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Writers will strike

Guild leaders call for weekend talks

By DAVE MCNARY, CYNTHIA LITTLETON (Fri., Nov. 2, 2007)

UPDATE: The Writers Guild of America has announced that its 12,000 members will go on strike Monday morning against studios and networks, but left the door open for new talks.

Guild leaders, speaking at a Friday afternoon news conference at WGA West headquarters, stressed that they want to negotiate with the companies this weekend -- as long as the companies will back off their insistence that residuals for DVDs cannot be increased.

"We have 48 hours," said WGA negotiating committee chairman John Bowman. "We don't want to strike. What we really want to do is negotiate."

During the news conference, WGA West president Patric Verrone and WGA East president Michael Winship also emphasized they would be open to meeting with the companies. Talks collapsed on Wednesday night, a few hours before the WGA contract expired.

But new talks appear unlikely. In a signal that the companies won't be back at negotiations any time soon, they responded by blasting the WGA in a vitriolic statement by Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers topper Nick Counter.

"We are very disappointed with their press conference and the action they took," Counter said. "Their press conference was full of falsehoods, misstatements and inaccuracies and we'll respond at an appropriate time."

The AMPTP, which serves as the negotiating arm for the companies, declared on Wednesday that it would not agree to any WGA deal with an increase in DVD or Internet download residuals.

The strike officially begins at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time on Monday. Members began receiving the official announcement Friday afternoon -- at the same time that the WGA was holding a news conference at WGA West headquarters in Los Angeles.

Members were told that all writing covered under WGA agreements must cease when the strike starts.

The strike received unanimous approval in today's meetings of the WGA West board and the WGA East Council. The prospects of a strike had been growing by the time negotiations broke down on Wednesday, a few hours before the contract expired.

The strike announcement comes a day after a unanimous recommendation by the Guild's negotiating committee. WGA leaders told 3,000 members of the strike plans Thursday night at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

In voting several weeks ago, WGA members gave a 90% endorsement to authorize their leaders to call a strike if no agreement could be reached.

The WGA's expected to mount multiple picket lines Monday. The guild's email to members said, "We'll be sending you information about our picket lines. Come out and show your solidarity. Your Contract Captain will be in touch with you. Be prepared to serve."

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117975256.html?categoryid=2821&cs=1

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From Zap2It.com: http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-wgastrik...-news-headlines

Leaders of the union representing Hollywood's film and television scribes declared Thursday night that they would go on strike in what would be the first walkout by writers in nearly two decades.

Negotiators for the Writers Guild of America told thousands of members gathered at the Los Angeles Convention Center that they would notify members of the timing of the walkout by e-mail this afternoon, according to people present at the meeting.

Although the announcement moves the entertainment industry closer to a debilitating strike, there is still an outside chance that an agreement on a new contract may be reached in the next few days.

A prolonged strike would destabilize Southern California's signature industry and spur a domino effect across the Los Angeles economy, throwing untold numbers of people out of work. Television viewers could notice an immediate change: David Letterman's Top 10 list on CBS, for instance, could be reprised from an earlier show.

Thursday night's rally of about 3,000 film and TV writers occurred a day after talks with their employers broke down amid disputes over DVD residuals and pay for programs distributed over the Internet. The writers' employment agreement expired at midnight Wednesday.

The union's board of directors is set to formally ratify the strike plans at a meeting at 10 a.m. PT Friday at the West Coast guild's headquarters.

Barring a last-minute deal, a strike would probably start Monday, people close to the guild said. That would mark the first time in nearly two decades that writers had walked off the job. The guild represents about 12,000 film and TV writers, of which roughly 7,000 work regularly.

At the packed Convention Center, guild leaders were greeted with multiple standing ovations and cheers by members, many of whom were clad in red T-shirts emblazoned with "United We Stand."

"This is a watershed negotiation for the Writers Guild," David Young, the union's chief negotiator, told the raucous crowd. "This is not the average negotiation. This has the potential to determine writers' income from the Internet and new media for the next generation and beyond."

The studios' chief negotiator said he was still committed to reaching a deal with the writers.

