind the steep rise in global food prices", and also stated that "Brazil's sugar-based ethanol did not push food prices appreciably higher". An economic assessment published in July 2008 by the OECD disagrees with the World Bank report regarding the negative effects of subsidies and trade restrictions, finding that the effect of biofuels on food prices are much smaller.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of food for fuel
A report released by Oxfam in June 2008 criticized biofuel policies of rich countries and concluded that, of all biofuels available in the market, Brazilian sugarcane ethanol is "far from perfect" but it is the most favorable biofuel in the world in term of cost and GHG balance. The report discusses some existing problems and potential risks and asks the Brazilian government for caution to avoid jeopardizing its environmental and social sustainability. The report also says that: "Rich countries spent up to $15 billion last year supporting biofuels while blocking cheaper Brazilian ethanol, which is far less damaging for global food security." (See Ethanol fuel in Brazil)


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of food for fuel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the rise in food prices is due to poor agricultural policies and changing eating habits in developing nations, not biofuels as some critics claim. On 29 April 2008, US President George W. Bush declared during a press conference that "85 percent of the world's food prices are caused by weather, increased demand and energy prices", and recognized that "15 percent has been caused by ethanol". On 4 July 2008, The Guardian reported that a leaked World Bank report estimated the rise in food prices caused by biofuels to be 75%. This report was officially released in July 2008.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of food for fuel
Since reaching record high prices in June 2008, corn prices fell 50% by October 2008, declining sharply together with other commodities, including oil. As ethanol production from corn has continued at the same levels, some have argued this trend shows the belief that the increased demand for corn to produce ethanol was mistaken. "Analysts, including some in the ethanol sector, say ethanol demand adds about 75 cents to $1.00 per bushel to the price of corn, as a rule of thumb. Other analysts say it adds around 20 percent, or just under 80 cents per bushel at current prices. Those estimates hint that $4 per bushel corn might be priced at only $3 without demand for ethanol fuel." These industry sources consider that a speculative bubble in the commodity markets holding positions in corn futures was the main driver behind the observed hike in corn prices affecting food supply.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Effects of food for fuel
Second- and third-generation biofuels (such as cellulosic ethanol and algae fuel, respectively) may someday ease the competition with food crops, as can grow on marginal lands unsuited for food crops, but these advanced biofuels require further development of farming practices and refining technology; in contrast, ethanol from maize uses mature technology and the maize crop can be shifted between food and fuel use quickly.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Biofuel subsidies in the US and the EU
The World Bank lists the effect of biofuels as an important contributor to higher food prices. The FAO/ECMB has reported that world land usage for agriculture has declined since the 1980s, and subsidies outside the United States and EU have dropped since the year 2004, leaving supply, while sufficient to meet 2004 needs, vulnerable when the United States began converting agricultural commodities to biofuels. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), global wheat imports and stocks have decreased, domestic consumption has stagnated, and world wheat production has decreased from 2006 to 2008.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Biofuel subsidies in the US and the EU
In the United States, government subsidies for ethanol production have prompted many farmers to switch to production for biofuel. Maize is the primary crop used for the production of ethanol, with the United States being the biggest producer of maize ethanol. As a result, 23 percent of United States maize crops were being used for ethanol in 2006–2007 (up from 6 percent in 2005–2006), and the USDA expects the United States to use 81 million tons of maize for ethanol production in the 2007–2008 season, up 37 percent. This not only diverts grains from food, but it diverts agricultural land from food production.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Biofuel subsidies in the US and the EU
Nevertheless, supporters of ethanol claim that using corn for ethanol is not responsible for the worst food riots in the world, many of which have been caused by the price of rice and oil, which are not affected by biofuel use but rather by supply and demand.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Biofuel subsidies in the US and the EU
However, a World Bank policy research working paper released in July 2008 says that biofuels have raised food prices between 70 and 75 percent. The study found that higher oil prices and a weak dollar explain 25–30% of total price rise. The "month-by-month" five-year analysis disputes that increases in global grain consumption and droughts were responsible for price increases, reporting that this had had only a marginal effect and instead argues that the EU and US drive for biofuels has had by far the biggest effect on food supply and prices.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Biofuel subsidies in the US and the EU
The paper concludes that increased production of biofuels in the US and EU were supported by subsidies and tariffs on imports, and considers that without these policies, price increases would have been smaller. This research also concluded that Brazil's sugar cane based ethanol has not raised sugar prices significantly, and suggest to remove tariffs on ethanol imports by both the US and EU, to allow more efficient producers such as Brazil and other developing countries to produce ethanol profitably for export to meet the mandates in the EU and the US.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Biofuel subsidies in the US and the EU
The Renewable Fuel Association (RFA) published a rebuttal based on the version leaked before the formal release of the World Bank's paper. The RFA critique considers that the analysis is highly subjective and that the author "estimates the effect of global food prices from the weak dollar and the direct and indirect effect of high petroleum prices and attributes everything else to biofuels".


