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What everyone already knew is now in a letter which WGAE President Michael Winship and WGAW President Patric Verrone sent to members tonight:
As Negotiating Committee Chair John Bowman wrote you last night, we are continuing to negotiate the terms of a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. We anticipate that we will be able to present the terms of that agreement to you in the next few days. In order to have a full discussion with you of the terms and how they were reached, and in order to get your input before making recommendations or decisions, we have scheduled membership meetings for current-active members only for this Saturday, February 9, in New York and Los Angeles.
The New York meeting will take place at 2 pm ET in the Broadway Ballroom of the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Times Square, 1606 Broadway (Broadway and 49th Street).
The Los Angeles meeting will take place at 7 pm PT in the Shrine Auditorium (665 W. Jefferson Blvd.).
We urge you to attend. We have gotten to this point in our negotiation as the direct result of the power of this strike, which each of you has generated. Neither the Negotiating Committee, nor the East Council or the West Board, will take action on any contract until after the membership meetings are held and your voices have been heard. We are all in this together.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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So what will they be doing until Saturday? Why couldn’t they meet sooner? Seems like wasted time.
Here is the playbill for Saturday
Your leaders will speak. They will say you supported us when we asked for a strike. Now support us when we tell you we want to stop the strike and work things out. We will get what we need but we must stop TODAY. Please understand that. The negotiating committee has approved a strike stoppage while we work this out.
Move along hardliners. Nothing to see here.
The Show must go on.
Way to go, Patrick! Can’t wait to hear what the deal is. I’m sure it won’t be the greatest of all time, but it will be reasonable and practical… just like you. Thanks for your incredible efforts and leadership.
Okay. So now all I have to do is not go insane before Saturday. Right. *deep breaths*
The ONLY way our voices can be heard is by every single member voting on this contract. Not a giant room full of people where the board gets a general idea of where people stand. For all we’ve through that is not okay.
WE ALL DESERVE A VOTE BEFORE THE STRIKE IS CALLED OFF!
Im basically a non-entity in all of this from Wellington New Zealand. All I can say is I appreciate the fight. Peter Jackson had to fight New Line. With all his power and fan support it took time and was not easy. It was an individual fight in many ways and very specific and very provable. They still shat on him as though he was insignificant – FTW what on earth did they think they could ever gain but shame?
I honestly don’t know what they thought. Maybe in these things it is simply an accountant saying “I have talked to the lawyers and yes you have lost – but deferring the loss by 18 months gains you X dollars and thus the payout is only 50% of the payout today. I suspect 90 plus percent of all these things works in this way.
And all they ended up with was Utterly unsurprisingly just that: they got the shame and Peter won; Bob Shaye is a walking has-been as a consequence but hey if the customer wins thats the REAL result. In the end of this fight the Hobbit will be more or less where it belonged all along – it could never be any other way.
But YOU MUST look after your own interests in creating a similar result.
So my one hope and wish for all the WGA members is to look at everything on the table – take a deep breath here and go yes I know this may not be what we hoped for, but will waiting for better actually achieve more?
If your answer is yes then tell them all where to stuff it. But before you do that judge your advisors and what they tell you. Judge your trust in them. Judge the loss you have already taken and what future gains might be. In this I mean simple math. Three months of no income for many must already equal several years of even the very best anticipated enhanced additional income. If you had worked right through and earnt more what have you gained?
Well you have gained honor, and you have gained respect. And you may just, even if it is not immediately apparent, just slightly stemmed the tide of the consistent avalanche of the studios dictation of the way in which they acknowledge and reward those that are fundamental in making their very livings.
Don’t back down, this is a time of change, and even the 3 years of this contract will see all hell break loose; you can absolutely bank on that. Weigh that in too as nothing the producers give you will be anything they can not afford NOW, knowing in 2011 or 12 it will be a breeze on the balance sheet before they stump up (in their minds) a minor increment next time around.
Residuals will always be the bastard that makes the evil ends meet for writers. Directors don’t and won’t ever face the same evils. Be sure in your mind that that simple difference is suitably recognised in your deal versus the DG before you accept it.
As much as anyone I just want my bloody shows back! But damn it there is so much more of importance here I just know the consumer in me is of no importance to the bigger picture. So know that too – happy viewers are a studio godsend FIRST, and benefit to you second. Don’t be swayed by public opinion either – as much as so much of me wants you to be.
I’ve said my piece – I hope the presentations, and the votes, leave a result that everyone is able to live with and gives a pathway that everyone can walk down amicably together towards the future of the industry. From a TV perspective, 2007 wowed me more in terms of the quality and invitation of new shows than any other I can remember. The renewed shows retained or exceeded their prior value almost to a man.
