BIG NEWS: DGA Makes Deal With AMPTP

Submitted by MagnoliaFan on January 17, 2008 - 5:03pm

General Film

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Via Variety. No details yet, but you can rest assured they’ll be out later this afternoon.

As speculation grew that this deal would happen, the Writers Guild has had increased pressure. As “Battlestar Galactica” executive producer Ron Moore put it:

At one end of the spectrum, lies the possibility that the DGA has a deal in place that so closely achieves the WGA position that the writers essentially declare victory and go home. Negotiations resume quickly, the remaining writer-specific provisions are dealt with promptly, a new contract is submitted to the membership for ratification and the strike ends.

At the other end of the spectrum lies the darker possibility that the DGA comes back with a deal that is so far removed from the WGA position that the writers summarily and angrily reject it. Resentment hardens and the writers settle in for an even longer struggle with the certain knowledge that the Screen Actors’ Guild will support them come June and the industry really shuts down.

More details to come.

And So It Begins (Again)

Submitted by MagnoliaFan on January 17, 2008 - 6:51pm.

The AMPTP posted this statement up at their web site:

January 17, 2008

JOINT STATEMENT

The agreement between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Directors Guild of America establishes an important precedent: Our industry’s creative talent will now participate financially in every emerging area of new media. The agreement demonstrates beyond any doubt that our industry’s producers are willing and able to work with the creators of entertainment content to establish fair and flexible rules for this fast-changing marketplace.

We hope that this agreement with DGA will signal the beginning of the end of this extremely difficult period for our industry. Today, we invite the Writers Guild of America to engage with us in a series of informal discussions similar to the productive process that led us to a deal with the DGA to determine whether there is a reasonable basis for returning to formal bargaining. We look forward to these discussions, and to the day when our entire industry gets back to work.

Peter Chernin, Chairman and CEO, the Fox Group
Brad Grey, Chairman & CEO, Paramount Pictures Corp.
Robert A. Iger, President & CEO, The Walt Disney Company
Michael Lynton, Chairman & CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Barry M. Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros.
Leslie Moonves, President & CEO, CBS Corp.
Harry Sloan, Chairman & CEO, MGM
Jeff Zucker, President & CEO, NBC Universal

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-13 votes

WGA Response

Submitted by MagnoliaFan on January 18, 2008 - 4:47am.

WGA response:

Now that the DGA has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP, the terms of the deal will be carefully analyzed and evaluated by the WGA, the WGA’s Negotiating Committee, the WGAW Board of Directors, and the WGAE Council. We will work with the full membership of both Guilds to discuss our strategies for our own negotiations and contract goals and how they may be affected by such a deal.

For over a month, we have been urging the conglomerates to return to the table and bargain in good faith. They have chosen to negotiate with the DGA instead. Now that those negotiations are completed, the AMPTP must return to the process of bargaining with the WGA. We hope that the DGA’s tentative agreement will be a step forward in our effort to negotiate an agreement that is in the best interests of all writers.

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9 votes

Let’s just hope Battlestar

Submitted by Dustin on January 17, 2008 - 5:38pm.

Let’s just hope Battlestar Gallactica comes back.

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-2 votes

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