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A host of movie stars including SEAN PENN, WOODY ALLEN, TIM ROBBINS and HOLLY HUNTER have pledged their support for striking members of the writing union by shooting a series of short films.
The clips appear on the website Speechlesswithoutwriters.com, which is the brainchild of screenwriters George Hickenlooper and Alan Sereboff.
Members of the Writers Guild of America have been on strike since 5 November (07) over a dispute over royalties.
So far 22 films have been posted on the site. The most recent - dated 6 December (07) - shows a silent Woody Allen sitting in front of a fireplace. An unseen audience laughs each time he lifts a cup to his mouth to drink.
Penn’s, which lasts just 48 seconds, shows him mouthing words to the camera.
In Hunter’s clip, the actress tries to reach a writer from a movie set, only to be connected to a call centre in India.
Speaking on a U.S. morning TV show on Friday (07Dec07), Hunter said of the project, "People understand the writers’ plight. Writers are middle class and the majority of people in the United States are middle class.
"We’re used to people at the top of the food chain getting $40 million (£20 million) Christmas bonuses. These people just want a fair piece of the pie."

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Actress SIENNA MILLER has won an invasion of privacy lawsuit filed against two British newspapers after they published nude photographs of the star taken while she was filming a movie.
The Factory Girl beauty sued tabloids The Sun and News of the World, along with the photo agency that supplied the snaps from the set of her movie Hippie Hippie Shake, after they were printed in October (07).
She was awarded $75,000 (£37,500) in damages following the ruling in a British court on Friday (07Dec07).
News Group Newspapers - the parent company of the two tabloids - also agreed not to reprint the photos and delete all existing copies, according to Miller’s attorney.
But the British star is still pressing legal action against the individual photographer. An application for a default judgment is expected to be heard next month (Jan08).

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R&B star USHER has been lined up to star in a Broadway revival of classical play GOLDEN BOY.
The singer proved he can cut it on the New York stage playing Billy Flynn in 2006, and he is now in talks to take on the role made famous by Sammy Davis Jr.
in the 1960s - about a pianist who quits music to become a boxer.
Composer Charles Strouse tells the New York Post, "I can’t tell you the contract have been signed yet, but Usher’s interest in the show is real. He’s a rare talent. He moves so well, and he’s a terrific singer. I would be the most flattered guy in the world if he does the show."

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French actor MATHIEU AMALRIC has been unveiled as DANIEL CRAIG’s nemesis in the next BOND movie.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly star, 42, refused to reveal any more details about his villainous character in the Casino Royale follow-up, although Bond girl Eva Green has hinted that Amalric will be her character’s boyfriend.
Shooting for Bond 22 begins in January 2008.
When asked if he will play the villain, Amalric says, "I will, it’s true. I play the villain, yes. It has to do with childhood, you know? To be a villain in James Bond is just so funny. I never dreamt about that. It’s not what I want to do with my career. It’s just that I have kids and it’s so funny to do that."

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YOKO ONO is urging fans of the late JOHN LENNON to display an anti-war poster in their hometown to mark the 27th anniversary of the BEATLE’s death.
The poster - which reads War Is Over! If You Want It - Happy Christmas from John & Yoko - is being made available for download online and is a replication of the artwork the married couple posted in 1969 on billboards they rented in 11 cities around the world.
It has been released on the website ImaginePeace.com to coincide with the star’s passing on 8 December 1980.
In a statement, 74-year-old Ono says, "Please print and display in your window, school, workplace, car, computer and elsewhere over the holiday season." Lennon was shot dead by deranged fan Mark Chapman outside his apartment in New York City.

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British racing driver LEWIS HAMILTON has laughed off rumours of a romance with supermodel NAOMI CAMPBELL, insisting they are more like siblings than lovers.
The couple sparked reports last month (Nov07) after being seen at a gala dinner in London before leaving together to enjoy a meal at exclusive restaurant, China Tang in the capital’s Dorchester Hotel.
But Hamilton - who has previously been linked to Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger - insists there is nothing romantic about their relationship.
He says, "There were quite a lot of rumours going round about me and Naomi but there’s nothing to it. She is really cool and she treats me like a younger brother."

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The first producer of British sci-fi show DOCTOR WHO has been honoured posthumously with a Lifetime Achievement gong at the Women in Film and Television (WFTV) Awards.
Verity Lambert, who was the first female TV producer for the BBC, was due to appear at Friday (07Dec07)’s ceremony in London, but died on 22 November (07) at the age of 71 - the day before the 44th anniversary of the very first episode of Doctor Who.
Sophie Balhetchet, a WFTV chair and film/TV producer, paid tribute to the late producer before an audience of 750 at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel.
She said, "Our sadness is that Verity Lambert, whom we honour with our lifetime achievement award, died a few days ago.
"She was a passionate professional, a mentor, an inspiration - a truly exemplary woman in the work she produced and the life she lived." Other winners at the annual ceremony included Harry Potter author J.K.
Rowling, who picked up the script prize, and pop star Lily Allen’s mother Alison Owen, who took home the Contribution to the Medium Award for her work as a producer on films such as Elizabeth and Brick Lane.

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Golf champion TIGER WOODS’ wife has been awarded "substantial" damages by an Irish magazine, after it printed fake nude photos of the Swedish model in the publication last year (06).
Elin Nordegren filed a libel suit against The Dubliner magazine in November 2006 over the images printed in November 2006 of a naked woman - wrongly identified as the blonde beauty - under the headline, ‘Ryder Cup Filth For Dublin?’.
Nordegren, who received a formal apology from The Dubliner magazine, refused to reveal the exact amount of the financial settlement - but did say the cash would be donated to cancer support charities in honour of British golfer Darren Clarke’s late wife, Heather, who died of the disease in August 2006.
In a statement released on Friday (07Dec07), she says, "The false and deeply offensive article in The Dubliner magazine, with the accompanying photograph of another woman wrongly claimed to be me, caused great personal distress to me and my family." And she admits the magazine’s publisher, Trevor White, had apologised unreservedly for the article in question.
White is quoted as telling Nordegren, "The story was cheap, tasteless and deliberately offensive. The article was accompanied by a nude photograph of a woman falsely identified as being Elin Woods and the article falsely stated other such photographs were to be found on Internet porn sites.
"There are no such photographs of Ms. Nordegren Woods on Internet sites or elsewhere. Ms. Nordegren Woods has never posed, or been photographed, nude."

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MUSE, PULP, THE MAGIC NUMBERS, LIAM FROST and JOSE GONZALEZ are among the artists to have donated exclusive video tracks to a British environmental project.
The bands are supporting the Eden Project, a cutting-edge campaign in Cornwall, south-east England, with the hopes of raising enough money to build another ground-breaking sustainable landmark at the site.
The musicians have donated video recordings of performances from shows played at the Eden Project in the past to be posted on the campaign’s website theedge.org.
The videos include Muse’s Hysteria, Pulp’s Common People and The Magic Number’s Take a Chance.

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LATEST: Shock jock DON IMUS has no plans to tone down his radio show now he is back on the airwaves.
The radio host returned to the mic this week (03Dec07), 18 months after he was sacked for making racially and sexually charged comments about a women’s basketball team.
But Imus told U.S. presenter Barbara Walters on her TV show The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2007, he won’t be offering listeners a gentler, kinder version.
He said, "No. Because in my view, (U.S.) vice president (Dick) Cheney is still a war criminal and Hillary Clinton is still Satan."

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The British record company that handles DAVID BOWIE, BILLY IDOL, BLONDIE and LEONARD COHEN’s back catalogues is up for sale for a staggering $300 million (£150 million).
The independent Chrysalis Group, courted in the past by major labels including Warner Music, has hired an investment bank to help it attract a prominent buyer.
Chrysalis’ publishing division manages the libraries of Bowie, Idol, Blondie, Leonard Cohen and Gnarls Barkley. It also owns a record label called Echo, which boasts an artists roster including Feeder, Morcheeba, Bat For Lashes and Ray Lamontagne.
Warner Music and Sony are frontrunners to buy the group.

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LED ZEPPELIN frontman ROBERT PLANT has credited his close connection with the family of JOHN BONHAM for the band’s upcoming reunion.
The rockers’ 10 December (07) comeback show at London’s O2 Arena will feature the late drummer’s son Jason in their first full concert since their final show with his father in 1980.
And the singer insists if it weren’t for his relationship with the Bonham family, the band would not have reunited. Plant, 59, says, "I’ve know the Bonham family since I was 15 and I know Pat, John’s widow. I’ve know Jason since he was born.
"I’ve spent so much time talking to Jason over the years. He’s such a good guy and I’ve got very close. Jason’s such a great drummer and he’s now in his reformation character." Bonham in 1980, died aged 32, after choking on his vomit following a session of heavy drinking.

