Golden Globes face boycott threat

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This month's Golden Globe Awards are in jeopardy after striking writers insisted they would continue with plans to picket the Hollywood ceremony.

Organisers hoped last-minute talks with the Writers Guild of America would allow the show to go on, but the union said it would still picket the show.

The Screen Actors Guild also said it would advise stars to boycott the show until the strike dispute is resolved.

The Golden Globes ceremony is scheduled to take place 13 January.

Writers have been striking since 5 November in a row over royalties for work distributed online or released on DVD.

The Golden Globes attract huge TV audiences each yearThe Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organises the Golden Globes, had been hoping to reach an interim agreement with writers to allow them to work on the show.

Union leaders had reached a similar deal with talk show host David Letterman's company to allow his Late Show to return to TV this week.

But the WGA, which represents 10,500 film and TV writers, refused, saying it was engaged in a "crucial struggle that will protect our income and intellectual property rights for generations to come".

Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg said: "We will advise our members of their rights with respect to not crossing WGA picket lines and/or not appearing on programmes using non-union writers."

He said a meeting with actor nominees was scheduled for later this week.

Some 20 million people watched last year's Golden Globes ceremony on the NBC network.

Some Hollywood observers have speculated that without scripts and celebrities, awards organisers may opt to keep the cameras away to lessen the risk of embarrassment.

But the risk of losing millions of dollars in TV income may force them to televise the ceremonies anyway.