Not since the Helen Kushnick debacle 15 years ago when his manager crashed and burned as The Tonight Show's exec producer has Jay Leno taken such a terrible PR wallop as he did today. Today's Drudge headline, misleadingly, says "Leno fires staff" when what happened is that about 120 of the show's non-writing staffers today were laid off by NBC due to Leno's refusal along with the rest of the Top 5 late night hosts to cross WGA picket lines (since they're all guild members and supporting the writers). And everyone knows Jay was treated horribly by NBC which ordered him to leave in 2009 to make way for Conan -- the result of yet another shake-up orchestrated by Jeff Zucker in a brutal way. Problem is, Leno looks like a shit for lotsa other reasons.

The worst is that news reports trumpeted that, just a couple of days after the WGA strike began November 5th, he assured staffers they didn't have to worry because their paychecks would be safe. So I was told many of the laid-off employees left NBC's Burbank offices this morning in a sea of tears and expressing a sense of betrayal and wondering aloud "Where's Jay?" (Along with some vocal muttering about the big bucks he spends on his famous car collection...) True, Jay's Big Dog Productions only co-produces The Tonight Show whereas David Letterman's Worldwide Pants owns The Late Show and The Late Late Show and is paying production staff. But today Conan O'Brien, whose company Conaco also doesn't own Late Night, began picking up the tab for his show's 80 employees which sure puts Leno in an awkward position since he hasn't.  Especially since it's so well known that Jay lives off his outside gigs and banks his Tonight Show salary.

It's one thing to be angry at NBC and not want to help the network, yet quite another to not financially help The Tonight Show employees who helped make him No. 1 in the ratings pre-strike. Instead of doing it himself, Leno had his assistant notify the staff yesterday that they would get their Christmas bonus early. Well, big fucking deal. (One news report said the bonus is only $100 for each year worked.) I, for one, don't understand why right now Leno isn't front and center or making a statement or otherwise protecting his public image -- especially if he exits NBC to jump-start Fox's late night talk in 2009. 

1. Conan O'Brien To Pay Staff
2. WGA Scolds Carson Daly For Returning 'To Support Staff' And Seeking Scab Jokes
3. Letterman Confirms He's Paying His Staff
4. Dave Opens Own Wallet To Pay His Staff
5. Tonight Show Returns With Guest Hosts After Leno's Nonwriting Staff Laid Off
6. Strike Forces Late Night TV Into Repeats
7. Leno vs NBC: Last Night's Latest Round...
8. Is Leno Starting to Hint About His Future?

CAST: Amy Ryan, Patricia Clarkson
CREATIVE TEAM: George Hickenlooper, Alan Sereboff, Kamala Lopez, Jill Kushner
MUSIC: Anthony Marinelli
TECHNICAL TEAM: Joel Marshall, Justin Shumaker, Clint Bennett

This is the 16th of the Writers Guild Of America member-conceived Internet videos for Project "Speechless" featuring A-list Screen Actors Guild talent. For the first time in the TV and movie industry, high-profile SAG actors are together taking their talents directly and exclusively to the Internet, the very medium which is at the center of the current WGA labor strike against the Alliance Of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The project, conceived by director/writer George Hickenlooper and writer Alan Sereboff, made its exclusive weekend debut here on my Deadline Hollywood Daily with 11 videos. The "Speechless" campaign now debuts on its new site, SpeechlessWithoutWriters.com, which will be adding new videos every day in both high-res and low-res versions.

This is guaranteed to make Hollywood hate Ben even more without Silverman even shooting off his mouth in the press yet again. How nice for him that Shine, the UK indie owned and run by Elisabeth Murdoch, will snag his production company for something like $200 million. Ironic that a Murdoch winds up solving NBC's conflict of interest problem, eh? (See my previous, Don't Sweep This Under The Rug, NBC.)

By the way, unlike Rupert's idiot sons in the media biz Lachlan and James, Rupert Murdoch's second oldest kid, Elisabeth, is one smart cookie (but she's only third in the line of succession). She kept telling Fox executives that Simon Fuller's 2001 British monster hit Pop Idol would do just as well in America. But Sandy Grushow and Gail Berman shrugged her off. Finally, it took Elisabeth's nagging Daddy, and a direct order from Rupert himself, to get American Idol launched. Only after it scored a huge audience did the Fox execs claim they made sure the UK import was "properly Americanized" so as to take credit.

