2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike

[Hurmoth]

WGA and Spyglass Entertainment Announce Independent Agreement

Los Angeles ? The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has reached a comprehensive independent agreement with Spyglass Entertainment. The company finances, produces, and distributes theatrical motion pictures, including some of the most successful films of recent years, including The Sixth Sense, Shanghai Noon, Bruce Almighty, Seabiscuit, Memoirs of a Geisha, and the upcoming 27 Dresses.

"Spyglass Entertainment can now work with the most talented writers in the business ? members of the Writers Guilds," said Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America West, and Michael Winship, president of the writers Guild of America, East, in a joint statement. "We are gratified that the company wants to move forward with us and we can continue to put people back to work."

Spyglass Chief Executive Officers Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum commented, "We are thrilled to have signed this interim agreement with the WGA, and we look forward to continuing our long association with the best writers in the entertainment industry."

The deal reached with Spyglass Entertainment is similar to the deals the WGA recently announced with United Artists, Worldwide Pants, and MRC and addresses the issues important to writers, including New Media.

Spyglass Entertainment was founded by industry veterans Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber. Upcoming for the company are the releases of nine films, including 27 Dresses, starring Katherine Heigl, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, starring Martin Lawrence, The Happening, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman, The Love Guru, starring Mike Myers, and Four Christmases, starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn.

[Rappy Veteran]

what about the office? it is literally the ONLY show i care about at this point in time.

Near enough every show is now out of episodes, expect for the ones that have just started.

[episode]

Near enough every show is now out of episodes, expect for the ones that have just started.

I believe The Office (US) has a bunch written that they can't film because Steve Carell won't cross the picket line, due to him being in the union.

[Hurmoth]

I believe The Office (US) has a bunch written that they can't film because Steve Carell won't cross the picket line, due to him being in the union.

I never thought I'd say this, but I have a lot of respect for Steve for sticking to this.

[sTIMPZ]

What do you want to know about it?

When it will be back? Depends on when the strike ends.

Yeah, but why is that the case for The Office and not 24? I don't get what makes 24 so special (or just unlucky) that it won't be new again until 2009.

And if that's true, props to Steve.

[Mathachew Veteran]

Because 24 only shot eight out of 24 necessary episodes. Fortunately with 24, it's all or nothing. Since the scripts were only half way done (up to the 11th to 13th episode or so), they decided to not deliver on the non-stop season so that when they do show it, they can make it non-stop. It's one of the only shows that does it this way.

[episode]

Yeah, but why is that the case for The Office and not 24? I don't get what makes 24 so special (or just unlucky) that it won't be new again until 2009.

And if that's true, props to Steve.

Because they need around 20 straight Mondays available for 24. The 'non-stop' season, as they call it. The only time Fox has that available is Jan-May. The fall season has baseball playoffs that are on Mondays in October, and Nov-Dec isn't long enough.

As 24 is my favorite show, it sucks tons to not have it this year, but I know it will suck worse to get only 8 episodes of Lost.

[Rappy Veteran]

Help us help them! All proceeds will be paid directly to the Writers Guild Foundation Industry Support Fund which assists members of the industry who are in financial distress as a direct result of the writers' strike.

Fans4Writers.com has a great page with ideas and campaigns that FANS can do to voice their opinion to the studios. Easy things to do here: http://www.fans4writers.com/network.shtml

My personal favorite is their F4W Photo Campaign:

Do you buy DVDs based on the company that produced them, or the story or stories they tell?

We thought so. Since the AMPTP doesn't seem to understand words very well or else they would have given writers a fair deal in the first place, maybe they would understand pictures better. So we're going to send them a few.

Take a photo of yourself, your friends, your family, or even your pet with your favorite DVD(s). Include your location and name (optional) in the shot. Then send the photo to [email protected].

We will create a picture book from the photos we receive and send copies to each of the Big Six AMPTP corporations, as well as AMPTP President Nick Counter to let them know that we are watching and we casre about how the writers are treated. If we get enough photos we may create other campaigns.

