Moderated by Jon Healey of the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board

A panel of industry insiders and expert observers–including David Ginsburg, professor of Entertainment and Media Law at UCLA, Aaron Mendelsohn, from the Writers Guild of America West, and Los Angeles Times columnist Patrick Goldstein–dissect the lengthy strike by the Writers Guild of America, offering their views on the forces that made this contract such a high-stakes battle. Why were the studios and the writers willing to accept such a long and costly work stoppage? Why was the Directors Guild able to reach a deal so quickly? Most important, what is the Internet doing to the studios’ established business model? What might the distribution of TV shows and movies look like in three years, when the next round of contract talks will occur?