Thank you for understanding.

(Keep refreshing for the latest...) 

THURSDAY PM UPDATE: I'm told WGA negotiators are still waiting for the other "half" of the AMPTP's Day #4 new proposals (the half that presumably contains the missing terms on ESTs, electronic sell-throughs?) which agent Bryan Lourd said should be in their hands by Tuesday if not before. Then the writers will make a counter-offer to producers on Tuesday. Here's the WGA West and East email to members critical of today's New Media offers by the AMPTP on streaming, content made for new media, and programming delivered over digital broadcast channels:

To Our Fellow Members,
After four days of bargaining with the AMPTP, we are writing to let you know that, though we are still at the table, the press blackout has been lifted.

Our inability to communicate with our members has left a vacuum of information that has been filled with rumors, both well intentioned and deceptive.

Among the rumors was the assertion that the AMPTP had a groundbreaking proposal that would make this negotiation a "done deal." In fact, for the first three days of this week, the companies presented in essence their November 4 package with not an iota of movement on any of the issues that matter to writers.

Thursday morning, the first new proposal was finally presented to us. It dealt only with streaming and made-for-Internet jurisdiction, and it amounts to a massive rollback.

For streaming television episodes, the companies proposed a residual structure of a single fixed payment of less than $250 for a year's reuse of an hour-long program (compared to over $20,000 payable for a network rerun). For theatrical product they are offering no residuals whatsoever for streaming.

For made-for-Internet material, they offered minimums that would allow a studio to produce up to a 15 minute episode of network-derived web content for a script fee of $1,300. They continued to refuse to grant jurisdiction over original content for the Internet.

In their new proposal, they made absolutely no move on the download formula (which they propose to pay at the DVD rate), and continue to assert that they can deem any reuse "promotional," and pay no residual (even if they replay the entire film or TV episode and even if they make money).

The AMPTP says it will have additional proposals to make but, as of Thursday evening, they have not been presented to us.  We are scheduled to meet with them again on Tuesday.

In the meantime, we felt it was essential to update you accurately on where negotiations stand. On Wednesday we presented a comprehensive economic justification for our proposals.  Our entire package would cost this industry $151 million over three years. That's a little over a 3% increase in writer earnings each year, while company revenues are projected to grow at a rate of 10%. We are falling behind.

For Sony, this entire deal would cost $1.68 million per year. For Disney $6.25 million. Paramount and CBS would each pay about $4.66 million, Warner about $11.2 million, Fox $6.04 million, and NBC/Universal $7.44 million. MGM would pay $320,000 and the entire universe of remaining companies would assume the remainder of about $8.3 million per year. As we've stated repeatedly, our proposals are more than reasonable and the companies have no excuse for denying it.

The AMPTP's intractability is dispiriting news but it must also be motivating. Any movement on the part of these multinational conglomerates has been the result of the collective action of our membership, with the support of SAG, other unions, supportive politicians, and the general public.  We must fight on, returning to the lines on Monday in force to make it clear that we will not back down, that we will not accept a bad deal, and that we are all in this together.

Patric M. Verrone, President, WGAW
Michael Winship, President, WGAE

UPDATE: Here's the AMPTP official statement from Talks Day #4:

LOS ANGELES, November 29, 2007 - "The AMPTP today unveiled a New Economic Partnership to the WGA, which includes groundbreaking moves in several areas of new media, including streaming, content made for new media and programming delivered over digital broadcast channels.

The entire value of the New Economic Partnership will deliver more than $130 million in additional compensation above and beyond the more than $1.3 billion writers already receive each year. In response, the WGA has asked for time to study the proposals. While we we strongly preferred to continue discussions, we respect and understand the WGA's desire to review the proposals.  We look forward to resuming talks on Tuesday, December 4.

We continue to believe that there is common ground to be found between the two sides, and that our proposal for a New Economic Partnership offers the best chance to find it."

