Two more interim deals, these with Intermedia and the Film Dept.

The WGA has inked two more interim deals, signing with the Film Dept. and Intermedia.

The pacts are the 15th and 16th such agreements announced in the past month. The Thursday announcement comes a day after the guild announced a deal with Overture Films and less than a week after similar agreements were signed with Lionsgate, Marvel and RKO.

The interim deals let the companies hire writers under the terms and conditions offered by the WGA before formal negotiations with the AMPTP collapsed last month. For the WGA, the deals are a way to gain leverage in persuading the congloms to resume formal talks.

The  announcement comes with a news blackout on the informal talks between WGA leaders and moguls. Those talks -- aimed at laying the groundwork for official bargaining to resume -- began nine days ago.

The AMPTP's standard statement about the WGA's interim deals has been this: "These one-off agreements are meaningless because the companies signing them know they will not have to abide by their terms for very long, since they'll be superceded by whatever final industry-wide accords are reached. If companies truly had to live by the terms of these one-off agreements, we are confident none would ever be signed."

“Companies like Intermedia and The Film Dept. recognize the importance of signing a deal that compensates writers fairly for the work they do,” said WGA West president Patric M. Verrone and WGA East president Michael Winship in a joint statement. “In turn, we’ve designed an agreement for the entertainment industry that takes into account the economic realities that it faces.” 

Intermedia president Linda Benjamin said the company will shortly be announcing an updated film and television slate. The company's recent releases include "Breach" and "One Missed Call."

The Film Department is topped by former Warner Independent Pictures and Miramax Films president Mark Gill and former Miramax Films executive vice president and Yari Film Group COO Neil Sacker.

The entire announcement runs after the jump.

-- Dave McNary

Another voice from the WGA: "The DGA deal as it stands today is bad."

Despite last week's admonition by WGA leaders to members to cool down the rhetoric, high-profile writers continue to take potshots at the DGA deal.

Tom Fontana and WGA West board member Phil Alden Robinson have already made their displeasure known; the latest comes from John McNamara, whose credits include "The Adventures of Brisco County," "Profit," "Lois & Clark," "Vengeance Unlimited," "The Fugitive," "Eyes" and "Jericho."  In a post on United Hollywood, McNamara opens by noting that his overall deal at CBS/Paramount was terminated Jan. 14.

"Given that this financial blow is due to the strike and the fact that it's been well over a decade and a half since I made any real money via the MBA, I should be writing to you gentlemen begging you to take the DGA deal," he said, referring to the WGA's minimum basic agreement. "Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm writing to urge you -- don't settle for anything less than the best deal possible."

McNamara doesn't go into details about the DGA terms, but he's still explicit about it just the same. And he urges WGA members to hold out for a better deal.

"The DGA deal as it stands today is bad," he wrote. "It may be a bad deal with a few good points, but it is not the reverse. Don't be swayed to think otherwise. You know what's right here. Everyone does, no matter what they say out of anger, desperation, greed or exhaustion."

Here's the entire post --

On January 14th, my overall deal at CBS/Paramount was terminated. So this is actually my two cents... plus hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I bring this up so you'll understand that starting on November 5th, I began losing a substantial amount of money. (To put in perspective: I started my career as a playwright, and what I made in my first year of writing theatre, I lost each day as a suspended showrunner.)

As of the 14th, I’ve now lost everything due me under my term deal.

Given that this financial blow is due to the strike and the fact that it's been well over a decade and a half since I made any real money via the MBA, I should be writing to you gentlemen begging you to take the DGA deal.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I'm writing to urge you -- don't settle for anything less than the best deal possible.

Because this isn't about me or my losses. This isn't about any one writer. This is about thousands of us, up and down fortune's ladder, some who are better off than I am right now, many much worse off, but each of us linked by this:

We all know the difference between a good deal and a bad deal.

"Good" is any provision where our share grows alongside all possible delivery forms.

"Bad" is anything else.

The DGA deal as it stands today is bad. It may be a bad deal with a few good points but it is not the reverse.

Don't be swayed to think otherwise. You know what's right here. Everyone does, no matter what they say out of anger, desperation, greed or exhaustion.

My Dad was a trial lawyer. He spent most of his life trying to sway people. A job that was always easier when he represented a client whose plea or defense was legally sound. Because then he didn’t have to use as many words. My father always said, “The more words you use to explain something, the less true it is.”

What you’re trying to do can be boiled down to two short, declarative sentences:

If they make nothing, we make nothing. But the more they make, the more we make.

Any argument against those sentences would have to be elaborate in the extreme. Possibly confusing. And certainly disingenuous.

Do what's right. Don't back down, don't concede, don't give in to fear, pressure, or worst of all, the common wisdom.

I set out to have a long career that would weather many ups and downs. So far, that's what I've had and there's no denying I'm in one of life's little troughs at the moment. But I'm not alone. And I haven't lost my bearings. This is a fight for the future.

Someday, when that future becomes the present and I look back on all of this, I want to say I was a small part of a big fight that mattered. I stood with people who knew that. We rose together and took action.

I'm proud to do what I do for a living; more proud of that than any check that's ever crossed my desk. Checks are cashed, and parking spaces are painted over. But I'm a writer -- with you -- forever.

- John McNamara

AMPTP to SAG: Benchmark? What benchmark?

The AMPTP has joined the brawl over interpreting terms of the DGA deal.

A day after SAG expressed its deep misgivings about the terms of the directors' pact, the AMPTP took SAG to task Wednesday over its characterization over the appropriate compensation for paid downloads.

SAG had claimed that the DGA's doubling of the download residuals formulas -- to .7% for TV and .65% in features -- was actually an AMPTP rollback since the WGA, SAG and the DGA had filed grievances over the download rate not being at the pay TV rate of 1.2%.

But the AMPTP said SAG's all wet since none of the guilds ever pursued the grievances; instead, they opted to hold them open and address the issue at the bargaining table. "The bottom line is clear: The 1.2% figure was never a benchmark of any kind," the AMPTP said. "It was merely a demand that none of the Guilds ever seriously pursued."

Here's the entire AMPTP statement --

We believe it is important to correct a mistake that is being perpetuated regarding residual payments for permanent downloads.

In 2006, SAG, WGA and DGA claimed that the appropriate residual formula was the 1.2% residual for pay television. The AMPTP took the position that that the home video formula should apply to these releases. All three Guilds filed grievances on this issue, but the grievances were never pursued by the WGA or the other Guilds.

The bottom line is clear: The 1.2% figure was never a benchmark of any kind. It was merely a demand that none of the Guilds ever seriously pursued. 

To summarize, all three Guilds filed claims in 2006 arguing that the release of television and theatrical motion pictures by electronic sell-through should generate residuals at the pay TV rate. The Companies maintained then, as they do now, that electronic sell-through is another form of home video because, among other reasons, the individual retains a permanent copy.  If the Guilds believed that they had a strong case, they would have pursued their grievance claims; instead, they held them open, preferring to address the issue in negotiations.  This is what the DGA has done. In bargaining its tentative
agreement, the DGA doubled the EST rate for television and secured an 80% residual increase for the EST film rate.

Overture Films signs interim deal

The WGA has inked another interim deal, signing with one-year-old Overture Films.