"By the WGA leadership's actions at the bargaining table, we are not surprised by tonight's recommendation," said Nick Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. "We are ready to meet and are prepared to close this contract this weekend."

On Thursday afternoon, Hollywood was acting as if a strike had already been called.

"This feels like Armageddon," said entertainment attorney David Colden. Studio executives were scrambling to give writers script notes so they could hand in final drafts while writers were holed up finishing their projects. Agents and lawyers were drawing up contracts, scurrying to get their clients paid before a work stoppage.

The guild had instructed all writers with offices on studio lots to pack up their belongings.

"We've been told by our strike captains to clear out our offices today," said Nicole Yorkin, an executive producer of FX's "The Riches." She said she and the writing staff, who work in Santa Clarita, were rushing to write final scenes for the drama's second season, deal with executives' feedback on drafts and make casting choices -- all before the end of day Thursday.

The union also requested that writers turn in all drafts of their work to make sure no one violated rules that prevent them from writing during a strike.

Studio executives were going to extraordinary lengths to ensure that some of their top producers and directors who are also writers can keep working. One senior executive said he was making plans to move the editing suite of a feature film off the lot so his writer-producer could continue his work as a filmmaker without crossing a picket line.

A strike wouldn't halt production entirely, but it would immediately disrupt some late-night TV programs. Some series could stop production as early as December once networks used up their stockpiled scripts. Studios have enough films in their pipelines to supply theaters in 2008 but are rushing to finish future movies before a possible strike by actors in June. "It's a bad day for our town," said producer Jerry Bruckheimer, whose credits include the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie franchise and three "CSI" TV series. "When you have a labor dispute like this, nobody wins."

Dick Wolf, executive producer of TV's "Law & Order" franchise, concurred: "This whole thing has brought the town to the precipice of disaster, and there is not one good thing that could come out of it." But writers feel they have a just cause, complaining that they've been shortchanged for years by the studios. "We are ready to do whatever we need to do," said Jessica Goldstein, who writes for "My Name Is Earl."

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Well, the producers have to bend a little first, which is the whole reason why this is happening from what I can gather. I mean, shows can be downloaded off of iTunes now - yet the people who wrote it don't get a percentage...and the producers don't see fit to change that?

It just seems greedy and wrong, to me. I don't want a strike as I hate repeats - not to mention what it'll do to soaps now. But I get why it has come to that.

Oh, and you're welcome, TC!

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Update from Variety: Last-ditch talks scheduled for Sunday:

UPDATE: In a last-ditch attempt to avert a strike, the Writers Guild of America will return to the negotiating table Sunday morning to meet with studios and networks.

News of the bargaining session emerged late Friday afternoon, a few hours after the WGA announced that its 12,000 members will go on strike Monday against studios and networks in the first major work stoppage in two decades.

The strike officially begins at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on Monday. Members began receiving the official announcement at the same time that the WGA was holding a news conference at WGA West headquarters in Los Angeles. The missive said explicitly that all writing covered under guild agreements must cease when the strike starts.

Sunday's talks will be the first since negotiations broke down Wednesday night, a few hours before the WGA contract expired.

WGA West president Patric Verrone opened the news conference by asserting the companies have ignored the Guild's key issues -- new media, Internet re-use, DVDs, jurisdiction -- at a time when entertainment congloms are enjoying financial success.

"Rather than address our members' primary concern, the studios made it clear that they would rather shut down the town than reach a fair and reasonable deal," Verrone said. "This is not an action that anyone takes lightly. But it slowly became apparent that the studios are not prepared to deal fairly with writers and the rest of talent community."

Nick Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, blasted back at the guild several hours later. "The WGA's call for a strike is precipitous and irresponsible," he said.

The WGA's expected to mount multiple picket lines Monday. The guild's email to members said, "We'll be sending you information about our picket lines. Come out and show your solidarity. Your Contract Captain will be in touch with you. Be prepared to serve."

The strike announcement followed unanimous approval in meetings of the WGA West board and the WGA East Council. Prospects for a strike became a near-certainty after negotiations collapsed on over the companies' insistence that they won't boost residuals for DVDs or Internet downloads.

