Hollywood Writers Strike Week 5: 'Sorry, Internet' Skateboarding Dog and Piano Playing Cat Join Strike

The union went on strike on Nov. 5, 2007, after three months of acrimonious negotiations. It was the first industrywide strike since writers walked out in 1988. That strike lasted five months and cost the entertainment industry an estimated $500 million.

The strike centered on, among other things, writers’ demands for a large increase in pay for movies and television shows released on DVD, and for a bigger share of the revenue from such work delivered over the Internet. Producers argue that companies like the News Corporation's Fox studio and network or General Electric's NBC and Universal Pictures operations must use new revenue to cover rising costs.