It's the 14th such deal announced in the past month and comes on the heels of similar agreements signed last week with Lionsgate, Marvel and RKO. The interim deals let the companies hire writers under the terms and conditions offered by the WGA before formal negotiations with the AMPTP collapsed last month.

For the WGA, the deals are a way to gain leverage in persuading the congloms to resume formal talks.

The Overture announcement comes with a news blackout on the informal talks between WGA leaders and moguls. Those talks -- aimed at laying the groundwork for official bargaining to resume -- began a week ago.

Overture, backed by John Malone's Liberty Media, launched operations in late 2006 headed by industry vets Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett. Its first feature, caper comedy "Mad Money," opened earlier this month.

Rosett, whose title is chief operating officer, said in an interview that the interim agreement will allow Overture to continue begin moving forward on its 2009 slate. And he noted that as word got out Wednesday, the volume of inquiries accelerated.

"You could feel the momentum picking up this morning," he added. "We feel like this is something that helps get us beyond being 'in theory.' We felt that we had a very reasonable conversation with WGA about what's best for our company."

Overture's going into production Feb. 13 on "Humboldt Park," which has a completed script. Upcoming releases include "Sleepwalking," starring Charlize Theron and Tom McCarthy's "The Visitor."

The AMPTP's standard statement about the WGA's interim deals:  "These one-off agreements are meaningless because the companies signing them know they will not have to abide by their terms for very long, since they'll be superceded by whatever final industry-wide accords are reached. If companies truly had to live by the terms of these one-off agreements, we are confident none would ever be signed."

DGA tells SAG to stuff it

DGA president Michael Apted has accused SAG of trying to monkeywrench the week-long informal talks between the WGA and the moguls.

Apted issued the blast early Tuesday evening in response to SAG president Alan Rosenberg and national exec director Doug Allen's attack on the DGA deal. He pointed out that Rosenberg and Allen said in their letter to the SAG membership that too little is known about the DGA/AMPTP deal for anyone to
"assume" anything about it.

"Then why do they need to send any letter to their members?" Apted said. "They are not in negotiations and have not scheduled any. Their letter has one purpose and one purpose only: to interfere with the informal talks currently underway between the WGA and the studios. Simply put, their assumptions and arguments are specious. The DGA deal is a great deal for our members."

- D. McNary

Rosenberg, Allen not thrilled about DGA deal

In a reminder that SAG's upcoming negotiations with the majors are likely to be contentious and complicated, SAG president Alan Rosenberg and SAG national exec director Doug Allen have told SAG members that he's not particularly impressed with the DGA's tentative deal with the AMPTP.

Rosenberg and Allen echoed previous prounouncements that the DGA deal would not automatically be the model for a new SAG deal. That's also what WGA leaders were saying before they launched informal contract talks with moguls a week ago.

In a message sent to members today, the duo opened by saying, "Everyone hopes the WGA strike will end with a fair deal for the writers.  There has been much speculation about the impact on the WGA strike of the tentative agreement between the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the employers' representative, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).  Some have rushed to anoint their deal as the “solution” for the entertainment industry.  We believe that assessment is premature."

Rosenberg and Allen then zeroed in on what they see as the lack of details about the deal in areas such as paid download, determining fair market value and the "very high thresholds" in jurisdiction for made for new media content.

"For these specific reasons, and because so much of the new DGA/AMPTP deal is unknown, no one should assume this new deal is a template for anyone else, certainly not for actors," the letter concludes. "It is up to the leadership and membership of the DGA to decide if their new deal with the studios and networks is acceptable, but whatever they decide, their decision will not determine what will be satisfactory for the leadership and membership of Screen Actors Guild.  Each guild must act in the best interest of its own membership, including rejecting management-imposed 'pattern bargaining.'"

The current SAG contract expires June 30 and no talks have been set yet.

The entire letter is after the jump.

-- D. McNary

WGA: Rain, rain go away

The recent spate of continued cold and rainy weather's been cutting back the numbers of WGA pickets outside studio lots.

"I admit that I don't do well in the rain," noted scribe Bob Zeschin, a constant presence at the Paramount gates since the strike started. "I could only manage an hour last week on the NAACP day when it was really pouring. Today, I have four layers on, but I plan on doing the entire three-hour shift."

Still, the picketers have not gone away by any means.

The WGA returned to normal picketing on Tuesday, the 85th day of the strike, a day after asking picketers to spend Monday at Fox, which drew about 1,000 supporters.

The WGA was operating lines Tuesday at its seven usual locations -- Warner Bros., CBS Television City, CBS Radford, Warner Bros., Disney, NBC Burbank, Fox and Paramount, where there were pickets at all gates as of mid-morning.

"I've gotten two things I didn't expect to from all this -- a sun tan and I've gained weight from all the noshing," Zeschin said.

Most picketers remain cautiously optimistic about the informal talks between the WGA and moguls, which have been going for a week. "I'm ready for this to be over," Zeschin said.      

-D. McNary

Winship asks for end to speculation

In an indication of how WGA leaders have cooled down their rhetoric now that they're in informal talks with moguls, WGA East president Michael Winship has asked members to put a lid on speculation about a possible tentative deal. That's quite a contrast with Winship's Dec. 10 opening statement to members after negotiations with the AMPTP cratered -- "They lie. And then they lie again. And then they lie some more.

Winship also said in his latest missive, sent out Monday, that members need to stay active on the picket lines. "More than ever, it is critical that we keep up the pressure on the media conglomerates and various struck shows with our picket lines, rallies and other actions that convey our message and demonstrate our impact on the entertainment industry," he noted.

The entire message is after the jump.

- D. McNary

WGA puts a smile on Neil Portnow's face

The Writers Guild of America West has just made it official -- it's granted a waiver to the Grammys.

Move come a week after the WGA West board made the unanimous decision that it would not picket the Feb. 10 show. Monday's announcement means that WGA writers can work on the show.

The WGA's refusal to grant a waiver for the Jan. 13 Golden Globes forced organizers to cut the event to a news conference after all the nominees in acting categories vowed not to cross the WGA picket line. The WGA has called off its own Feb. 9 awards show, and the fate of the Feb. 24 Oscarcast remains muddled after the guild indicated last month that it would not grant a waiver if one was requested.

Here's the latest announcement--

The Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) has agreed to grant an interim agreement for this year’s Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. This will allow for written material for the show to be covered under a Guild contract.

“Professional musicians face many of the same issues that we do concerning fair compensation for the use of their work in new media. In the interest of advancing our goal of achieving a fair contract, the WGAW Board felt that this decision should be made on behalf our brothers and sisters in the American Federation of Musicians and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists,” said WGAW President Patric M. Verrone.

--Dave McNary

"Unity Day" draws more than 1,000 supporters

The WGA strike has not yet run out of steam.

About 1,000 members and supporters -- many from SAG -- showed up outside Fox for a "Unity Day" rally and picket to highlight the support between the guilds.

SAG prexy Alan Rosenberg spoke at from a small platform in front of the studio and stressed the need for better terms in new media. He noted that the 1985 deal establishing homevid residual formulas has caused a cumulative loss of $1.5 billion for WGA members and $4.5 billion for SAG members since then.

"We are not going to let that happen again on new media," he declared.

