SUNDAY 12:30 PM: At the WGA's news conference today, union leaders declared the new contract is "a huge victory for us". Trumpeted WGAW President Patric Verrone, "This is the first time we actually got a better deal in a new media than previously." Verrone credited News Corp. No. 2 Peter Chernin and Disney chief Bob Iger, and also CBS boss Les Moonves, with "being instrumental in making this deal happen" after the WGA spent 3 months "getting nowhere" with the AMPTP negotiators and lawyers. WGA negotiating committee chief John Bowman added that, "What happened to the Golden Globes was instrumental in getting the CEOs to this table. It was a huge symbol." Bowman said it was "imperative" that the WGA "get in on the ground floor of New Media. Henceforth, we're in from the start. It's 2% of distributor's gross. They can't have a business model without taking that into account." (Photo below by Jim Stevenson of WGA news conference with John Bowman, Patric Verrone and Dave Young. Text continues after pic...)
Verrone said, "Since we began negotiations in July, we've been saying, 'If they get paid, we get paid.' This contract makes that a reality. It's the best deal this Guild has bargained for in 30 years after the most successful strike this Guild has waged in 35 years. It was arguably the most successful strike in the American labor movement in a decade, clearly the most important of this young century. It is not all that we hoped for, and not all that we deserved. But as I told our members, this strike was about the future, and this deal assures for us and for future generations of writers a share in the future..."
Verrone said it was "heartbreaking for me personally" to drop the WGA's demands relating to reality and animation (Verrone is an animation writer) "But it was more important that we make a deal that benefitted the membership and the town as a whole and got people back to work." Verrone stated that "The legacy of the '88 strike was the ability of the companies to develop content without writers and creators. The legacy of this strike will be the ability of writers and creators to develop content without the companies. We are making deals, and we will continue to make deals, with Google, Yahoo, and others beyond just the 7 conglomerates."
The leaders confirmed that WGA members would have 48 hours to call off the strike and 10 days to accept the newly negotiated contract.
But Verrone said TV showrunners (who have producing duties in addition to writing duties on TV series) would be allowed to go back to work Monday before the 48-hour notice vote by members is conducted. This no doubt solves the dilemma that the moguls made the deal negotiated with the WGA contingent on having the writers go back to work immediately.
The Writers Guild East Council and Writers Guild West Board voted to approve the contract and sent it to membership for a ratification vote, which will be conducted via mail ballot and at special meetings conducted on a date to be determined. In addition, the Council and Board also voted to lift the restraining order (strike) upon the majority vote of the membership, casting ballots in a vote to be conducted Tuesday, February 12th.
Variety reports that industry sources say the WGA contract reached with the majors "includes a provision that will allow scribes who were force majeuered from ongoing series to return to their old jobs. The contract does not address those who were force majeured from overall deals and other contracts if they were not working on a series that will resume production."
I can also report that the Screen Actors Guild, whose contract expires in June, has not set a date yet when it will start negotiating with the moguls. Asked about the possibility of an actors strike, the WGA leaders concurred that "no part of the Industry wants a second strike".
SUNDAY AM: I'm told the WGA's Negotiating Committee met today from 9 AM-10 AM and agreed to recommend the writers-moguls deal and to call off the strike. The WGAW's governing Board and the WGAE's governing Council began meeting at 10 AM Pacific time to do the same thing. That confab should have the same outcome in time for a WGA news conference at noon with WGAW President Patric Verrone, WGAE President Michael Winship (on the phone), WGAW Executive Director and Chief Negotiator David Young, and WGA Negotiating Committee Chair John Bowman. No matter how the governing boards voted, the WGA membership will still have the last word on calling off the strike within 48 hours, and accepting the newly negotiated contract within 10 days. (FYI: I can't attend because I'm still fluish and coughing my head off.)
Here's more detail, courtesy of United Hollywood, on the membership's 48 hour vote on whether or not to immediately lift the strike. The 48 hours starts today, probably by early this afternoon, with a view to a polling place-like vote probably in the WGA Theater on Tuesday. Voting will either be in person or by fax (proxy). If the vote passes, writers can go back to work. Then the writers will be given 10 days notice to vote by mail, in person or by fax (proxy) on accepting the new contract.
SATURDAY 9:00 PM: I've received word from inside the Shrine Auditorium meeting that the WGA West membership was obviously "very positive" about resolving the writers strike as soon as possible and accepting the deal negotiated by the guild leadership with the Hollywood moguls. 
Also, the WGA governing bodies wisely decided to ensure that guild members be able to vote within the next 48 hours before the strike can be called off by leaders -- even though the AMPTP made the deal contingent on the writers going back to work immediatelt. Under this new end game, Hollywood could now get back to work by Wednesday at the earliest (not Monday as previously arranged). This also means the Academy Awards, just 14 days away, won't be picketed. A writer who just left the confab told me: "There was cheering for everything and standing ovation after standing ovation for all the leadership. There is no question in my mind that because of the atmosphere in that room this strike will be called off. There is no gearing for a fight. It's over."
WGAW President Patric Verrone announced that there would be a vote by the membership over the next 48 hours on whether or not to lift the strike. I'm told Verrone said specifically that the decision to call off the strike, regardless of the WGA Negotiating Committee's or the WGAW Board's or WGAE Council's recommendation, was to be in the hands of the membership (which wasn't originally planned). Pending that outcome, the 10-day ballotting process for members to accept the tentative deal would begin. Since the moguls insisted that vote not delay the lifting of the strike, WGA leader Dave Young Young told the auditorium that the writers, and therefore all of Hollywood, could get back to work by Wednesday. That means Back 9 orders of some scripted TV series could be saved along with a no-frills pilot season with less scripted series ordered than ever before. (And expect the upfront presentations to advertisers to consist of a lot more pleading than preening.) Some of the force-majeured deals could be reinstated. (But it's important to remember that three times as many pacts would have been cancelled if the agents and lawyers hadn't lobbied the networks and studios.) Feature films that were halted could get going immediately.
About 25% of the attendees left the auditorium after Dave Young explained the deal points. But the meeting is still going on as members now ask questions about specific terms. Nevertheless, it's g'night from DHD. More coverage tomorrow. (Photos by Jim Stevenson: above, outside Shrine Auditorium as WGA membership arrive for meeting tonight; below, reporters throng screenwriter Gregory Poirier outside the Shrine.)
SATURDAY 8:00 PM: The Los Angeles Times' Envelope blog just sent out an email alert that the WGA strike will not be over on Monday. This is based on the blogging of LAT columnist Joel Stein, who is the newspaper's unreadable humor columnist and is inside the WGA West membership meeting at the Shrine because he is a guild member. Stein wrote that WGAW President Patric Verrone told the room that "the strike isn’t over Monday" and "the decision to lift the strike will be up to the membership after the vote on the contract". I do not have confirmation of this yet, although I have been reporting since yesterday that WGA members were pressing the guild's leadership and governing bodies for more time to study the language and terms of the proposed WGA-mogul deal. However, earlier today the WGA East membership meeting in NYC was told that the AMPTP made the deal contingent on writers going back to work immediately. ADDENDUM: Los Angeles Times TV writer Maria Elena Fernandez clarifies in this email to me: "Just wanted to correct you on something you posted regarding Joel Stein's blogging. Yes, Joel was in there and was sending his first-person dispatches, but the information you quoted--Verrone's statement, etc--actually came from me. I was the one in the Shrine doing the news blogging. Joel didn't quote anyone and didn't really provide news. He just did impressions."
SATURDAY 7:00 PM: Tonight's WGA West membership "informational" meeting is scheduled to start.
SATURDAY 4:00 PM: The WGA East's "informational" meeting for membership lasted about 3 hours. Here's more about the NYC confab from a WGA attendee: "The East meeting was insanely civil. Not one chair thrown. I was at the meeting in the same ballroom the second week of the strike, when the same people were sitting up there and were characteristically defensive about why we had gone out and if they knew what they were doing. Today, those same people were not only confident, they were not in the least defensive about the deal -- they were realistic, 180 degrees from the chaos and disarray I smelled three months ago. And they ain't actors. I think if they felt they needed to ram something down our throats, you would have picked up on that immediately. The two big moments for me came very early, when each member of the negotiating committee spoke briefly. Terry George said, 'We have defeated a tradition of rollbacks that began with the air traffic controllers.' That crystallized what we were up against and how far we had come and changing the dialogue. A couple minutes later, Melissa Salmons said, 'For years, I have lived in fear of that DVD formula, that it would be with me for my life. Now we have a deal that have movement in it.' (Later on, she told a daytime writer that the staff of Days of Our Lives, who had all been fired last week, were getting their jobs back. And that a striking writer, if fired, had to be replaced by a striking writer. Not a scab, and not a fi-core member. Big ovation.) I'll stop short of calling it a love fest, but not all that short. Legit questions were raised and respectfully answered. Again, no defensiveness. There was an informal applause poll, and the room was overwhelmingly in favor of ending the strike before a membership ratification vote."
SATURDAY 2:40 PM: A WGA bigwig just phoned me with this important message for WGA members: "I need to bring up an important issue. The members have not seen all the deal points. The only deal points we have are the New Media deal points. But there is a key issue we aren't seeing right now. Right now, the only favored nations clause we have with SAG is in New Media. Members may think we're in a good position to benefit from a better SAG deal, to let SAG take the ball from our deal and run with it. But members need to know that if SAG turns around and negotiates a better DVD deal, or a better pension deal, or better rates anyplace else other than New Media, we will not benefit. We only have favored nations with SAG where it concerns New Media and even that isn't even written down. It's just a verbal agreement. They [the AMPTP] tried to screw us on this at the last minute."
Here's more on this issue from a strike captain's email to his WGA picket team (excerpted): "No doubt you are reviewing the Tentative Agreement in detail. It's challenging, and to be honest, I feel it's probably the best we're going to get without staying out on strike another 3-4 months... BUT... I need to bring one more important thing to your attention: FAVORED NATIONS CLAUSE. At the Captain's Mtg yesterday, we were told that clause is SUPPOSED TO BE IN HERE. It is not. That clause means if SAG gets a better deal, and they most likely will in a few key areas (like perhaps streaming and adjusting that long window that concerns many of us), we would get the SAME DEAL. We were told Peter Chernin looked our team in the eye across the table while negotiating and said we would have it, then he denied it to his lawyers. Again, this deal is most likely as good as we'll get, but without that clause, especially if he lied to us, IT IS NOT COMPLETE."
SATURDAY 2:00 PM: Here's first word to me from inside the WGA East "informational" meeting in NYC's Crowne Plaza Hotel in Times Square. (The meeting is still going on...): "The room at first was not overly contentious as everyone listened to [WGA East Michael] Winship and others. Basically, the leadership was selling the deal. The leadership made it clear that the deal is a limited time offer. That if we don't go back to work on this immediately we lose the deal and we're back to the beginning again. There was some pushback. There was a lot of conversation how we shouldn't go back immediately and we should at least have 48 hours to think about this. And the argument was that the AMPTP has said that this deal is contingent on going back to work immediately. That it's kind of a 'take or leave it offer' and if we don't take this then we could be out forever. But the leadership may consider a delay for 48 hours, that it's a possibility this is what they'll do. The mood in the room was that, 'It's not a perfect deal, but it's good enough'. There was a sense of resignation."
SATURDAY 11:00 AM: WGA EAST membership "informational" meeting supposed to start in NYC.
SATURDAY 9:45 AM: A WGA leadership insider just told me: "No decision has yet been made about lifting the strike. It is very possible member vote will be taken this week before strike is lifted. That will be decided by [WGA East] council and [WGA West] board tomorrow based on member feedback today."
SATURDAY 9:00 AM: Emails are pouring into me from WGA West and East writers complaining that their leadership is, to quote one message, "ramming this deal down our throats". Everything is pointing to very contentious membership meetings on both coasts today. Will the membership be able to overlook the procedural problems relating to this draft deal and instead focus on the contractual terms? Again, the links to the draft deal are here and here.
Here's more about Friday's briefing of all strike captains by the WGA leadership: "Just wanted you to know that no matter what you heard, when the deal was laid out for the strike captains Friday morning, support was WAAAY less than unanimous. Indeed, it was quite a vocal meeting, as a large number of captains expressed serious reservations that this deal is being forced on WGA members -- that it's not right for the WGA to call off the strike before members can vote on it, especially without seeing the contract. But dissenters were lobbied to go out and sell our teams the idea that continuing to strike will not yield a better deal."
But a TV writer I know counters: "Gosh Nikki, I guess the squeaky wheels really do get the oil. What is with all this moaning and groaning you are hearing over email? My strike captain, definitely one of the more 'militant', was at the meeting, and says there was not all this dissention, thinks it's a good deal, and does not think this it is being rammed down our throats. And neither do I. As someone who missed only three days of picketing since the strike started, I ask this: can people maybe just take a deep breath and look at this objectively? There's no honorary Oscar awarded for Most Irrationally Outraged. however there will be an award for World's Biggest Asshole, and it'll be split 12,000 ways if we stay out of work two extra weeks all to approve the deal anyway, or worse yet, reject it and send even loyal picketers like me off the deep end."
Still another strike captain I know emails: "I don't know who is claiming that there was a lot of anger over the deal a the Strike Captains' meeting yesterday. I was there. I've been to every SC meeting, and it was one of the least contentious meetings we've had. First of all, our leadership got thunderous applause when they were introduced. Secondly, I can barely remember a negative comment about the actual deal. I'd say the person who was the most brutally honest about the deal's compromises was David Young himself. There was no sugar coating with him. Something I've come to like about him.
"Mostly, people asked questions because they wanted clarification. Joe Medeiros [Tonight Show head writer] asked a good question about the use of clips. Someone else asked about how the $40,000 and $20,000 figures were arrived at on Prime Time Streaming. Laeta Kalogridis [United Hollywood co-founder] got up and debunked the numerous inaccuracies in Friday's NYT piece, and defended Bowman, Verrone, and Young against Michael Cieply's fantastical reporting. Jay Kogen and Ken Lazebnik each voiced a need for the leadership to tell the story of the negotiations and how things were arrived at, so the membership understood how it all came about.
"The only real, consistent bone of contention was over who should end the strike... the leadership, or the membership. Patric was very clear that he wanted to wait and take the temperature of the membership at the meeting tonight, before a decision was made on how to go about ratifying and ending the strike. He was very open about it, and was clearly concerned that people might feel railroaded by a grand fiat ending the strike that was then followed by a ratification vote. He also made us keenly aware of the need to get people back to work in this town, and our responsibility to the people who are hurting.
"I even spoke briefly with Patric after the meeting and explained my belief that the 10-day wait was a relic of a pre-internet era, and that the 48-hour option, while being a logistical nightmare for the Guild and its staffers, was the best option in my eyes. He asked me a few questions about my opinion and I have no doubt he's clearly concerned with making the best choice for everyone. The split over this issue by the Guild's own members is a clear indication of just how difficult this choice is.
"Like everyone else, I have concerns about the deal, but overall I think it's a win for us, and I have no doubt that it's a deal we never would have come close to receiving without the strike. Like every negotiation, we're not going to get everything we want. Every writer knows what it's like when their agent/manager/lawyer, or in my case all three, try to get you a killer deal from the studios... you end up with something pretty good that you can live with, and gratefully can live on. That's what we got here, and I see very little upside to rejecting the deal. Perhaps SAG, with our support, can better it a bit in June, and we'll ride that "most favored nation" train along with them.
"To quote [WGA East head] Michael Winship [who was at the strike captains meeting in LA yesterday], who was quoting Bill Clinton, we shouldn't let 'perfect' be the enemy of 'good.' " [Actually Voltaire said it...]
SATURDAY AM: At 2:30 AM, the WGAW and WGAE emailed this letter to membership with the drafted deal summary. Now the NYC WGA membership and the LA WGA membership have less than 12 hours to review it before Saturday's meetings and their leadership "takes the temperatures" of both confabs. The huge question today is whether the writers gathering for these meetings will give the WGA West and East governing bodies an unofficial OK to approve the deal. In a lightning speed schedule dictated by the Hollywood CEOs, the WGAW and WGAE governing bodies meet on Sunday to decide whether to approve the deal and call off the strike. If the labor action is stopped, writers go back at work as soon as Monday. The moguls insisted the WGA leadership call off the strike before the guild members vote on the contract. But the tentative deal cannot be formally accepted until the WGAE and WGAW memberships ballotting expected within the next two weeks.
To Our Fellow Members,
We have a tentative deal.
It is an agreement that protects a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery. It creates formulas for revenue-based residuals in new media, provides access to deals and financial data to help us evaluate and enforce those formulas, and establishes the principle that, "When they get paid, we get paid."
Specific terms of the agreement are described in the summary at the following link and will be further discussed at our Saturday membership meetings on both coasts. At those meetings we will also discuss how we will proceed regarding ratification of this agreement and lifting the restraining order that ends the strike. Details of the Los Angeles meeting can be found at [link].
Less than six months ago, the AMPTP wanted to enact profit-based residuals, defer all Internet compensation in favor of a study, forever eliminate "distributor's gross" valuations, and enforce 39 pages of rollbacks to compensation, pension and health benefits, reacquisition, and separated rights. Today, thanks to three months of physical resolve, determination, and perseverance, we have a contract that includes WGA jurisdiction and separated rights in new media, residuals for Internet reuse, enforcement and auditing tools, expansion of fair market value and distributor's gross language, improvements to other traditional elements of the MBA, and no rollbacks.
Over these three difficult months, we shut down production of nearly all scripted content in TV and film and had a serious impact on the business of our employers in ways they did not expect and were hard pressed to deflect. Nevertheless, an ongoing struggle against seven, multinational media conglomerates, no matter how successful, is exhausting, taking an enormous personal toll on our members and countless others. As such, we believe that continuing to strike now will not bring sufficient gains to outweigh the potential risks and that the time has come to accept this contract and settle the strike.
Much has been achieved, and while this agreement is neither perfect nor perhaps all that we deserve for the countless hours of hard work and sacrifice, our strike has been a success. We activated, engaged, and involved the membership of our Guilds with a solidarity that has never before occurred. We developed a captains system and a communications structure that used the Internet to build bonds within our membership and beyond. We earned the backing of other unions and their members worldwide, the respect of elected leaders and politicians throughout the nation, and the overwhelming support of fans and the general public. Our thanks to all of them, and to the staffs at both Guilds who have worked so long and patiently to help us all.
There is much yet to be done and we intend to use all the techniques and relationships we've developed in this strike to make it happen. We must support our brothers and sisters in SAG who, as their contract expires in less than five months, will be facing many of the same challenges we have just endured. We must further pursue new relationships we have established in Washington and in state and local governments so that we can maintain leverage against the consolidated multinational conglomerates with whom we bargain. We must be vigilant in monitoring the deals that are made in new media so that in the years ahead we can enforce and expand our contract. We must fight to get decent working conditions and benefits for writers of reality TV, animation, and any other genre in which writers do not have a WGA contra
Do these attorneys know time is essential! Today they should take a shorter lunch.
Comment by lance — February 8, 2008 @ 12:13 pm
When you’re dealing with a legal document - especially when there’s real money involved you’ll have to live with it for a LONG TIME - it is far better to get the language right than to rush it.
IOW, in contract world, unlike movie world, there’s no fixing it in post.
Comment by mheister — February 8, 2008 @ 12:29 pm
I’m not concerned — after all, the strike is over.
Eisner said so.
Comment by Brett — February 8, 2008 @ 12:34 pm
Don’t blame the attorneys. They are probably working 24/7. Problem is that there is no template to work from since “new media” concerns have not been addressed in prior contracts. So they have to create from scratch. Then the attorneys on the other side have to look at everything the other side produces and run it by the clients - which leads to more revisions, comments, etc. Looks like both sides were being overly optimistic that this could be hammered out in a week
Comment by Richard — February 8, 2008 @ 12:42 pm
I love you Nikki, you keep it real. Keep up the good work.
Comment by boo — February 8, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
No language, no contract.
No contract, no Oscars.
Comment by Working Writer — February 8, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
Yep, that’s what I heard too.
Shawn Ryan (WGA NegCom) was just on UH Live and mentioned as much. That is, there is a chance the contract language may not be completed before the meeting tomorrow.
The contract language has to be approved by the CEOs, and WGA has be extremely diligent to make sure nothing has been removed or changed in last minute Negotatiating Tactics by the AMPTP.
Comment by PJ - Writer — February 8, 2008 @ 1:01 pm
I agree. Let’s rush it, and make the work as sloppy as possible. That way we leave the AMPTP all sorts of holes to worm their way through after the WGA has been kind enough to call off the strike.
Patience is a virtue.
PS: We’ve been told 5pm PST. It’s a little early to complain that the pot isn’t boiling fast enough.
Comment by Simon Jester — February 8, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
I’ve been listening to the unitedhollywood video live blog stream… the host was just at the captains meeting where they listed the terms.. here are some of his comments:
“Some people liked the deal. Some people did not like the deal.”
“If you like the DGA deal, you’ll like this.”
He also said the deal provoked “strong feelings”, but that the Q&A was polite and respectful.
(Make of it what you will. I’m sure leaks will now be coming fast and furious.)
Another captain who called in said:
“I’m feeling cautiously optimistic.” and “I think our negotiating committee feels that they did the best they could possibly do for us right now at this time with the leverage they have.”
(uh oh. that doesn’t sound so good.)
The fact that new media jurisdiction was acheived at all, she said, was a big deal.
(I beg to differ.. it was a given for any contract)
The strike captains were given a tentative agreement to look at for the meeting but had it pulled out of their hands before they left.
“There were two distinct opinions” in the lobby afterwards she added. One half was “gleeful” and then there were people who were “concerned”.
(My opinion– unless it’s 0day residuals, forget it. I’m not ready to vote “yes” for any kind of ad-supported “promotional” streaming.)
Shawn Ryan of “The Sheild” and a member of the negotiating committee called after that. Said he hadn’t been at the table since Monday afternoon so didn’t know the latest. Stressed the importance of getting the agreed-to-terms in writing during this week, as terms tend to shift from the discussion to the paperwork. He’s hoping they’ll have the contract language together by Sat night. Doesn’t know how late this may be going. The leadership wants it to members as quick as possible for digestion and so that people can come up with Q&A for the meeting. But they don’t wanna go so fast that they make mistakes in the contract language. Said he understands that many writers do not want leadership to call off the strike before they can vote on the contract– but notes that formal vote can take 10-20 days in West coast and longer for east coast. Also added that leverage on agreeing to come back early may have been something that was used to get better terms. Stressed that no one on the negcom is going to do anything official until after this meeting on saturday.
Also said that although there is a broad spectrum of opinion– it was NOT the case that there was a secret cabal of people threatening fi-core that forced this agreement. “This was always a time David Young had looked at as a time of maximum pressure for us.” Also said, “they want us back to work more than we’re willing to take a bad deal to get back to work.”
As of now, the show is still ongoing. Everyone on the show stressed the importance of the Shrine meeting.
The tentative agreement will hoefully be in PDF form to look at before the meeting. Sounds like PLENTY of time to critically analyze it.
The host just repeated- “again, if you liked the DGA deal you’re really going to like this deal.”
So see you all at the shrine..
Comment by WGA Writer Taking Notes — February 8, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
The reason the draft language is taking so long is that the AMPTP doesn’t WANT us to have much time to examine the deal points before the hard-sell at tomorrow’s rally.
We are being lubed for easy insertion.
Comment by Writer Bob — February 8, 2008 @ 1:39 pm
Hmmm…
The language is key in any contract negotiation, the misplacement of a comma or a colon can complete change the meaning of a deal and negate any advances.
The studios know this, which is why they go for big multi-page contracts, they hope to slip something by in a wave of paper.
I hope the WGA doesn’t do anything until a concrete contract, with all the ‘i’s dotted and the ‘t’s crossed to be examined by experts or they’ll be screwed.
I’m the last person to be a militant, but I must say that with no deal, there should be no Oscars.
Comment by Furious D — February 8, 2008 @ 1:47 pm
Of course it’s a game… same bunk happens when deal memos get expanded into contracts. Lawyers plays games until the last minute.. adding a little BS here, short changing you a little there — same old, same old. It’s a game to see who’s willing to budge an inch just to make a dead line. And in this case, budging inches means millions of dollars.
That’s why it was easy for the DGA to trumpet, “Yeah, we got a deal!!” Yeah, they got a deal memo. Come time to put it down on paper, there in for more AMPTP fun.
Comment by Writer/Director — February 8, 2008 @ 1:56 pm
So how I don’t think this strike will end any time soon. The Powers that be seem to be stalling and will probably blame the writers once again when talks break down again.
Comment by Eden — February 8, 2008 @ 2:06 pm
As if everyone wasn’t anxious enough. How about a headline “Your Mortage is Overdue.”?
Top Ten Possible Wrong Headlines today:
10. Tick-Tock: No WGA Deal Language Yet
9. Is Your Young Daughter Out Partying and Losing Her Virginity?
8. Your Mortage Is Late and You Have No Money.
7. The Deal Negotiated Will Suck But You’ll Feel Compelled To Take It To Save An Awards Show.
6. A Republican Might Be Our Next President Again.
5. Nobody Is Going To Buy That Side Project You’ve Been Working On.
4. Your Agent Is Going To Drop You The Minute The Strike Ends.
3. Your Agent Is Not Going To Drop You And You Don’t Have The Balls To Fire Him.
2. Your Wife Is Sleeping With Your Agent.
1. Your Agent Is Sleeping With Your Daughter.
Signed,
Not a comedy writer
Comment by outside the gates — February 8, 2008 @ 2:07 pm
Two words: Billable hours. This will not be done any sooner than it absolutely has to be. So…. about noon tomorrow, just in time for the East Coast meeting.
Comment by Attyatlaw — February 8, 2008 @ 2:11 pm
No language because the companies are still trying to hold out on a few points… it’s up to them to close this thing so that WGA leadership has time to put it into a deal that David Young will sign — otherwise, tomorrow’s meeting ain’t happening.
Comment by Toto The Kansas K9 — February 8, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
I am going on an alcohol strike. I’m going to stay drunk until I see the language.
See you at the Pub.
Comment by Greg — February 8, 2008 @ 2:20 pm
I just had lunch with my strike captain who came straight from the WGA Strike Captain’s meeting this afternoon at the WGA.
Now, I’m waiting to read the actual contract language, like everyone else. And I want to reserve judgment until we’ve all had a chance to digest it. But here’s the rub:
We’re not being given a chance to digest the deal… IT IS BEING RAMMED DOWN OUR THROATS. My strike captain told me that during tomorrow’s meeting, there may be a voice or hand vote of the assembled membership on whether to accept the deal…
THIS IS A DIRTY TRICK!
The proponents of the deal are using speed as a tactic to silence dissent. How can any meaningful discussion take place in such a short window?
The proponents of the deal have had weeks and weeks to comb through all the fine points, while the rank and file have been completely in the dark during the media blackout. Now we’re being given less than 24 hours to read and digest a deal that will determine all of our futures for years – if not decades – to come?
I urge the WGA Board to give the membership time to discuss the contract among ourselves – not just in the meeting tomorrow – but over the coming days. We MUST HAVE TIME for meaningful discourse.
Of course, the proponents won’t want that – they’re already out spinning how the “strike is over” and the media echo chamber is spreading that lie. And the proponents don’t want to give any time for opponents of the deal to emerge and organize.
To my fellow members: DON’T DRINK THE KOOL AID! DO NOT VOTE TO END THE STRIKE OR ACCEPT THE DEAL TOMORROW!
We need a chance to talk to each other and read the analyses of outside, impartial experts. (Some very smart people will be dissecting the deal as soon as it is published, and this will only take a few days at most.)
Why can’t we simply trust the “recommendation” of our elected negotiators?
Because of a shocking fact:
OUR WGA NEGOTIATORS WERE GIVEN ANOTHER ULTIMATUM: THEY WERE FORCED TO “RECOMMEND” THIS DEAL TO THE MEMBERSHIP AS A CONDITION FOR IT BEING OFFERED AT ALL.
Our negotiators (for whom I have tremendous respect and admiration) have been blackmailed into silent assent by the moguls. They cannot speak out against the deal, or it will be pulled from the table.
Now, I don’t want to prolong the strike, but the deal I read about in the New York Times this morning, and which my strike captain relayed to me at lunch today, seems SHOCKINGLY BAD FOR THE WGA!
I’m hoping that the fine print assuages my major concern:
The precedent of getting “distributor’s gross” is exciting, but it becomes MEANINGLESS if a low residual cap is also given precedent. Who cares what percentage we get, if it’s capped off at $1,200 or even $2400? This is a rate far, far worse than even the reviled DVD formula. At least in that case, the writer gets a per unit residual. A capped download residual is essentially a “buyout.” This is the massive rollback we all feared, no matter what positive spin the put on it.
Maybe there is contract language that will prove the NY Times and my strike captain wrong. God, I hope so. But here it is almost 4pm, the day before the meeting where we’re all supposed to vote on it, and I still haven’t gotten the contract.
I beg, BEG the WGA Board to give us time to analyze the deal before the strike is lifted. This is the most important decision the WGA membership will make for decades.
Comment by WGA Writer — February 8, 2008 @ 2:49 pm
I was queasy with dread and simmering anger about the deal. I went to the captains meeting today, and, man, was I relieved. The deal is much better than I had thought. I am happy with it. Overjoyed? No. But for me it’s a no-brainer in terms of voting to ratify. So don’t fret and go hoarse until you hear the deal points. And I’ve gotta tell you, I love our leadership. I just do. They have withstood the disinformation and personal attacks and done an admirable job under terribly adverse conditions.
Comment by AJB — February 8, 2008 @ 3:38 pm
“Writers need to let go of some dreams. It’s not a resounding and humiliating defeat of the companies. But it also doesn’t let the networks and studios treat the Internet like the Wild Wild West.”
Okay guys, this is how the world of business and negotiations work. In a successful negotiation, neither side gets everything, but everyone gets something. If the deal is decent as the strike captain above described, you need to take it. Staying out until everyone is living in cardboard boxes won’t improve what’s being offered. It will just split the union into a camp of fi-core working writers and those who like picketing.
Comment by Michael — February 8, 2008 @ 3:55 pm
i LOVE that picture!
Comment by hee hee — February 8, 2008 @ 3:55 pm
I don’t know who that strike captain was, but he’s a fucking idiot.
After listening to the negotiator today at NBC explain this “deal” and what’s going to happen next, I’m the most angry and disgusted as I’ve been at any point of this strike–and I’ve had some moments of really being pissed off.
It sounds as if this is a “take it or leave it” deal, just another strong armed technique disguised as a generous handout from the AMPTP. And recommending it, “suspending” the strike, is just another gullible move by the people who are supposed to have the writers best interests at heart. And it sounds like it’s being rammed down our collective gullet and I don’t like it.
Tomorrow night is going to loud, but in the end, the leadership and the negotiating board is going to accept the deal, folding like every other time in our recent history…
And makes me angry that they are so short-sighted.
Comment by jake Hollywood — February 8, 2008 @ 4:17 pm
The moderates will accept it and the hardliners will reject it, both sight unseen - so I wouldn’t worry too much about the specifics
Comment by Ted Striker — February 8, 2008 @ 4:22 pm
Come on, you’re talking about lawyers and writers. They’ve been in competition for who takes the longest lunches for decades.
LOL!!!
Comment by get real — February 8, 2008 @ 4:26 pm
I love the self importance of the strike captains. It cracks me up.
Comment by chris — February 8, 2008 @ 4:36 pm
As a Tv fan and reading a lot of remarks by other Tv show fans please I hope these attorneys don’t F’ this up. Everyone is ready to go back to work and this is the biggest weekend for this strike.
If the deal doesn’t go thru who knows what the networks or out of work writers will do .
Please get this done so it that the writers get there due and the Networks the actors production companies can all getto do what they do best produce some top TV shows.
I am personally upset by of all of this because i lost 24 for the season. This settlement goes thru means i only have to wait till september to see 24.
Finally I want to thank you Nikki for having a site i can go to and read the truth from both sides. Thank you again.
Comment by Matt C — February 8, 2008 @ 4:39 pm
It’s a quarter to 6:00 and still no deal. Come on, studio lawyers, thousands of below-the-line people are counting on you to stop playing with the wording just so you can make a few extra pennies and make the damn deal already! The whole town is counting on you, studio lawyers, don’t fuck this up!
Comment by Joe Teamster — February 8, 2008 @ 4:45 pm
I’ve been talking to writers all day. No one is happy about the way this is going down. Everone I spoke to is prepared to make a huge stink about it.
Comment by Anonymous — February 8, 2008 @ 4:48 pm
Will everyone please, please SHUT UP! If you think you have been and are being played by the AMPTP (of course you have been),then you have helped them every step of the way during this strike by fanning the fires they have intended to light - union busting and deal breaking - by your endless pontificating on speculation. Stop this clock ticking drama and all these rallying cries. Save these words for a drama you will get paid to write! Do you hear the DGA membership hanging their internal issues out on a public wash line? (Not that I think their is a conscious member in that guild.) No one has any idea what any of them think about their deal, and no one really knows the outcome of their vote yet. They could reject it. Wouldn’t their negotiating team and the AMPTP be surprised.
All of this WGA whining out in the open fuels adjectives about a deal no one has seen. Minds have been made up on nothing more than what is being characterized by a reporter and a handful of WGA fist shakers as a good or bad term. Let’s not add modifiers to speculation. When the terms are presented in writing and explanations are presented for WHY these terms were negotiated then objective, informed, and rational decision can be made about how to proceed.
Remember the important points. In November there was ZERO. In December there was ZERO. In January for most of the month there was ZERO. See how much better than ZERO the WGA leadership was able to negotiate because your strike generated something better than ZERO. Hear why this is a deal your leadership is willing to present to the membership. And SHUT UP! until you get behind closed doors where you can discuss the terms among your own!
Semper Fi
Comment by Semper Fi — February 8, 2008 @ 4:51 pm
“Writers need to let go of some dreams.”
There will be plenty of spinning on both WGA sides, but it’s clear at this point that the deal presented on Saturday will not have been one worth striking for.
Everyone knew that as soon as the DGA deal was announced. Despite all the posturing, “Strike until it’s right,” and similar B.S., the WGA caved again, and pattern bargaining continues to be insurmountable.
To future WGA leadership, please don’t bother asking for a strike again.
EVER.
For the imbeciles that would support another strike in the future, consider the results of the last four.
Comment by Disappointed — February 8, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
Well, point of info, universal entrances off Lankershim were hopping this am. Long lines of cars going in for the first time in a while.
Comment by nsigi — February 8, 2008 @ 5:36 pm
Once again I hope you choke on your own vomit, Nikki. YOU are NOT a reporter (obviously, you work for the free bird cage liner LA weekly), and YOU are responsible directly for prolonging this strike and deeply hurting many folks.
If I ever run into you around town you will know it is me - I will be the one telling you to go FUCK OFF very loudly.
Comment by nikki hater — February 8, 2008 @ 5:52 pm
No language, no paperwork… no Oscars. simple as that
Comment by D — February 8, 2008 @ 5:58 pm
I just learned the terms of the deal - it’s basically the DGA deal warmed over. Personally, I understand why the studios and networks pay Counter his high fee to negotiate. He basically ran circles around the WGA leadership and is getting the guild leadership to back a shitty deal. So shitty in fact, that imho, it will overtime make the WGA irrelevant.. if it doesn’t make many people go fi-core. It will create a parallel stream of non WGA, DGA ( and probably SAG) talent and careers. Hell, I might as well start my own prod-co and hire non-wga writers to write my stuff.
That’s my opinion. Others will differ.
What’s is really pathetic about the WGA leaderships is how they are handling this. It’s now common knowledge they agreed with the AMPTP to lift the strike before the membership gets to vote on it. Once you read the details of the deal, you’ll know why. The plan is to keep the details mum until the Saturday meeting, then lift the strike on Sunday night. Don’t give members a chance to digest the numbers, don’t give time for people to communicate, and don’t allow a chance for the membership to vote down the deal. Asked today what would happen if the membership voted down the deal, Dan Young was stumped. We certainly can’t go out on strike again, he mumbled. And that’s the point. That’s what the guild leadership is steamrolling the membership into.
Why? Because if the strike isn’t lifted, pilot season is gone. And there are high powered guild members — some who runs a prominent strike-oriented website (I’ll let you guess which one) - who negotiated in the background and basically put their future before anybody elses’ - which is human nature. There are enough members who are on the verge of breaking off that to prevent the guild from fracturing in today, the leadership took a shity deal.
Which makes my whole last three months of strike a total waste. This deal, despite what the leadership will say, could have been had months ago without a strike. But going in demanding things like animation, reality, doubling of DVD residuals… striking, putting people out of work… and than dropping the items in the new contract… they caused incredible pain and sacrifice for gains that DGA gain while still working (yeah, DVD’s are not double in the new WGA deal)
Like the DGA deal, the WGA deal will have abysmal new media residuals, and internet episodes under $300K will not be covered unless a wga writer is hired (guess how many wga writers they’ll hire).
So my bottom line to the WGA membership out there is…. tomorrow night, force the leadership to submit the deal to a guild vote prior to lifting the strike. The leaderships loyalty should be to the guild’s membership, not to what they tell the AMPTP.
“We’re in this together,” the leadership kept hawking. Yeah. Then let us vote together!
Comment by witer — February 8, 2008 @ 5:58 pm
The writers will have less than 24 hours to look over the contract and make a decision? WTF?
How many weeks did it take for the AMPTP and WGA leadership to come up with this contract? But somehow it’s OK that writers only have 24 hours with it and on a weekend no less. Does anyone else see something wrong with this?
Comment by Jon Raymond — February 8, 2008 @ 6:05 pm
Stop rushing this whole procedure for fuck’s sake! I had more time to learn about propositions for Indian casinos. It’s only going to lead to sloppy mistakes.
I read an interesting posting on UnitedHollywood, which includes this shocking tidbit…
OUR WGA NEGOTIATORS WERE GIVEN ANOTHER ULTIMATUM: THEY WERE FORCED TO “RECOMMEND” THIS DEAL TO THE MEMBERSHIP AS A CONDITION FOR IT BEING OFFERED AT ALL.
Here is the posting…
I just had lunch with my strike captain who came straight from the WGA Strike Captain’s meeting this afternoon at the WGA.
Now, I’m waiting to read the actual contract language, like everyone else. And I want to reserve judgment until we’ve all had a chance to digest it. But here’s the rub:
We’re not being given a chance to digest the deal… IT IS BEING RAMMED DOWN OUR THROATS. My strike captain told me that during tomorrow’s meeting, there may be a voice or hand vote of the assembled membership on whether to accept the deal…
THIS IS A DIRTY TRICK!
The proponents of the deal are using speed as a tactic to silence dissent. How can any meaningful discussion take place in such a short window?
The proponents of the deal have had weeks and weeks to comb through all the fine points, while the rank and file have been completely in the dark during the media blackout. Now we’re being given less than 24 hours to read and digest a deal that will determine all of our futures for years – if not decades – to come?
I urge the WGA Board to give the membership time to discuss the contract among ourselves – not just in the meeting tomorrow – but over the coming days. We MUST HAVE TIME for meaningful discourse.
Of course, the proponents won’t want that – they’re already out spinning how the “strike is over” and the media echo chamber is spreading that lie. And the proponents don’t want to give any time for opponents of the deal to emerge and organize.
To my fellow members: DON’T DRINK THE KOOL AID! DO NOT VOTE TO END THE STRIKE OR ACCEPT THE DEAL TOMORROW!
We need a chance to talk to each other and read the analyses of outside, impartial experts. (Some very smart people will be dissecting the deal as soon as it is published, and this will only take a few days at most.)
Why can’t we simply trust the “recommendation” of our elected negotiators?
Because of a shocking fact:
OUR WGA NEGOTIATORS WERE GIVEN ANOTHER ULTIMATUM: THEY WERE FORCED TO “RECOMMEND” THIS DEAL TO THE MEMBERSHIP AS A CONDITION FOR IT BEING OFFERED AT ALL.
Our negotiators (for whom I have tremendous respect and admiration) have been blackmailed into silent assent by the moguls. They cannot speak out against the deal, or it will be pulled from the table.
Now, I don’t want to prolong the strike, but the deal I read about in the New York Times this morning, and which my strike captain relayed to me at lunch today, seems SHOCKINGLY BAD FOR THE WGA!
I’m hoping that the fine print assuages my major concern:
The precedent of getting “distributor’s gross” is exciting, but it becomes MEANINGLESS if a low residual cap is also given precedent. Who cares what percentage we get, if it’s capped off at $1,200 or even $2400? This is a rate far, far worse than even the reviled DVD formula. At least in that case, the writer gets a per unit residual. A capped download residual is essentially a “buyout.” This is the massive rollback we all feared, no matter what positive spin the put on it.
Maybe there is contract language that will prove the NY Times and my strike captain wrong. God, I hope so. But here it is almost 4pm, the day before the meeting where we’re all supposed to vote on it, and I still haven’t gotten the contract.
I beg, BEG the WGA Board to give us time to analyze the deal before the strike is lifted. This is the most important decision the WGA membership will make for decades.
Comment by fussy Protocol Droid — February 8, 2008 @ 6:12 pm
This stupid fight is going to cost many of us, our homes and our lives, grow up, kick out the lawyers and send a leader into the ring!
Comment by Ken — February 8, 2008 @ 6:19 pm
Give a waiver to the damn oscars if that’s so important to everyone, but no writing by writers till the deal is done. considering how weasely they are being, this is crucial. everyone is a little too enthused about this. that’s what we in the writing business call a red flag.
Comment by Anonymous — February 8, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
“17-day window for ad-embedded TV show streaming…”
I hope the union leaders bring enough Kool-Aid for all the thirsty writers!
Comment by Sideline — February 8, 2008 @ 6:37 pm
Get Nick Counter the fuck out of this. He blew it before, he’s a fool, he’s irrelevant. Get lawyers with no chip on their shoulder to put the language in print, get it signed by the CEOs, or we have nothing to discuss at the Shrine tomorrow. No deal, no Oscars, see you on the line Monday. Don’t fuck with us AMPTP.
Comment by 20 year writer — February 8, 2008 @ 6:42 pm
Reading the UH articles it looks very much like the writers are being offered an ultimatum by thier own leaders and the AMPTP. If you don’t vote for it tomorrow, you lose, seems to be the message. You could almost substitute the words “bearing in mind” with “or else” in the article.
You’ve been on strike for 3 months just to get to this particular date because this date signifies all the cards you have been holding.
Seems to me that you now have your back up against the wall, you aren’t given any real options. The leadership is basically saying if you don’t vote for it tomorrow that you have no bargaining chips to hold over the AMPTP until June. I find that rather disturbing, since all along I kept hearing that by virtue of the strike itself there would be pressure on the AMPTP to deal.
Now apparently it isn’t the strike but rather deadlines that are important in getting the deal. Hmmm.
I’ve notice both Nikki’s site and UH pretty stingy today on posting comments, wonder if that’s significant.
Comment by Chips Down — February 8, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
The moguls had plenty of time to make this offer. If the language isn’t ready, it’s their fault. We won’t purposely drag our feet, but we won’t jepoardize our future to meet the timetable they created either.
Looks like the strike won’t be lifted until Wednesday at the earliest. Writers MUST get a minimum of 24 hours to digest the terms, and that ship has sailed.
Comment by Klaatu — February 8, 2008 @ 6:59 pm
Always blame the attorneys
Anyone who says not to is likely an attorney, or the parent of one.
The AMPTP attorneys are using the bad faith exhaustion tactic to sneak language in at the finish line
Comment by CEO from another industry — February 8, 2008 @ 7:00 pm
I feel betrayed by my own guild. They have asked for our patience time and again. When the DGA deal came out they admonished us not to make any hasty judgments or come to any quick conclusions.
Now they want all the East Coast writers to have hours, not a couple days, but hours to decide essentially set New Media terms that will become the standard for years.
I picketed, I held my tongue when they told me to, I was a good member, and now I am getting steam-rolled by the leadership to whom I was loyal.
Comment by Anonymous — February 8, 2008 @ 7:25 pm
This is being shoved down our throats… Hearing the basic deal points from my strike captain (it’s pretty much just a glossed over version of the DGA deal) I intend to speak out at the meeting tomorrow. I am relatively sure that the deal will get voted down and I don’t think that our leadership should end the strike and do the producers a favor by giving them the Oscars while forcing a bad deal upon it’s membership.
Once the strike is over, even if the deal is voted down, we won’t be going back on strike…so where’s our leverage? We need to hold strong and finish this now with a great deal while we can.
I, like a lot of us, am broke and struggling right now and I don’t want this to all have been for nothing…
Comment by JR — February 8, 2008 @ 8:11 pm
I am pretty sure we will either get deal conformation within the next few hours or cancellation of this deal within that timeframe.
If there is a deal, I don’t think the WGA will allow the meetings to go on until Sunday at the earliest if we do have a deal. It is the AMPTP that is trying to screw over the WGA yet again and even if Peter Chernin or Bob Iger promised something in writing last week, they can still say that they don’t remember agreeing to that concession. Hope you do get a good deal, but if you do have to continue the strike, make sure that Washington knows about how the deal fell apart at the last minute.
If you are a member of the AMPTP, mark my words, If there isn’t a deal by midnight you have done the following:
1. UNITED THE WGA AND ALL BELOW THE LINE WORKERS
2. KILLED THE OSCARS
3. ALLOWED WASHINGTON D.C. TO SUBPEONA ALL ACCOUNTING RECORDS FOR USE IN HEARINGS INTO WHY YOU COULDN’T REACH A FAIR DEAL WITH AN UNION THAT ISN’T ASKING FOR MUCH.
4. REAFFIRMED THE PUBLIC’S DISTASTE FOR YOU AND SUPPORT OF THE WGA.
Comment by Jessy S. — February 8, 2008 @ 8:22 pm
It’s now past midnight here in NY and I have received nothing to look at. I’m checking my email constantly.
Nothing to review.
At this point, I’m ready to walk into the Crown Plaza tomorrow in less than 14 hours and raise holy Hell.
This is a joke. Plain and simple. We are being toyed with here.
How can I vote on anything that is going to affect the rest of my career with only hours (or possibly minutes) given to review it.
Shame on our leadership if they end the strike this weekend.
This entire thing has been bungled and mishandled and we’re sitting looking at a deadline to make a decision that we should have more than hours (or minutes) to make.
If you go to United Hollywood you’ll see the strike captains trying to back us further into corners and push the deal down our throats.
The new thought is you won’t get anything waiting this out until June and striking in tandem with SAG.
I don’t believe that for a minute.
If we continue this strike we will bring the moguls to their knees.
They will have no Oscars, no 2008 Spring TV season. No Fall Season. No Pilot season. They will have no movies to throw up on screens in 2009.
In essence, they will have lost their corporations billions by not agreeing to our terms and giving us a fair deal.
By staying on strike we have even more leverage because if they have no content, they have nothing.
My WGA leadership got me into this. I didn’t want to go on strike, but now that I am, I will accept nothing that is being shoved down my throat with only hours to review.
This is a disgrace.
I hope the NY meeting tomorrow starts the ball rolling with outrage about this.
From what I understand the deal that we’re taking is worse and less than all the interim agreements the WGA has made with the indie’s and places like Worldwide Pants.
Our leadership is actually presenting us a deal that is worse than the interim agreements. That’s shocking.
My question is this. For all the companies who signed interim agreements, are they bound by those or do they get to use this crap deal we’re about to be handed?
If so, I hope all the Letterman writers stand up and scream tomorrow at the NY meeting.
I can’t imagine being told that they are getting rolled back from the interim deal they’ve been working under.
Comment by WGAE writer — February 8, 2008 @ 8:23 pm
Why is our leadership rushing this and shoving it down our throats so quickly? We dont care about the Oscars and my reps are telling me that pilot season is blown for everyone but the big wigs. Why does it feel like they are catering more to the AMPTP than their own members?
Comment by frustrated writer — February 8, 2008 @ 8:39 pm
Lets wait and see what the terms are… there’s no point of getting worked up before going into the meeting and listening to what they have to say.
We’ve trusted our team up to this point…
Everyone knows what their core values and principles are… it shouldn’t take you days to decide whether you think the broad strokes of the deal are fair or not. Don’t kid yourself into thinking you’re really going to understand all the minutiae of the deal anyway. If the numbers are low or unfair to you, you’ll know it right away. Let’s not jump on these guys like a bunch of spoiled brats after they’ve worked so hard for the past few months to try to get us something fair.
Lets not act like the AMPTP. We’re better than that. Lets be respectful and listen with an open mind.
Comment by jogging in a circle — February 8, 2008 @ 8:42 pm
There could be a mutiny Saturday night. Verrone and Young have been threatened in very clear terms by the moguls. The two of them now have to think of themselves. This is all you are getting so take it or leave it. When they announce that the clock should start ticking on their own leadership roles. They could be voted out of power tomorrow night. On the other hand most writers want to go back to work. Only the hardcore picketers want to stay out until June. So you have a choice. Get rid of Patric and David and continue striking or swallow your pride for three years and strike again when this contract expires.
Comment by Anonymous — February 8, 2008 @ 8:47 pm
I was at the meeting today and I saw the basic points of the deal. Believe me, you don’t need days to digest this information. It’s definitely not the kind of deal we should throw a ticker tape parade over, but it’s a major step in the right direction when you consider these guys (AMPTP) weren’t even willing to admit that they make money on the internet. More importantly, and this is the major difference between this and the DGA deal, it’s a percentage of new media rather than a flat fee. That means that while it turns out the be about the same amount of residuals for now as the DGA, if there’s an increase in revenue, we then have an increase in our residuals, whereas the DGA doesn’t. I know everyone feels that after three months of picketing, we should get everything we wanted, but negotiations don’t work like that. Particularly when you’re dealing with conglomerates that have such deep pockets.
For those who are complaining about how our leadership has sold us out, you’re wrong. Tomorrow night’s meeting has been set up so they can take the temperature of the group. They are not ramming this down our throats, they’re simply recommending it. And for anyone who thinks that this is just the DGA deal warmed over, then you might be right. But consider this, the DGA would never have gotten that deal if it weren’t for our strike. The leadership of the Guild has worked hard to get us a foothold in new media, and with this deal they’ve done that. Let’s give them their props.
Comment by Reasonable Writer — February 8, 2008 @ 8:55 pm
Some of you people are incredible. So every issue on which the WGA lawyers and the AMPTP lawyers disagree is the AMPTP lawyers’ fault? And every time a disagreement in the drafting arises the AMPTP lawyers have to go back to the CEOs who tell them to “back off?” What world are you people living in?
You know what - stay on strike. Vote it down. But stop the stupid tough-guy routine. Nobody is buying it, notwithstanding the logrolling going on at this blog.
Comment by Hadituptohere — February 8, 2008 @ 8:56 pm
This strike better end soon, or “There Will Be Blood” won’t just be the title of a movie.
Comment by sam — February 8, 2008 @ 8:56 pm
Didn’t any of you ever see The Godfather?
“Never tell anyone what you’re thinking.” and “Never take sides against the family.”
Comment by Writer who knows better — February 8, 2008 @ 9:06 pm
I want to know why the writers are being forced by Guild leadership to decide on this under such a tight timeframe. I “get” why the AMPTP would want that. I don’t understand why the WGA leaders would go along with it. I’m wondering if that United Hollywood post about the “take it now or you lose the offer forever” rumor was true.
And if the strike doesn’t end then for goodness sake, do NOT give the AMPTP a waiver for the Oscars. That’s just plain stupid.
Comment by Concerned — February 8, 2008 @ 9:14 pm
If the writer’s reject this deal, I predict that the AMPTP will come back in a few days and be willing to lower the 17 day window.
The companies are under the gun now too. They will be willing to make a better offer quickly, they just don’t expect that the WGA has enough balls to make them raise their offer.
The writers should wake up and realize that if Big Media is willing to lose this season and pilot season for a 17 day window, then that window is the key to billions of dollars of revenue for them.
Comment by Cluoulite — February 8, 2008 @ 9:25 pm
This is hilarious. For months all the militants have been screaming ‘Trust the leadership!’ Those of us working writers who actually make a living in this business and cautioned against whipping up the marginally working membership, and here is why. You were promised the world and you are getting a big dose of reality. And now you want to tar and feather Patric and David. It’s sad, but I’ve laughed quite a bit today already.
Welcome to the actual world where adults live. This is how things are settled. You don’t get all that you want. David does not slay Goliath.
Comment by Longtime WGA — February 8, 2008 @ 9:38 pm
WGAE Writer: Are you stupid or what? Did you honestly think that the negotiated overall deal would be BETTER than the interim agreements? The only reason those companies sign the interim agreements is that they KNOW they’ll get a more favorable deal for themselves in the long run, so signing the interim just gets them a head-start with no real downside.
Comment by Can't Take it Anymore — February 8, 2008 @ 9:46 pm
Nick Counter is reading this thread, these comments and he is laughing. The Corleones are right DO NOT DISCUSS THIS IN PUBLIC. Wait until tomorrow. Listen. Then comment. The Shrine has decent acoustics. Our leadership will be able to take the temperature very swiftly.
Comment by anotherWGAmember — February 8, 2008 @ 9:51 pm
You saw the update. The AMPTP had this stuff Tuesday and didn’t respond with notes until 5pm Friday…
You tell me what the AMPTP is up to.
Comment by PJ - Writer — February 8, 2008 @ 9:53 pm
It’s like being at a car dealership. The car salesman swears that this is a great deal. You ask to see the contract.
The car salesman tells you that this is the best deal you’re ever going to get. You ask to see it in writing.
The car dealer swears you won’t do better than this deal right here. This is the best deal possible. You start to feel like well, I’m getting a good deal.
The car salesman says you only have so much time or the offer goes away. You take a quick glance at the terms that are finally available now that you’re ready to sign. Hey, with a quick glance, they seem to say everything that car dealer said. Surely, everything you verbally agreed to is in there.
It’s late. You’ve been haggling all day. You are exhausted and you just want this to be over.
You make the deal.
You go home. The next day you read the contract carefully. You have some time to think about it without pressure. Uh-oh.
You realized that you’ve been fucked.
Comment by concerned — February 8, 2008 @ 10:17 pm
Can’t stand people who use as the basis of their argument “grow up” “act like an adult” “this is the real world”
say something meaningful or do not speak
meanwhile, you writers have the upper hand over amptp
hope you realize that and don’t sign off on a mediocre deal after all this
and, it IS the lawyers who make the misery - they are the ones who make buckets of money generating and prolonging strife - billable hours indeed.
Comment by MBAs — February 8, 2008 @ 10:19 pm
Tomorrow, the deal proposal will be making several fear-based arguments for accepting the deal. Here are three of them:
1. A vote AGAINST the deal is a vote FOR the current contract. This talking point will be worked into rebuttals of those who are against the deal.
2. The most leverage the the guild has is NOW. If the strike continues, the deal can only get WORSE, because AMPTP will begin to drawback on the terms. NOW will be the only time that you can get this “good” deal.
3. “Three years from now” will be mentioned often. If the WGA leadership thinks the members are gullible enough to go on strike again for another deal that won’t be worth the strike, well… On second thought, the leadership is probably right. After the complete failure of the “America’s Next Top Model” strike orchestrated by Verrone and Young, members still thought that this strike would be successful.
Predictions:
1. The NegCom will end the strike. They don’t need membership approval to do it. They will claim it was an “agonizing” decision that was made with great difficulty, but they determined that it was in the best interest of the members. In reality, the decision has already been made.
2. After ending the strike, the members approve the deal. Not voting for the new contract means working under the existing contract. The new contract will be better in the same way that deer blood is probably better tasting than pus-filled fluid from an ass maggot. There will be no incentive not to vote for the deal.
Comment by Harold — February 8, 2008 @ 10:44 pm
I don’t feel good about agreeing to legal writing that was written in haste at, literally, the 11th hour.
Putting the terms out tonight and then postponing our meeting until Wednesday will not kill pilot season or the Oscars. It would give us time to analyze the offer and make informed decisions based on our own conscience, not on fervor and positive spin from people who had to agree to endorse the offer in order to get it.
All I’m asking after months of sacrifice, is for a few days of study. Then an evening of debate.
Comment by working writer — February 8, 2008 @ 10:58 pm
I’ve been reading these blogs. Anyone who is upset about what will be in the deal is not a student of strikes. No one will be happy with the deal. I’m not a shill. I’m a writer who’s been on the picket line every day. I’ve lost tens of thousands of dollars during this strike. In a strike, everyone compromises. As for the timing, I’m assuming we’re getting as much as we can from the AMPTP bastards because of the pressure of the risk of losing the Oscars. So, just know that I will be there at the meeting on Saturday to support a deal that is reasonable. And of course it won’t be as good as the interim deals. DUH.
Comment by Writer — February 8, 2008 @ 10:59 pm
They wouldn’t let me post this on Unitedhollywood. Surprise, they only like you if you agree with them:
You do realize, don’t you, that the AMPTP wants you to reject this deal? They’ve beaten you at every turn and brought the whole union to the point disintegration. If you vote the deal down, then they get to hire scabs. If anyone complains, they just say, “Hey, we tried to work it out with the WGA, and even got them a deal, but they’re psychos and won’t be reasonable.”
You never had a chance to win this in the first place. I can’t imagine anyone here still likes Verrone, but even his apologists have to admit he has bunged every stage of this operation. It is difficult to demand things from someone who doesn’t need you as much as you need them. And when you do it as badly as Verrone does, you end up with what you now have.
Comment by Jake — February 8, 2008 @ 11:03 pm
um… 12:06 PST…. Nikki is there a deal yet?
Comment by anonymous — February 8, 2008 @ 11:07 pm
anything yet? the suspense is killing me…
Comment by anon — February 8, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
Is the strike working?
From CNN:
CBS has taken the toughest hit, with its audience shrinking 22 percent from year to year. Analysts said CBS appeared to do the least to prepare for the strike. CBS said it purposely held back some of its contingency programming — another season of “Big Brother,” a network airing of the Showtime hit “Dexter” — for February.
ABC, which is off 14 percent, has more new programming rolling out. But it has been hit hard by the absence of hits such as “Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” which don’t repeat well.
___________________________________________
Make the studios understand why it’s important to pay the people who write the stories to generate ad dollars RIGHT. Strike is working, if you guys stay strong, the studios will be in a world of pain very soon…
Comment by Sideline — February 8, 2008 @ 11:12 pm
It’s not like if membership says no to this the AMPTP will walk away from the table until June. Why? Because the 800 pound gorilla walks into the room in June.
If the membership says no tomorrow, the AMPTP will up its terms quickly. Remember it wants the WGA to take something, so that it can force SAG to accept the same terms.
The last thing they want is to lose two seasons and their tentpole films only to have SAG rush in to revive the troops and win the war.
Comment by Anonymous — February 8, 2008 @ 11:32 pm
I hasten to remind everyone that SAG President Alan Rosenberg has already rejected pattern bargaining. From what little I have read and heard, moreover, SAG is in a militant mood (full disclosure: I’m a SAG member who’s walked the lines with the WGA).
The de facto feature production SAG strike begins around March 1 if there’s any suspicion the actors are walking when their contract is up.
That’s a scant three weeks away. The WGA strike’s been going for three months. If SAG doesn’t think there’s going to be a fair deal for the actors, the cavalry arrives, and Nick Counter knows it.
Hang tough my WGA brothers and sisters. If the deal isn’t fair, you are under no obligation to accept it. Let the AMPTP leave the table yet again in a huff. Let them threaten to greenlight “Fear Factor: The Motion Picture”. Remember you are helping them stay in business in the long haul by getting a better deal, because the better the deal the AMPTP offers, the more competitive they will be in retaining creative labor (that would be you) in a future market which promises potentially very lucrative options from a range of new companies that will be enticed by the ease of entry Internet distribution offers.
Remember all the small companies that sprang up seemingly out of nowhere when VHS became popular? That was just a warm-up for the Internet.
Bottom line (and I apologize for veering to multiple topics), the AMPTP needs you more than you need them, no matter what condition your mortgage is in.
Comment by mheister — February 8, 2008 @ 11:55 pm
I don’t believe there should be pressure on the membership to make a hasty decision. This may indeed be the best deal that is possible at this moment and that is something to be factored for serious consideration. SAG has their chance in June to up the deal and close that awful 17 day window. Maybe they can put DVD back on the table, since they never gave it up in the first place.
The “deadline” energy that seems to be present, however, I believe is counterproductive to a well informed and measured opinion. The informal hand count to decide on whether to keep striking or stop striking on Saturday does feel a bit rushed and unfair to the membership. I, myself, would feel resentful about that and would vote “no” on calling off the strike just because I would want time to evaluate the deal. But then I am not a Guild member, but my husband is. He’s even cautious to call off the strike at this point without knowing what the terms of the deal are.
About that Pilot season, right now for a March shoot, about three weeks of pre-production has been used up. In one week, it seems there would be a point of no return for a March shoot. That is unfortunate. What is the point of no return for an April shoot? Maybe three weeks from now? Or even four weeks from now? Can some March productions be pushed back to April?
I agree with Stuic at the UH boards that there is an intermediate time period that can be played during which the WGA membership can evaluate their true gut feelings and take in a measured analysis of the current deal on the table.
Give AMPTP a bone and waiver the Oscars, but remain on strike while the deal is being evaluated. The feeling tone to me, as an outsider, is if you call off the strike you are indicating that you are accepting this deal. If you remain on strike while evaluating this deal and the membership finally comes to the conclusion that this is not a “good enough deal,” the pressure for the AMPTP to come to the table quickly and toss the last bones will be enormous. But then again, I’m an outsider looking in and this may be a misinformed impression.
Granted, I understand people wanting to get back to work to save their shows and people are losing their homes, so what is the best compromise for the WGA membership to have the time for evaluation while helping their fellow crew and colleagues rescue the shows they desperately want to get back to?
Comment by Frustrated Bystander — February 9, 2008 @ 12:14 am
It is after 5:30 a.m. on the East Coast. Still no deal to form an opinion on.
The AMPTP had days to address the points and started to work at 5 p.m. the day before the meeting?
Something is rotten in Denmark.
Comment by For the record — February 9, 2008 @ 1:32 am
It’s 2:51 and we’ve got a deal!!!!
Whoo-hoo!
The perfect deal? No. But a much much better deal than had we not gone on strike. It seems a reasonable and practical deal brought to us by our reasonable and practical leadership.
Can’t wait for the meeting Saturday to go over the details.
Thanks for all your hard work Patrick, David, and John!! You saved the profession of Hollywood writer.
Comment by George Glass — February 9, 2008 @ 1:54 am
It’s up…finally. Email was received at 2:50AM. Would love to see the reactions from the drunk writers coming home from a night out. No surprises.
Comment by Sleepless In West LA — February 9, 2008 @ 2:09 am
Just reading some of the comments here about trusting your leaders and kind of chuckling to myself. I once was a leader much like the ones in your union, had to make similar decisions as you are going to see today. Once we had an offer it was important for us to show a united front to the membership and we would vote for that, majorty ruled and we presented to the membership united. But I have to tell you, I often had major reservation about some of those deals, and regrets over supporting them. But it was the union thing to do.
I caution writers, that you should be voting on the issues you read in the contract language, and NOT because someone has told you there will be consequences to voting it down. That’s nonsense and you should know it, if you vote this down the AMPTP is placed back in the same position of having to make a deal with the WGA. Possibly a much bettr deal as they know you won’t be easily fooled.
The heat should be on the AMPTP and not the writers to settle this in a timely fashion. If there are any deadlines they are the ones the AMPTP has self imposed, a week, a month will make no difference in salvaging the 2009 season, or for that matter the remainder of the current one if the studios simply change the timetable. As for the Oscars, they can be delayed, even cancelled, it makes no difference. These things are red herrings, out there to get you to support a contract that might not be the best for you. your true power and bargaining chip is your withdrawl from work, your strike action. Give that up now and you have no hope of getting a better deal now or next time your contract comes up.
This isn’t supposed to be about getting your foot in the door, this was supposed to be about making sure the future was secure and that door was wide open. Don’t buy into this nonsense that a vote against the contract is a vote against your leadership, they are not one and the same. Sad to see the obvious propoganda coming this time from the union side.
Comment by Chips Down — February 9, 2008 @ 2:36 am
I would just like to urge all of you to seriously think about the 17 day promo window. As someone who has been creating original streaming content for the web since the year 2000, I can promise you that an overwhelming majority of the shows streamed will take place within a week of the original airing of the show on television. Allowing any kind of free window of time will mean rollbacks for every writer. Huge rollbacks. In my opinion, it renders the entire Internet streaming section of the contract completely useless.
I would strongly urge the leadership and board to request access to the networks stats packages showing exactly how many episodes are streamed and when before agreeing to any promo window. And I mean the raw data, not the stats the companies put together for their own purposes. Why would you agree to this when you have no idea how much you’re giving up? I promise you the AMPTP knows the 17 day window is their key to victory. If a deal is ratified containing a promo window, the WGA will lose everything it went on strike for.
Comment by Carol — February 9, 2008 @ 2:42 am
The deal summary arrived just before 3 a.m. PST.
And brother, it blows. Here I though our negotiators, since they were using the DGA deal as a template, would at least improve somewhat on its terms, but:
The celebrated 2 percent of distributor’s gross residual for network prime time series is CAPPED at $800 every six moths for hour long shows and $400 for half-hours!
The TOP rate for electronic sell-through is 0.7 microscopic percent. Considering that there are actual physical manufacturing costs to make DVDs, this may actually be worse than our home video rate!
And we’re still stuck with a free “promotional” window that’s three times longer than it should be!
This is just the DGA deal with some of the shit smeared off. But not much. (Yes, the DGA fucked us over good.) Not at all what I’ve been striking for.
See you back on the picket lines Monday.
Comment by Writer Bob — February 9, 2008 @ 2:51 am
Seems like a last ditch attempt at a power play on the part of the AMPTP hoping that the WGA will cave in on a few more points the closer to midnight it gets. Hope they don’t give in to it. After all haven’t the AMPTP had the meeting notes for days?
Comment by Misanthrope — February 9, 2008 @ 5:01 am
http://www.wgaeast.org/index.php/articles/1373?wgra=1#wga1373
and
http://unitedhollywood.blogspot.com/2008/02/letter-from-presidents-with-deal.html
Comment by Allie — February 9, 2008 @ 6:08 am
Specific terms of the agreement are described in the summary at the following link - http://mail.citrustudio.com/ct/1843160:2030523191:m:1:92379114:20BFF2AA6AD09D5016D8531C64503D7B- and will be further discussed at our Saturday membership meetings on both coasts. At those meetings we will also discuss how we will proceed regarding ratification of this agreement and lifting the restraining order that ends the strike.
Comment by Gene Lin — February 9, 2008 @ 7:05 am
I am floored by the paranoia on this comment board. If you know anything about negotiation, you know that one of the strongest points of leverage is the deadline. When you know your opponent has a deadline, you use it to your advantage, knowing all the while that if you go too far and the deadline passes, your advantage is lost.
Hear this loud and clear, my hysterical brothers and sisters: all of the gains we made beyond the DGA deal were a direct result of our leaders promising to recommend the deal for a fast vote, in time to save the Oscars and the rest of the TV season. If this does not happen, all the gains will be taken off the table. Get it? It’s a quid pro quo. They gave us a deal that our leaders can recommend to the committee and we assured them that it would be put to a fast vote. No fast vote, no deal.
Second, read the Guild constitution. We elected our representatives and empowered them to vote for us. When they vote, we are voting. Do you whine for a plebiscite every time that Congress votes on a bill?
Honestly, grow up.
And, by the way, a room full of yeas and nays will tell our leaders just as much as the ultimate vote will. If the deal is shouted down at the meeting, it will not pass. So relax.
Looking upon our leadership as our enemy is just plain crazy, a paranoia born of studio abuse and our own self-loathing.
They deserve better.
Comment by AJB — February 9, 2008 @ 7:16 am
Regarding the WGA’s “tentative deal” … PLAIN AND SIMPLE, THIS IS AN AWFUL DEAL FOR WRITERS AND SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY REJECTED BY THE WGA MEMBERSHIP. How could the membership even be presented with something like this? It pains me to say this but the leadership sold out the membership and that makes this a sad day indeed. But in terms of the business at hand, no one should sign off on this, no Oscar waiver should be given, and the strike should continue with full force. I can’t imagine WGA members will allow this thing to be jammed down their throats throats. Nor can I believe that members will, for another moment, allow these two-bit attempts to pressure and strong-arm the WGA will actually succeed. KEEP STRIKING - WITH MORE SOLIDARITY THAN EVER.
Comment by Anonymous — February 9, 2008 @ 7:21 am
This is great news. Now if SAG can get a deal done soon, we can finally end all this strike talk. As someone who intends to be a WGA/DGA member soon, I hope these deals are fair ones as well. Congrats, guys.
Comment by BOLD!!! CAPS!!! — February 9, 2008 @ 7:42 am
I find it interesting that, for the past two months, the mantra from all of the diehards has been TRUST OUR LEADERS.
Now, our leaders present a deal, and the mantra is DON’T TRUST OUR LEADERS.
This is quite simply a confirmation of what I’ve suspected since this strike began. It’s being driven by people who simply want to strike, who relish being on the line, who thrive on having a CAUSE to wake up to in the morning, something that will give their sad lives meaning.
To anyone who thinks with his or her brain instead of their adrenal gland, this is a good deal, and a big step forward. I predict that the the strike will end tonight.
To those of you who still need a cause, I say — keep picketing. There’s no reason that, with the end of the strike, you can’t all get together with your signs and stroll around in front of a selected studio gate. The themed pickets don’t have to go anywhere, really. In fact, tomorrow morning, start planning that Valentines Gay Assistants with Dogs Picket. It’ll make you feel better.
Comment by dissident — February 9, 2008 @ 7:47 am
So this was all for 100 bucks a month.
Millions lost. Thousands unemployed. For 100 bucks.
If there is a punchline here I don’t see it. Striking the net when only pornographers make money off it- was that as silly as the “dot com” bubble where companies were started that had nothing to offer.
Now the studio heads are openly discussing reprisals against the writers. Severe cuts in developement deals and the like.
American labor needs to abandon 1930’s rhetoric. In Europe, unions base their appeals on family and job stability.
Not “fighting the bosses”.
Comment by Mike — February 9, 2008 @ 7:52 am
Having watched this debate for the past few months, working in this town and talking to a whole lot of people on all sides of the issue, a few things have become crystal clear to me:
1. The “writers” who post vitriolic and anarchy-laced rhetoric on this site (the “only-take-the-best-deal-in-the-history-of-negotiations” people) are in a SEVERE minority within the Guild, leagues away from the masses that understand that this battle is not going to be won over one contract, one strike.
2. These are the same people that have become drunk on the idea that they’re powerful during this strike - and they’re right, they are to a large degree - and it’s totally gone to their heads. This is likely their first power-play and they’re milking the feeling for all that it’s worth.
Here’s the simple truth: the writers deserve more than they’re going to get with this settlement. There are no two ways about it. However, Reasonable Writer is absolutely on the right course: it’s a step, and when you work in business negotiations like this, the “enemy” doesn’t capitulate in one fell swoop. Voting down this deal would be complete and unbridled idiocy.
It seems as though everyone on this board (though not in the rest of the WGA community) is forgetting a key factor: this contract, if it’s ratified, is not the end of the line. You don’t have to live with this forever. It’s a three-year contract. It will be up in a matter of 36 months. Between now and then, Internet streaming will NOT become the industry mainstay. It will grow exponentially and it will become a MAJOR factor, but it will not become the standard. It will, however, be more applicable for data-gathering and studying, and with that in mind, the WGA can negotiate a better deal when time for a new contract rolls around. If you don’t get the terms you want, you strike again. You force your hand. It might not be the ideal timing you had in this go-round, but do you really, really think the Producers believe they can fuck with you like they’ve done in the past? That next time you WON’T hold out for a year over a zero-day promotional window?
This contract is going to be accepted because there is too much riding on it for too many people and because it’s a short-term deal. Get used to this idea. Whether or not you got “Everything” you wanted is irrelevant because, in business negotiations, this doesn’t happen. You took gigantic steps, showed resolve that no one expected, and did a great thing for your membership. Now buckle down, take a tiny bit of medicine for the next three years, and start gearing up TODAY for the next campaign.
Comment by Stanley — February 9, 2008 @ 7:54 am
That United Hollywod site is a joke
They’re pushing and lobbying for acceptance of this deal
That is inappropriate
Vote your own mind
Do not accept having your vote stolen by a governing board
Do not call off the strike until you’ve approved the deal
Do not be sandwiched into a 5-12 hour decision by the amptp. WHY IS YOUR WGA ALLOWING AMPTP TO DICTATE A 5-12 HOUR DECISION WINDOW? THAT’S ABSURD. USE YOUR LEVERAGE WGA. DON’T LET A FEW MAKE THE DECISION FOR MANY.
Comment by equity fund — February 9, 2008 @ 7:56 am
I hope that everyone reading these anonymous message boards realizes how much shill posting is going on. Wouldn’t it be great if you could see who all the people really are that are posting under names like “WGA writer”? I think you’d find that many of them are studio execs, disgruntled members of other unions etc.. (and if you think that important, busy people like studio execs and showrunners don’t have better things to do than try to stir sh*t up on a forum like this, you don’t know them like I do)
And people that argue for the studio side and come off looking like idiots? Very possibly WGA members being Machiavellian.
So take it all with a grain of salt. If someone signs their post “HollywoodLawyer” - you can bet that they’re probably a 16 year old from Cleveland.
Comment by NickCounterLover — February 9, 2008 @ 7:56 am
call off the strike BEFORE the membership votes..? that is just INSANE… that is a very simple recipe to BUST THIS UNION… if this is really what my leadership agreed to, somebody please remove the knife from back…
how about some old-school democracy…? some will like the deal, some won’t… we take a membership vote… not the WGA Board of Directors or the Companies pre-ordaining the resolution… and no matter what the outcome, we all accept the result and hang together as a union…
Comment by a writer — February 9, 2008 @ 8:07 am
I don’t understand… these residuals are for paid streaming, right? Well, who pays for television? It’s all about ad revenue - if we aren’t sharing in that, then there’s no point…
Still trying to understand this contract. I think it’s pretty shifty that we have no time to digest it before tonight’s sales pitch. I really hope that our leadership listens to its members and allows us to vote on the deal before lifting the strike. If they shove this down our throats, I’ll really consider going fi-core after the strike is lifted - just to make a point. After all, this is our union - our vote should matter.
Comment by Confused — February 9, 2008 @ 8:08 am
The deal looks likea dog, a dog with fleas. I see more than one deal breaker. I’d just like to say to the members who think they have no more leverage or don’t have any more cards to play that they are wrong. 1) In terms of PR, they did you a favor by missing the deadline. You miss a deadline all bets are off. 2) The product from the side deals has yet to be seen including the numerous web series that surely are in production and that means advertisers. Once those projects start pulling advertiser dollars away from the studios you’ll hit them where they live.
This deal will surely test the Guild’s mettle.
Comment by AnthonyDe — February 9, 2008 @ 8:24 am
Okay. Is there any final chance to push back on one thing? On the idea that after our meeting, there’s a call to Igar, or Chernin, saying “Wow. We think the members will vote for this, IF we get one thing done — shrink the window from 17 days to 12 — or something like that? IS there a real reason for this meeting tonight, or is it just theater?
Comment by showrunner — February 9, 2008 @ 8:33 am
It’s a helluva lot better than the DGA deal. And these developments serve to break the layman’s assumption that one party’s deal must serve as precedent for that of another. Experienced attorneys know that “precedent” holds little weight in deal negotiations. I have a lot of respect for the writer’s organization and perseverance, and I bet that the studio moguls do, too; no matter what they say publicly, they certainly can’t call the writers “pussies.”
Comment by Johnny — February 9, 2008 @ 8:40 am
Why is WGA permitting AMPTP to dictate the timetable, esp. an unreasonable one
AMPTP is desperate - why isn’t WGA using their leverage? AMPTP miscalculated themselves into a tight corner, they need this strike to end. Make no mistake, the writers have the power at this point.
those alleged writers who roll over and comment, “well nothing’s perfect, this is as good as it gets” are the exact wishy-washy type the amptp is betting on
if wga rejects the deal, what do you think amptp is going to do - close up shop and go out of business? negotiations will continue, but faster because amptp knows wga means business
there’s probably a very small powerful faction of writers push