We need your photos! Spread the word far and wide among as many fandoms as you belong to. Maybe we cannot do a million fan march but we can do a photo barrage that will feel like it. Be as creative as you want but please keep the photos clean and polite. The point is to stand up and be counted as interested consumers.

Hold up your DVDs! Or take photos in front of a TV you've turned off, or with screen snow showing. Hold up a sign representing your TV viewage and your support of the writers. Take a picture of your whole family reading books. Anything to show that we're out here, and we care.

[sTIMPZ]

Because 24 only shot eight out of 24 necessary episodes. Fortunately with 24, it's all or nothing. Since the scripts were only half way done (up to the 11th to 13th episode or so), they decided to not deliver on the non-stop season so that when they do show it, they can make it non-stop. It's one of the only shows that does it this way.

Because they need around 20 straight Mondays available for 24. The 'non-stop' season, as they call it. The only time Fox has that available is Jan-May. The fall season has baseball playoffs that are on Mondays in October, and Nov-Dec isn't long enough.

As 24 is my favorite show, it sucks tons to not have it this year, but I know it will suck worse to get only 8 episodes of Lost.

Thank you both for your explanations -- and I feel for all those 24 fans out there...

[Rappy Veteran]

17th January what shows are left!

[Zoom7000]

I've just started watching Smallville (watched all of Season 7) and Prison Break (currently on Season 2, not long before I've finished that too though!) :p

I certainly hope some sort of end is near - Forgive me if they have already come to an agreement, I've not really kept up with the details.

Prison Break is bloody amazing though! Can't believe I've missed out on it for this long!

[Mathachew Veteran]

I don't see Monk on that list

[episode]

I've just started watching Smallville (watched all of Season 7) and Prison Break (currently on Season 2, not long before I've finished that too though!) :p

I certainly hope some sort of end is near - Forgive me if they have already come to an agreement, I've not really kept up with the details.

Prison Break is bloody amazing though! Can't believe I've missed out on it for this long!

They are nowhere close to an agreement.

[Rappy Veteran]

I don't see Monk on that list

Monk probably has a full season filmed

[Hurmoth]

I don't see Monk on that list

I didn't see Psych either. I think that list only includes the basic cable channels (i.e. CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, etc.).

[Rappy Veteran]

I was looking at some of the ratings the other day and noticed that Big Bang Theory repeats are doing really well better then the new episodes did, shame we don't have new ones of those.

[bdsams Veteran]

thankfully there are a million modern marvels i havent seen yet and the fact that mythbusters writes their own material is good enough to keep me entertained ( and the comedy central standups on sunday night...lewis black FTW)

back to COD4

[Am_I_Evil]

I didn't see Psych either. I think that list only includes the basic cable channels (i.e. CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, etc.).

lol

those aren't basic cable channels...those are major networks...

basic cable channels are channels you get in the basic cable package without having to pay extra for them and you can't just get them over the air with an antenna...ie: MTV, USA, ESPN, etc....HBO, Showtime and the like would be premium cable channels...

[Hurmoth]

DGA Official Announcement

We're working on analysis now, as is the WGA and pretty much everyone else in town. Here's the DGA's statement:

DGA AND AMPTP REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT

ON TERMS OF NEW CONTRACT

DGA Gains Solid Wage Increases with No Rollbacks Plus Precedent-Setting Jurisdiction Over New-Media and a Doubling of EST Residuals Rate

LOS ANGELES ? The Directors Guild of America (DGA) announced today that it has concluded a tentative agreement on the terms of a new 3-year collective bargaining agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Highlights of the new agreement include:Increases both wages and residual bases for each year of the contract.

Establishes DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet.

Establishes new residuals formula for paid Internet downloads (electronic sell-through) that essentially doubles the rate currently paid by employers.

Establishes residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet.b>

"Two words describe this agreement - groundbreaking and substantial," said Gil Cates, chair of the DGA's Negotiations Committee, in announcing the terms of the new agreement. "The gains in this contract for directors and their teams are extraordinary ? and there are no rollbacks of any kind."

