Golden Globe backers in talks with striking writers

The sponsor of Hollywood's Golden Globe film and television awards said on Wednesday it has begun talks with TV writers aimed at allowing its honors to be broadcast as planned despite the ongoing screenwriters strike.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association said it began discussions with the Writers Guild of America on December 29 to get an "interim agreement" similar to the one David Letterman's company, Worldwide Pants, reached with the WGA to put "The Late Show with David Letterman" back on the air.

"We feel that the 'Late Show with David Letterman' agreement is very reasonable, and hope and expect the WGA will agree to the same terms," association president Jorge Camara said in a statement.

Camara said an "interim agreement" would allow the Golden Globe Awards to be broadcast on the NBC TV network on January 13, "as scheduled, without picket lines."

The Golden Globe Awards are one of Hollywood's biggest ceremonies leading up to the world's top film honors, the Oscars, which are given out in February.

Top film and TV stars turn out for the Golden Globe Awards, but this year, with Hollywood's screenwriters on strike, many stars have been wavering on whether to appear and cross WGA picket lines. The WGA said last month it would not allow union members to write material for the ceremony.

The roughly 10,500 WGA members have been on strike against major film studios and U.S. TV networks since November over issues including fees paid to them for work that is distributed on DVD and potential profits made from work appearing on the Internet.