MONDAY PM EXCLUSIVE REPORT: Today's Talks Productive: "Reasonableness Ruled The Day"
As the WGA strike begins its 4th week, I've been told positive news about today's resumption of contract talks between the writers and the producers. So positive, in fact, that I'm almost fearful to post it. But here goes: a very reliable source tells me that there appears to be a deal seemingly in place between both sides.
"It's already done, basically," the insider describes. That's because of the weeks worth of groundwork by the Hollywood agents working the writers guild leadership on one side, and the studio and network moguls on the other. I was told not to expect an agreement this week. But my source thought it was possible that the strike could be settled before Christmas.
Look, I don't want to raise false hope here. But this source has been very accurate in the past. The negotiations starting today will have a news blackout, so don't expect any significant leaks. But consider the real possibility there's been a breakthrough. Still, I must caution that this is Hollywood -- where defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory nearly every time.
“First!” as the kids on aintitcool say. This strike has been great fun and I really love all the attention and the cool red shirts. But a lot of money is being lost at all levels of the industry… Let’s wrap this thing up!
Comment by Jenn M. — November 26, 2007 @ 3:21 am
I hope they got a piece of DVD and advertising on web broadcasts
Comment by ARI — November 26, 2007 @ 5:59 am
Perhaps it’s a good thing that I’m too petrified over a presentation I’ll have to give in an hour to process any good news, because otherwise I think my hopes would be flying. Here’s hoping/praying this is as positive as it sounds, because, damn, that was faster than I ever expected.
Comment by Caitlin — November 26, 2007 @ 6:04 am
Assuming a deal has been struck did the WGA keep DVDs off the table or are they back on?
Inquiring minds and all…
Comment by VDOVault — November 26, 2007 @ 6:21 am
It’s funny, I had a dream about the strike last night. I dreamed that writers were coming from all around to protest. A very positive sign! I also dreamed that the head negotiator of the WGA was a red-headed 56 year old woman…
Comment by mla28 — November 26, 2007 @ 7:23 am
This piece was posted on the WGA site. I think it’s very important for those who aren’t familiar with the math behind all this to take a look.
Here’s the link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-handel/reflections-on-residuals_b_73908.html
Comment by PJ - Writer — November 26, 2007 @ 7:32 am
Yay! Hope that’s true! *crosses fingers*
If the strike is settled before Christmas, will we have more new episodes this season, or is it already too late?
Comment by Hilda — November 26, 2007 @ 7:36 am
oh how i hope you are right!
Comment by Jesse — November 26, 2007 @ 7:55 am
How long will there be a news blackout?
Comment by mel — November 26, 2007 @ 7:59 am
Thank God. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to get back to what I was doing before the strike: Feeling jealous of Judd Apatow.
Comment by Sammy Glick — November 26, 2007 @ 8:08 am
perez stole your photo, but at least he’s linking here.
Comment by Aaron — November 26, 2007 @ 8:30 am
I too have heard that there is potentially a “core deal” in which both sides have not reacted violently towards. In this case, mutual non-hate is a great place to begin detente. Fingers crossed, fists unclenched.
Comment by kurt sutter — November 26, 2007 @ 8:36 am
*fingers crossed* I’ll take any good news at this point…
Comment by Lisa — November 26, 2007 @ 8:41 am
Since the announcement ten days ago that talks were resuming, more than a dozen writers have told me they’ve heard there’s a “framework” for an agreement already in place.
I don’t buy it.
The AMPTP has a PR disaster on their hands, made all the worse by the fact that these moguls are the ones who are supposed to understand media better than anyone. So what does the AMPTP want more than anything right now? A do-over.
No one should forget what happened the Sunday night before the strike. That was all about making the WGA take the fall for this. But with things having gone so badly for the AMPTP (only 4 percent of Americans are siding with them) they see this as a chance to right their ship. They pretend (again) like there’s an outline of an agreement to be had, but meanwhile they have spent the past weekend figuring out how to walk away from the table and blame us for the breakdown, in a way they are convinced will stick. Things can’t get much worse for them and it wouldn’t be surprising if the moguls get rid of Nick Counter as soon as the strike is finally over, so there’s nothing for their side to lose by trying this.
They are Lucy with the football and we are going to fall for it again.
Comment by Anon writer — November 26, 2007 @ 9:04 am
Yepp. Inside out. It is true. I never thought it would be possible. Apparently, the agents are really more powerful than I thought.