All of that starts with the writers. Any good televisual project can at best start off great and end great. None start poor and end great. Many start great and end poor. The point here is its down to the writer to make a great show – NOTHING BUT a very well written show will EVER be a great show – it’s only ever then down to director and crew to ruin the vision or support it; they cant create it.
God Speed to the best resolution you all can collectively get!
Mike
Wellington NZ
Godspeed, writers. Listen to your leaders and do what you think is best for you, while being mindful that your decision affects thousands.
Nikki,
First, this is excellent news.
Second, I wanted to thank you for your superb strike coverage. I’m not an entertainment insider – rather, I’m a boring law student – but your in-depth coverage has been great for lay and expert readers alike, and has filled a void that the mainstream media apparently is loathe to touch in any depth.
Keep up the great work. I have my fingers crossed for the WGA membership!
done
Patric and the rest of the leaders -
If it is true that you and the board are going to decide if the strike is called off before there is a vote, HOW DARE YOU TAKE AWAY OUR RIGHTS AS MEMBERS OF THIS UNION.
You cannot possibly know what the majority of members feel by hearing a handful of them at a filled auditorium.
What if a handful of people spoke at the superbowl and then ten people judged the entire crowd off those opinions to decide who our next president of the United States is?
All members deserve the right to vote before it’s decided if the strike is over. There was a vote to strike and there should be a vote to call it off, too.
I have been behind you guys from the beginning and I expect the same loyalty in return.
OK writers please do yourselves and everyone else entangled in this mess a favor. Go to your meeting and LISTEN to what your leadership has to say about this deal they’ve worked out before reacting. LISTENING is different than HEARING through filters based on all the pre-conceptions brewing in your brains.
Since you’re all meeting as a large group, here’s my favorite quote from “Men in Black” to remember if you choose.
“A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.” -written by Ed Solomon
What an inconvenient time to require membership get their asses downtown! I will have to miss most of my niece’s wedding to attend this meeting.
And for what?
To be told by Verrone, Bowman and Young that they support some deal in which the WGA allowed the companies to find a new and far from creative way to screw us?
The AMPTP this time around have successfully pulled off something called a PROMOTIONAL window, a time when they make money and pay us zip– but Verrone plans to try to convince membership that 2% of distributors gross in year THREE of the new contract is somehow a ground breaking advancement? This 2% distributors gross falls after another promotional window ?
Hey, I’ve got a bridge…
Why is there ANY sort of promotional window?
Define “distributors gross” please!
This sounds like another awful situation for writers, akin to four cents on DVDs!
I hear there are ways to follow traffic online and writers should enjoy the success of the properties they created along with the AMPTP when they make money online– WHILE THEY ARE ACTUALLY POPULAR AND SUCCESSFUL– not two weeks or even a month later.
Do these people representing us know anything about the area they are negotiating in?
Can they appreciate the troublesome precedent they have just allowed for?
They just listen to what the other guys tell them? Is that it?
I hate to sound like a broken record– but why were experts in this area not hired to handle these negotiations? Or at least hired to ADVISE against these onerous terms?
I find it suspicious that none of the stories on this deal mention what the DVD rate was raised to in these negotiations.
I thought the point of these last three months was to raise the DVD rates AND make sure we don’t get screwed on the internet the way we have been on DVDs.
Did they make any significant gains? a cent or two at least? I know they didn’t get the 8 cents they were asking for originally– how was that ever going to be possible when they didn’t leave any room to negotiate for it in the first place?
I always felt they should have been asking for TWELVE cents if they wanted eight, and I’m no lawyer.
If I find out those DVD rates weren’t raised– I will not only vote AGAINST this deal– but I will stand up at this meeting and take issue with leadership over this matter.
First they took DVDs off the table prematurely– if they didn’t bring them back and fight vigorously for a raise in the DVD rate– esp when the trend now and for the foreseeable future is for ALL SERIES TO GO TO DVD– I will find these WGA “negotiators” completely incompetent.
This promotional window scam is just as bad as the original DVD deal.
Is it possible there can be two examples, or more, of incompetence at the bargaining table in one deal. I guess we’ll know soon enough.
Remember, once you agree to a promotional window– we’re stuck with it the same way we spent the last 20 years in this crazy DVD rate.
What will the companies do with this promotional window?
They’ll use it to make money on online advertising and then I can only imagine they will pull the episodes/movies just before they would have to pay the writer (and actor) any money and in the case of a series they will then release them on DVDs.
We’re screwed six ways to Sunday, people!
I won’t vote for this deal.
It’s worth staying out on the lines and waiting for SAG to head into negotiations — assuming they head in before, say, April.
Once films can’t go into production, well, that’s a defacto strike right there and the trigger can be considered pulled.
