Writers' Strike, Cont: Studios Back Out of Negotiations

[lendarios]

The writer's guild is looking more and more like douchebags. Also i agree with the decision of paying their whole staff but the writers. It was their decision to go on strike, live with it.

[Arbitrary]

I thought they were paying the staff because a number of studios/shows fired everyone on the production team who wasn't a star or a writer on strike. Those grips and sound guys and such.

[lendarios]

You cant fire someone who is on strike.

[Yutnopash]

Yeah the Writer's Guild only look like douchebags if you haven't been following the whole strike.

The AMPTP has been and still is the problem.

[Nazbuk]

Originally Posted by Yutnopash

Didn't get to watch Letterman...

But Conan was mildly hilarious without writers he's got a strike beard going..he was like take a drink of water..that killed some time. And spent around 8 minutes building up him spinning his wedding ring on the desk to actually spinning it. It was also interesting have all of the side comments about the greed from the AMPTP guys and moguls.

Overall though, you can tell how much it suffers without Writers.

YouTube - Jan.2,08_SEGMENT2

There's the segment on YouTube with him playing Rock band and what not.

[Agraza]

Conan is funnier than he has been in a while. I hope he can keep it going.

[Soriak]

Man, Leno from January 3rd just had me in tears - by far the funniest episode in a LONG time. The leftover crap from holiday segment was particulary hilarious.

"does it vibrate?"

The penis lamp: "Does it come in black? Yeah, but you need both hands to turn it on"

The Hilary Clinton nutcracker...

Though they could have skipped the mankini part (the swimsuit Borat wore in his movie...)

[Lowk]

Tom Cruise follows the lead of Letterman in striking a deal independently with the writers the WGA.

Writers Guild is close to a deal with UA
template_bas
template_bas
Tom Cruise's independent film company could sign a contract today and get back to work. Other companies may follow.
By Claudia Eller and Richard Verrier, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
January 6, 2008
United Artists, the independent production unit of MGM controlled by actor Tom Cruise and his producer partner, Paula Wagner, is expected to become the first movie company to reach an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America, enabling the recent start-up to hire union writers despite the continuing strike.

The guild, which is close to finalizing a deal with UA that is expected to be signed possibly as early as today, is also in discussions with several other independent companies, including Lionsgate and the Weinstein Co., about similar interim agreements.

The agreement with UA would benefit the company's distributor and majority shareholder, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., by supplying the studio with films once they were produced.

UA, based at MGM's headquarters in Century City, is a relatively small player in Hollywood, and a deal with the company is not expected to have an immediate effect on the larger dispute that has roiled the film and TV industry. Writers walked off the job two months ago, largely over pay for their work distributed on the Internet.

Since studios broke off talks in December, the guild has been attempting to sign up independent companies to put pressure on major studios to return to the bargaining table.

However, MGM, which is a member of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, does not plan to break ranks with the alliance's other major studios and sign a similar side deal with the guild, according to people close to the situation who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly.

The alliance represents the major studios in negotiations with Hollywood's labor unions.

In recent days, Harry Sloan, MGM's chief executive, has been attempting to dissuade Wagner and Cruise from making an interim deal with the guild, people familiar with the situation said. But Sloan ultimately must defer to Wagner, who as chief executive of UA has the final word on how the company operates. Some people close to the matter cautioned that the deal between UA and the guild could still fall apart.

Wagner and UA representatives did not return calls seeking comment. Spokesmen for MGM and the guild declined to comment. The proposed agreement was first reported by the New York Post and Deadline Hollywood Daily.

The pending agreement with UA is patterned after a similar deal the guild has struck with Worldwide Pants Inc., the production company owned by late-night talk show host David Letterman.

Both agreements contain proposals that the union sought in its negotiations with major studios, including in the key area of Internet residuals.

Securing such deals is part of a strategy by the guild to present itself as a reasonable negotiating partner. The alliance has sought to portray union leaders as intransigent.

Wagner and Cruise, who have been production partners for more than 15 years, jointly own 35% of UA, with MGM and its equity partners controlling the majority shares.

In November 2006, Sloan recruited Cruise and Wagner to resurrect UA as a stand-alone production company, with its own financing, that could help fill MGM's distribution pipeline. Cruise and Wagner had previously been based at Paramount Pictures under a lucrative long-term production deal that the studio no longer wanted to bankroll.

Last August, UA raised $500 million from the investment bank Merrill Lynch to finance production of 15 to 18 films over the next five years.

UA's debut film, "Lions for Lambs," a political drama directed by Robert Redford and starring Redford, Cruise and Meryl Streep, bombed at the U.S. box office last year.

The company's planned production, "Pinkville," to be directed by Oliver Stone, was derailed by the writers strike in late fall because its script needed to be rewritten.

The guild has also been talking with the New York City-based Weinstein Co., owned by former Miramax Films founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein, and with Lionsgate about cutting similar interim deals.

Late last month, the guild made a proposal to the Weinsteins that the brothers are still considering, according to people close to the matter who declined to be named because they were not authorized to discuss the plans. Those people suggested that the Weinsteins, who formed their own outfit in October 2005 after a nasty divorce from Walt Disney Co., have been waiting to see what UA and Lionsgate would do before they make a final decision.

A spokesman for the Weinstein Co. declined to comment Saturday.

Lionsgate, an independent producer of movies and TV shows, is also contemplating making a deal with the guild. However, no decision is expected imminently.

A Lionsgate spokesman declined to comment beyond saying, "The company is always evaluating its options."

Also on Saturday, an NBC spokeswoman said plans are in the works for "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno and his ABC counterpart, Jimmy Kimmel, to be the lead guest on each other's programs Thursday.

Both comedians, who have gotten to know each other through dealing with the ramifications of the writers strike, returned to the air Wednesday without their writing staffs, causing them to improvise ways to fill time on their programs. Leno suggested the exchange, and Kimmel agreed, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

Earlier this week, Kimmel expressed dismay that the guild was picketing the studios where Leno and fellow NBC host Conan O'Brien tape their shows, noting their support for the strike.

Leno now is in a standoff with the guild over the fact that he has been writing his own monologue, a move the guild has criticized as a violation of strike rules.

Writers Guild is close to a deal with UA - Los Angeles Times

The bolded section is also quite interesting

[Angerz]

Daily show and Colbert Report had pretty funny first nights back.

[brekk]

I almost died laughing at the joke Stewart did about WoW.

"So that's what you've been doing for two monthes!"

[Jovec]

Fi-core, or financial core, is becoming an issue in the strike. I wouldn't be surprised if late night show writers start to follow what some soap opera writers are doing. - Link

Others, such as the writer quoted above, are starting to take advantage of a little-known inactive status known as "financial core" that allows union members to return to work without censure.

"You resign your membership but continue to pay dues," the writer said about the financial-core designation. "They [the guild] still represent you. You still have your healthcare, your pension. It's absolutely fair. You remain involved in the protections that the union offers, and you support them financially. There are many reasons people make that decision."

-----

An interesting Op-ed from he writer of "Undercover Brother" who also went fi-core - John Ridley goes fi-core - LA Times

Since I was conscripted into the Writers Guild of America a decade and a half ago — and membership in the guild is mandatory — I've found myself politically opposed to it on any number of issues. Not long after, I wrote an Op-Ed about the woeful lack of diversity in Hollywood and what little the guild was doing to rectify the situation. I got a personal call from then-WGA President Frank Pierson ripping me a new orifice for daring to take my disappointment public. The gist of his argument: If you haven't anything nice to say about the union, then shut up.

-----

And just because, from the first link, apparently being in the WGA automatically makes you a good writer, while holders of other jobs must suck at it.
"Nobody knows where these scripts come from," said Susan Flannery, lead actress on "The Bold and the Beautiful," as she walked the line. "It's a magic act like a pea under an acorn shell. Is it a bartender in Wisconsin or a janitor in the basement?"

[mek]

If you don't support the guild politically, it seems like an appropriate move. I really frown on people who don't support them in this particular strike though, it's pretty clear who the bad guys are.

I just want to say that the return of late night tv, while controversial, is really a huge boon to the writer's guild; celebrities like Jon Stewart explaining WHY the guild is on strike (and repeatedly mocking the AMPTP) educates more of the public faster than the MSM could ever hope to.

[Jovec]

Originally Posted by mek

If you don't support the guild politically, it seems like an appropriate move.

Well, it does cover two bases. It gives writers who need the income an option, but it also is a way to silence dissenting opinions since you are no longer a WGA member and give up your vote.

I really frown on people who don't support them in this particular strike though, it's pretty clear who the bad guys are.

I'm not defending the AMPTP, but this is a two-way street. Yes, the writers are a core part of television and movie production, but without the money the producers provide, the writers wouldn't have anyone to write for. The strike has also placed a large financial burden on numerous other workers involved in production who were fired or laid off and receive no money from the strike fund. Leno and Conan paid the salaries of their crew out of pocket, but I doubt that's the norm.

There is also the question of risk. While it might be rare for a given movie to lose money over its lifetime between domestic, overseas, DVD sales and rental, and eventually television, that risk is rarely, if ever, shared by the writers - even those who may be in line for portion of the profits as part of their compensation. This risk - which could be anything from bad writing, to bad production, directing, or acting, to set difficulties, and eveywhere else - has to be worth something.

I'm not sure if the numbers can be run on this, but I've heard that the majority of writers have already lost more money due to lack of wages than they stood to receive in increased royalties. It seems reasonable to me, excluding the writers of the larger hit movies and shows who probably aren't hurting for the extra $0.04 per DVD anyway.

Obviously the WGA is hoping the next few months will put more and more pressure on the AMPTP as their cache of first run episodes expires. I'm sure they are also hoping the expiring contract of the Screen Actor's Guild this summer will put even more pressure on them if the WGA and SAG stick together, but I wonder if enough writers can hold out long enough financially for this to happen. There will be mounting counter-pressure from other trades calling for the WGA to settle - I can easily see 10 out-of-work employees for every 1 striking writer.

I just want to say that the return of late night tv, while controversial, is really a huge boon to the writer's guild; celebrities like Jon Stewart explaining WHY the guild is on strike (and repeatedly mocking the AMPTP) educates more of the public faster than the MSM could ever hope to.

I agree, but it opens the door for more of this to happen (individual deals between writers and production companies - although Stewart and Colbert didn't make any IIRC). If Letterman and Tom Cruise have them, I'm sure more companies will try for the same thing. If enough new production happens to keep the public satisfied, then what? What about the animosity between writers going fi-core or lucky enough to have one of these new deals and striking writers who haven't gotten paid in 3 months?

It's entirely likely that the general public mind find they don't care about the 12th season of ER or Law and Order enough - that we've found other ways to entertain us for the near and mid-term.

[Astrocreep]

It would be easy for the networks to just run movies every night, they probably would get almost as many viewers and they could keep the WGA out of work indefinitely. IMO if the owners havent caved yet they probably never will and when this strike is over no matter who comes out on top, those striking writers will be phased out and perhaps the WGA will be tossed out completely for independents.

[Zeste]

I've been watching the Daily Show, and he's obviously still reading from a teleprompter, and not much of his stuff seems improvised.

What is he able to write or prepare ahead of time, and how can they still use a teleprompter?