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| By Steve Gorman Wed Sep 19, 10:54 PM ET LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With strike jitters running high in Hollywood, screenwriters and studio executives reopened contract negotiations on Wednesday, after a nine-week break, but there was little sign of progress as talks adjourned for the day. The six-hour round of bargaining on a three-year labor pact covering 12,000 members of the Writers Guild of America ended with the studios accusing the union of intransigence. "With two months to respond to our proposals, we were once again rebuffed with little or no explanation," said Nick Counter, the chief negotiator for the industry as head of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. He also criticized the guild for what he called "a total disregard for the true state of the industry and its fundamental economics." A guild spokesman declined to comment. Both sides said talks would resume on Thursday at the guild's headquarters. The outcome of negotiations, which began in mid-July with a two-day exchange of proposals before breaking off for nine weeks, is expected to hinge on issues related to how the Internet has altered the economics of show business. Renewed talks came a day after the West Coast wing of the guild announced its members had overwhelmingly re-elected a slate of officers led by its president, Patric Verrone, who first won control in 2005 promising a more aggressive stance in labor negotiations. In published remarks, Verrone said he was hopeful the union could reach a "reasonable deal" with producers by October 31, when the current contract expires. Verrone's statement contrasted with sharply with comments on Tuesday from one leading Hollywood executive, DreamWorks Animation Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, who said he was "fearful" that the gap between the two sides would prove insurmountable to avoid a strike. Although no strike threat has been issued by the union, film studios and TV networks are treating October 31 as a de facto deadline as they stockpile scripts and speed up production on some projects as a precaution. "We've been preparing since May," one industry insider told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The guild in turn has been mobilizing its rank and file to make strike preparations and has set up a command center in the lounge of the WGA West headquarters, a spokesman said. Hollywood screenwriters last walked off the job in 1988 in a 22-week strike that delayed the fall TV season and cost the industry a reported $500 million. Many in Hollywood, however, have expressed greater concerns about the possibility of a strike by unionized actors, whose contract with producers expires and the end of June 2008. The current talks center on competing proposals to revamp the decades-old "residuals" system by which TV and film writers are paid extra when their work goes beyond initial broadcast or theatrical release into reruns, DVDs or other outlets. The guild is pushing hard to expand residuals for TV and film content that is reused on the Internet and other digital platforms, like cell phones and iPods. The studios say those demands would stifle growth at a time of rising production costs, tighter profit margins, greater piracy and competition from the Web. They countered with a proposed new formula for residuals by which payments would be withheld until the studios recoup costs for development, production, distribution and marketing. |
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| Big turnout gives WGA strike authorization By Carl DiOrio Oct 20, 2007 The WGA's negotiating team has its strike authorization. The town won't know whether guild leaders will actually exercise that authority until after a current contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers expires Oct. 31. But with the strike authorization approved by 90.3% of those voting, WGA leaders now have a big green light to call a strike any time after that date that they deem a walkout would be strategically beneficial. Industryites might get more of any idea whether an actual strike can be averted when the WGA and the AMPTP return to the bargaining table todayMonday. The parties have been talking since July 16, but the thorny matter of Internet compensation and other pay issues appear as nettlesome as ever. Meanwhile, the guild's aggressive efforts to turn out a big vote in favor of strike authorization appear to have worked, with officials claiming that the vote represents the largest turnout in WGA history. WGA West members cast "almost 5,000" ballots and WGA East members "almost 1,000" for a total of 5,507 votes, they said. "I am both impressed and gratified by this vote," WGAW president Patric Verrone said. "It shows an overwhelmingly engaged and activated community of writers who care about this negotiation and support our goals. It is now up to the AMPTP companies to begin to bargain seriously concerning the issues important to our members." Verrone told The Hollywood Reporter that he feels an agreement can be reached before the current film and TV contract expires despite what he called a surfeit of "not serious proposals" still being pressed by management. Those include the notion that writers should allow the free re-use of WGA-originated content over the Internet in some circumstances, the WGAW president said. "But we're hoping now that the resounding voice of our members will convince the (studio) CEOs and the cooler heads to prevail and to begin to bargain over these issues," Verrone said. "We have these next 10 days to make a deal, and so from our perspective a strike is no more possible or probable than it has been. "But if the companies continue to refuse to bargain, then it does get more and more likely," he added. "In holding the strike vote when we did, we now have nearly two weeks of time when we can concentrate on bargaining. We don't have to spend any time on dealing with the vote, it has been decided, and we can get down to brass tacks in the negotiations." The parties have been engaged in their on-again, off-again bargaining sessions for three months. Some are suggesting that the next big negotiating development will come not in the AMPTP's talks with the WGA but in those it will seek to launch with the DGA if the writers' contract expires. "That's pretty speculative," Verrone said. "We're here; we're ready to bargain. We've done unprecedented outreach with the DGA, and share 1,400 members with the DGA. We are prepared to bargain now, and we think we can make a deal before expiration. I hope the companies think that too." WGAE president Michael Winship said he was gratified by the "massive solidarity our members" displayed