Scrapped Golden Globe ceremony hits Hollywood hard

Hollywood scrambled on Tuesday to assess the fallout from the decision to scrap the glittering Golden Globe movie and TV awards ceremony and hold only a news conference that few stars are likely to attend.

Caterers, limousine drivers, stylists, hotels and dozens of magazines and TV shows found themselves out of work when this Sunday's star-studded Golden Globes gala dinner and red carpet walk-up fell victim to the nine-week-old screenwriters strike.

"There are a lot of people being hurt by this," said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. He estimated the Golden Globes annually bring in $70-$80 million (35.5-40.5 million pounds) to the Los Angeles economy.

"A lot of the parties are being canceled and they can run up to $200,000 each. There is a big ripple impact from this in terms of hotel bookings, security guards, parking attendants, beauticians etc.," Kyser said.

Industry sources said most of the after parties hosted by movie and TV studios have been canceled, including those by HBO, Warner Bros/In Style magazine and NBC, which will televise the truncated awards show.

The exact format of Sunday's news conference is unclear, but the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which votes on the awards, said there would be no red carpet for celebrities to strut their stuff and be interviewed by various celebrity TV shows and magazines.

"The last 48 hours have been crazy," said Charla Lawhon, managing editor for In Style magazine, which had to swiftly plug a fashion hole in its March edition. "Our readers and millions of viewers on television get true delight in seeing their favorite celebrities in those dresses."