I have 4 sources (fellow writers) inside the talks - it is a done deal. They need to circulate the agreement through the studio’s and vis-a-versa then wham o. We go back to scribing the tv shows…….
Comment by BDA — November 26, 2007 @ 9:21 am
I will take anything positive right now.
Comment by Caroline — November 26, 2007 @ 9:44 am
I hope that this is true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I keep my fingers!!!
Comment by Megan — November 26, 2007 @ 9:55 am
um… wow.
Comment by Jason Mayland — November 26, 2007 @ 10:08 am
I was going to hold my breath until I remembered this is LA and sooner or later I still have to breathe the air no matter what.
Let’s hope that all parties approach this with egos aside and a common sense level of intelligence.
pb, still believing in a flat earth too.
Comment by pb — November 26, 2007 @ 10:27 am
I love you, Nikki!!!
Comment by LT — November 26, 2007 @ 10:39 am
I love the Lucy with a football analogy in the comments above, but for once I hope she lets Charlie Brown kick a field goal. I’m wary after what happened the night before the strike, too, but let’s hope that wiser heads prevail this time - and, above all, Nikki, thanks for keeping us informed once again.
Comment by Alexander Chow-Stuart — November 26, 2007 @ 10:40 am
LOL @ Sammy Glick. I do that on an hourly basis.
Comment by Ted Striker — November 26, 2007 @ 10:48 am
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/10519
Studio Exorcism Tomorrow, hope you can link….
Comment by Brad — November 26, 2007 @ 10:57 am
That’s cool. Why would it take until Christmas to be finally done, though?
I won’t Counter the chickens before they hatch.
-Awriter
Comment by A Writer — November 26, 2007 @ 11:02 am
@BDA - agents may be powerful but the public is too. And we don’t like what the AMPTP has done. It’s a microcosmic example of how disenfranchised a lot of us are feeling as we’re squeezed by corporate America in our own jobs, far from Hollywood.
I’m one of the overwhelming majority who support the writers from afar… I don’t have a stake in this except to wish that people were treated more fairly in the workplace. So @Anon writer… even if you are right and this is just a public relations scam by the AMPTP, know that it won’t work; it didn’t work the first time, and the public isn’t going to suddenly become stupid about this issue. Writers have a voice now - thanks to the internet (hah, the very issue at hand), the public is pretty darn well informed of the issue at hand.
Comment by JustaFan — November 26, 2007 @ 11:07 am
I am *wishfully* hoping that this is true. Just wanted to point out to nikki that they are talking about you in tv guide
EVERYONE seems to be reading your site. Does anyone know anmore inside info?
Comment by anon — November 26, 2007 @ 11:33 am
“How long will there be a news blackout?”
In the hopeful scenario, until the outlines of the impending (or finalized) deal are solid enough that both sides are willing to make public announcements about it.
In the pessimistic scenario, until talks break down so badly that one side or both go back to reaming one another in the press on a daily basis, because negotiating isn’t working any better than it did before.
Let’s hope it’s the former.
Comment by Pseudonymouse — November 26, 2007 @ 11:55 am
To JustaFan:
That was a really smart posting
Agents are apparently the conduit for resumption of talks, but they are not the ones who made it happen.
Take care everyone not to throw too much power in the agents’ corner. Writers need to start owning their own power especially in this new digital age, and writers need to take pride in the tremendous job they have done with this strike.
No one could make AMPTP return to the table unless they had a self-serving reason to do so. As JustaFan stated, ironically it has been the very source of this conflict, the Internet, that has played heavily into the AMPTP’s return to the table.
Do not undermine the fabulous job the writers have done in conducting this strike, nor, more importantly, the tremendous power of the internet which has eclipsed Big Media’s distortion of the issues and facts through traditional media.
The public is sick of getting squeezed by corporate America, be it at the gas pump, in the workplace, news reports, and so forth.
AMPTP has been losing the PR war, the public has rallied support for WGA, these reasons and more have played into a possible resolution of the strike.
Writers, own your power. Don’t ping pong your power back to the agents.
Comment by fromtheinside — November 26, 2007 @ 11:57 am
While I am crossing my fingers that things will wrap up quickly, and a fair formula for the writers will be embraced by the all. Honestly, I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. I think the studios are going to wait the 60 days to do anything significant. I believe at this point, they would probably rather exercise their Force Majeure clauses and clean house. They can settle right after and cherry pick.
Comment by Steph — November 26, 2007 @ 11:59 am
http://www.writerswrite.com/
“When the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced plans to resume talks today, one factor that apparently contributed to the detente was the fear among some studios that the blogs and videos were effectively casting them as villains.”
“They’re our version of electronic samizdat,” said Michael Winship, president of WGA East, alluding to underground publications distributed in the former Soviet Union. “The humor is devastating.”
Perhaps the most prolific purveyors have been writers for late-night comedy shows, who are accustomed to quickly satirizing current events. “We have the rapid-response model,” explained Rob Kutner, a writer for “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” who worked with his colleagues on a “Daily Show”-esque video report about the strike, delivered by writer Jason Ross from a makeshift set in front of the picket line.
“It is important to us that people understand what we’re doing and that we’re not just willfully taking their shows off the air,” said “Daily Show” writer Tim Carvell. “But it also just felt so good to write jokes again.”
Comment by Anonymous — November 26, 2007 @ 12:02 pm
Let’s wait to see it before we believe it. Meantime, I’m heading out to my picket line with as much resolve as before. Now is no time to get lazy or let ourselves be seduced by wishful thinking. WGA writers, GO TO YOUR PICKET ASSIGNMENT and don’t flinch until a deal is done.
Comment by 20 year writer — November 26, 2007 @ 12:05 pm
I really do hope there is some sort of deal in place, however, there is a lot of very naive, Pollyanna-ish enthusiasm in this thread and I suspect it’s coming from people relatively new to the industry and/or those who were not part of the strike of ‘88.
This is the moment in every horror movie where the characters breathe a collective sigh of relief thinking the danger has passed, only to have that false sense of security shattered seconds later when they’re confronted by the villain wielding a chainsaw who continues his wanton killing spree.
Remember that Freddy and Jason survived and went on to star in multiple sequels, thanks to greedy studio heads.
The AMPTP ain’t dead yet.
Comment by Fussy Protocol Droid — November 26, 2007 @ 12:14 pm
please say it’s true!! **crosses fingers**
Comment by joy — November 26, 2007 @ 12:22 pm
A friend of mine picketing at the Universal gate unfortunately has the exact same take on this as Anon writer does. He and others with him suspect this is just a ploy by the AMPTP to feign being conciliatory when the truth is they’re trying to save face because of the huge backlash they’re receiving from the public.
He thinks they’ll walk away from the table and try to put the blame on the WGA. Remember, the DVD residual issue is back on the table again and they stormed off even when the Guild dropped it. They’re greedy SOBs obsessed with winning.
I hope my friend’s wrong but….
Comment by reluctant skeptic — November 26, 2007 @ 12:34 pm
Oh please let this be true!
Comment by Brent — November 26, 2007 @ 12:42 pm
Nikki - Whenever this is resolved, you are one of the heroes of all of this mishegas…
I’ll believe the rumors…they make sense. The AMPTP is getting their asses kicked.
Comment by MIKE MARTINEAU — November 26, 2007 @ 1:03 pm
I don’t know about this. It sounds like the classic bait and switch, as the skeptic noted above, of the studios trying to attract some sort of public support because they have none. Of course I hope a fair resolution is in place, but I doubt it.
Comment by NotFinanciallyInvestedInThis — November 26, 2007 @ 1:14 pm
I think the AMPTP underestimated the support the WGA was going to receive from other unions and especially from viewers. Instead of interest and support for the strike waining it has grown steadily everyday with tv fans.
Comment by CMF — November 26, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
A deal may well be in place, but I can assure you that nobody on my staff will vote to ratify it unless the original DVD proposal is back in it.
Comment by Yet Another Writer — November 26, 2007 @ 1:43 pm
I’ve also heard that it’s a “framework” for a deal, and not a final deal that’s been worked out.
Top agents are working frantically in the background. Within a couple of weeks we’ll either get a settlement… or the talks will hit another brick wall.
If we can work out a deal a SAG strike becomes less likely, too. That’s a very good thing. I’d hate to see the IATSE folks get caught in the middle of another strike. They’ve suffered enough.
Comment by anotherworkingwriter — November 26, 2007 @ 1:53 pm
I’m just glad they’re waiting until Christmas to resolve it. That way all of the non-writers who have lost their jobs (grips, caterers, electricians, etc.) will get to explain to their children why Santa won’t be coming this year.
Comment by ChrTh — November 26, 2007 @ 1:59 pm
alli have to say is that i wont believ it, if its just a “leaked” rumour.
its just the kind of the the AMPTP would do. leak the news (and im not attacking nikki in any way here), people think everythings fixed and stop supporting the WGA.
regardless of what we think is going on in those meetings, our support cannot waver until we here for certain things have been sorted.
Comment by Ivy — November 26, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
If I had to guess, I think a big factor will be whether all the reality crap the networks scheduled for December (and beyond) to replace the shows no longer in production is a ratings success. Here’s hoping the numbers are as dismal as this past summer, in which I discovered cable TV and cable on-demand. Stop stalling and settle with the writers already!
Comment by Daniel in Florida — November 26, 2007 @ 2:34 pm
As relieved and optimistic as this makes me, I am upset that DHD did not observe the News Blackout. I suppose it is the responsibility of a journalist to report what they know, but I feel that any kind of announcement like this can hurt the deal closing. There could have been a more vague, “insiders are optimistic” sort of posting.
Comment by Anon E. Mouse — November 26, 2007 @ 2:42 pm
I look at this as “Good News/Bad News”.
The GOOD:
I, too, look for a deal this week.
The BAD:
Verrone has probably caved - on the biggies, that is.
The DVD prop is off (O-F-F) the table. (actually has been for 23 years; c’mon we all knew it was a bargaining chip) As for IST downloads, the AMTP is persistent in their “home video is home video” argument. Bottom line - the good ol’ .3.
*Streaming vid: 1.2 after “try before you buy” (the ink was literally dry on this one - Variety 12/7).
*Made for internet juris: Orig.-No; Deriv.-Yes
The rest is basically housekeeping. Any meaningful WGA gains will be by way minimums and benefits.
As I see it, it would be a risky proposition, at best, to hold out through early ‘09 in an attempt to crater the Feb. sweeps and pilot season.
Speaking as an ‘88 victim/survivor in NY, you tend to pick up on the patterns.
Now, having aid all the above, in a few hours I may stand terribly corrected!
…Rob (FL)
Comment by Rob — November 26, 2007 @ 2:53 pm
Does this mean they’ll make us work over christmas hiatus?
Comment by scribechick — November 26, 2007 @ 3:34 pm
I hope this really comes through for the writers and that it is a fair deal. It would be a nice thing to happen before Christmas as so many jobs and families are negatively effected.
Comment by Mike — November 26, 2007 @ 4:01 pm
please god.
Comment by Darren — November 26, 2007 @ 4:09 pm
Well this will turn my unhappy january into a happy one.The thought of waiting for Season 7 of 24 till maybe April or later was killing me . As long as the writers get there due . I await,we hope,the big strike ending announcement next week !!
Comment by Matt — November 26, 2007 @ 5:19 pm
I dont want to know that the deal is done i want to know that the WGA got a fair deal.
Comment by Anonymous — November 26, 2007 @ 5:43 pm
Hope it’s a win for everyone so everyone can get back to work and I can get back to obsessing over my favorite shows.
Comment by Jenna — November 26, 2007 @ 6:36 pm
JustaFan from afar may not have a “stake” in this, but I do have a pup in this hunt (on the picket line)… and JFan is right. The writers are winning the national PR battle — even out here in the Ohio hinterland. And it will only get worse for the AMPTP when the hit drama episodes in the can play out and next season’s pilots dry up. If they try to play Lucy with the football before Christmas, Charley needs to get up and kick some studio tail instead –in a continuing PR sense of course.
Comment by Blue Dog Rising — November 26, 2007 @ 6:51 pm
I don’t want to count chickens before they’re hatched, but assuming the strike lasts for only a month, how much will that affect the shows who have already stopped filming? Will the networks be adjusting their schedules again?
Comment by mel — November 26, 2007 @ 6:58 pm
U are so effing irresponsible to fly such a rumor, even if it becomes truth. Is it so important for u to say “I told u so”? Did it ever occur to u that such a rumor could damage the negotiating process? I guess the news blackout doesn’t apply to gossip columnists, huh? Not that you would have the guts to ever print this response. Next thing we’ll see is “comments off”. That’s your blackout, eh?
Comment by mandy — November 26, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
@Justafan - I agree but these Producers are fairly ruthless. Well, just plain greedy I should say. The public will jump back in at one point or another the producers think….can you say cable…This should of been fixed last year but greed is a good thing for some. The writers are really the soup and nuts to he shows and we get blamed when thins go BAD fast. In fact, we are always to blame. So I think along with that we should get a bigger piece of the pie. I never listened to a show runner blaming the actors for sitcom failure. Well sometimes but usually it’s the writers fault.
Comment by BDA — November 26, 2007 @ 8:01 pm
Don’t you think the bean-counters are saying to the AMPTP, “You should go back to the table, it’s good PR, but don’t you dare settle until we can invoke force majeure on at least some of our deals”?
Comment by DW — November 26, 2007 @ 9:41 pm
WGA folks: we, the “average Americans” that I know you sometimes wonder about, really do get it.
We get that you’re the ones who gotta go to the well daily to extract your deepest creative impulses, but are required to keep producing works of art, like you were some kind of “work of art factory”.
We get that it sometimes seems thankless.
We get that there’s always a roomful of slimeballs, ready to take advantage of you.
We get that, in an age where Unions have been marginalized and slimed, and the balance of power between labor and ownership has tipped criminally in the wrong direction, yours is the Union that not only stood up, but gave the whole Union movement an unexpected booster shot. And the nation sees you, and admires your strength, in the face of… wow, who the hell knows?
So… thank you. Just, THANK YOU. From the people you don’t think ever notice. Hope there’s a great and gratifying holiday around the corner for you and yours.
Comment by Barry Champlain — November 26, 2007 @ 10:51 pm
Well my fingers are also crossed and hope everything is being sorted out. But before anyone on either side claps their hands and proclaim they are heroes for the way this strike was conducted or resolved they should really think again.
It is a failure on the side of both parties that they let matters decay so badly. Let us all remember many people who had nothing to gain from a strike suffered. Of course these are people in the industry considered lower down in the food chain than a studios or writers. Perhaps next time the WGA and AMPTP should sit down and talk for as long as it takes.
Now we hear it is the SAG next.. great we’ll now have scripts and no one to act them. BRAVO Hollywood. The industry in so backwards. In acting circles maybe the mega-stars could take a slight pay cut to help out the rest of the industry. I personally know cinema (with the aid of illegal burning) in on the down turn.. plenty of jobs potentially lost there. But hey who cares about the little guy right? so long as the big bucks at the top keep rolling in.
Comment by Ames — November 27, 2007 @ 4:59 am
Amen to Barry’s comment @ #57.
If it turns out the Writers’ Guild leadership hasn’t got the best deal, is there much of a mood among the workers to carry on fighting until all their demands have been won?
Comment by a very public sociologist — November 27, 2007 @ 7:39 am
[quote]Don’t you think the bean-counters are saying to the AMPTP, “You should go back to the table, it’s good PR, but don’t you dare settle until we can invoke force majeure on at least some of our deals”?[/quote]
No, I think the network suits were scared to death that the ad agencies would follow through and demand huge amounts of cash back on the upfronts. I think the stockholders started to scream. Invoking force majeure now would be completely counterproductive.
Comment by galveston — November 27, 2007 @ 9:49 am
My union-loving and TV-loving family supports the writers no matter what.
Here’s hoping that a fair deal gets struck soon!
Comment by Jen — November 27, 2007 @ 10:08 am
Well, I can’t honestly say I support either side…
Doesn’t “the public” realize that in the end they’ll be the ones who pay for ANY increases? 4 cents doesn’t sound like a lot, but once you figure in increases to the actors in June and any other unions who might strike, the eventual result is that the cost of every DVD and download will just go up in order for the studios to retain a profit margin.
So a download that cost 1.99 today will cost 2.99 tomorrow, and this inflation will only hurt the public. At the end of it all, next year when consumers are griping about paying more, the studios will just blame the writers.
So the writers will get their increases, so will the actors, lord knows the studios will continue to make money…it seems to me the only people who are going to get screwed in the end is Joe Public.
Comment by Jeanne — November 27, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
Please let this be true. I really want to see The Golden Compass and I won’t go to a movie until this strike is settled in the writers’ favor.
Comment by TV Movie Fan — November 28, 2007 @ 9:25 am
The Democratic candidates have all announced their support for the WGA. The studios weren’t counting on this becoming political. That, in addition to the reports of all the people who lost their jobs, mean that things are looking up for the WGA. I think a deal will be announced soon.
Comment by Justin — November 28, 2007 @ 9:31 am
Let’ s conclude by going back to Texas, and those high school kids that can’ t read about how to prevent pregnancy and STD infection. Turns out that Texas has the highest birth rate in the nation for teens aged 15- 17. It also turns out, according to a poll conducted in August , that 90 percent of Texans“ favor teaching students age- appropriate, medically accurate information on abstinence, birth control and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV.” And still in Texas, regarding the case of…
Comment by Cruise Videos — March 16, 2008 @ 7:03 am