Hollywood screenwriters from the Writers Guild of America went on strike Monday for the first time in 20 years, picketing studios in New York and Los Angeles in a bid to disrupt production of TV shows and movies in the world capitals of the entertainment industry. The strike began at one minute after midnight after representatives for the 12,000 members of the WGA failed to reach an agreement with TV and film producers on a new contract.

The WGA are pushing for more residuals from new media distribution (such films or TV shows sold online), while producers reject the guild's demands as unworkable and too expensive. In 1988, a 22-week walkout by the WGA delayed the start of that year's fall television season and cost the entertainment industry an estimated $500 million. This time, billions may be lost, according to some estimates. It's enough to note that the motion picture and TV industry generates $30 billion in annual economic activity for Los Angeles County alone.

A federal mediator, who reportedly joined the talks last week, asked the two sides to continue talking in a Sunday session, but neither a deal nor an agreement to keep talking was reached. "When we asked if they would 'stop the clock' for the purpose of delaying the strike to allow negotiations to continue, they refused," AMPTP president Nick Counter said. "It is unfortunate that they have decided on this irresponsible action," said Counter.

"Everybody knows what a DVD costs and a writer gets four to five cents for a DVD sale," WGA member Bryce Zabel, a screenwriter, said Thursday to AFP. "We've asked for eight. And they've said that's outrageous." The requested compensation package would cost about $220 million over three years, a small fraction of the around $24 billion in revenues generated by U.S. DVD sales and rentals over the last year.

Most drama and comedy series are produced months in advance so it would take a while until TV networks would need to resort to repeats. But late night talk shows, which rely on current events for their zippy monologues are expected to move immediately to reruns, while soap operas, which generally are taped just a week in advance, will also be hit unless there is an unexpectedly swift resolution to the dispute.

The picket lines centered on the Rockefeller Centre in New York and on 14 major studios in Los Angeles.