SAG’s leverage is to go in ASAP and straighten this stuff out sooner than later.
I say screw the Oscars, let’s make the last three months worth something.
I lost over 350k and a pilot!
–Simon
I see comments all over about how the writers are to blame for thousands of people out of work. The WGA did make some demands (Animation and Reality be represented) then the AMPTP walked out. The AMPTP said they would not negotiate with these line items on the table. I feel like the ITASE (Animation union) are getting ripped off and reality writers are getting burned, but that’s just my opinion. Anyway, the WGA agreed to remove the items from the table in order to negotiate so that the writers and the thousands of others back to work. Did the AMPTP hold their end of the deal? No, they didn’t. The DGA (Directors guild) worked out their contract with the AMPTP. Now the AMPTP decides to come back to negotiations with the WGA. Why did the AMPTP want to keep these thousands of people out of work until after the DGA settled? I see comments about how the writers just write “Crap” anyway. Well, the studios buy “Crap” from the writers and Americans watch the “Crap.” If Americans didn’t watch the “Crap,” then the studios would be forced to buy fresh material from new writers. So, it seems if we stop watching “Crap,” then writers will stop writing “Crap.” One more thing; people are saying that writers shouldn’t receive residuals. Book authors get paid for every book we buy to read. Why shouldn’t writers get paid for every movie or TV series sold?
It’s about time! Think about all the people who are losing money out there while you people look for a couple more hundred dollars a year. It’s not worth holding out any longer. You want to get paid when something is successful but are you willing to give money back if it isn’t?
I don’t understand why we can’t get this deal done sooner. My feet outside the Fox studios are done walking, plus most of America has turned on us.
We have brought this garbage on ourselves and should get this deal done.
I’m backing off…
until I hear from both WGA and SAG.
Verrone, Young and Bowman may be about to experience the perpetual reality of revolutionary leaders everywhere…that the same mob that cheered you when you led them to the barricades will be the mob calling for you heads months later when you tell it what it doesn’t want to hear…
I own a store in Upstate NY State, so everyone can call me uneducated in union matters. However, it seems to me like some of the more hardline strikers (“simon says”, “what?” etc.) don’t recall how unions historically operate. The boards and negotiating committees make recommendations to the general membership who then vote. I think – I might be wrong – but I think that the boards have the ability to say stop striking before a vote is taken. They certainly had the ability to say a strike was authorized before a vote was taken.
The following post is from Nikki on November 1st, 2007 and it quotes a statement made by the WGA leadership (Link <a href “http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/writers-en-route-to-wga-meeting-amptp-says-no-progress-can-be-made/” “here”. I hope I hardcoded it right. Quoteage:
“The Negotiating Committee then announced its unanimous recommendation that the WGAW Board and the WGAE Council call a strike. Members spent three hours in frank discussion of the Negotiating Committee’s report and recommendation…The WGAW Board and the WGAE Council will meet Friday to consider the recommendation of the Negotiating Committee and to decide the next steps. The decision of the Board and Council whether and when to strike will be communicated to the membership by e-mail and through the Captains system, and will be posted on the WGAW and WGAE websites.”
For Simon and other people who see equal virtue between striking for another 3-6 months and getting thousands of people back to work right now… Before you’ve even heard the deal… What?
If there’s a good deal, something that looks like a fair deal, I completely support the leadership calling off the strike. Voting takes time, and once you’ve made the unique decision to strike, you have to call a few audibles on the field.
Let’s remember that one of the reasons this strike has actually caused some movement on the other side (as opposed to our late 80′s disaster) is that we managed to gain the support of most of the country. The popular support, the Youtube videos, the comments by politicians and celebrities… all that stuff matters, and it has had an effect on the producers.
If our leadership recommends a deal and we, the members, figure out a way to reject it and deep-six the strike… we lose ALL of that. All of it. Our support goes away. The horns stop honking as we picket. We become the Bad Guys, or at least as bad as the moguls in the public eye. Also, the TV season ends irrevocably, the Oscars get canceled, next year’s season goes away, and our industry itself – inevitably – contracts a bit. Less money for all of us to share, no matter what the percentages are…
Will that all be worth it? Maybe. I don’t know – I haven’t heard the deal or gotten a sense of the actual conditions in the negotiations. And neither have you.
So stop the militant, chest-thumping crap and listen. When we decided to strike, we took on some extra responsibility. Not just to ourselves, but to everyone else in the industry and their families. And that responsibility is to get the best possible deal in the shortest amount of time so that we can get everyone back to work with as little disruption as possible. And they all supported us. So let’s not be a bunch of assholes before we even know what the deal is.