Formal negotiations between the DGA's 50-member Negotiations Committee and the AMPTP began Saturday, January 12, and were concluded today. Talks were led by Cates and DGA National Executive Director Jay D. Roth. They were preceded by months of informal discussions and nearly two years of preparation and research by Guild staff and consultants.

"This was a very difficult negotiation that required real give and take on both sides," said DGA president Michael Apted. "Nonetheless, we managed to produce an agreement that enshrines the two fundamental principles we regard as absolutely crucial to any employment and compensation agreement in this digital age: First, jurisdiction is essential. Without secure jurisdiction over new-media production?both derivative and original?compensation formulas are meaningless. Second, the Internet is not free. We must receive fair compensation for the use and reuse of our work on the Internet, whether it was originally created for other media platforms or expressly for online distribution."

The agreement includes the following gains in New MeJurisdictionction: The new agreement ensures that programming produced for the Internet (both original and derivative) will be directed by DGA members and their teams. The only exceptions are low-budget original shows on which production costs are less than $15,000 per minute, $300,000 per program, or $500,000 per series?whichever is lElectronic Sell-ThroughThrough: EST is the paid download of features and TV programming. The agreement more than doubles the EST residual for television and increases the feature film residual by 80% over the rate currently paid by the employers.

Specifically, the EST residual rates will be .70% for television downloads and .65% for film downloads, above a certain number of units downloaded. Below that, residuals will be based on formula employers currenPayments for EST will be based on distributor's gross gross, which is the amount received by the entity responsible for distributing the film or television program on the Internet. Having distributor's gross as the residuals basis was a key point in our negotiations.

The companies are now contractually obligated to give us unfettered access to their deals and data. This access is new and unprecedented and creates a transparency that has never existed before. Additionally, if the exhibitor or retailer is part of the producer's corporate family, we have improved provisions for challenging any suspect transacAd-Supported Streamingreaming: After an initial 17-day window for free promotional streaming of Internet programs, companies must pay 3% of the residual base (approximately $600 for network prime time 1-hour drama) for 26 weeks of streaming. They can continue to stream for an additional 26-week period by paying an additional 3% -- or a total of $1,200 for one year's worth of streaming. (During a program's first season, the 17-day window is expanded to 24 days to help build audiSunset Provisionovision: Allows both sides to revisit new media when agreement expires.

"Our fundamental goal in these negotiations was to protect our interests in the present while laying the groundwork for a future whose outlines are not yet clear," said Cates. "We knew that gaining jurisdiction over new-media production and winning fair compensation for the reuse of our work on the Internet were the key issues for setting a framework for the future, but we also had to secure real gains for our members in today's world."

The new tentative agreement includes the following:

Annual wage increases of 3% for primetime dramatic shows and daytime serials and 3.5% for all other covered programming.

Outsized increase in director's compensation on high-budget basic cable for series in the second and subsequent seasons.

Annual residual increases of 3% for primetime shows and 3.5% for all other covered programming.

Specific advances that pertain to members of the director's team.

PLEASE SEE FACT SHEET BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS

Details of the new agreement will be submitted to the Guild's National Board for approval at its regularly scheduled meeting on Saturday, January 26, 2008. The DGA's current contracts expire on June 3FACT SHEET

DGA Tentative Agreement

January 17, 2008, 2008

Basic AWage Increasesreases

Compensation for all categories except directors of network prime time dramatic programs and daytime serials increases by 3.5%, each year of the contract.

Compensation for directors of network prime time dramatic programs and daytime serials increases by 3%, each year of the contract.

Outsized increase in director's compensation on high budget basic cable dramatic programs for series in the second and subsequent seasons:

For ? hour programs: 12% increase in daily rate and increase in guaranteed number of days to 7 days.

Results in show rate increasing from $9,009 to $11,760.

