FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: As the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) prepares to strike, possibly as early as this afternoon, top Hollywood executives are exploring some “novel” options. Even if the strike itself is quickly brought to a close, the long-term effects could ripple through the industry.

Late Night programming, including The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The Tonight Show and Late Nite With David Letterman — all penned by WGA members — stands to take the brunt of the WGA strike blow. Expect those shows to enter reruns quickly, with others to follow. Although many shows are filmed five to seven episodes in advance, a longer strike could severely hurt the current television season. Films will also suffer, although the effect will be much slower to manifest on the silver screen.

But Hollywood insiders report that studio heads already have a new plan in mind. With the current slate of finished films full enough to carry Hollywood through the next six to eight months, forward-looking executives are ready to pave new ground.

“What we need is some fresh new material,” said the head of a major motion picture company, “so when my son, who’s 18, said he wanted to do this book thing, I realized that maybe he was on to something.” That “book thing” is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), an event in which people attempt to write 50,000 words between November 1st and November 30th.

What these “Nanos” write is totally up for grabs. NaNoWriMo openly states on its website: ” Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.”

Which makes NaNoWriMo perfect for the studios’ needs. “We don’t want something that follows traditional storytelling techniques,” one producer told us, “we’re looking for something new and exciting.”

Other studio heads agreed. “Anything can be fixed later on,” one said, “but we see this as a window into a whole new world. The WGA may be on strike, but these people are just that: people. They aren’t writers. Which makes them the perfect new writers.”

And he may be right. Already, Universal has picked up two projects based on NaNoWriMo participant ideas. One, Klavitogh Bloodsoaker, an action/adventure film set on an alien world, came from rural Indiana.

“Klavitogh Bloodsoaker is this guy from the future who, well he kicks ass,” says the creator. “I think this is a great movie waiting to happen. I’ve only written 2,000 words so far, but I think I’m gonna take today off.”

WGA officials were not available to comment, but we were able to contact some members to ask about their feelings towards the NaNoWriMo participants and their place as strike breakers. One WGA member had this to say: “They’re not members. They won’t be members. I don’t think they would want to be members. Besides,” he continued, “I mean, really?”