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Biofuel subsidies in the US and the EU
An economic assessment report also published in July 2008 by the OECD agrees with the World Bank report regarding the negative effects of subsidies and trade restrictions, but found that the effect of biofuels on food prices are much smaller.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Biofuel subsidies in the US and the EU
The OECD study is also critical of the limited reduction of GHG emissions achieved from biofuels produced in Europe and North America, concluding that the current biofuel support policies would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport fuel by no more than 0.8 percent by 2015, while Brazilian ethanol from sugar cane reduces greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent compared to fossil fuels. The assessment calls on governments for more open markets in biofuels and feedstocks to improve efficiency and lower costs.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Idled farmland
According to the New York Times on 9 April 2008, the United States government pays farmers to idle their cropland under a conservation program. This policy reached a peak of 36,800,000 acres (149,000 km2) idled in 2007, that is 8% of cropland in United States, representing a total area bigger than the state of New York.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Agricultural subsidies
The global food crisis has renewed calls for removal of distorting agricultural subsidies in developed countries. Support to farmers in OECD countries totals US$280 billion annually, which compares to official development assistance of just US$80 billion in 2004, and farm support depresses global food prices, according to OECD estimates. These agricultural subsidies lead to underdevelopment in rural developing countries, including the least developed countries; meanwhile subsidised food increases overconsumption in developed countries. The US Farm Bill brought in by the Bush Administration in 2002 increased agricultural subsidies by 80% and cost the US taxpayer US$190 billion. In 2003, the EU agreed to extend the Common Agricultural Policy until 2013. Former UNDP Administrator Malloch Brown renewed calls for reform of the farm subsidies such as the CAP.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Distorted global rice market
Japan is forced to import more than 767,000 tons of rice annually from the United States, Thailand, and other countries due to WTO rules, although Japan produces over 100% of domestic rice consumption needs with 11 million tons produced in 2005 while 8.7 million tons were consumed in 2003–2004 period. Japan is not allowed to re-export this rice to other countries without approval. This rice is generally left to rot and then used for animal feed. Under pressure, the United States and Japan are poised to strike a deal to remove such restrictions. It is expected 1.5 million tons of high-grade American rice will enter the market soon.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Crop shortfalls from natural disasters
Several distinct weather- and climate-related incidents have caused disruptions in crop production. Perhaps the most influential is the extended drought in Australia, in particular the fertile Murray-Darling Basin, which produces large amounts of wheat and rice. The drought has caused the annual rice harvest to fall by as much as 98% from pre-drought levels.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Crop shortfalls from natural disasters
Australia is historically the second-largest exporter of wheat after the United States, producing up to 25 million tons in a good year, the vast majority for export. However, the 2006 harvest was 9.8 million. Other events that have negatively affected the price of food include the 2006 heat wave in California's San Joaquin Valley, which killed large numbers of farm animals, and unseasonable 2008 rains in Kerala, India, which destroyed swathes of grain. These incidents are consistent with the effects of climate change.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Crop shortfalls from natural disasters
The effects of Cyclone Nargis on Burma in May 2008 caused a spike in the price of rice. Burma has historically been a rice exporter, though yields have fallen as government price controls have reduced incentives for farmers. The storm surge inundated rice paddies up to 30 miles (48 km) inland in the Irrawaddy Delta, raising concern that the salt could make the fields infertile. The FAO had previously estimated that Burma would export up to 600,000 tons of rice in 2008, but concerns were raised in the cyclone's aftermath that Burma may be forced to import rice for the first time, putting further upward pressure on global rice prices.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Crop shortfalls from natural disasters
Stem rust reappeared in 1998 in Uganda (and possibly earlier in Kenya) with the particularly virulent UG99 fungus. Unlike other rusts, which only partially affect crop yields, UG99 can bring 100% crop loss. Up to 80% yield losses were recently recorded in Kenya.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Crop shortfalls from natural disasters
As of 2005 stem rust was still believed to be "largely under control worldwide except in Eastern Africa". But by January 2007 an even more virulent strain had gone across the Red Sea into Yemen. FAO first reported on 5 March 2008 that Ug99 had now spread to major wheat-growing areas in Iran.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Crop shortfalls from natural disasters