-- Dave McNary

Moonves, Verrone and Young: Let's do dinner

There's another sign of a thaw in the chilly relationship between scribes and congloms.

With no advance fanfare, CBS Corp. supremo Leslie Moonves broke bread with WGA leaders Patrick Verrone and David Young Friday. The trio, along with CBS labor relations chief Harry Isaacs, had dinner at a private dining room inside the Four Seasons Hotel.

The meal followed several days of informal talks between WGA leaders and the studios, led by Bob Iger and Peter Chernin.

Both the Moonves dinner and the off the record chats are being interpreted as hopeful signs that the two parties will restart formal talks soon.

-- Josef Adalian

SAG Hearts WGA

The WGA and SAG have firmed up plans for a "Unity Day" noon rally at Fox on Monday. Here's what SAG is telling its members:

"Join us for this special event honoring the collaboration of writers and actors, both on screen and in solidarity. Sponsored by the WGA Union Solidarity Committee and the Women's Committees of SAG and WGA."    

The guilds are also promising that attendees will include nominees from the SAG Awards (held Sunday) and the WGA Awards (to be announced Feb. 9 but without any ceremonies in Los Angeles). But no names yet announced.

The WGA has also told its members to picket starting at 7 am or at NBC Burbank and then to resume normal picketing Tuesday.

--Dave McNary

"It's a Wonderful Deal," sez RKO

The WGA has just announced another interim deal, signing with the modern incarnation of RKO Pictures (which, in its heydey, released films such as "Citizen Kane" and "It's A Wonderful Life").

It's the 13th such deal announced in the past month and comes a day after the guild signed similar agreements with Lionsgate and Marvel. The interim deals let the companies hire writers under the terms and conditions offered by the WGA before formal negotiations collapsed last month.

For the WGA, the deals are a way to gain leverage in persuading the congloms to resume formal talks.

The Friday afternoon announcement comes with a news blackout on the informal talks between WGA leaders and moguls. Those talks -- aimed at laying the groundwork for official bargaining to resume -- began on Tuesday.

The entire announcement from the WGA after the jump.

The world is safe for superhero pics again: WGA pacts with Lionsgate and Marvel

While maintaining radio silence about its negotiations with the majors, the WGA has signed two more interim deals with indie producers -- Lionsgate and Marvel.

That brings the number of such pacts to an even dozen in less than a month since David Letterman's Worldwide Pants signed the initial agreement.

The deals represent the WGA's "divide and conquer" strategy of putting pressure on the majors by demonstrating that the terms it seeks are reasonable. For Lionsgate, the deal is particularly helping in allowing the company to begin work again on its TV shows such as "Mad Men" and "Weeds."

WGA West president Patric Verrone and WGA East president Michael Winship issued a statement jointly “Lionsgate is considered a leader in the industry, and its signing an interim agreement again confirms that it is possible for both writers to be compensated fairly and respectfully for their work and for companies to operate profitably.”

The AMPTP reiterated its statement about such deals:  "These one-off agreements are meaningless because the companies signing them know they will not have to abide by their terms for very long, since they'll be superseded by whatever final industry-wide accords are reached. If companies truly had to live by the terms of these one-off agreements, we are confident none would ever be signed."

-- Dave McNary

Benefit: Band Aid, Feb. 1 at Busby's East

Here's another fund-raiser for the WGA's industry strike fund, to aid non-WGA-ers who've been pinched by the strike. This one's presented by Katherine Fugate, Phil Alden Robinson and the WGA's Screenwriters Committee.

Date: Feb. 1

Time: 6:30-10:30

Place: Busby's East, 5364 Wilshire Blvd.

Lineup: Incendio, Lili Haydn, the Possibilities (featuring Robinson) and Shelly Goldstein

ABC joins the cut brigade

ABC has joined most of the other broadcast nets in opting to cut back some of its scripted development for the 2008-09 season.

Alphabet telegraphed its intention to reduce its script roster last week, but until today, it hadn’t made any moves in that direction. In the meantime, CBS, Fox and the CW all informed dozens of scribes that their projects were no longer wanted.

NBC Wednesday said it wouldn’t trim back any of its script orders for next season.

--Josef Adalian

Mike Scully thinks out loud about the DGA deal

Mike Scully has been a staunch supporter of the WGA and its leaders during the strike. As a veteran showrunner ("The Simpsons") and writer, a dad extraordinaire and an all-around good guy, his opinion matters to the WGA faithful.

In a post on United Hollywood, Scully sez he's got some hope regarding about the groundwork laid by the DGA, but urges members to hang tough until the WGA leadership has had the chance to parse the details. He's got a number of unanswered questions in three areas:

1. The 17-day "promotional use" window for streaming of TV shows. "In my opinion, promotional use should have a limit of 3-5 minutes of program content, just enough to get the viewer to sample the show. However, if an entire episode is going to be made available, it should not contain any ads and should be limited to a window of no more than 48 hours. If they are being paid for promotional use, so should we."

2. "How will the Internet be policed? "The Simpsons Movie" is currently the number one download rental on iTunes, but I have no idea if that means it's been downloaded five thousand times or five million times (and I'm one of the writers and producers of that film). How will we get accurate figures so we know we're being paid correctly?"

3. "$250 for a year’s use of a TV episode was a shockingly low offer. $1200 for a year is an ever-so-slightly-less shockingly low offer. Also, if $1200 is for a one-hour show, is it 50% less for a half-hour? Regardless, I don't think these payments will replace residuals immediately as some are predicting, but over the next five years, a huge negative impact on TV writer residuals seems inevitable."

Scully he wants to go back to work, mentioning that he has four kids in college, but asks that members stay patient with the WGA leaders for now.

"However, unless you have the answers to the above questions and understand every other aspect of the DGA agreement, we should not be encouraging our leadership to approve or reject the deal," he said. "We simply don’t yet have the proper information to form a knowledgeable opinion. We’re certainly entitled to ask questions (and have been encouraged to do so by our leaders), but we can’t make critical long-term financial decisions based on bullet points, or the overzealous recommendations of those who may have something personal to gain by us settling quickly."

Scully concludes the post with a shout-out to the WGA brass, SAG and DGA. He urges members to stay unified and predicting that doing so will pay off.

"Our leadership has done a great job of unifying a divided, demoralized guild that was so used to coming up short in negotiations that we had started to accept it as a way of life. They have brought pride back to our profession and shown us that we have the power to improve our lives. Aligning us with SAG was a brilliant and empowering move, and we should not make any deal without consulting SAG first because they have been so supportive of our cause.

The DGA benefited by our stand and, to their credit, hesitated before they started negotiations. When they finally went in, they were aware the outcome would be scrutinized by everyone in town and I think they did a good job making gains in areas where they wouldn’t have been allowed to without the actions taken by the WGA and SAG.

Every union starts a strike strong and unified, but it's even more important that we finish strong and unified. Three years will go by quickly, and we will be back at the bargaining table again. If the AMPTP’s last memory of us is that of a fractured guild, filled with dissension and in-fighting, that’s how we will be treated in all future business dealings. If we are patient and continue to display the solidarity that’s been so impressive to me, while our leaders resume bargaining with the AMPTP, it won’t be long before we're all back to work doing what we love: complaining about how much we hate writing and asking "Where the hell is lunch?!"

