Wga Strike: Make The Call!

[BlackLantern]

its one thing to strike and stand up for things you want....but its another thing when things move on without you and you try to sabotage that....

 

[KALEL114]

Directors come to an agreement.

The DGA’s reached a tentative three-year deal with the AMPTP with key advances in jurisdiction and payment for programming on the Internet.
“Two words describe this agreement -- groundbreaking and substantial,” said Gil Cates, chair of the DGA’s Negotiations Committee. “The gains in this contract for directors and their teams are extraordinary -- and there are no rollbacks of any kind.”

The was announced Thursday afternoon following six days of negotiations at AMPTP amid widespread expectations that the helmers would quickly reach an agreement with the majors. Deal, if ratified by the 13,500 DGA members, will take effect on July 1.

DGA touted a trio of new-media gains:


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.
The DGA deal amps up the pressure from all sides on the leadership of the Writers Guild of America, which has been 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 WGA had no immediate reaction to the announcement.

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 but optimists believe that the DGA deal will be enough of a breakthrough on new-media questions to pave the way for a WGA pact.

Talks, launched Saturday, were led by on the DGA side by Cates and DGA national exec director Jay D. Roth. The key informal talks -- which laid the groundwork for the deal -- took place in recent weeks with Fox topper Peter Chernin and Disney chief Robert Iger.

“This was a very difficult negotiation that required real give and take on both sides,” said DGA president Michael Apted said in a statement. “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 DGA deal opens the door for AFTRA to launch its delayed network code negotiations. AFTRA prexy Roberta Reardon delivered the first official reaction to the deal and noted that the net code talks will start by Feb. 19.

“AFTRA is encouraged by the news that the DGA has reached a deal with the AMPTP,” she said. “We have yet to have an opportunity to review the specifics of their deal but we remain optimistic that the Writers Guild will soon resume negotiations with the studios so people can return to work. AFTRA’s priority is to negotiate strong wages, residuals, benefits, and working conditions for talent in all TV day parts and formats and we intend to resume our own negotiations with the networks and major producers for the Network Code on or before Feb. 19.”

http://www.variety.com/VR1117979228.html

 

[KALEL114]

Breakthrough in WGA talks
Sides closing in on tentative deal

Talks between WGA leaders and top studio execs on Friday and Saturday have been productive enough to generate cautious optimism that a settlement to the more than three-month-old strike may soon be at hand.
WGA negotiating committee head John Bowman and WGA West exec director David Young had a lengthy meeting Friday with News Corp. prexy Peter Chernin and Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger that was described as having gone well overall, despite some tension at the outset. It's understood that those conversations continued on Saturday, though it was not clear if it was by phone or face-to-face.

Insiders said there was enough progress being made to raise the prospect of WGA leaders bringing a contract proposal directly to the boards of the WGA West and WGA East, possibly bypassing the resumption of formal bargaining between the WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Insiders indicated that lawyers for both sides were exchanging drafts of proposed contract language this weekend.

WGA's 17-member negotiating committee and the WGA West's board are already skedded to hold separate meetings on Monday, at noon and 3 p.m., respectively. People close to the situation cautioned against putting a timetable on the process, given the rocky road of the negotiations to date.

Chernin and Iger began the informal talks with WGA toppers on Jan. 22, on the heels of the AMPTP sealing a deal with the Directors Guild of America that the studios aim to use as a template for a WGA pact. A big stumbling block for the WGA is said to be the terms agreed to by the DGA for web streaming of TV shows and movies. The United Hollywood blog reported Saturday that "creative solutions to the biggest differences between the AMPTP and the WGA have gotten the tentative and cautious approval of both sides."

Neither WGA or AMPTP reps would comment on the status of talks in accordance with the news blackout both camps have agreed to.

Going into the weekend, studio toppers were said to be frustrated with the lack of substantive progress in the talks, which were designed to lay the groundwork for the resumption of formal bargaining.

The AMPTP and WGA last met in a formal session on Dec. 7. WGA has been on strike since Nov. 5.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...ryid=2821&cs=1

Fingures crossed.

 

[KALEL114]

WRITERS, PRODUCERS REACH TENTATIVE DEAL
Deal points revealed

The Writers Guild of America has reached a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
WGA West president Patric Verrone and WGA East president Michael Winship sent out an email to members at 3 a.m. Saturday alerting writers that a deal has been made that “protects a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery.”

http://www.wga.org/contract_07/wga_tent_summary.pdf

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=story&id=2476&articleid=VR1117980589&cs=1

 

[The Squirrel]

So we only have 3 years before another strike?

That's stupid.

 

[imdaly]

So we only have 3 years before another strike?

That's stupid.

Nah. Just a couple months: Actor's Strike.

 

[Nirvana]

The Writers are a bunch of whiney bit**es. Ugh, I hope an Actor's Strike doesn't become a reality :

 

[Apollo]

isn't there also going to be directors strike?

 

[BatSpider]

The Writers are a bunch of whiney bit**es. Ugh, I hope an Actor's Strike doesn't become a reality :

It could end as soon as Monday

 

[Apollo]

why would the actors go into a strike? aren't they making enough money? Is it for the same reason too, about the new media?

 

[imdaly]

why would the actors go into a strike? aren't they making enough money? Is it for the same reason too, about the new media?

I'd assume so.

They look and see that the Writers have been able to whine their way into getting more money with the internet situation, and the actors are going to want their piece, too.

 

[BlackLantern]

^^^i said that when this strike started...if the wga got what they wanted every other union in hollywood would have their hand out.....the directors guild has already signed a new contract

 

[jaguarr]

The Writers are a bunch of whiney bit**es. Ugh, I hope an Actor's Strike doesn't become a reality :

Yeah, how horrible of them for wanting just a tiny, tiny slice of the profits the studios and producers make off of their labors.

jag

 

[BlackLantern]

I'd assume so.

They look and see that the Writers have been able to whine their way into getting more money with the internet situation, and the actors are going to want their piece, too.

not every actor makes a ton of money, though