EXCLUSIVE BULLETIN: The AMPTP presented what its sources just told me are "a number of New Media proposals" today at Talks Day #4. "This is the day it shook loose," a relieved insider just told me minutes ago. (This is also what I was reporting in my explusive post, Moguls Supposed To Present A Better Offer To Writers At Talks Today.) I've learned the AMPTP presented the WGA with "new terms involving streaming, made-for, Internet, and other issues". The networks and studios are claiming that WGA requested a suspension in the talks until Tuesday December 4th to study the new proposals. My sources say this came as something of a surprise to the moguls' side because their negotiating team was "ready to keep bargaining through the weekend". On the other hand, the AMPTP side finally presented the terms with so much fanfare that it really surprised the WGA negotiators who'd been increasingly doubful they'd ever see anything new. But let's not be overly optimistic or naive, either. The big questions now are: Are these truly "new" proposals or just newly packaged "old" proposals? And are they good enough to get this strike settled by Christmas?
Let's hope...

1. Moguls Supposed To Present A Better Offer To Writers At Talks Today
2. Talks Day #3 'Stalemated'
3. Talks Day #2 Still Friendly But Unproductive; "Game Of Chicken"
4. Talks Day #1 Productive; "Reasonableness Ruled The Day"
5. Dare We Hope A Deal Has Been Struck...?
6. Talks Restarted At Agent Bryan Lourd's Home After Weeks Of Quiet Backchannel
7. LET'S STRIKE A DEAL! Both Sides Agree To Go Back Into Talks 

 

(Keep refreshing for the latest...) I was told last night by a top Hollywood CEO that the moguls had decided to allow AMPTP to put on the negotiating table a sweetened deal at Talks Day #4 today. "The producers are trying to put something on the table tomorrow [Thursday] that will jaw this loose. It will include streaming and EST [electronic sell-through] and all the rest," the source said specifically.

The problem is I can't confirm yet that the AMPTP has indeed bettered its offer today. (For a full report on the talks so far see my Day #3, Day#2, and Day #1.) But this is the sweetened proposal everyone has been talking about since before this new round of talks resumed. The really key issue is a better formula for ESTs, something that back on Sunday November 4th, the WGA negotiators had been led to believe was coming during that session so they dropped their DVD residual demands. Only to put them back on the table when the ESTs proposal never happened.

Until now, "the producers have not moved one inch on ESTs. It's never been addressed," the mogul I talked to confirmed last night.

On the TV issue of streaming, I'm told that the moguls' initial 9-month waiting period will be shrunk to 6 weeks. True, that's not the 3 days that the WGA is seeking, but it smacks of a compromise. (At least it's not entirely the "when we stop making money we'll give you money" thinking that's been driving the WGA so nuts.) Now, some WGA toppers are telling me this is exactly what the moguls were proposing back on November 4th. But others say the streaming proposal that Sunday was so un-fleshed out that they didn't know what the window being offered was. I do know that at the time I was reporting those tick-tock negotiations, the AMPTP side told me their streaming proposal was for the first season of a TV series to be free, and then at the start of the second season the writers would start receiving residuals for the first season, etc. Six weeks sounds a lot better than that.

But the CEOs are still standing firm on the issue of not sharing ad revenue with the writers even though those streaming shows are embedded with commmercials because "we don't even give that to Dick Wolf on broadcast." 

I've gotta say, if this sweetened offer doesn't materialize today... (Expletive deleted.)

I've been trying to get a handle these past few days on what the moguls are thinking while the strike and these talks continue. Not just the obvious force majeure issues, the Directors Guild's soon-to-happen negotiations, the inevitable difficulty of the Screen Actors Guild's bargaining, down the line. But the thinking right now. Sure, there's a lot of senseless spin out there (just read today's The New York Times to see a ludicrous example of that). But in the end what only matters is what's on the bargaining table. 

As far as the ESTs issue, the light at the end of the tunnel may lie with Ken Ziffren. That's right, the entertainment uberlawyer who helped solve the 1988 writers strike and is now representing the Directors Guild Of America in what will soon be their negotiations with the moguls. Ziffren is telling agents that he has "a solution to New Media" that includes the all-important ESTs but is still "working on it". One of the fears is that, if Ziffren shares it with the WGA negotiators, and they reject it, then the whole initiative may implode. On the other hand, if the WGA side accepts it, then the problem could be solved.

