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The talks will resume on Thursday. But I’m told by a mogul that the reason the second half of the AMPTP proposal 
– which presumably contains an offer about electronic sell-through (ESTs) – has not yet seen the light of day is because “no one is prepared to put anything new on the table until there’s movement on other issues.” Oh, c’mon!
So the AMPTP had an internal meeting today about the WGA’s offer on streaming but didn’t bring any counter/counter-offer on New Media to the table. The WGA in an end-of-day statement tonight said “we are still waiting for the AMPTP to respond to … Internet streaming of theatrical and TV product and digital downloads.” The producers’ end-of-day statement tonight was generic, not detailed.
The largest part of today’s negotiations were taken over by the WGA’s small group discussion of jurisdiction for Reality TV and made-for-Web content as well as animation and cable. I’ve learned the WGA played hardball by demanding that network and studio CEOs no longer make deals with Reality TV producers like Mark Burnett Productions, Fremantle, Endemol etc unless those companies become signatories of the WGA. This is part of the WGA’s continuing campaign to ensure that Reality TV writers — often referred to as the story editors or story producers of the shows – start to receive the same benefits and pay and protections as guild members. 
(Of course, further complicating matters is that some Reality TV shows have signed deals with IA, the editors guild.) It’s also clear the WGA’s demand today was timed to this Friday’s big writers protest outside Fremantle Media headquarters.
Needless to say, network CEOs expressed disbelief and anger that the WGA would try to put Reality TV on the table today. I swear one mogul was going to have a coronary, sputtering as he charged that today’s talks were “going backwards”. (Did the producers not hear that Variety erroneously reported pre-strike that the WGA negotiators had dropped their nonscripted proposal? On the other hand, don’t the writers consider New Media formulas a more pressing issue? Am I starting to lose the will to live?)
Interestingly, the WGA’s demand that all made-for-web work be placed under the guild’s full jurisdiction didn’t seem to hit a nerve with either the AMPTP or its CEOs.
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I hate reality TV with a passion.
With the exception of gameshows, I too am not a huge fan of reality tv.
I just wish he strike was over…….
Does the WGA really think that the AMPTP will make a deal with regards to reality TV. No way. If this is a sticking point for the WGA then be prepared for a long strike.
Tomorrow, the WGA is going to demand that the AMPTP end the war in iraq…..
Let reality tv implode on itself, and broker a deal.
I think the genie is way out of the bottle on this. And my friends that work in reality TV aren’t that interested in representation anyway. It’s sort of a stepping stone into scripted stuff. I think this was just a way to piss off the moguls ’cause they haven’t come back with the stuff they’re supposed to have presented. BTW, I missed my December mortgage payment.
Just saying.
so the second half of the proposal was withheld because other issues remain unsolved…but when the wga tried to solve an unsolved issue, reality jurisdiction, that was going backwards?
I thought becoming a WGA signatory was optional? To insist that a show become WGA because the Guild says the show MUST is ludicrous.
What the Guild should focus upon are the “one-offs” those are companies that a signatory company creates to use the new “one-off” company as a non-union/guild entity.
Those are the problem Production Companies – the companies that with clear intent try to evade a signatory agreement they willingly signed.
Stupidly, the companies usually have the same Corporate Officers so they aren’t difficult to trace and the Unions/Guilds have the right to audit any signatory show – during the audits – if they look carefully or the company is stupid (which most are) finding the one-off is traceable.
I knew it. I knew it.
I knew people like Anonymous and YoungPhilly would start bitching about reality TV shows, how rotten it is, how much they hate them, etc. Of course, this doesn’t stop any of you from coming to WORK ON THEM every time you can’t get a gig on a scripted show.
I’ve worked on three reality shows in the past five years and everyone had WGA members working on them. The networks knew it, the Guild knew and nobody said anything. Meanwhile, you bitch about scabs trying to work non-union on struck shows. You can’t have it both ways.
I’m glad there’s a rally planned in front of Fremantle and I’d love to see that greed factory shut down. But you can’t stand out there demanding they become Guild signatory companies while saying what they produce is worthless crap. Reality shows, for better or worse, have proven track records, cost nothing and the public watches the damned things. American Idol, Dancing With Stars, Smarter Than A 5th Grader, are all hits.
The networks know very well that the typical WGA member openly hates reality shows yet doesn’t mind working on them when things are slow. This is why organizing reality is going to be difficult because the moguls already know they can get Guild members to work on them for the crappy money they pay anyway.
When the America’s Next Top Model writers (sorry, ‘story producers’) walked off last year, it was a disaster. IATSE swooped in, unionized the editors, and that ended it. The Guild didn’t stand by them because the consensus was, hey, these guys must be hacks, they work on a reality show.
If you want to be supportive, A) acknowledge reality shows are a popular commodity. B) quit treating non-Guild members who work on them like they’re beneath you, and C) QUIT WORKING ON THEM YOURSELVES WHEN YOU CAN’T GET ON A SCRIPTED SHOW!
I’m not a fan of reality TV either, but I still think that the writers should have reasonable hours, decent pay, and insurance.
For the sake of all the reality TV writers, I’m glad this is back on the table.
If the AMPTP won’t show the second half of the New Economic Partnership proposal until everything that’s currently on the table get settled, then when is this strike ever going to end???
Nikki, it should also be pointed out that by no means are story producers on reality shows ever referred to as “editors,” (‘story editors” perhaps but never editors) although it is the editors of these shows who actually are ultimately responsible for creating the structure of the stories. (This is why the WGA crossed IATSE by trying to organize the reality editors . . . with disasterous results). Not to denigrate the hardworking story departments on these shows and not to say that they don’t deserve representation, but they are more like support staff to the editors than actual writers of the stories. The WGA is foolish to make this a demand in these negotiations when they have much more pressing issues to deal with.
