The scene is a familiar one: mighty lorries parked around the block and wardrobe mistresses wheeling clothesracks across the street; a policeman keeping an eye on proceedings from behind his shades in the Venice area of Los Angeles.
Just another day's filming in LA. But it could be one of the last for weeks. Today representatives of the Writers Guild of America and the movie studios are due to hold a final round of talks about new contract terms. If there is no agreement, a screenwriters' strike is due to start on May 2.
On May 10, the actors' unions are scheduled to start their talks with the studios. If the writers are already on strike, the prediction is that the actors will follow by the end of June.
Film production is racing ahead to finish as much as possible before the possible strike deadline. The studios have stockpiled enough movies to see them through to 2002 and possibly into 2003.
If the strikes go ahead, an army of people who service the film business will also be affected, including agents, make-up artists and drivers. Already some agencies have been laying off staff. Disney has just laid off 4,000 people and AOL Time Warner, 2,400.
The dispute is about the new contracts due to be signed by the writers' and actors' unions.
At issue is how these two groups of people should be paid for the use of their work on videos, the internet, in foreign markets, on cable television and in the largely imponderable world of future communications. The unions say they are seeking only a fair share of the future profits. The studios say their demands are too costly.
With the economy worsening, there is a suspicion that some on the studio side would welcome a strike to slim down the industry.
Writers also believe that the increase in "reality" television from Survivor and Big Brother to Boot Camp and Temptation Island is no coincidence: the TV industry is creating "stars" who cost next to nothing and need no script writers.
The outgoing mayor, Richard Riordan, has now stepped into the fray. Aware of the potential damage to the economy of Los Angeles, where 250,000 people work in the entertainment industry, he has commissioned a study of the potential damage strikes could inflict.
"This is not just a game played between the studios and the other side," he said recently. "It affects the whole city."
The Writers' Guild, which represents 11,000 members, has been filling its war chests. More than $10m (£6.25m) has been set aside for loans to needy members in the event of a strike. The guild's last strike was in 1988; it lasted for 22 weeks and $3.2m was loaned to writers facing hardship.
The median annual income of a screenwriter is currently $84,000. The producers, represented by Disney's Robert Iger and Jeffrey Katzenberg of Dreamworks, say that the demands being made by the writers would amount to $1.6bn over three years in additional costs. The writers say the true figure is closer to $450m.
"If you listen to the guild characterise the issues, it's 'we're being raped'," Steve Bochco, the creator of NYPD Blue, told Variety magazine. "If you listen to the producers, it's 'we're barely surviving'."