For 1-hour programs: 12% increase in daily rate and increase in guaranteed number of days to 14 days.

Results in show rate increasing from $18,010 to Residual Increasescreases

Residual bases increase by 3.5%, each year of the contract, except for reruns in network prime time. Residuals for reruns in network prime time increase by 3%, each year of the Healthcarelthcare

Employers continue to make health care contributions at specially negotiated rate of 8.5%, secured in the 2005 Basic Agreement to address the impact of the growing cost of health care on the DGA Plan. Provisions permitting decrease in contribution rate by employersOther Provisionsvisions

Second Assistant Directors to manage locations in New York and Chicago.

Establishes a wrap supervision allowance of $50/day for the Second Assistant Director who supervises wrap on local and distant locations.

Increases incidental fees and dinner allowances for Unit Production Managers and Assistant DNew Mediaw Jurisdiction overon over:

All new media content that is derivative of product already covered under current cOriginal contentcontent:

All original content above $15,000/minute or $300,000/program or $500,000/series, whichever is lowest.

Original content below the threshold will be covered when a DGA member is employed in the prElectronic Sell-Through (Paid Downloads)nloads)

More than doubles the rate currently paid by the employers on television programming to .70% above 100,000 units downloaded.

Below 100,000 breakpoint: rate will be paid at the current rates of .30% until worldwide gross receipts reach $1 million and .36% thereafter.

Increases rate paid on feature films by 80% to .65% above 50,000 units downloaded

Below 50,000 breakpoint: rate will be paid at the current rates of .30% until worldwide gross receipts reach $1 million and .36% thDistributor's Grosss Gross

Payments for EST will be based on distributor's gross instead of producer's gross, a key point in our negotiations. Distributor's gross is the amount received by the entity responsible for distributing the film or television program on the Internet. We would not have entered the agreement on any other basis.

Companies will be contractually obligated to give us access to their deals and data, enabling us to monitor this provision and prepare for our next negotiation. This access is new and unprecedented.

If the exhibitor or retailer is part of the producer's corporate family, we have improved provisions for challenging any suspect tranAd-Supported Streamingreaming:

17-day window (24-day window for series in their first season).

Pays 3% of the residual base, approximately $600 (for network prime time 1-hour dramas), for each 26-week period following 17-day window, within first year after initial broadcast.

Pays 2% of distributor's gross for streaming that occurs more than one year after initial bClipsb>Clips

? Provides the companies with limited windows where they can distribute clips of feature films and television programs in new media to promote a program. Provides for payment for all other uses in Sunset Provisionrovision

Allows both sides to revisit new media when the agreement expires.

[episode]

I cannot believe that basically, the AMPTP gave the DGA exactly what the WGA wanted.

So the AMPTP basically just skipped over the WGA to spite them, and not let them 'win'.

What a bunch of scumbags.

Maybe the WGA were asking for higher numbers, but they didn't allow the WGA to get to negotiate the numbers.

[Mathachew Veteran]

Unbelievable. Talk about kicking the WGA in the nuts and putting 'em in a blender.

[Hurmoth]

I cannot believe that basically, the AMPTP gave the DGA exactly what the WGA wanted.

So the AMPTP basically just skipped over the WGA to spite them, and not let them 'win'.

What a bunch of scumbags.

Maybe the WGA were asking for higher numbers, but they didn't allow the WGA to get to negotiate the numbers.

Exactly my thoughts too.

[Rappy Veteran]

Does this mean the WGA maybe forced into an agreement?

[episode]

Does this mean the WGA maybe forced into an agreement?

If they can live with the terms the DGA got, then they'll agree with it. At this point, though, I can also see them holding out for more.

[Hurmoth]

AMPTP Invites WGA Back for Discussions

With the DGA and AMPTP reaching a tentative agreement, the AMPTP made this joint statement today:

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

This thing might be over soon. Hard to believe it, but I think it is possible unless the WGA decides to hold out for more, which is possible, but at least the AMPTP is open to "New Media" now though.