From the front line: Rain, what rain?

What rain?

One of the more impressive showings of WGA solidarity has come this week as striking writers and supporters continue picketing at studio lots -- even in downpours.

"It's not the most pleasant thing but I'm from Seattle so this kind of weather is sort of nostalgic for me," noted strike captain Steve Chivers at the Paramount Windsor gate as rain came sluicing down Thursday morning.

Chivers, who was overseeing about 25 picketers at mid-morning, pointed out that WGA picketers in New York routinely  faced far more challenging weather during the three months of the strike.

"I remind myself that this kind of weather is nothing compared to what they see every day in New York," he added.

Chivers said the mood on the picket line has stayed upbeat, particularly with the WGA leadership announcing that it's meeting with moguls to lay the groundwork for official negotiations to resume. "I think people are feeling like we finally may be able to make a deal, although we still have not seen the actual numbers -- just the DGA announcement," he added.    

He also noted that WGA negotiating committee members and board members have been visiting picket lines in recent days to seek feedback and explain the nuances of what the DGA announced in its deal last week.

"We're just ordinary people," Chivers said. "Despite what (AMPTP media consultants) Chris Lehane and Mark Fabiani may say, we are not crazy and we don't have horns and tails."

--Dave McNary

CBS News deal ratified by WGA

CBS news employees repped by the WGA have ratified a new three-year deal with the network with 98% backing.

Ratification of the pact, which covers about 500 employees, officially ends a battle waged for three years. The previous contract expired in April 2005.

The guild and CBS reached a tentative deal two weeks ago – two months after the CBS News employees repped by the guild gave the WGA a strike authorization with 81% support. The prospect of a picket by the network employees prompted the Democratic National Committee to cancel a presidential debate that had been set for last month in Los Angeles for broadcast on CBS.

The WGA has said the two key issues requiring resolution: CBS had to drop its demand to create a two-tiered work force that would have provided lower salary increases for local radio employees and back off its demand for the right to assign current WGA responsibilities at KNX Radio to non-WGA employees.

Here’s the entire release –

From the front line: 'Ways to skin that cat'

The usual WGA strike picketing resumed Wednesday morning at major Los Angeles lots, in the wake of the WGA's moves this week toward resuming formal negotiations with the majors including dropping two key proposals.

As has been their past practice, negotiating committee members met with picketers on the lines to explain the latest developments. During a mid-day meeting on the sidewalk outside Paramount's Windsor gate, panel member Steven Schwartz stressed that one of the key goals for WGA leaders is to build long-term protections into the new deal.

"What I want to do is protect us regardless of consumer behavior," he said, in answering a question about how writers should be paid when their TV shows are streamed on the Internet. "The staff is trying all kinds of ways to skin that cat."

Schwartz admitted the terms in the DGA deal for ad-supported Internet streaming -- about $1,200 for a primetime drama for the first year and a 17-day of free use for promotional purposes -- don't sound impressive but he also cautioned the members against reaching the conclusion that Internet residuals will automatically replace conventional TV residuals, which usually amount to about $20,000, since it's unclear whether all TV will shift to the Internet.

"If you are insisting on replacing the $20,000 residual with the Internet residual, you're going to be on strike for a long time," he added.
  .
Schwartz told a group of about 20 picketers that other key issues to be sorted out include language on separated rights, which covers compensation for scripts when used in areas such as plays, and the DGA's gain of jurisdiction on made-for-the-Internet.

Schwartz, whose credits include "Critical Care" and "The Practice," noted at one point that the negotiating committee has not yet seen the actual DGA deal. He credited the DGA deal with locking in the definition of "distributor's gross" as the basis for payment of residuals in electronic sell-through.   

"Distributor's gross is huge," he added.

-- Dave McNary

CW joins the cut brigade

Just hours after Fox said it was cutting back its scripted development, the CW has confirmed that it's been doing the same thing.

About a dozen projects, both comedies and dramas, have been killed as a result of the strike-related move. Most are believed to come from CW sibs Warner Bros. TV and CBS Par Network TV.

Said the CW:

"Due to the ongoing work stoppage, The CW will be taking a more targeted approach to what is certain to be a truncated pilot season. As a result, we are releasing some scripts that had been in development in order to dedicate our creative energy and resources to those projects we choose to pursue."

--Josef Adalian

WGA takes reality and animation off the table

The WGA has just given a major signal that it may be ready to make a deal.

In a letter to members, WGA West pesident Patric Verrone and WGA East prez Michael Winship have announced that the guild's taken its proposals for jurisdiction over reality TV and animation off the table.

Those proposals were two of the six that the AMPTP demanded that the WGA remove on Dec. 7 as a condition of continuing to negotiate. When the WGA refused to do so, the AMPTP walked away.

The letter was sent out a few hours after the two sides held their first informal meeting with the aim of getting back to the table for official negotiations. Both sides have agreed to a news blackout and the WGA leaders asked its members to cool down their rhetoric for the time being.

Here's the entire letter --

 
To Our Fellow Members,

We have responded favorably to the invitation from the AMPTP to enter into informal talks that will help establish a reasonable basis for returning to negotiations. During this period we have agreed to a complete news blackout. We are grateful for this opportunity to engage in meaningful discussion with industry leaders that we hope will lead to a contract. We ask that all members exercise restraint in their public statements during this critical period.

In order to make absolutely clear our commitment to bringing a speedy conclusion to negotiations we have decided to withdraw our proposals on reality and animation. Our organizing efforts to achieve Guild representation in these genres for writers will continue. You will hear more about this in the next two weeks.

--Dave McNary

WGA and SAG: We are family

The alliance between the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild continues to deepen.

The two guilds plan to hold a "unity rally" from noon to 3 p.m. on Monday, the day after the SAG Awards, outside Fox Studios.

The event is being pulled together in the wake of the DGA's tentative deal last week. SAG's national exec director Doug Allen has already thrown cold water on the notion that the DGA deal should serve as template for subsequent deals by WGA and SAG. 

SAG's organizing department has begun contacting SAG Awards nominees and presenters to urge them to participate at Monday’s event.

--Dave McNary

TV's crashed pilot season continues: Fox tosses several projects

Fox has now joined CBS in slimming down its development roster, dropping several scripts from its drama and comedy piles.

With an abbreviated pilot season now a reality, the nets are all starting to implement contingency plans -- and in this case, it means cutting back on projects that probably couldn't be made at this point anyway.

"In the current environment, we've been forced to take a hard look at our needs for the upcoming season, and as a result we're going to target a more focused range of projects," the network said in a statement.

Once the strike is settled, Fox will still have a handful of pilots to potentially pick up as series (including dramas "The Cure," "The FBI" and "Queen B").

-- Michael Schneider

WGA leaders: "A sign of movement"

The WGA's keeping a damper on the rhetoric about its upcoming informal talks -- set to start today -- with the majors. It told its strike captains Monday night that the talks are starting this week but did not say much else.

Here's the message  --


Informal talks between WGA negotiators and reps for the other side will commence this week. WGA leadership has been studying the Executive Summary of the DGA's Temporary Agreement to determine which parts of their deal might form a framework for our own negotiations with the Companies. While nothing formal has been proposed, and the DGA's full agreement has not yet been released, the willingness of the other side to meet with us is a sign of movement.