These countries in North Africa and Middle East consume over 150% of their own wheat production; the failure of this staple crop thus adds a major burden on them. The disease is now expected to spread over China and the Far-East. The strong international collaboration network of research and development that spread disease-resistant strains some 40 years ago and started the Green Revolution, known as CGIAR, was since slowly starved of research funds because of its own success and is now too atrophied to swiftly react to the new threat.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Soil and productivity losses
Sundquist points out that large areas of croplands are lost year after year, due mainly to soil erosion, water depletion and urbanisation. According to him "60,000 km2/year of land becomes so severely degraded that it loses its productive capacity and becomes wasteland", and even more are affected to a lesser extent, adding to the crop supply problem.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Soil and productivity losses
Additionally, agricultural production is also lost due to water depletion. Northern China in particular has depleted much of its non-renewables aquifers, which now impacts negatively its crop production.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Soil and productivity losses
Urbanisation is another, smaller, difficult to estimate cause of annual cropland reduction.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Rising levels of ozone
One possible environmental factor in the food price crisis is rising background levels of ground-level tropospheric ozone in the atmosphere. Plants have been shown to have a high sensitivity to ozone levels, and lower yields of important food crops, such as wheat and soybeans, may have been a result of elevated ozone levels. Ozone levels in the Yangtze Delta were studied for their effect on oilseed rape, a member of the cabbage family that produces one-third of the vegetable oil used in China.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Drastic price increases and possible causes, Rising levels of ozone
Plants grown in chambers that controlled ozone levels exhibited a 10–20 percent reduction in size and weight (biomass) when exposed to elevated ozone levels. Production of seeds and oil was also reduced. The Chinese authors of this study also reported that rice grown in chambers that controlled ozone levels exhibited a 14 to 20 percent reduction in biomass yield when exposed to ozone levels over 25 times higher than was normal for the region.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Rising prices
From the beginning of 2007 to early 2008, the prices of some of the most basic international food commodities increased dramatically on international markets. The international market price of wheat doubled from February 2007 to February 2008 hitting a record high of over US$10 a bushel. Rice prices also reached ten-year highs. In some nations, milk and meat prices more than doubled, while soy (which hit a 34-year high price in December 2007) and maize prices have increased dramatically.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Rising prices
Total food import bills rose by an estimated 25% for developing countries in 2007. Researchers from the Overseas Development Institute have suggested this problem will be worsened by a likely fall in food aid. As food aid is programmed by budget rather than volume, rising food prices mean that the World Food Programme (WFP) needs an extra $500 million just to sustain the current operations.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Rising prices
To ensure that food remains available for their domestic populations and to combat dramatic price inflation, major rice exporters, such as China, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Egypt, imposed strict export bans on rice. Conversely, several other nations, including Argentina, Ukraine, Russia, and Serbia either imposed high tariffs or blocked the export of wheat and other foodstuffs altogether, driving up prices still further for net food importing nations while trying to isolate their internal markets. North Korea suffered from the food crisis to such extent that a North Korean official was quoted in June '08 with saying "Life is more than difficult. It seems that everyone is going to die". This nation however is solely relying on food assistance to cope with the crisis.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Rising prices, In developed countries, United States
A May 2008 national survey found that food banks and pantries across the US were being forced to cut back on food distribution as 99 percent of respondents reported an increase in the number of people requesting services. Rising food and fuel prices, inadequate food stamp benefits, unemployment, underemployment, and rent or mortgage costs were factors reported as forcing an average of 15–20 percent more people. Compounding this issue, USDA bonus foods have declined by $200 million and local food donations were down nationally about 9 percent over the same period. According to the California Association of Food Banks, which is an umbrella organization of nearly all food banks in the state, food banks are at the "beginning of a crisis".