WGA leaders had left the door open for talks to avert a strike. Negotiating committee chief John Bowman stressed that guild leaders want to negotiate with the companies this weekend -- as long as the companies will back off their insistence that residuals for DVDs and Internet downloads cannot be increased.

"We have 48 hours," Bowman said. "We don't want to strike. What we really want to do is negotiate."

In comments after the news conference, Bowman expressed frustration that the AMPTP had not discussed new media issues since negotations began in July. He also said guild negotiators were blind-sided Wednesday by the AMPTP's insistence that the home vid formula had to be extended to electronic sell-through.

"If that was going to be their position, then that should have been their proposal in July," Bowman added.

Counter was particularly combative about the WGA in his latest comments, attempting to portray the guild as greedy buy asserting that writers are already well paid as it is. The WGA's seeking to double DVD residuals, which currently pay out at about a nickel per DVD sold.

"The writer is one of our most highly regarded assets and one of our most highly rewarded," he noted. "Working writers on average earn over $200,000 a year. All they have to do is earn $31,000 to qualify for a full year of coverage in the finest health care plan in the country. And they are among the few employees in the world who get an "additional annuity" in the form of residuals beyond their initial compensation."

Counter then noted that WGA West writers made in excess of $56 million in additional compensation last year from DVD residuals.

"It makes absolutely no sense to increase the burden of this additional compensation," he added. "Their DVD proposal would more than double the cost to producers."

Counter reiterated his previous contention that a deal's possible - but only if the WGA relents on DVD and Internet residuals.,

"Instead of working toward solutions that would give the industry the flexibility it needs to meet today's business challenges, the WGA leadership continues to pursue numerous unreasonable proposals that would result in astronomical and unjustified increases in our costs, further restrict our ability to produce, promote and market TV series and films, and prohibit us from experimenting with programming and business models in New Media," he said.

Bowman also acknowledged rumors that the likelihood of a WGA strike has raised the likelihood that the Directors Guild of America will make a deal soon with the AMPTP. He said that even if the DGA did come to a deal with AMPTP on Internet, the writers will not back down.

"The DGA can't make this deal for us," he added. "We won't accept a bad deal."

Bowman also noted that directors are less dependent on residuals that writers.

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Hollywood Reporter article. It mainly focuses on late night, but the end mentions the soaps. Here's the paragraph:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/conten...b5e400d7f3ce440

Also in daytime, the broadcast networks' soaps are set with enough scripts to keep fresh episodes on the air for the next few months. NBC's "Days of Our Lives" and the CBS dramas "The Young and the Restless," "The Bold and the Beautiful" and "As the World Turns" have enough scripts to take them through at least January, while CBS' "Guiding Light" could be OK for another month beyond that.

ABC's daytime dramas -- "One Life to Live," "General Hospital" and "All My Children" -- also are set through the beginning of the year.

"ABC's daytime dramas are written well into the new year, and we will continue to produce original programming with no repeats and without interruption," an ABC Daytime spokesperson said.

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They could and should, but will they? Sadly, I do not think so.

The list is so long that it is not funny. I am sure a handful of non-WGA members would jump at the chance to write for any of theses shows, and to expose their work to a new audience. How many people know about the work of Robert Alexander?

Over the course of a year, daytime HW are guaranteed at least one million dollars a year. Passanante...a millionaire...for writing crap?

The only thing they care about are profits. But that quest has robbed their intelligence. They are working on a flawed and outdated business model that desperately needs to change. Many of these shows should air no more than four times a week.

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I've been thinking (I do from time to time)... if the soaps run out of scripts and refuse to bring in scabs/let the actors wing it.. I think they should air old episodes...

Speaking for GL alone, I wouldn't mind seeing a few stories from the past... Roger/Holly rape and Acapulco, episodes from '92, Josh/Reva CC wedding and Annie story, Phillip/Beth/Rick/Mindy, the blackout, Vanessa/Billy/Nadine and Bridget/Peter story... that would be a great way to give new viewers a background on the history of the shows and characters... they have those (mostly) crappy Wednesday episodes on GL... why not week-long eppys focusing on one story...

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