Writers Guild Members Overwhelmingly Ratify New Contract
Los Angeles and New York – The members of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) today put their final stamp of approval on the deal that ended their 14-week strike, giving writers new rights and protections for work distributed on and created for the Internet and other new media platforms.
An overwhelming majority of the WGA membership voted in favor of ratifying the three-year contract by 93.6% of the 4,060 votes cast in Los Angeles and New York. The term of the agreement is from February 13, 2008 through May 1, 2011.
“This contract is a new beginning for writers in the Digital Age,” said Patric M. Verrone, president of the WGAW. “It ensures that Guild members will be fairly compensated for the content they create for the Internet, and it also covers the reuse on new media platforms of the work they have done in film since 1971 and in TV since 1977. That’s a huge body of work that will continue to generate revenue for our members for many years to come as it is distributed electronically.”
“The 2008 Minimum Basic Agreement is groundbreaking on many levels,” said Michael Winship, president of the WGAE. “Not only does it establish Writers Guild jurisdiction in new media, it gives writers the same separated rights provisions in new media enjoyed by the creators of original TV and motion picture scripts, as well as residuals for the reuse of movies and television programs on the Internet and in new media. Those residuals will be based on ‘distributor’s gross’ – real money for our members – that we’ll be able to audit and monitor more effectively than ever before.”
The contract breaks new ground for writers by:
-- establishing WGA jurisdiction over writing for new media
-- giving writers “separated rights” in new media content (separated rights are the contractual rights traditionally enjoyed by writers of original television and motion picture scripts)
-- establishing residual payments for new media reuse of covered material, including Internet downloads and ad-supported streaming of feature films and television programs
-- establishing “distributor's gross” as the basis for calculating new media residual payments
-- creating meaningful access to information and auditing tools that will allow the WGA to monitor the development of new media markets
-- The balloting was conducted by mail ballots and walk-in voting at membership meetings in Los Angeles and New York City. Ratification followed the WGA’s lifting of a strike order on February 13, which ended a 100-day work stoppage.
and...
AMPTP STATEMENT ON WGA RATIFICATION
The members of the Writers Guild of America have ratified their new labor agreement. Now that our industry is back in business, our goal is to collaborate with everyone in the industry - writers, directors, actors and stagehands alike - to produce the highest-quality entertainment products without any further interruption.
Sigh. Well played, AMPTP. Well played indeed.
Comment by Nick — February 26, 2008 @ 4:23 pm
Future generations of writers will curse us.
Comment by Writer Bob — February 26, 2008 @ 5:02 pm
I’ll be looking forward to a strike 3 years from now when AMPTP doesn’t revisit our crappy deal regarding new media.
Of course, our deal ends around May, meaning, if we strike, we won’t have an effect on the television seasons, meaning nothing will happen.
We had our chance, and we did ‘alright’.
WGA: 0
Studios: 1
Comment by Chris — February 26, 2008 @ 5:04 pm
Really, AMPTP, you can never resist, can you? Your statement implies that you don’t want any more work stoppage, with the connotation that, “Oh no, we don’t want other outside interruptions as we produce creative material.” Like a SAG strike, perhaps? Well, AMPTP, look internally! Stop trying to play the victim as if it’s extraneous events that led to the WGA strike, as if the strike was an unwanted war brought to your gates and you were the poor, defenseless, or neutral country and all you could do was shrug that it wasn’t your fault.
Really, if you, AMPTP, don’t want future work stoppage, the obligation lies with YOU to prevent further work stoppage by signing fair contracts ahead of time. Yes, we know that your statement was a dig against SAG, but if taken at face value, your AMPTP statement just said that you will try to produce shows “without further interruptions”. So we can hold you accountable, too, to make at least an effort to prevent such strikes by making a fair deal.
Just an opinion of an avid tv fan who’s been following this drama.
Comment by AvidFan — February 26, 2008 @ 5:10 pm
OK, fine. The WGA showed the world their solidarity. Who gives a shit? The WGA deal is the DGA deal plus three months of a worthless, damaging strike. And the DGA deal is no great shakes. The inexcusably immoral behavior of the AMPTP notwithstanding, the WGA should take a lesson from the DGA–prepare, don’t fall into negotiating traps, check your egos at the door and don’t blindly follow your leadership only to settle for respect instead of a good deal.
Comment by Shocker — February 26, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
Posted these same questions at United Hollywood, but maybe someone here can answer quicker:
How many TOTAL WGA members are there?
How many of those are eligible to vote?
That would put the 4,060 in context.
Comment by SpouseIsNonPro — February 26, 2008 @ 5:37 pm
93.6% of the 4,060
translated into English means 93.6% of the 40% or 37% of the mebership, which like me, don’t give a shit.
Comment by Jon Raymond — February 26, 2008 @ 5:54 pm
17 day window of doom.
Comment by Sad Writer — February 26, 2008 @ 5:55 pm
93.6% of 4,060 votes?? I thought there was 12,000 members in both guilds. 9,000 in LA alone.
Comment by A between the liner — February 26, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
So apparently every WGA member who voted against ratification must have been posting their moronic screeds here. That, or, as I suspected all along, the strike threads were infested with people who weren’t WGA members at all, but were just playing us for fun…
Comment by Can't Take it Anymore — February 26, 2008 @ 7:01 pm
@Bob
I’m already cursing.
My question is, how do they do the math on this thing?
4060 votes cate
93.6 votes “yes”
————-
294. 84 vote “no”
Who was the .84 “no” voter?
or
Who was the .16 “yes” voter?
And how the hell did they do it?
Comment by Jake Hollywood — February 26, 2008 @ 8:18 pm
I think a larger percentage of people voted for the president 4 years ago than the percentage of WGA members who voted on the contract that they are stuck with for the next 3 years. Thats really just plain sad. Whether you were voting for or against the ratification it makes no sense at all that you would not make the effort to be heard on what will effect your lively hood.
Comment by Steve — February 26, 2008 @ 8:29 pm
I really hope the AMPTP decides to be nice to us from now on because there isn’t a damn thing we’ll be able to do about it. We had one shot and we blew it, they’ve got us right where they want us and they know it.
Comment by Anon — February 26, 2008 @ 9:23 pm
Let me show you how effective this strike was.
A friend of mine (a WGA emeritus member) was contacted last week by Ashton Kutcher’s production company to write for a hidden camera show for CBS. It’s for prime time. They needed writers to create scenarios for the series.
The pay was $1000 a week. For two weeks.
In that two weeks of time, the writers came up with enough material to sustain an entire season.
The writers were then all laid off. No benefits, no pension, no insurance, no overtime.
That’s your future.
Congratulations.
Comment by tom reynolds — February 27, 2008 @ 5:26 am
The AMPTP can get back to “highest quality entertainment products” when they stop producing the crap reality shows that are polluting the airwaves now.
Yes, this has everything to do with CBS’ non-decision about the status of “The Unit” and replacing it (an example of high quality entertainmnent product) with “Big Brother 9″.
Comment by Becca — February 27, 2008 @ 5:51 am
Once again, the 17 day window is not the issue and never was. You get paid residuals for reruns, not first runs — that you got paid for when you wrote the script. An internet production does not air one time at a specific time — it plays it’s first run over the course of days after it has been put online and people go see it, and most people who go see it online have not seen it on existing media. The problem is everything the writer’s did get (new media coverage, new media residuals, etc) was stuff that you should have gotten no matter what, without negotiation. It’s not an improvement.
Where you got really screwed was DVD rates, where you could have made a LOT of money over the next 3 years. New media is NOT going to bring in a ton of money over the next 3 years, even if you had gotten better rates. It’s still a growing medium and does not command anywhere near the money your other income sources will bring.
Who screwed you? Not the producers — they only did the job they were hired to do. Your union screwed you and the public by calling an early strike instead of waiting to go out with SAG and really crush the producers. The insane focus on new media to the exclusion of all else was also your leadership’s fault. You started off making this strike about something it never should have been about. Yes new media coverage is important for the future, but in making this strike ALL about that, all your leverage for everything else was taken away and you allowed the producers to say ’see? we gave you new media, so we gave you a good deal.’ The truth is new media is a drop in the bucket of overall revenues these companies receive.
You got a tiny slice of a tiny pie, instead of increasing your overall slice of the bigger pie. I’m not in a guild, just a close observer of this since it started without a bone to pick in either fight.
Comment by Patrick blew it — February 27, 2008 @ 6:23 am
Where was all this outrage over the deal when it really counted? The WGA membership meeting at the Shrine? One single guy got up to the mic and voiced his anger. One guy. I was at the Studio City contract meeting last week, where anyone and everyone was invited to come voice concerns to the leadership. About 18 people were there. Concerns were raised and I felt honest answers were given.
I’m starting to think it’s just a bunch of complainers hiding out on the message boards…
Comment by Skip — February 27, 2008 @ 9:42 am
@Patrick blew it:
I don’t think fighting for a bigger piece of new media was a bad idea in theory. There’s going to be money made from that medium in the future, and we all know that by the time it’s truly profitable the AMPTP will have a stranglehold on it that makes the DVD rates look generous.
Time will tell whether the rate the WGA was able to negotiate — which is very likely the highest they’ll ever get, unless and until they strike again — will be worthwhile. At this point, no, it doesn’t look like it will be. Meanwhile, home video will continue to be a cash cow for at least another decade, probably more, and the writers probably would have been better off making the strike about that — one demand, no exceptions.
Would that have worked? Maybe not. Maybe the studios, after three months, would have grudgingly bumped the formula up by 1 cent and insisted on rollbacks in other areas to compensate for it. All I know is, as it stands, the AMPTP won. And the fact that the majority of the WGA membership stayed home on voting day is pretty appalling.
Comment by Nick — February 27, 2008 @ 1:38 pm
I am with Patrick Blew It. If the writers knew what the other side was saying about the incredible waste of this strike. How the town might not go back to “normal” for quite some time. How crappy the deal is for what it cost. It’s a joke. The thing was bungled from the beginning, as evidenced by the DGA having to save the whiny writers’ butts. Nice try at saving face. But every producer, studio exec, agent, manager, etc. knows what you got (crap) vs. the damage you are so disgracefully proud of doing. This WILL go down in history as a major joke. Oh, yeah, and at lunch today with a senior exec at a major studio…he reminded me that the studios can’t wait for you guys to pull these nonsense strikes so they can unload the dead weight. Never mind that you pulled it at the Holidays, when no one cared. Good job. I hope the craft service people spit in your food, as many have claimed they will. Here’s my bet. Behind the scenes the big guys, you know, the ones who sign your frigging paychecks, pushed Pussy Pat’s buttons big time and told him that if the Oscars got squashed there was no going back. Otherwise, why the desperation to take the shit deal, when you could have easily waited for SAG? And the WGA lemmings just sat there, called it a victory and didn’t question any of it. Wow, smart move.
Comment by YouGuysBlewIt — February 27, 2008 @ 9:10 pm
Patrick blew it, yes, we get paid for first run, not reruns. But downloads and streaming are not first run if they contain ads that constitute an additional revenue stream. If they’re running the same commercials that ran on the network and not charging advertisers an additional fee, that’s one thing, but I doubt it. And you’re right that what we did get we should have gotten automatically, but they fact that we have to beg and strike for peanuts shows what we’re up against.
Comment by Anon — February 28, 2008 @ 2:55 am