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Effects on farmers
If global price movements are transmitted to local markets, farmers in the developing world could benefit from the rising price of food. According to researchers from the Overseas Development Institute, this may depend on farmers' capacity to respond to changing market conditions. Experience suggests that farmers lack the credit and inputs needed to respond in the short term. In the medium or long term, however, they could benefit, as seen in the Asian Green Revolution or in many African countries in the recent past.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Effects on farmers, Relationship with 2008 Chinese milk scandal
As grain prices increased, China's numerous small-holding milk farmers, as well as producers of feed for cattle, were unable to exist economically. As a result, they turned to putting additives into the feed and milk, including melamine, to boost the measured level of protein. Hundreds of thousands of children became ill, China's milk exports virtually ended, executives and officials were arrested and some executed, and companies went bankrupt.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Unrest and government actions in individual countries and regions
The price rises affected parts of Asia and Africa particularly severely with Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal, Mauritania, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt and Morocco seeing protests and riots in late 2007 and early 2008 over the unavailability of basic food staples. Other countries that have seen food riots or are facing related unrest are: Mexico, Bolivia, Yemen, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and South Africa.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Unrest and government actions in individual countries and regions, Tunisia
Popular protests plagued Gafsa and other rural towns in the country of Tunisia in 2008 against the deaths of 2 miners and high unemployment rates in the government. Anti -government riots was suppressed and unfortunately, 2 lost their lives. Unemployed demonstrators and food shortages protests erupted in towns near Gafsa in inspiration but was suppressed harshly.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Unrest and government actions in individual countries and regions, Morocco
A popular movement unfolded as a series of violent ad times but nonviolent demonstrations and events throughout Morocco in 2007-2008 after strikes took place. Unfortunately, during riots in Sidi Ifni, 10 demonstrators lost their lives after police cursed the protests in June 2008. In November–December, a wave of strikes and protests and violence hit the country as scattered protests broke out against food prices and shortages. The movement was quelled violently with a swift response by the authorities.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Unrest and government actions in individual countries and regions, Bangladesh
10,000 workers rioted close to the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, smashing cars and buses and vandalising factories in anger at high food prices and low wages. Dozens of people, including at least 20 police officials, were injured in the violence. Ironically, the country achieved food self-sufficiency in 2002, but food prices increased drastically due to the reliance of agriculture on oil and fossil fuels.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Unrest and government actions in individual countries and regions, Bangladesh
Economists estimate 30 million of the country's 150 million people could go hungry.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Unrest and government actions in individual countries and regions, Brazil
In April 2008, the Brazilian government announced a temporary ban on the export of rice. The ban was intended to protect domestic consumers.


2007–2008 world food price crisis, Unrest and government actions in individual countries and regions, Burkina Faso
One of the earlier food riots took place in Burkina Faso, on 22 February, when rioting broke out in the country's second and third largest cities over soaring food prices (up to a 65 percent increase), sparing the capital, Ouagadougou, where soldiers were mobilized throughout strategic points. The government promised to lower taxes on food and to release food stocks. Over 100 people were arrested in one of the towns. Related policy actions of the Burkinabe government included: