Mogul Cracks Are Curiouser And Curiouser

cracks.jpgThe Wall Street Journal not just follow-ups but also credits my reporting that there's not unanimity within the mogul camp on how to proceed with these resumed AMPTP-WGA talks. Here's the WSJ article today. Here's my post from Monday night. I agree that it seems more and more like there's a good CEO/bad CEO scenario occurring behind the scenes of the negotiations. Is Warner Bros' Barry Meyer despite his protestations the real hardline hold-out?

« WGA Talks More About Fixed Residuals   What This Strike Doesn't Need: More PR »

6 Comments »

  1. it’s been baffling why this hasn’t been reported sooner

    of course there’s been divisiveness at AMPTP

    they are different companies with different agendas, and all with megalomaniac CEO’S jockeying each other for dominance

    however, if those “moderate” producers mean a “compromise” is WGA nibbling down what are already paltry terms, the WGA stood stand firm

    WGA should’ve started out with harsher terms to give negotiating room for AMPTP to have its little victories and pound of flesh - it’s about the winning for these guys. They’re too emotional and not acting clearheadedly.

    Comment by AS — December 5, 2007 @ 1:03 pm

  2. The way to break any perp is to play good cop / bad cop. It’s a plot that writes itself. The only way the perp wins is to realize they’re all bad cops. Has a billion tv cop shows taught us nothing?

    Comment by fakeout — December 5, 2007 @ 1:21 pm

  3. I find it disturbing that the studios negotiate in a pack anyway — doesn’t that result in “pay fixing” and creating a situation for writers (and anyone else in whose contract is negotiated in this fashion) of only one game in town? Doesn’t this situation usually demand competition among the studios, i.e. some offering better wages in an effort to get the best talent? Auto makers don’t negotiate in a clump with the Auto Workers Union… so why do we do it this way, which seems to give them all the power?

    Comment by Jennifer — December 5, 2007 @ 2:29 pm

  4. Jennifer is right. As has been pointed out on this blog in past postings the big car makers deal with the auto workers union individually - not as a block. It should be the same in this case. But it’s not. And without that competitive spirit we are at the mercy of whichever company is holding the hard line. Sigh….

    Comment by moderatewriter — December 5, 2007 @ 4:02 pm

  5. Sometimes good cop arrests bad cop. Like when the latter is screwing up the former’s ability to do his job and the former isn’t a wuss.

    What CEO who actually deserves his job would allow his company’s agenda to be set by the CEO of a competing company? Moonves and Zucker are really going to let Chernin’s stubbornness extend the strike and steal advertisers from CBS and NBC over to FOX? How is Chernin selling them on that idea? By describing it as a new economic partnership?

    Comment by Relampago — December 5, 2007 @ 5:12 pm

  6. The problem with the issues of the studios competing for the best talent and negotiating with the guilds individually is that they ALREADY pay premiums for the best talent - maybe David Koepp makes the same residuals as any neophyte who’s spec gets made, BUT David’s sure making more up-front.

    These are MINIMUMS being discussed. An assembly line worker for GM might get paid much less if he took a job at Chrysler. Would any writers out there be happier if there were different formulas for each studio — If a staff job at a UMS show paid half as much as a WB show (at the minimum negotiated scale) ?

    Comment by Anonymous — December 5, 2007 @ 5:48 pm

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