- “Box Up Personal Items When You Leave Work Thursday”: WGA’s Strike Checklist
- New WGA Proposal Included Movement On DVDs, New Media, Jurisdiction Issues
- IATSE Sends Warning Memo To Members
- URGENT: Talks Come To An Abrupt Halt; Thursday’s WGA Meeting A Strike Call?
- DHD UPDATE: Strike Comments Starting!
- WGA Fingers Agents “Lying” To Writers
- Update: New WGA Proposal On The Table
- WGA To Offer New Proposal Tomorrow: Expect A Few Days’ Strike Delay?
- Rename It The ‘Fear Validation Program’
- Another WGA/AMPTP Pre-Strike Update…
- AMPTP Suddenly Feeling Teamsters’ Heat
- WGA Lobbies Crews & Teamsters; The 411 On Federal Mediator
- ‘Most’ Hollywood Teamsters To Honor WGA Picket Lines, Says Union Insider
- AMPTP’s Nick Counter Stays On Message
- Verrone Forsees ‘Threats’ And ‘Low-Ball 11th Hour Offer’ By AMPTP
- Federal Mediator Will Attend WGA Talks
- WGA/AMPTP Talks Still Going On
- Tricks & Treats At WGA Strike Talks Today (…All About The Chairs)
- Finke/LA Weekly: Strike Happy H’wood
- AMPTP To WGA: Show Up To Hear New Offer
- SAG Emails; AMPTP Sends Letter
- WGAW Says Variety Scoop Has No Reality
- Moguls See New TV Season As Dead Already
- Strike Vote In For WGA: 90.3% Say “Yes”
- Results From WGA Strike Vote Delayed
- WGA Authorized To Strike … As Expected
- Wow, The WGA’s Paranoia Just Worsened
- SHOCKER: Is Writers Strike Now Averted?
12:01 AM: Writers Contract Has Expired
New WGA Proposal Included Movement On DVDs, New Media, Jurisdiction Issues
I’ve obtained an internal (not for public consumption) WGA account of today’s negotiations and the guild’s new “Comprehensive Package Proposal” put on the table:
“Today, just hours before the expiration of our contract, the AMPTP brought negotiations to a halt. The companies refused to continue to bargain unless we agree that the
IATSE Sends Warning Memo To Members
IATSE President Thomas C. Short today sent an open letter to all IA members and locals working in film and television who might be affected should a strike be called by the Writers Guild of America. … Read More »
URGENT: Talks Come To An Abrupt Halt; None Scheduled For Thursday Or Friday; Tomorrow’s WGA Meeting A Strike Call?
The AMPTP issued a statement tonight and the WGA’s is below that. The negotiations broke down today not because of the traditional DVD residual issue, but about residuals for the Internet such as electronic sell-through — i.e. Internet downloads. The AMPTP keeps saying electronic sell-through is synonymous with DVDs. The WGA says they’re different and wants to negotiate a new … Read More »
DHD UPDATE: Strike Comments Starting!
Beginning with this advisory, DHD will allow comments that relate to the pre-strike stories I’ve been posting here. Since the current Writers … Read More »
WGA Fingers Agents “Lying” To Writers
URGENT! I just received this email from a top WGA source: “There’s a campaign of fear and lies being waged by several top agencies today, telling TV writing clients that if they’re co-producer or above, they are … Read More »
Is ‘American Gangster’ Original? Yes & No
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: most NYC media know squat about how Hollywood really works. A perfect example is this screaming headline from New York mag’s Vulture blog today: ”Universal Claims American Gangster Is Not an Adapted Screenplay?” (What about Imagine?) The magazine … Read More »
Update: New WGA Proposal On The Table
Everyone’s waiting on pins and needles for details of the WGA’s big new “Comprehensive Package Proposal” put on the negotiating table this morning. Not much else to report right now. I’m told that yesterday’s so-called bargaining “modifications” revolved … Read More »
Ted And Rupert Break Bread Together…
When two Big Media moguls meet, a chain restaurant is not the usual venue. But I’m told that last Friday Rupert Murdoch had lunch with Ted Turner at the Atlantan’s bison-serving eco-friendly Ted’s Montana Grill in NYC’s Time-Life Building (one of 51 locations). Sources said to me that the lunch … Read More »
WGA To Offer New Proposal Tomorrow: Expect A Few Days’ Strike Delay?
I’m hearing writers may work without a contract for at least a few days while negotiations continue. This is not because showbiz writers are typically pushing back a deadline, as Variety‘s lede unfairly asserts, but because “the WGA … Read More »
Crime To See ‘American Beauty’ Or ‘Lolita’
Several U.S. Supreme Court justices expressed doubt today that a law barring child pornography could be applied to popular award-winning movies. News reports say the justices appeared to support the pandering provision of a 2003 federal law … Read More »
Low Numbers of HD TV Sets In US Homes
News sources say Nielsen finally released its estimates of high-definition-set penetration for both the total United States and Local People Meter markets, and the overall numbers will disappoint advertisers.
Rename It The ‘Fear Validation Program’
Individual writers this week are starting to receive scary threatening letters from the studios and networks warning about the WGA’s “script validation program” just as the Writer’s Guild Of America responds to the AMPTP on the matter. … Read More »
Another WGA/AMPTP Pre-Strike Update…
- I’ve learned how things will work with the federal mediator today. Basically, he meets with one side, then the other side, and that should take all morning. No one expects him to referee any real negotiating until
A New Boss For HollywoodReporter.com
Nielsen Business Media today announced former TelevisionWeek and TVWeek.com Managing Editor Melissa Grego has been named Editor of HollywoodReporter.com. She’ll oversee all of the paper’s online content and initiatives and report to Scott McKenzie, who was recently appointed vp, Editorial … Read More »
AMPTP Suddenly Feeling Teamsters’ Heat
Tonight, the AMPTP president Nick Counter sent this letter to the major basic craft unions “in the face of some misinformation and rumors regarding [their] contractual No Strike obligations”. Funny enough, it posted on the producers’ website soon … Read More »
Latest Strike News: WGA Lobbies Crews & Teamsters; The 411 On Federal Mediator; Strike & Picketing Timetable For Writers
- I’ve learned that the WGA is currently working on newsletters to distribute to crews and other industry workers to explain its position in the face of what it is calling the AMPTP’s “misinformation” campaign. This follows anecdotal
‘Most’ Hollywood Teamsters To Honor WGA Picket Lines, Says Union Insider
UPDATE: AMPTP Suddenly Feeling Teamsters’ Heat
URGENT: The “Hollywood Teamsters” — aka the Motion Picture and Theatrical Trade Teamsters (Teamsters Local 399) which reps over 4,800 studio drivers, … Read More »