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I’m told the informal writer-mogul meetings are going “in a positive direction” enough so that it’s beginning to look possible for the Academy Awards to proceed normally. Friday’s was an especially productive session, I’ve learned. “I feel optimistic. In my opinion, today was productive and collaborative and respectful. I thought it was a very good day,” an insider told me. The CEOs’ pointman Peter Chernin is leaving tonight to go out of town (“This is not his day job,” one source reminded…) but the talks will continue in his absence. I can tell you that since Tuesday the News Corp/Fox No. 2 has been telling insiders that the moguls have decided to let the WGA leadership (yes, even the guy they all hate — Dave Young, who was in today’s session) “declare a face-saving victory” in order to get a deal done. Yesterday Chernin, ensconced in the Fox commissary surrounded by some of his execs — including Tom Rothman, Peter Liguori, and Hutch Parker — was reassuring people, “Don’t worry. It’s done.” My info is that it’s far from done yet, but things are looking up to the point that one of my sources thinks this could get settled in time to hold a real Oscars. Sure, we’ve all been here before and seen talks break down after a few optimistic days. But now, according to my insiders, the moguls finally want a deal as much as the writers. Will the deal be good enough?
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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That … or this is just another one of the studios “raise their hopes and the dash them” tactics. I’ll believe things are going well when I hear it from Patric Verrone — and not one second sooner.
In Solidarity.
Thanks for the update…but we’re not listening. We value your input and analysis, and thank you for an incredible and consistent job, but so far this sort of news is just the ramp-up to the AMPTP walking out.
But we’re not listening. It just hurts too much if we do. I mean wouldn’t this be the perfect time to pull the rug out just one more time. Nick can grab a corner and John Wells can grab the other.
So, Nikki, we love you. We love the work you’ve done. We all hope to hell that you’re right. But nobody’s listening…
sorry.
Nikki – we love you and know without a doubt you mean well and that you are doing your job.
But I implore all the writers out there…stay calm. Don’t read into anything too far. Don’t get excited. Don’t get depressed.
Wait.
Assume nothing until something is official.
Hope for the best.
Continue to prepare for the worst.
I hope they come up with a good, solid deal.
A solid business model should have them working together, and not against each other. Sadly, solid, well constructed business models are rare in Hollywood.
I do hope the strike ends soon, I’ve been boycotting DVDs for the past 50 days, & I’m getting withdrawal symptoms.
But … wait … I thought … wasn’t there supposed to be a “press blackout”?
welcome back nikki. thank god you are feeling better. we need you around to keep this town afloat!
I hope and pray you’re right. Seeing as how this is much more subtle and general than some of the hints last time they were talking, I’ll believe it. There’s not much else to say other than the usual: The writers deserve their due. PLEASE let them get it soon.
We CANNOT grant a waiver for the Oscars simply because talks are moving in a “positive direction.” Let’s be very real: Chernin is the SAME guy who played us prior to the strike. He’s the one who said “take DVD off the table and we’ll move forward.” And we see what we got. These guys have no conscious of right or wrong, it’s simply “business,” so the idea of sitting across from us and lying is not even a choice. Chernin will/is pressuring, “for talks to resume, you MUST grant an Oscar waiver.” DON’T DO IT TILL WE HAVE A DEAL!!!
Thank God for the Oscars. Without that date and all that money hanging in the balance, there’d be no hope at all.
By the way, I really missed you. I, like a lot of pople turn to you for a forum not controlled by “Big Business”.
Hope you continue to feel better,
Peggy Lane O’Rourke
As happy as I am to see this, I’d like to urge you to honor the spirit of the media blackout, since we know everybody reads you. I would hate to have my face-saving victory fall apart because someone changed his mind after it leaked that they were going to let us have a face-saving victory.
That said, welcome back and thanks for everything.
Wow, and I thought a media blackout would leave me in the dark. DWP, eat your heart out.
there you go again. letting the companies play you. it’s quite likely they’re making nice so the Oscars go off. It’d be almost impossible to have a real deal in place by then. it’ll take a good 10 days for membership to vote on anything we’re presented. unless they crack this thing in the next 2 weeks, forget it. and after going this far, over 3 months, I’m voting no unless the contract we’re presented with is rather special. say, 5 times better than what directors got.
don’t fall for it. it’s a trap.
nikki…please, a news blackout is a great idea for these people…. no matter who tells you what, don’t report it…let the deal get done without he said/he said going around town……we all need to go back to work.
Folks, you can’t really fault a journalist for not respecting a media blackout. It’s kind of their job.
Michael @ 7:45 PM writes:
“and after going this far, over 3 months, I’m voting no unless the contract we’re presented with is rather special. say, 5 times better than what directors got.”
And that is why you will end up breaking your own union. And below-the-line rallies against the WGA will begin. Just give this a shot. And for Christ’s sake, honor the media blackout.
Michael, I pray you’re alone in your desire to stay out on strike forever simply because we’ve already been out for 3 months. In what world – on what planet – does that make any sense at all?
Are you out of your mind? Suicidal? Or do you just not actually work in this town so it doesn’t make a difference to you? There will come a time when the studios want this to be over. Will there come a similar time for you?
You are an enemy, Michael, worse than the congloms!
As Tony Gilroy said “It has to be the right deal.” This contract is going to form the template for the next two decades. Are we really going to rush so George Clooney can wear his tux at the Oscars? Repeat after me – it has to be the right deal. It has to be the right deal…I don’t give a fuck about the Oscars being held. I care what I’m going to be paid for the next 10 years, and what the next generation of writer is going to make for the 20 years after that. If you present me with a contract that does not make this long strike worthwhile and lays the groundwork for writing to continue to be a viable, lucrative profession in the future, then I’m voting no.
Yep, I’ll believe it when I hear it from my leadership and not a second earlier. Anyone believing any of this, positive or negative, are idiots. Don’t be Charlie Browns. Lucy’s a fucking bitch and she pulls that fucking football away every time!
I agree -please respect the blackout period… You were gone during the DGA deal and everyone lived during that time without the information.
Of course the moguls want a deal now… they’ve nixed their tv deals – as planned – and are ready to go to the after parties.
Sick.
seriously, nikke. can you shut up for a little while?
“D” is 100 percent correct. We cannot afford to grant a waiver for the Oscars until the deal is done and in writing. The AMPTP are smart and unscrupulous, and they’ll continue to play us like a fiddle if we let them.
outeast, you know that allowing us to declare a “face saving victory” pretty much means they’ll offer us some crappy deal, then allow the leadership to pretend it’s, in some magical way, not that crappy to save face, right? If the deal were legit, they wouldn’t be worrying about how our faces look.
Thanks for the news, Nikki. Glad you’re feeling better.
Although I, like others, am feeling a bit trepidatious about depending on good news, I must say, if you don’t want breaking news, go elsewhere. Carry on, Nikki!
Well, I’m feeling so grateful to the studio chiefs for coming back, I’m going to vote for anything they say.
(Say… you don’t suppose this is why they stayed away all those weeks, do you? I always thought they just didn’t like us.)