After months of rumors and failed negotiations, the Writers Guild of America strike is finally on. Last night saw a last-minute attempt to try and reconcile, but, as each side claimed the other left first, things devolved. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers refused to discuss WGA's main points of contention, those being residuals related to new media. In a nutshell, studios see profits from DVD, on-demand, and other sales while writers (and directors) do not receive a portion of the profits like they would were the money to be earned in cinemas.
"The AMPTP made no response to any of the other proposals that the WGA has made since July," the WGA told Variety. "The AMPTP proposed that today's meeting be 'off the record,' meaning no press statements, but they have reneged on that."
"When we asked if they would 'stop the clock' for the purpose of delaying the strike to allow negotiations to continue, they refused," said AMPTP president Nick Counter. "We made an attempt at meeting them in a number of their key areas including Internet streaming and jurisdiction in New Media. Ultimately, the guild was unwilling to compromise on most of their major demands. It is unfortunate that they choose to take this irresponsible action."
What this means for us right now is that late night television shows will immediately go to reruns, as they're dependent on new writing on a day-to-day basis, while other shows will continue more or less apace for sometime, just somewhat worse because of lack of rewrites. Picketing also began this morning in various locations around Hollywood in an attempt to raise support.
There will also be some new negotiations with the Directors Guild of America, whose contract expires June 30 and is concerned about the same media residuals that the writers have been denied. It's not expected for a resolution to this strike to occur soon, especially when negotiations with the DGA begin later this month.
Related links:
Report on the Strike by Variety
LA Times report on the strike
WGA.org
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