Striking Hollywood writers have rejected a new contract offer from producers, the two sides say, three weeks into a dispute that has disrupted the film and television industry.

The only real achievement of previous talks between movie and TV writers and producers was a promise to meet again.

The Hollywood writers strike against major studios will cost at least $US21 million ($24 million) a day in television production spending alone and idle 10,000 workers if it lasts much longer, experts say.

Striking screenwriters marched down Hollywood Boulevard behind a phalanx of Teamsters trucks today, in a final show of force before labour leaders resume contract talks with major studios next week.

Columbia Pictures says it has postponed production on Angels and Demons, a prequel to its box office hit The Da Vinci Code starring Tom Hanks.

With the worst Hollywood labour crisis in 20 years headed for its third week, striking screenwriters and major studios have agreed to renew contract talks, offering the first glimmer of hope their deadlock can be broken.

After weeks of overseeing efforts to fight raging fires and an oil spill, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is weighing in on another potential disaster - the screenwriters strike against film and TV studios.

Stagehands' Braodway strike started this morning causing plays and musicals to shut down as picket lines were formed outside theaters. The stagehands union, Local One, and the League of American Theatres and Producers have been in negotiations for more than three months over staff requirement.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Seinfeld and Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria joined in as more than 3,000 film and television writers demonstrated in Hollywood on the fifth day of a strike, which has hobbled the entertainment industry with no resolution in sight.

Actor Robin Williams delivered bagels and walked the Writers Guild of America's (WGA) picket line in New York, joined by the likes of David Duchovny and Tim Robbins.

The writers strike has struck down the Fox thriller "24." "24" is absent from the network's revised, strike-affected schedule for midseason. In its announcement, Fox explained the "Day 7" season for the series would be indefinitely postponed to ensure an uninterrupted run.