1. Talks Day #3 'Stalemated'
2. Talks Day #2 Still Friendly But Unproductive; "Game Of Chicken"
3. Talks Day #1 Productive; "Reasonableness Ruled The Day"
4. Dare We Hope A Deal Has Been Struck...?
5. Talks Restarted At Agent Bryan Lourd's Home After Weeks Of Quiet Backchannel
6. LET'S STRIKE A DEAL! Both Sides Agree To Go Back Into Talks 

I just learned that Conan O'Brien has made arrangements to pay his staff who will be laid off by NBC as of Friday. About 80 production people -- like talent bookers, producers, production assistants --  will be taken care of by the Late Night host who is supposed to move to The Tonight Show in 2009. Sources tell me this is on a week-to-week basis for the moment until or if Conan, who's a WGA member and got his start as a comedy writer, goes back to work. Obviously, NBC is dying for him to return to the air because its late night ratings for the repeats have tanked. None of the late night shows have been in production during the entire November sweeps and the networks have to give sponsors free spots or “give backs” at a cost of millions.

I'll say this: it's a great PR move by O'Brien as well as an incredibly nice thing to do. After all, he's the least paid of the Big Three (including Letterman and Leno), and unlike Dave's Worldwide Pants, which is generously paying its employees through at least the end of the year, Conan's company Conaco doesn't own Late Night. NBC does. 

And while I'm on the topic of NBC's late night hosts, I'm told that Carson Daly was probably going to lose his show if he didn't return to work. Oh, like that would have been a great loss to humanity, much less television. It's incredible the lousy publicity which Daly's decision to cross the picket line is creating. After the news broke that Carson was soliciting scab jokes, several websites (here and here are two of them) have sprung up soliciting jokes about Daly, the nastier the better.

Meanwhile, where do things stand with Jay Leno who had been a ubiquitous figure handing out food to the WGA picketers? There are no plans at the present for him to pay his show's production people who will be laid off by NBC as of Friday. As for returning to work, "I don't see him running to cross the line. I get that," an insider tells me. That's because Leno is still really furious at Jeff Zucker for handing over The Tonight Show to Conan and isn't exactly in the mood to do any favors for NBC Universal.

1. WGA Scolds Carson Daly For Returning 'To Support Staff' And Seeking Scab Jokes
2. Letterman Confirms He's Paying His Staff
3. Dave Opens Own Wallet To Pay His Staff
4. Tonight Show Returns With Guest Hosts After Leno's Nonwriting Staff Laid Off
5. Strike Forces Late Night TV Into Repeats
6. Leno vs NBC: Last Night's Latest Round...
7. Is Leno Starting to Hint About His Future?

There's little more to say about Wednesday's talks other than that, unfortunately. "This is not heading in the right direction," a mogul quoted his labor exec as saying to him yesterday. Another source told me, "It's stalemated. Nothing's getting achieved."

I'm not sure people are aware that CAA partner Bryan Lourd all week has been at the hotel where the talks are being held. He's working both sides in a form of  "footstep diplomacy" (as opposed to Henry Kissinger's old "shuttle diplomacy"). An insider told me, "He keeps asking what everybody needs. This is what Lew Wasserman used to do during these things. Wasserman would say, 'I want to know what you each need. I don't want to know what you want. Go in the other room and tell me what you need.' "

As I've reported previously, Lourd was designated as the Hollywood agencies' point person to assist these resumed negotiations, which I should stress do not have a stop date on them at the moment and will probably continue well past Thursday. Said an insider: "There's no arbitrary end to this. Everyone only leaves if Bryan gives up and goes home." (And shame on journalist Alex Ben Block for writing a piece on Lourd containing nothing new yet not crediting me for all my scoops about Lourd's and all the agents' role.)

1. Talks Day #2 Still Friendly But Unproductive; "Game Of Chicken"
2. Talks Day #1 Productive; "Reasonableness Ruled The Day"
3. Dare We Hope A Deal Has Been Struck...?
4. Talks Restarted At Agent Bryan Lourd's Home After Weeks Of Quiet Backchannel
5. LET'S STRIKE A DEAL! Both Sides Agree To Go Back Into Talks 

There's another "Gay Gate" picketing event organized by members of the WGA West's Gay & Lesbian Writers Committee for gay and lesbian writers, talent, and other supporters today at NBC Studios in Burbank (at the Alameda Gate) from 10 AM to 1 PM.

With the assistance of Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? writer Bob Kushell made this video to help the scribes survive their wedded bliss during the WGA strike.

I'm told the AMPTP's so-called PR council formed by corporate communications execs at the studios and networks really want to make their own clever YouTube videos to compete with the ones up and running by striking WGA members. No greenlights yet. Until then, here's a wry WGA-member written video entitled "Harsh Words" -- a riff on the actors-scribes "Speechless" campaign -- purporting to state a very unofficial AMPTP position. (It's a fake AMPTP video, guys, not a real one.)