What? wrote: What if a handful of people spoke at the superbowl and then ten people judged the entire crowd off those opinions to decide who our next president of the United States is?
Isn’t that how the Electoral College basically works?
waiting asked: So what will they be doing until Saturday? Why couldn’t they meet sooner? Seems like wasted time.
The main points of the deal were agreed upon in the room, but now lawyers from both sides are working out the drafting language. This is important because it makes all the difference — especially the way in which things like “distributor’s gross” are defined. Apparently there are a couple of points in the DGA deal that went smoothly in the room and are now holding up the drafting of the actual contract. The WGA leadership is wise to insist on this before the meeting or a vote. (Remember the DGA has until June to draft theirs. The WGA wants to end the strike as quickly as possible.)
In response to “Shark” about people complaining about writers writing crap and people watching it…..that’s part of the problem. TV viewership is WAY down on regular tv and because of this strike, will go down even further. We see many new shows start every year and most of them canceled 6 or 7 episodes in at the most, if they’re lucky. And at a time when viewers are turning in less and less because of bad writing, this is when the strike hits.
The studios took this opportunity to hit back at bad ratings and poor quality writing. Deals have been cut, expensive pilots axed, a season that was already in the dumps is finished more or less.
Yes, both sides are to blame, the WGA and the AMPTP. Maybe if the studios didn’t buy all the shows regardless of their inferior quality, writers wouldn’t continue to write bad stuff (and NO, I am not saying all of it is bad, but I think ratings speak for themselves). Maybe if writers were hungrier, they’d come up with quality concepts and not be so enslaved to the idea that pushing boundaries of taste doesn’t mean it’s good.
Hopefully, when this is over and everyone is either satisfied or at least ready to get back to it all, this will be remembered as a bad time for everyone and won’t be repeated.
I wish the WGA members would remember one thing though, throughout all of this, there have been chants deriding how much studio exec’s make and how the writers deserve to be paid on par. Capitalism is what is is, all the worker bees working to make a few people at the top rivh. That’s life. It’s unfair, it sucks, but it is life. Like it or not, creative skills or below the line skills, you are a worker bee.
Now, let’s all just get back to work soon.
Simon, I didn’t realize you’d seen the deal. How did that happen? The meeting time is bad for you? Guess what, the strike time has been bad for thousands of other workers and millions of television viewers. Moreover, you have no idea what will happen at the meeting. You guys did vote to strike, but nobody else in the industry got to decide. Now that your board is simply- possibly- ending the strike before a formal vote, the concept of people not making a vote on something that will affect them is horrible? Go to the meeting if you can. It’s troublesome, but you knew there would be sacrivices when you elected to strike. Any meeting time would run into a conflict for someone. I’m sorry it happened to be you, but that doesn’t make the whole thing horrible. Make your voice heard. The leadership never said they were going to ratify a deal no matter what you said. This has been going on for three months. There’s no reason to say it will surely be a better deal in another three. I’m not saying you should approve a shitty deal. But give it a chance, because the affects so many more people than the WGA. I’ve been supportive from the start, but it’s assuming, condemning, “strike for as long as we have to, screw the rest” writers like you that make people think the WGA is being selfish. You haven’t seen the deal. Your leadership’s been smart until this point. If what’s shown Saturday is good, it will make everyone happy. If not, your members will tell the leadership so. This thing should only end with a good deal. But it could very well end with a good deal very soon. Let’s not cut out that possibility with baseless assumptions and by attacking the leadership- who you told us to trust- too soon.
I agree with Simon. Lets roll this toll till after the oscars and get into the film season. This is going to be a horrible screw you deal. Yeah I know I am a lonely animal in the corner while everyone else is trying to keep the lights on and kids full. Well I did that too and you know what….working a real job is not that bad. The real world is fine. But shit my pencils are out and my ink on the printer has not been empty for 4 months.
But who cares. I have learned to drive a fork lift, load rail cars with recycled milk jugs, drive to work in overalls, come home exhausted physically, leave sweat stains on my BMW cloth seats, tie steal towed work boots, do first aid on fellow employee’s whom have be sliced up by falling scrap paper and moreQ!!
Well, I’ll miss that life and carry the memories forever
Shark, you make it sound like the writers receive zero dollars for their work ?! They get paid, the problem is residuals on reuse.
Authors get just the residual part (royalties), unless they get an up front payment, which is usually taken from the royalty payments. Comparing film writers to book authors is like apples and oranges. An author writes a book, and then it (maybe) gets published. There is no crew, no pension plans, etc. Given that, they still only get about 10%. With a book, all there is is words and maybe some illustrations, with a film, there is a whole heck of a lot more.
Do I side with the studios, no, but I do not subscribe to the misinformation either, from both sides.