WGA leadership remains committed to getting the best deal possible in this contract negotiation, and will issue a formal statement regarding progress as soon as possible.

--Dave McNary

SAG sage on DGA deal: Not so fast...

Doug Allen, SAG's national exec director, is urging the town to slow down in formulating a reaction to last week's DGA deal.

Allen contends there's not enough detail yet available to reach a definitive conclusion. He issued a statement Monday afternoon, in what looks like an effort to defuse speculation that terms of the DGA agreement will automatically be used as the template for subsequent agreements with the WGA and SAG.

  "The rush to anoint this agreement as the “solution” for the industry is premature," Allen said. "Without more specific details, the DGA/AMPTP agreement cannot be authoritatively described as good or bad; much of it is simply unknown."

SAG hasn't yet set a start for its negotiations with the AMPTP and the current SAG-AFTRA film-TV contract expires June 30. The WGA's set to start informal negotiations with the majors on Tuesday.

Allen also warned that if the WGA is still on strike as of Feb. 24, SAG members won't attend the Oscars.

The entire statement is after the jump:

--Dave McNary

Email campaign to push WGA leaders on DGA deal: 'The more they hear from us, the better off we'll be'

Scribe Craig Mazin has shared plenty of thoughtful commentary on the WGA and the strike through his Artful Writer blog during the past three months. Now he's taken a step further and distributed a form email letter to send to WGA leaders urging them to embrace the DGA deal terms as "a deal we can live with."

Here's Craig's letter, followed by his form letter:

Dear Friends:

By now, you've heard that the DGA has made a deal with the AMPTP that addresses the concerns that many of us had. The deal includes a rate for sales over the internet that's double what we currently get for DVDs, locks in jurisdiction over made-for-internet material, and provides a combination flat fee/percentage residual for ad-supported streaming.

You can read John Wells' opinion of the deal here: http://artfulwriter.com/?p=318
I've been in touch with a lot of you over the last few weeks, and many have asked what could be done to help make our voices heard within Guild leadership.

Here's a chance.

If you, like me, believe that our Negotiating Committee, Board and officers need to find a way to get the DGA deal done on our collective behalf, please let them know now. The more they hear from the rank and file, the more informed their decisions will be.

You can write anything you'd like. If you're looking for a form letter, here's what I'm sending them.

WGA leaders: 'This is a critical juncture in our struggle'

WGA leaders have told members that they are "committed to moving the process forward" post-DGA deal now that the AMPTP has reached out to them for informal talks. WGA's Patric Verrone, Michael Winship and negotiating committee chair John Bowman also told members in the email message sent Friday that the guild has inked interim pacts with four more indie film banners: Mandate Pictures, Bob Yari's Sixth Floor Literary Properties, Overt Operations/Anonymous Content and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment.

Amid increasing talk of a major rift in the WGA should the leaders not move swiftly on the opening presented by the DGA deal template, the Verrone/Winship/Bowman message asks members for "patience" while they evaluate the deal.

"No matter what you think of the DGA’s tentative agreement, what is most important is that the Guilds East and West continue to work together in order to achieve our goal: a fair and just agreement for writers," they advise.

Reading between the lines, tone of the message also seems to be an effort to reassure members that they intend to move quickly and seize the moment.

Here's the entire message:

To Our Fellow Members,

As you know, the Directors Guild announced yesterday that it has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP.  We are waiting for the full terms of the deal to be made available so that we can carefully analyze and evaluate the language and numbers.  Until then, members can review the DGA's press release at http://dga.org/negotiations/index.php.

The East Council, the West Board, and the Contract Negotiating Committee will all be meeting soon to discuss the DGA deal and our next steps.   We also will be scheduling a membership meeting  to inform you and hear your questions and concerns as more information becomes available.

This is a critical juncture in our struggle. As this process unfolds, we ask for your patience.  No matter what you think of the DGA’s tentative agreement, what is most important is that the Guilds East and West continue to work together in order to achieve our goal: a fair and just agreement for writers.

For more than a month we have been urging the media conglomerates to return to the table and bargain in good faith.  Now that negotiations with the DGA are finished, the AMPTP has reached out to us to begin informal talks.  We are committed to moving the process forward to achieve the best contract possible.

Know, too, that we have signed four more agreements with important, independent feature producers.  They are Mandate Pictures, Bob Yari's Sixth Floor Literary Properties, Overt Operations/Anonymous Content, and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment.  Each of these deals returns more people to work and provides further incentive to the conglomerates to settle our contract soon.

All East members are invited to a large rally on Friday, January 25th at the Time Warner Center, Columbus Circle, from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Additional picketing information for next week can be found at www.wgaeast.org.

We look forward to working for you and with you as we move towards a successful resolution.   

We are all in this together.

Best,
John F. Bowman
Chair

WGA Negotiating Committee

Michael Winship
President

Writers Guild of America, East

Patric M. Verrone
President

Writers Guild of America, West

WGA strike: A failure to communicate

Variety's TV blogger On the Air ruminates on what's gone wrong to date in the negotiations between the AMPTP and WGA, what went right with the DGA and the behind-the-scenes maneuvering involving the WGA's health care plan last summer that set an ominous tone for the Minimum Basic Agreement talks that followed. Click here to read Cynthia Littleton's column.

WGA's Friday picket at NBC: 'All we've seen is the press release'

The mood on the WGA picket line at NBC today was serious. Not somber, not grim, but certainly not jovial or even light-hearted.

It was very clear that pickets had been urged by strike captains et al not share any candid opinions about the merits of the DGA deal with reporters. (Two guys even exchanged a brief whisper about this in front of me as I began my rounds.) It was a little unnerving to hear virtually the same lines from every person I approached, but on the other hand, the decision to give this direction to the pickets indicates the WGA is making an effort to give a careful response to what could be the breakthrough that (fingers-crossed) ends the strike. And that represents a healthy dose of pragmatism on the WGA's part.

Mostly, pickets said they had to see the fine print of the deal before making up their minds.

"All we've seen is a press release," said more than few of the 200 or so who turned out for Friday's sole picket location, the 2:30-5 p.m. shift at NBC. WGA members want to hear from their guild leaders once they've had time to do an economic analysis of what the DGA terms might fetch writers.

Another overriding sentiment among the scribes was: Where the heck was this offer two and a half months ago? Had the AMPTP put these kind of terms on the table, the dynamic in the WGA's formal bargaining sessions prior to the Dec. 7 walkout by the majors might've been very, very different, and the bank balances of WGA members not nearly so depleted.

"Why didn't they offer this to the writers," asked screenwriter Tom Flynn, who was candid in discussing his financial straits. "We're about two months away from leasing out our house."

WGA East: Let's put on a ... reception

WGA East has come up with its solution for how to handle the Writers Guild Awards ceremony. It won't be the usual black-tie dinner, but an "informal reception" on Feb. 9 at the Hudson Theater. WGA West already announced it had nixed the idea of an event while the guild was still on strike.

Here's the WGA East statement:

“We have chosen to honor the nominees and recipients of our awards in the context of our ongoing strike against the studios and networks. This will be a simple event that will rally us together as a union, note the solidarity of our membership in difficult times and recognize the creativity and skill of our members that make our industry possible,” said Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East.

