Chapter 333: The Great Strike Begins

Charles Capet's attempt to acquire Arsenal faced significant resistance, especially from the local board led by Peter Hill-Wood.

Even with David Dein's assistance, Charles only held a stake in Arsenal. But unless he could gain complete control, it wouldn't mean much to him.

The FA and fans preferred Arsenal to remain under local ownership.

Charles didn't have many options at the moment. Arsenal was leading the league, playing stunning attacking football, both in terms of results and style.

David Dein suggested Charles wait for the Premier League's Christmas period, as there's no winter break, making it a challenging time that often leads to numerous injuries for clubs.

During this period, he could slowly interact with and persuade the board shareholders to sell their stakes.

At the same time, he could leverage media to guide fan support, considering Manchester United, Chelsea, and the recently acquired Liverpool seemed increasingly competitive.

In the evening, after leaving the Colney training ground, Charles received a call from his mother.

"Charles, I'm heading back to New York. I'm currently on the plane. The last round of talks between the Hollywood Writers Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed. The Writers Guild is on strike!"

Charles checked his watch. It was the 6th of the month, around 6 PM in London, which meant it was 1 PM in New York.

"Got it. The strike is inevitable. If you have nothing to do, you can go to the Capet Ranch in Colorado for a vacation and some skiing. The newly renovated vacation villa is nice, and there are two newly built log cabins!" Charles had anticipated this end-of-year strike long ago and was indifferent.

"Sure, anyhow, you're more focused on Arsenal Club these days," Evelyn said before hanging up.

That night, Scarlett Johansson, who was filming Mamma Mia! in London, arrived at Charles's mansion on Knight Street.

"Charles, you're really making waves with your acquisition attempt here in England. The crew can't stop talking about it!" Scarlett Johansson, ever as sexy, wrapped her arms around Charles on the sofa.

"It's not done yet. Take it slow," Charles responded, then lifted her up and kissed her.

Scarlett eagerly reciprocated, and soon, neither bothered to move to the bedroom, undressing right there on the living room sofa...

...

In the U.S., at noon Eastern Time, the East Coast Writers Guild initiated the second significant Hollywood writers' strike.

Following nearly seven hours of the previous day's final negotiations between the East and West Writers Guild and the AMPTP, they announced failure.

An AMPTP representative urged the Writers Guild to reconsider to avoid a halt in Hollywood, which would cause enormous losses.

The two major Writers Guilds issued a joint statement: Over 90% of their members had voted in favor of striking to defend writers' rights and interests. The strike would persist until their demands were met, likening it to a "marathon."

Faced with the Writers Guild's tough stance, the AMPTP's lead negotiator, Nick Conte, firmly responded, "If the strike continues, we can't resume negotiations. It's impossible to negotiate with a gun to our heads. This approach is foolish!"

Following the announcement, the next day at noon, Eastern Time, the East Coast Writers Guild kicked off the strike. The West Coast Writers Guild followed three hours later.

In New York, thousands marched on the streets and squares, striking outside NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox headquarters.

They set up strike barriers while the police maintained order, signaling to everyone that Hollywood faced another massive writers' strike.

To unify discipline and strengthen the strike, the two Writers Guilds mandated that all members must not work for film or TV production companies.

Any member who entered a film company during the strike would be fined $100,000. Failure to pay the fine would lead to expulsion.

At 3 PM Eastern Time, coinciding with noon Pacific Time, over 7,000 writers took to the streets in Los Angeles, the strike's main battleground.

Strike assembly points included the vicinity of Disney, 20th Century Fox, Sony Columbia, Paramount, NBC, ABC, Capet Entertainment, Universal Studios, and Warner Bros.

Donna Langley, standing by the meeting room window, could see the massive crowd of strikers in the nearby streets, not far from Capet Entertainment, DreamWorks, and Disney.

Further away were Warner Bros., ABC Production Center, and NBC Universal Studios!

"Who knows how long this will last," Donna Langley remarked, taken aback by the crowd. She anticipated a large turnout on the first day, but this exceeded expectations.

Meanwhile, at Sony Pictures in Culver City, Los Angeles, the producers of Quantum of Solace, Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, wore conflicted expressions.

Michael Wilson was the adopted son of Barbara Broccoli's father; the two were practically siblings, managing their family-owned Eon Productions, which held the rights to the 007 series.

"This morning, Paul Haggis just handed us the final revised script for Quantum of Solace. He signed the check and then immediately joined the strike with a picket sign," Barbara Broccoli said, exasperated.

"Alright, Barbara. Let's head back to London and focus on the film's production. This Hollywood writers' strike isn't ending anytime soon," Michael Wilson was keen to complete Quantum of Solace's production, aiming for a release next year.

Indeed, Los Angeles was bustling today. After all, it was a Hollywood affair, with thousands of writers marching with banners and signs on the streets near Hollywood, striking.

Police, citizens, and media reporters created a unique scene.

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.