WGA Removes One Stumbling Block

The informal negotiations between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which began yesterday, got off to a rocky start but, by mid-afternoon came some clues that things might be looking up.

Rumors began filtering around that the WGA would bend on one sticking point and those rumors were later verified after the WGA announced it had taken their demand for jurisdiction over reality and animation off the table. This met with strong AMPTP approval.

The two bargining units also agreed to have the informal talks continue.

This is the first bit of real news coming out of those meetings since both sides have agreed to a Press Blackout until substantial information can be released.

Everyone is hoping that some kind of deal, either temporary or permanent, can be worked out before the February 24 Oscar presentations at the 80th Annual Academy Awards ceremony. Both groups would like to avoid the fiasco the strike caused for the Golden Globes. That ceremony was relegated to a basic news conference and even though several networks carried it, viewership of the event was at its worse all-time low.

The WGA East president, Michael Winship, has indicated at a recent rally in Manhattan that if some kind of agreement isn’t reached by the 24th, then the Academy Awards ceremony will face the same picket lines imposed on the Golden Globes, pretty much putting down that event as well, according to Variety.

“Until the Writers Guild has a deal with the conglomerates — the studios and networks — our intention is to boycott the Oscars, to picket the Oscars and to ask our fellow union members at the Screen Actors Guild to boycott the Oscars,” Winship said. “That’s our plan. Awards are nice, but we’d rather the writers get a fair contract.”

Not wanting to appear too strident to its supporting public, WGA West president Patric Verrone stated that “We have responded favorably to the invitation from the AMPTP to enter into informal talks that will help establish a reasonable basis for returning to negotiations. During this period we have agreed to a complete news blackout. We are grateful for this opportunity to engage in meaningful discussion with industry leaders that we hope will lead to a contract. We ask that all members exercise restraint in their public statements during this critical period.”

“In order to make absolutely clear our commitment to bringing a speedy conclusion to negotiations, we have decided to withdraw our proposals on reality and animation,” both Winship and Verrone said in a written statement. “Our organizing efforts to achieve guild representation in these genres for writers will continue.”