What's more, it should be noted that our Guild, East awards also recognize excellence in television and radio news and documentaries, programs that are written and produced under contracts separate from the MBA currently in dispute. Approximately a third of our members work under these separate contracts, including members at CBS News, ABC News and PBS. Recognizing their achievements as well as their commitment to and solidarity with their union colleagues is a vital part of our decision to hold this recognition reception.”

John Wells on DGA pact: It's a 'very good' deal

Former WGA West prexy John Wells has weighed in on Craig Mazin's Artful Writer blog on the merits of the DGA pact. On balance, it's a very good deal, with gains in key areas, sez Wells.

He points to an under-reported aspect in all of this hubbub over digital distribution compensation is that the WGA and DGA since 2001 have had a pretty decent deal for electronic rentals, with a residual based on 1.2% of 100% of producer's license fee. That's something that was kinda snuck in at the last moment in a side-letter during the 2001 negotiations, during Wells' stewardship of the guild, and it has been reconfirmed in the new DGA deal. And given the news out of Apple's Macworld conference earlier this week about iTunes having download-to-rent deals with each of Hollywood's majors, this isn't a bad thing at all. Click here for the post.

DGA prexy Michael Apted's message to the town: 'We were stirred by their concerns and their passion'

DGA prexy Michael Apted lays out the case for the deal in an op-ed piece in today's Los Angeles Times.

We went into the talks keenly aware of the painful drama that is playing out in the streets around us -- the 3-month-old writers strike that continues to cripple television and movie production and idle tens of thousands of workers, both within the industry and in related fields. Out of respect for the writers, we delayed our negotiations long past their traditional starting point. We were stirred by their concerns and their passion, but with so much at stake -- and the WGA and the AMPTP at an impasse -- we felt we had to act.

We were not interested in making a deal simply for the sake of making a deal. To the contrary, we made it clear to the companies before we even sat down at the table that there could be no contract unless it enshrined two fundamental principles that, in our view, are absolutely crucial to any employment and compensation agreement in this digital age. The first is that jurisdiction -- that all jobs be union jobs -- is essential. Without that proviso for new-media production, compensation formulas are meaningless. The second is that the Internet is not free. Content creators must receive fair compensation for the use and reuse of their work online.

DGA prexy Michael Apted's message to members

I am delighted to announce that this afternoon, the DGA reached an agreement with the AMPTP on the  terms of a new Basic Agreement which is subject to ratification by the members.  The agreement provides important gains that address our very real needs in the present while securing our place in the industrys rapidly evolving digital future.

I am proud to report that the new agreement contains solid increases in wage rates for all categories, increases in the residual bases, continued security for our health plan, a number of increases that pertain to AD/UPM and AD/SM members and no rollbacks of any kind. Moreover, it includes substantial, precedent-setting gains in the key areas of new-media jurisdiction and compensation. That said, it is important to note that there was more at stake in this negotiation than simply wresting the best possible deal from an employer. Our fundamental goal was to protect our interests today while at the same time laying the groundwork for a future whose outlines are not yet clear. And we have done just that.

This was a very difficult negotiation that required real give and take on both sides. Nonetheless, we managed to produce an agreement that enshrines the two fundamental principles we regard as absolutely crucial to any employment and compensation agreement in this digital age:

-First, jurisdiction is essential.  Without secure jurisdiction over new media, productionboth derivative of existing programs and originalcompensation formulas are meaningless. 

-Second, the Internet is not free.  We must receive fair compensation for the use and reuse of our work on the Internet, whether it was originally created for other media platforms or expressly for online distribution.

To these ends, the agreement includes the following:

WGA keeping up the picket pressure

Just because there's a DGA deal, it doesn't mean the WGA isn't curbing its enthusiasm for picketing and attention-getting demonstrations.

The WGA East announced a pair of events today -- a get-together of 30 award winners next Tuesday to coincide with the announcement of Oscar nominations with the theme "Awards are nice but we'd rather the writers get a fair contract"; and a  meeting with Congressional leaders in Washington, D.C., the next day -- complete with a mock debate.

Here are the two announcements --

WHAT:                      

New York is home to many award-winning writers, actors, producers, directors, and authors. On the day the 2008 Oscar nominations are announced, more than 30 award winners will get together in New York City to send a message to the industry: “Awards are nice, but we’d rather the writers get a fair contract.” They will be bringing their awards and their passions about the importance of writers and how the ongoing Writers Guild strike may affect the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony. 

WHO:

More than 30 Oscar, Emmy, Pulitzer, Writers Guild, Humanitas, Obie, Tony, and Dramatist Award winners, including Blythe Danner (Emmy, Tony), Celeste Holm (Oscar), Marshall Brickman (Oscar), Tom Fontana (Emmy, Peabody, Edgar, WGA, Humanitas), Tony Kushner (Emmy, Humanitas, Obie, Tony, Pulitzer), Marsha Norman (Tony, Pulitzer), David Auburn (Tony), Rachel Axler (Emmy), David Black (WGA), Kevin Bleyer (Emmy), Mitchell Burgess (Emmy), Tom Casiello (Daytime Emmy), Laura Maria Censabella (Emmy), Kia Corthron (Edgar), Gina Gionfriddo (Obie), Bruce Graham (Humanitas), Robin Green (Emmy), Tina Howe American Academy of Arts and Letters, Obie), Charles Kipps (Emmy, Peabody, Humanitas, Edgar), Rob Kutner (Emmy), Warren Leight (Tony), Thomas Lennon (Oscar),David Lindsay-Abaire (Pulitzer), Melissa Salmons (Emmy, WGA), Ken Scarborough (Emmy), Steven Schwartz (representative on his behalf – Oscar), John Weidman (Emmy), Alan Zweibel (Emmy), and more.

WHEN AND WHERE:

The Players

16 Gramercy Park (at 20th Street)

12:00 PM Noon

SAG hangs tough with WGA

SAG remains unwavering in its support for the WGA.

Of all the responses to the DGA's contract deal announcement, the Screen Actors Guild had the most unenthusiastic verbiage. The four-sentence release said only that SAG was "interested" in reviewing the DGA deal and concluded by noting once again that it was the AMPTP that left bargaining table on Dec. 7

Here's the entire statement --

We are interested in thoroughly reviewing and carefully analyzing the terms of the DGA's tentative agreement with the AMPTP. Thus far, all we have is a press release. We look forward to seeing more specifics. Now is the time for the AMPTP to return to the bargaining table they left, and negotiate a new deal with the WGA that provides for fair compensation for writers.

BREAKING: DGA DEAL DETAILS

Here's the release from the DGA:

DGA AND AMPTP REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT
ON TERMS OF NEW CONTRACT

DGA Gains Solid Wage Increases with No Rollbacks
Plus Precedent-Setting Jurisdiction Over New-Media and a Doubling of EST Residuals Rate

LOS ANGELES – The Directors Guild of America (DGA) announced today that it has concluded a

tentative agreement on the terms of a new 3-year collective bargaining agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Highlights of the new agreement include:

• Increases both wages and residual bases for each year of the contract.

• Establishes DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet.

