WGA Strike Update: Talks are Off
December 10, 2007 by Kath Skerry
As many of you may already know by now, late last week the talks between the AMPTP and the WGA were called off with no resolution to speak of. This does not bode well for TV coming back this season or even next season’s Fall line-up. The AMPTP walked out of the session on Friday and has been working non-stop since to try to pin the lack of progress on the WGA. But many insiders predicted this would happen and that the AMPTP only returned to the tables in a PR effort because public opinion has clearly been on the side of the writers. By returning to the negotiations and asking for a media blackout, the AMPTP took the focus away from the picketing writers and hoped to (and perhaps succeeded in) breaking the momentum of the WGA picket lines.
No one knows when this will end, but from all that I’ve read I’ve always thought that if this wasn’t resolved before Christmas then it wasn’t going to be resolved until the SAG contract is up in June. The AMPTP clearly has no respect for the writers, but something tells me they’re going to be fast moving when the actors are more visible. Yeah, the TV actors have been out there walking the line, but wait until the AMPTP publicity team has to deal with the likes of George Clooney, Brad Pitt and the rest of Ocean’s team talking directly to the public. Something tells me things will get resolved a lot quicker at that point in time.
Pretty disappointing news all around. I’m personally looking forward to joining the Boston WGA rally this Friday and encourage all of you in the area to attend as well. I’ll be posting more details as they come my way. In the meantime, here are a few interesting articles relating to the strike that you should check out:
- What Happened During Friday’s Negotiations (Deadline Hollywood)
- AMPTP De’ja Vu (United Hollywood)
- Screenwriters Dig In for an Extended Brawl (NY Times)
Related Posts
Filed under Writers Strike
How depressing.
I do agree that once the actor’s strike it will be a bigger deal (and public opinion will be even moreso with the strikers).
This is not looking good.
I get so frustrated with people who are on the AMPTP’s side… without knowing the other side. The AMPTP has a serious PR problem, but it doesn’t seem to matter… yet
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“This sucks up one side and down the other….”
Everyone is feeling the pressure, and soon, the scripts for Hollywood movies are going to run dry. Writers strike means no new movies soon–and if SAG stands behind the WGA like they said they would, then you are looking at the possibility of them going on strike as well–and who knows how long that would last!
Thanks GMMR for keeping everyone updated! It really does suck all around, but I can’t complain about the lack of new TV in times like these. The writers deserve better than this.
But I might start groaning when January comes and I have to deal with a crapload of new reality shows clouding my TV–like some teens taking care of babies reality show in NBC? Gross! (Thank god for Netflix! Now I’ll be able to catch up on shows like Battlestar Galatica and Tudors!)
Yeah. I had a lot of hope when they first started these talks, but now it’s hard to see an end to the strike.
But I don’t want the writers to cave. I have a stack of DVDs and books and I’m sure there are lots of TV shows out there for me to caatch up on.
The AMPTP definately come off as jerks. The site is also bisased though, and I’m curious about the following statements by the AMPTP:
“they want us to make membership in their union mandatory to work in this industry – even though thousands of people in reality and animation have already chosen not to join the WGA.” Is this a true statement? I never came across this before, and I hope it isn’t true, cuz I don’t believe that people should be forced to join a union.
“They insist that writers receive a piece of advertising revenue – even though the producers that pay them don’t receive any of this revenue in the first place.” I’m confused. Where does the ad money actually go? It has to go somewhere.
Seems like it will be a good time to buy stock in Netflix.