WGA, studios to meet this week
The Writers Guild of America is going to hold an informal meeting with studios this week in what looks like a first step in getting back to the bargaining table with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (I’m sure that the deal the Director’s Guild of America made on Thursday is what generated these talks.)
The Hollywood Reporter says that CBS Corp. CEO Les Moonves and News Corp. President Peter Chernin actually held informal meetings with reps from the guild over the weekend, so maybe we’re on the way to seeing some sort of resolution to this whole mess. It’s been a month and a half since they last held talks.
I’m wondering if they could get some sort of temporary deal in place? That’s probably not realistic, since there would be no guarantee that the writers would get what they want. The article above does outline some of what the AMPTP doesn’t like: “reality TV and animation jurisdiction, the right to stage sympathy strikes, and forced arbitration in residual situations involving vertically integrated businesses.” That last one sounds very contract-ish, doesn’t it?
By the way, “informal meetings” means, of course, that they won’t be wearing tuxes.
WGA Strike Officially Over…Let’s Dance!
Our strike-beat reporter, Hooper X, will be chiming in with his official report shortly, but the legendary Writers Guild of America Strike is now over. A vote was passed at 7 p.m. today to end it with a 92.5% endorsement. Here’s the statement from WGA West president Patrick Verrone…
“The strike is over,” he said. “Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work. This was not a strike we wanted, but one we had to conduct in order to win jurisdiction and establish appropriate residuals for writing in new media and on the Internet. Those advances now give us a foothold in the digital age. Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as TV migrates to the Internet and platforms for new media are developed.”
Source Link: Variety
Directors Guild and AMPTP Make 3 Year Deal, AMPTP Invites WGA to Pick Up Talks
A couple of promising steps were taken this evening in regards to a possible end for the Writers’ Strike that began last November. The first is a tentative three year deal pertaining to new-media made between the Directors Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers that includes…
- Establishing DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet;
- Boosting the residuals formula for paid Internet downloads (electronic sell-through) by double the current rate;
- And establishing residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet.
Notice that these are similar to several of the core issues at play in the Writers’ Strike. The second more recent development is that the AMPTP has invited the WGA to return to negotiations in hopes of ending the strike. The AMPTP released the following statement after the DGA deal was announced…
The agreement between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Directors Guild of America establishes an important precedent: Our industry’s creative talent will now participate financially in every emerging area of new media. The agreement demonstrates beyond any doubt that our industry’s producers are willing and able to work with the creators of entertainment content to establish fair and flexible rules for this fast-changing marketplace.
We hope that this agreement with DGA will signal the beginning of the end of this extremely difficult period for our industry. Today, we invite the Writers Guild of America to engage with us in a series of informal discussions similar to the productive process that led us to a deal with the DGA to determine whether there is a reasonable basis for returning to formal bargaining. We look forward to these discussions, and to the day when our entire industry gets back to work.
Might the strike end before Sundance does? More on this as it develops…
Source Links: Variety / ComingSoon
Amy Winehouse’s Hubby Still In Jail
Amy Winehouse’s Hubby Still In Jail
What is it about bad boys that attracts girls? Blake Fielder-Civil received some bad news in an East London court yesterday, and his wife Amy Winehouse was devastated.
Fielder-Civil is being charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, and will remain in police custody (jail) until November 23rd, when he will appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court. And that’s not the news the “Rehab” singer was hoping to hear.
Reportedly, she stood at the back of the courtroom and mouthed, “I love you” over and over to her incarcerated hubby. Blake seemed to appreciate the support, smiling and making eyes at Amy.
The official charge against Fielder-Civil is, “That on or before the 8th November 2007, within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, you conspired together with James King, to do an act namely whereby James King would withdraw from being a witness in an indictment charged before the court against another for causing grievous bodily harm to James King with intent to pervert the course of justice contrary to Section One (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977″.