• Establishes new residuals formula for paid Internet downloads (electronic sell-through) that essentially doubles the rate currently paid by employers. 

• Establishes residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet.

“Two words describe this agreement - groundbreaking and substantial,” said Gil Cates, chair of the DGA's Negotiations Committee, in announcing the terms of the new agreement.  “The gains in this contract for directors and their teams are extraordinary – and there are no rollbacks of any kind.”

Formal negotiations between the DGA’s 50-member Negotiations Committee and the AMPTP began Saturday, January 12, and were concluded today.  Talks were led by Cates and DGA National Executive Director Jay D. Roth. They were preceded by months of informal discussions and nearly two years of preparation and research by Guild staff and consultants.

“This was a very difficult negotiation that required real give and take on both sides,” said DGA president Michael Apted. “Nonetheless, we managed to produce an agreement that enshrines the two fundamental principles we regard as absolutely crucial to any employment and compensation agreement in this digital age: First, jurisdiction is essential.  Without secure jurisdiction over new-media production—both derivative and original—compensation formulas are meaningless.  Second, the Internet is not free.  We must receive fair compensation for the use and reuse of our work on the Internet, whether it was originally created for other media platforms or expressly for online distribution.”

The agreement includes the following gains in New Media:

• Jurisdiction: The new agreement ensures that programming produced for the Internet (both original and derivative) will be directed by DGA members and their teams.  The only exceptions are low-budget original shows on which production costs are less than $15,000 per minute, $300,000 per program, or $500,000 per series—whichever is lowest.

• Electronic Sell-Through: EST is the paid download of features and TV programming. The agreement more than doubles the EST residual for television and increases the feature film residual by 80% over the rate currently paid by the employers. 

Specifically, the EST residual rates will be .70% for television downloads and .65% for film downloads, above a certain number of units downloaded.  Below that, residuals will be based on formula employers currently pay.

Payments for EST will be based on distributor’s gross, which is the amount received by the entity responsible for distributing the film or television program on the Internet.  Having distributor’s gross as the residuals basis was a key point in our negotiations.

The companies are now contractually obligated to give us unfettered access to their deals and data.  This access is new and unprecedented and creates a transparency that has never existed before. 

Additionally, if the exhibitor or retailer is part of the producer’s corporate family, we have improved provisions for challenging any suspect transactions.

• Ad-Supported Streaming: After an initial 17-day window for free promotional streaming of Internet programs, companies must pay 3% of the residual base (approximately $600 for network prime time 1-hour drama) for 26 weeks of streaming. They can continue to stream for an additional 26-week period by paying an additional 3% -- or a total of $1,200 for one year’s worth of streaming. (During a program's first season, the 17-day window is expanded to 24 days to help build audience.)

• Sunset Provision: Allows both sides to revisit new media when agreement expires.

“Our fundamental goal in these negotiations was to protect our interests in the present while laying the groundwork for a future whose outlines are not yet clear,” said Cates.  “We knew that gaining jurisdiction over new-media production and winning fair compensation for the reuse of our work on the Internet were the key issues for setting a framework for the future, but we also had to secure real gains for our members in today’s world.”

The new tentative agreement includes the following: 

• Annual wage increases of 3% for primetime dramatic shows and daytime serials and 3.5% for all other covered programming. 

• Outsized increase in director’s compensation on high-budget basic cable for series in the second and subsequent seasons.   

• Annual residual increases of 3% for primetime shows and 3.5% for all other covered programming.

• Specific advances that pertain to members of the director’s team.

PLEASE SEE FACT SHEET BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS

Details of the new agreement will be submitted to the Guild's National Board for approval at its regularly scheduled meeting on Saturday, January 26, 2008. The DGA’s current contracts expire on June 30, 2008. 

-# # #-

FACT SHEET
DGA Tentative Agreement
January 17, 2008

Basic Agreement

Wage Increases

• Compensation for all categories except directors of network prime time dramatic programs and daytime serials increases by 3.5%, each year of the contract.

• Compensation for directors of network prime time dramatic programs and daytime serials increases by 3%, each year of the contract.

• Outsized increase in director’s compensation on high budget basic cable dramatic programs for series in the second and subsequent seasons:
o For ½ hour programs: 12% increase in daily rate and increase in guaranteed number of days to 7 days.

• Results in show rate increasing from $9,009 to $11,760.
o For 1-hour programs: 12% increase in daily rate and increase in guaranteed number of days to 14 days.

• Results in show rate increasing from $18,010 to $23,520.

Residual Increases

• Residual bases increase by 3.5%, each year of the contract, except for reruns in network prime time.

• Residuals for reruns in network prime time increase by 3%, each year of the contract.

Healthcare

• Employers continue to make health care contributions at specially negotiated rate of 8.5%, secured in the 2005 Basic Agreement to address the impact of the growing cost of health care on the DGA Plan. Provisions permitting decrease in contribution rate by employers removed.

Other Provisions

• Second Assistant Directors to manage locations in New York and Chicago.

• Establishes a wrap supervision allowance of $50/day for the Second Assistant Director who supervises wrap on local and distant locations.

• Increases incidental fees and dinner allowances for Unit Production Managers and Assistant Directors.New Media

Jurisdiction over:

• All new media content that is derivative of product already covered under current contracts.

• Original content:

o All original content above $15,000/minute or $300,000/program or $500,000/series, whichever is lowest.

o Original content below the threshold will be covered when a DGA member is employed in the production. 

Electronic Sell-Through (Paid Downloads)

• More than doubles the rate currently paid by the employers on television programming to .70% above 100,000 units downloaded.

o Below 100,000 breakpoint: rate will be paid at the current rates of .30% until worldwide gross receipts reach $1 million and .36% thereafter.

• Increases rate paid on feature films by 80% to .65% above 50,000 units downloaded

o Below 50,000 breakpoint: rate will be paid at the current rates of .30% until worldwide gross receipts reach $1 million and .36% thereafter.

Distributor’s Gross

• Payments for EST will be based on distributor’s gross instead of producer’s gross, a key point in our negotiations.  Distributor’s gross is the amount received by the entity responsible for distributing the film or television program on the Internet.  We would not have entered the agreement on any other basis.

• Companies will be contractually obligated to give us access to their deals and data, enabling us to monitor this provision and prepare for our next negotiation.  This access is new and unprecedented.

• If the exhibitor or retailer is part of the producer’s corporate family, we have improved provisions for challenging any suspect transactions.

Ad-Supported Streaming:

• 17-day window (24-day window for series in their first season).
• Pays 3% of the residual base, approximately $600 (for network prime time 1-hour dramas), for each 26-week period following 17-day window, within first year after initial broadcast.

• Pays 2% of distributor’s gross for streaming that occurs more than one year after initial broadcast.

Clips

• Provides the companies with limited windows where they can distribute clips of feature films and television programs in new media to promote a program.  Provides for payment for all other uses in New Media. 

Sunset Provision

• Allows both sides to revisit new media when the agreement expires.

BREAKING: DGA reaches deal with AMPTP

The DGA’s reached a tentative deal with the AMPTP, following six days of negotiations.