Do the writers what to end this strike or have the AMPTP walk away from the table again???? They should be negotiating around the clock…
So the conglomerates a) didn’t respond to the WGA’s counter-offer on streaming and b) still haven’t made the second half of their offer that is supposed to address EST/downloads…. and they have the gall to complain that the WGA talked about other issues and call it a “step backwards”? What were the two sides supposed to talk about?!?
Hey Hey Greatly Annoyed
I said I am not a fan…that doesnt mean I HATE them. I too have worked on Reality TV and damnit I miss everyone on the staff, it was a great experience and I really learned a lot. I’m not bitter because I can’t get on a scripted show either.
I acknowledge that Reality Shows are a hot commodity but that doesn’t mean that I have I Love New York Tivo’d..Although I love Gotti;s Way so maybe I am wrong in a sense.
I’ll be honest with you, I’m still earning my stripes in the industry, Im getting great opportunities to learn many aspects of this industry. It just been a bit of a culture shock learning the ways the WGA and AMPTP do business. I haven;t missed rent or car payments cause I’m a hustler firts. I’ve cleaned cars and sold sneakers during this strike to make ends meet.
I just wish the Strike ends thats all. I guess now getting on a Scripted show is what its all about huh? Well, thanks for the insight…you know It would be awesome to work on 30 Rock..thats my favorite show.
could it be that the wga has actually learned something?
propose a non-starter that will anger your opposition so that you you can take it off of the table later, look magnanimous, and get something else you really want.
i bet the trade will be for jurisdiction over web writers, and the amptp can keep reality non-union.
“New Economic Partnership?” What kind of Bushie doublespeak is that?
Reality Story Producers must be under WGA jurisdiction?
Neither side in this clusterfuck has any intention of conducting a genuine labor negotiation.
Fucking pitiful.
Five weeks out of work, the best offer on the table is 250 bucks, and we’re *pressing our advantage?!?*
Guys, get a good rate on internet sales and get the fuck out of Dodge.
Tell me this is just a sop to those fringers who think jurisdiction is the key to the castle. “We tried.”
You guys are missing the point. The AMPTP doesn’t want to discuss giving the WGA jurisdiction over reality and game shows (as I mentioned here last week) not because of the reason that ‘Greatly Annoyed’ thinks, but because then a strike would cripple them. And whether people want to recognize it or not, the networks are not currently crippled by the strike. They are somewhat strike-proof as long as they have programming they can make during a WGA strike, like reality shows. Give the WGA jurisdiction, and a strike would truly shutdown everything, something the AMPTP just can’t allow.
Here’s how the Guild can make things do slower. Combine reality and new media demands and demand to represent that cat playing piano on You Tube.
The WGA leadership is following a negotiation strategy where what they ask for may not be what they will fall on their swords for. Trust your elected leadership and stop whining everytime they play hardball rather than cave into the AMPTP.
And Julius, if you missed your mortgage payment call the Guild. They have money they can loan you with no interest for just this siuation. We’re all in this together.
Hey all – today was the one month anniversary of the strike! That means that there are two more weeks before the studios actually start getting rid of deals right? So you KNOW that the AMPTP will move SLOWWWWLEEEE for two weeks, call a holiday break while the studios get their force majeure on, further breaking the guild morale. This was told to me by a studio exec. Any truth to this Nikki?
Someone explain to me how Michael Mann – who is a WGA member as well – is going to direct Johnny Depp in Public Enemies? Didn’t I see Mann’s name on a list of writers declaring NOT ONE MORE WORD and pledging not to take any meetings, etc., etc. I can understand non WGA directors getting behind the camera, but how does Mann’s position help the strike – especially since the deal to move forward with Depp and the film only came about a day or so ago? I just turned down a huge studio directing gig because I want to stand firm with my guild, so this really pisses me off. Mann is an industry icon and he’s directing a screenplay that’s he written in the midst of a WGA strike – and Mann is also a perfectionist. There’s no fucking way that he shoots the exact script that he has written.
For 6 months leading up to the strike, the AMPTP made no attempt to negotiate. For the first 4 weeks of the strike the AMPTP made no attempt to negotiate. Finally there is movement, however small that movement may be. The industry is suffering, but if the guild makes a bad deal, all talent, above and below the line will suffer. Stop being a bunch of whiney turds because this strike isn’t settled yet. If you want to show your frustration, whether you are a writer, director, actor, set decorator, grip, etc… take to the picket line because whether you care to admit it, this is about YOU also. And understand that this won’t be settled overnight. Dig in, figure out your finances and get help if you need it. Understand that the writers didn’t wish to take to the picket line and we are all in this together.
To read some of the comments in here you’d think people want to take any kind of a deal as long as it’s quick. Yeah, why muddy up negotiations by demanding that writer’s be recognized. After all it’s just game shows and reality shows. Who really cares about those? I’ll tell you who, the companies that are flooding the airwaves with lots of cheap to produce programming and making even more profits off the backs of the writers. In case you haven’t notices, just about every other prime time show is either a reality show or a game show.
Reality needs to be addressed. Game shows are already covered in the guild’s MBA but the companies give the finger to it and remain non-union even though those same shows have union hosts, directors, and crews. It’s WRITING and they are making lots of money from the writer’s work. It’s an important issue and they are violating writer’s rights – many of whom are WGA members – by treating them substandard and not recognizing them as writers.
Keep this in mind. Today they are not using guild writers for their reality shows and game shows and tomorrow they will start doing that with scripted shows. How long will it be before they just stop dealing with the WGA altogether? ALL writers should be treated fairly and work under WGA contracts.
jimmy is the only one who has it right. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the sacrificial lamb. Make it look like she’s important to us then offer her up to the Gods. Give the negotiating team some credit will ya????