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German composer KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN has died. He was 79.
The acclaimed star passed away at his home in Kuerten, western Germany, on Wednesday (05Dec07).
He will be buried in a cemetary just outside the small town in the next few days, according to the Stockhausen Foundation.
The prolific musician wrote more than 300 compositions in his lengthy career, ranging from classic orchestral pieces to electronica music.
He also appeared on the album cover of The Beatles’ Seargeant Pepper, and counted Sir Paul McCartney, Miles Davis, Frank Zappa and Bjork among his many fans.
Stockhausen is survived by his six children from his previous two marriages.

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Baritone saxophonist CECIL PAYNE has died at the age of 84.
Payne, who is credited as a prime mover in mastering the bebop style of jazz, passed away at a nursing home in Stratford, New Jersey on 27 November (07). The cause of death has not been announced.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Payne made his name when he joined Dizzy Gillespie’s bebop band in 1946. He remained with Gillespie for three years and performed on many of the group’s best-known recordings.
Payne went on to play with stars including Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Count Basie and Woody Herman.
In recent years, he suffered from health problems including glaucoma.
Payne is survived by his sister, singer Cavril Payne.

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Next year’s Grammy Awards will be a sadder affair than usual - three artists nominated on Thursday (06Dec07) have died.
Rapper Pimp C has been given a nod in the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group category for his collaboration with UGK pal Bun B on the tune International Players Anthem (I Choose You), just two days after he was found dead in a hotel room in Los Angeles. It is believed he died in his sleep of natural causes.
Elsewhere, Sergio Gomez is nominated in the Best Band Album category for his group K-Paz de la Sierra’s album Conquistando Corazones. Gomez was tortured and strangled on Sunday (02Dec07), shortly after a concert at a soccer stadium in Morelia, Mexico.
There was also a nomination in the same category, for Valentin Elizalde, who was murdered in November 2006.
Elizalde and Gomez were victims of a wave of violence striking the Mexican entertainment industry, which also claimed the life of singer Zayda Pena, 28, who was shot in a hospital on Saturday (01Dec07), while she recovered from being shot the day before.

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Troubled singer AMY WINEHOUSE is "psyched" about her nomination for six gongs at the upcoming 50th annual Grammy Awards.
Music producer Mark Ronson, who produced much of the singer’s 2006 album Back To Black, claims the 24-year-old was thrilled after Thursday’s (06Dec07) nomination announcement revealed she is up for categories including Album Of The Year (Back To Black), Best New Artist, Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year (both for Rehab).
He tells People.com, "Amy doesn’t get excited about anything. She was never once excited while in the studio. And today she is just like, ‘Yeah, Ronnie Chops (her nickname for Ronson), we got Grammy nominations.’ That’s her. But she is happy and psyched.
"I called her today because the record was something that we went through together. Hopefully she will get into America so we can celebrate." Sadly for the star, her arrest in Norway for marijuana possession earlier this year (Oct07) could prevent her from entering the U.S. for the ceremony in Los Angeles on 10 February (08).

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SIR ELTON JOHN has been given a rare honour by the Maori community for his continued loyalty to the Polynesian people of New Zealand.
The Rocket Man star, 60, was presented with a specially made bird-feather cloak - called a Korowai - by a member of the Ngati Te Whiti sub-tribe on Thursday night (06Dec07), following his concert in the city of New Plymouth.
The accolade is the "Maori equivalent to an Academy Award" and makes John an honorary member of the Ngati Te Whiti, according to the group’s chairman Peter Love.
He adds, "(The Korowai) was gifted as recognition of the enjoyment Sir Elton John’s music has give to Maori over the years and his loyal continuance to return to Aotearoa (Maori name for New Zealand) to entertain."

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JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE has issued a warning to rival heartthrobs BRAD PITT and GEORGE CLOONEY - he’s still the sexiest man in the world.
The pop star-turned-actor was recently named King of Sex by Rolling Stone magazine, and he insists that trumps Clooney and Pitt’s poll-topping achievements.
Timberlake, one of Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People of 2007, told the U.S. TV queen, "I’ll hold onto that title for as long as I can.
"Brad, George, you guys may be on the most beautiful whatever but uh… eat your heart out boys."

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