The pact was announced early Thursday afternoon amid widespread expectations that the helmers would reach an agreement with the majors.  The DGA deal amps up the pressure from all sides on the leadership of the Writers Guild of America, which has been out on strike since Nov. 5. Its last negotiations with the AMPTP collapsed on Dec. 7 with the congloms demanding that the guild drop six of its proposals.

The town’s focus will immediately shift to whether the terms of the DGA deal will be acceptable to the WGA. A group of moderate writers have been pushing in recent days for the leaders not to reject the DGA deal out of hand.

Optimists believe that the DGA deal will be enough of a breakthrough on new-media compensation issues to pave the way for a WGA pact.

-- Dave McNary

WGA: Majors' axing of TV pacts may be illegal

The WGA is taking the position that this week's wave of force majeure terminations of TV writer and producer deals may be illegal.

It's just sent a letter to members, signed by WGA West president Patric Verrone and WGA East president Michael Winship, asking for details about any dismissals. The missive also reminds writers that the WGA's already gone to the National Labor Relations Board with the accusation that the AMPTP's engaged in unfair labor practices.


"We are also taking the position that the companies’ unlawful actions have transformed our work stoppage into what is called an 'unfair labor practice strike,'” Winship and Verrone said. "If our position is sustained by the NLRB, one consequence would be to entitle a striking writer to reinstatement after the strike, even if the employer had attempted to terminate the writer’s individual contract."

Winship and Verrone also acknowledge rumors of a DGA deal being imminent.

"We will work with the full membership of both Guilds to discuss our strategies for our own negotiations and contract goals and how they may be affected by such a deal," they said.

Here's the entire letter --

WGA pacts with Doug Liman's new shingle

The WGA's just announced that it's signed a contract with director/producer Doug Liman as part of Liman's formation of a new media company dubbed Jackson Bites.

The shingle aims to create TV-style programming for alternative distribution. Liman (pictured right) will serve as co-owner.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but the guild said the pact's along the lines of the five interim deals it has signed with Worldwide Pants, UA, The Weinstein Co., Media Rights Capital and Spyglass Entertainment.

"If the last strike is best remembered for the studios attempting to show they could create programming without writers, this could be the strike where the writers show they can do it without the studios,” said Liman. “We are at a moment of opportunity in television where we have gone from three networks to six, and from a handful of channels to a thousand and YouTube. In that environment, what matters is compelling programming – and compelling programming starts with the writer."

“This agreement reflects precisely what we have held from the start: for writers, the Internet and new media are the future," said WGA East president Michael Winship.

Here's the entire announcement --

Director and producer Doug Liman announced today the formation of a new media company, “Jackson Bites,” which will create television-style programming for alternative distribution. He will serve as co-owner of the venture with the support of a wide range of new media and business investors. Liman also announced that the new company has entered into an agreement with the Writers Guild of America, effective immediately.

As a result of the agreement, WGA members will be able to write, develop, and create programming for Jackson Bites for distribution on a wide range of new media outlets, including the Internet, set-top boxes, cell phones, and other wireless devices, and via direct deals with satellite networks and cable companies.

"If the last strike is best remembered for the studios attempting to show they could create programming without writers, this could be the strike where the writers show they can do it without the studios,” said Liman. “We are at a moment of opportunity in television where we have gone from three networks to six, and from a handful of channels to a thousand and YouTube. In that environment, what matters is compelling programming – and compelling programming starts with the writer. Jackson Bites will afford writers the opportunity to create content that will be seen and enjoyed by audiences with or without the involvement of the television networks.”

“This agreement reflects precisely what we have held from the start: for writers, the Internet and new media are the future. Doug Liman’s company makes that vision reality, with high-end, TV-quality programming created for alternative distribution,” said Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East.

“We are happy to reach an agreement with Doug Liman that is perfectly suited to the needs of a new generation of content providers,” said Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West.

The deal between Jackson Bites and WGA, which was negotiated by Liman and his lawyer Alan Grodin with the WGA and is similar to the deals the WGA recently announced with United Artists, Worldwide Pants, the Weinstein Company, MRC, and Spyglass Entertainment, and addresses an important issue to writers – new media.

Liman, whose career was launched with the independent film Swingers, continued on to executive produce the television series The O.C., as well as to direct The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and the upcoming film Jumper, sees this as the moment for new media. Jackson Bites is financed completely outside the studio system. Liman will not direct or produce any of the content in the new company. Jackson is Liman's eleven-year-old sheep dog.

View from the top: "My fear is that Verrone and Young will piss all over this"

As the town waits for an announcement of a deal with the DGA, one top exec at an AMPTP company is hoping the pact will prompt real movement in talks with the WGA.

He’s hoping—but he’s not holding his breath.

“I pray that when this deal is done that the writers look at the terms and say, ‘There are a lot of really good gains here....There’s a lot we can work with. Let’s look at this as a way to move forward’,” the suit said.

Exec said the DGA “has made some strong gains” for its membership with the new deal. While an agreement with scribes would require “some tweaking here and there to deal with their specific concerns,” exec believes the DGA deal offers a solid template on which to reach a pact with the WGA.

That doesn’t mean the exec is convinced such a pact will fall into place immediately.

“My fear is that Verrone and Young are going to piss all over this,” he said, repeating an oft-heard lament from AMPTP members that the WGA leadership hasn’t been reasonable in its dealings with studios.

Exec said he didn’t believe the AMPTP would offer up its likely agreement with the WGA as a simple “take it or leave it” proposal.

And while he didn’t go so far as to predict that the producers would offer some sort of olive branch to the writers, he predicted studios wouldn’t take a hard line approach, either. There would be no “take it or leave it” proclamation from the AMPTP, he predicted.

“We’re not looking for retribution. We’re not assholes,” he said. “We just want everyone to get back to work.”

If a DGA deal doesn’t prompt movement in the WGA strike, exec said he’s hoping  big name scribes and showrunners will begin pressuring their Guild to make a deal. "That’s how the strike got settled in 1988,” he said.

One top scribe cautioned that it was premature for anyone to try to predict how WGA leadership will respond to a DGA—particularly when that deal hasn’t even been announced, and nobody knows the specifics.

“The CEOs are in sell mode right now,” he said. “They’re all going to be out there saying how great this deal is. But we’re going to have to have some patience and give our people time to look at it. That’s not going to happen in a half hour.”

Scribe also noted that while AMPTP members are quick to demonize Verrone and Young, the Guild’s negotiating committee—which is made up of a number of successful scribes and showrunners—has so far been solid in its support of the WGA’s strategy. If the negotiating committee believes the DGA deal offers a good template, WGA execs won’t be able to stop them from expressing that opinion, scribe said.

“You’re not talking about a bunch of wallflowers who are going to be bullied by Verrone or Young,” he said.

--Josef Adalian

WGA: Once more with feeling, no Oscar waiver

In case there was any doubt, the WGA's not going to give the Feb. 24 Oscarcast a waiver unless it has settled the strike by then.

The guild issued a brief statement late Wednesday afternoon to that effect:

"The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which produces the Academy Awards, is a struck company. As previously announced, the WGA has not entered into an interim agreement for the Oscars telecast."

The move a day after WGA West president Patric Verrone said twice during a news conference that the WGA West board had already voted to deny a waiver to AMPAS if the Academy asks for one.

The strike gets real: WGA sets powwow with reality rank and file

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