Here's an interesting writers strike PR nugget I just found out: Turns out both sides, first the Hollywood moguls and then the WGA, wanted to hire former Clinton White House press secretary Joe Lockhart as their official mouthpiece. Lockhart, now founding partner and president of the consulting firm Glover Park Group specializing in advocacy advertising, gained fame for flacking the Clinton impeachment trials. The mutual feeling was, if he can handle that, then a Hollywood strike will be a cakewalk. The former journalist was also a senior advisor to John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. It would have been an interesting choice by both sides since Lockhart, who specializes in sensitive communications matters and media management in the information age, is a slickster who doesn't look or act slick, thanks to that desheveled appearance and pleasant persona he cultivates. Sadly, it was not to be. I'm told that when both sides went after him simultaneously, he decided it was a lose-lose situation and bowed out gracefully. Too bad, because the Washington press corps already gave him the nickname "J-Lo". 

Shake-Up Inside AMPTP Public Relations   

So this bitchslapping contest has been developing all day. Best if I just give you the dueling statements. CBS issued theirs tonight and it's a doozie:

"Two weeks ago, CBS officials, in an effort of cooperation, contacted the WGA leadership and asked them to suspend the picketing for just a couple of hours on December 10 so the Democratic presidential debate could go on and the democratic process could be served.  Our request was met with silence. Their statement today clearly misrepresents our attempt to have a civil discourse with the Guild so that this event of national importance could proceed."

That was in response to this WGA statement earlier today:

"The Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West regret that the Democratic National Committee has had to cancel the December 10th Presidential Debate hosted by CBS. This was triggered by CBS' fear that the Democratic candidates would not cross a picket line by WGA-CBS News writers or WGA Film and TV writers to participate in the debate – a concern that could have been avoided entirely if CBS would simply sit down and negotiate a fair contract for its news and entertainment employees. Instead, CBS chose to make a decision that stifles the democratic process."

1. Democrats Cancel Debate At Picketed CBS
2. CBS Writers Considering Dec 10th Strike To Disrupt Network's Presidential Debate
3. CBS News Writers Authorize Strike Call
4. CBS News Writers Tell Strike Vote Monday

UPDATE: Writers And Producers Tried To Hire J-Lo (as in former White House flack Joe Lockhart) 

This is one of those stories that's a lot more interesting to journalists than it is to striking writers or even Hollywood. But I'd been hearing for several days that Barbara Brogliatti, who two years ago retired from a bigwig PR job at Warner Bros only to be brought back recently as the primary spokesperson for the AMPTP, was exiting that role. Now I can confirm that "Brog" is taking on a newly defined gig with the CEOs group as a senior advisor. "She decided over the Thanksgiving Weekend to get out of the day-to-day. Or in her words, 'she's taking her life back,' " a pal of hers told me.

This is no big surprise because Brogliatti would much rather be at her multiple homes up north in wine country. But I also know first-hand that she was increasingly frustrated at having to take all those dopey calls from too many journalists who prefer to be spoon-fed than actually spend a little shoe leather chasing down the WGA walkout story. Jeez.

Of course, the AMPTP's PR has been abysmal, and the word is this was a palace coup, but on the other hand it's awfully hard to make Big Media corporations sympathetic during a strike. Especially when the studios and networks refuse to resort to the YouTube snark those witty writers are so good at thinking up. I've known Barbara for eons so I'm not going to get on her case. But I do know that I've been trying and trying to get the producers to cough up content that would present their side in forums like Deadline Hollywood Daily rather than simply paid full-page ads in the trades, Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.

At first, Brogliatti had several folks on the AMPTP's PR payroll, including young Jesse Hiestand and briefly some guy from Burston Marsteller. Then, a week or so ago, Brogliatti formed a PR group culled from the flack offices of the networks and studios to give her help. Now that group is looking for a firm or in-house rep to replace what ended up as a way bigger job than the retired PR maven wished to orchestrate as a personal favor to her longtime ex-boss Barry Meyer.

Meanwhile, I received a very strange call today from Hill and Knowlton denying that they're working for the AMPTP even though the CEOs group previously confirmed it to me. If you can't believe a flack about a flackery, what the hell is this world coming to?