by the strike-authorization vote. "Our negotiators can now begin the next round of bargaining strengthened by the knowledge of their hard work and commitment to a fair, meaningful contract, no matter what it takes," Winship said. "This historic vote sends an unequivocal message to the AMPTP, loud and clear. We will not be taken advantage of and we will not be fooled." AMPTP president Nick Counter responded to news of the vote with something of a verbal shrug. "A strike-authorization vote is a pro forma tactic used by every union in the country, and usually the vote is overwhelmingly in favor of a strike," he said. "We are not surprised with the outcome of this vote given reports of how this election was conducted. Our focus is on negotiating a reasonable agreement with the WGA." There was some grousing among guild members over the WGA's using guild staff to manage the strike-authorization vote instead of third-party oversight. But with almost half of the combined membership of the WGAW and WGAE voting and the strike authorization passing handily, it's unlikely that any procedural second-guessing will matter much to guild leadership. It's unclear how many of the ballots were mailed before last week's dramatic move by the AMPTP to withdraw its most controversial demand. Management had been seeking to revise current residuals to allow studios to recoup certain basic costs on film and TV projects before paying any future residuals. The guild had rejected the proposal immediately in July, and its withdrawal by the AMPTP was widely interpreted as a big step toward getting the negotiations onto a more productive track. The last major work stoppage by the WGA came in 1988, when writers walked the picket line for five months. This time around, strategists on both sides of the negotiations have been assessing the potential impact on film and TV production from a writers strike coming at different times in the calendar. No strike would be without substantial pain for both sides, but some maintain a fall strike might have more disruptive effect on TV schedules than one called in the winter or spring. The DGA and SAG are under contract until June 30, so no massive walkout by directors or actors is possible until then. Some individual directors or actors might make use of legal loopholes covering acts of conscience, but most film and TV projects already scripted still could proceed -- theoretically. Writers are needed on movie sets for scene rewrites, and actors -- enthusiastic actors -- are needed to promote those films once wrapped. So some "go" projects could be delayed, if not shelved, if a strike were to develop. Many also believe that any strike would prompt a quick expansion of reality programming on the major networks. |
| QUOTE (Crichton Kicks @ Oct 22 2007, 07:11 PM) |
| ^^ On the bright side, we may consequently see fewer shows cancelled early this year. |
| QUOTE (Crichton Kicks @ Oct 23 2007, 09:39 PM) |
Doctor Who gets 13 episodes, Torchwood gets 13 episodes, Spooks gets 10, Robin Hood gets 13, so they're now more in tune with the cable networks in the US where the likes of Deadwood, The Sopranos etc usually run to similar medium-sized seasons. |
| QUOTE (willowroolz @ Oct 24 2007, 02:26 AM) |
| Wasn't there a writers' strike during season 2 of TNG? I seem to remember it, and wasn't that the reason that the season was reduced from 26 episodes to 22? |
| QUOTE (Phillip Culley @ Oct 24 2007, 01:30 PM) | ||
And the same reason that meant we got 'The Child' (a Star Trek: Phase II script), and the infamous 'Shades of Grey' clipshow :) |
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| although plenty of repeats as well. |
| QUOTE (Powdered Water @ Oct 24 2007, 04:27 PM) | ||
What are those? :shrug: Is that a European thing? :naughty: |
| QUOTE (Crichton Kicks @ Oct 24 2007, 06:33 PM) |
| ^^ Bad news re Spooks Sarah. The Beeb should really seek overseas investment to bolster the order. They sell it to enough countries, I'd be very surprised if one of them weren't prepared to shell out to get quicker broadcasting rights. Doubtful that the Beeb would ever try something so radical though! :rolleyes: |
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| Re-runs. The nature of British television is slightly different to that in the States. British television tends to run things continuously, with no, or very infrequent interruptions mid-run. Consequently it also means that these runs don't last as long, hence there are gaps in the schedule, hence they tend to fill them by re-running shows. |
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| Oh, and for the benefit of our American cousins ( wink.gif ) , Spooks is called M.I.5 in the US. smile.gif |
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| TV writers' strike could start on Friday Thursday, November 1 2007, 09:09 GMT (04:09 ET) By James Welsh, International Editor 'The Colbert Report' could be first affected The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have failed to reach an agreement on new pay terms, and a strike that will affect production of key American television programmes could go ahead as early as Friday morning. Writers have been attempting to negotiate with the AMPTP - which represents America's TV studios and networks - for an increase in royalty payments for use of their work on DVDs and internet downloads. The AMPTP has resisted, citing uncertainty over digital media-based business models. Negotiations had been taking place since July but the current WGA-AMPTP contract expired last night at midnight Pacific time. Emergency talks have been scheduled for tonight but the two sides have given no indication that a compromise will be possible. The first shows to be affected by such a strike will be comedy and sketch shows such as Comedy Central hits The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. As-live programming such as NBC's Tonight Show and Dave Letterman's Late Show would be next. Any impact on scripted shows would be seen after a lead-time, because studios have been stockpiling scripts in anticipation of a strike. It is understood that key primetime fare across the major broadcast networks would likely survive into early 2008 in the event of a strike; should an agreement still not have been reached, reruns and news would likely be used to fill gaps in the schedule. |
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| Hold Onto Your Couch Cushions: The Strike Is Here The Writers' Guild of America announced this evening that the scribes behind our favorite TV shows (and movies) will indeed go on strike, after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers refused to budge on the crucial issue of broadband and internet profits. Funny enough, I heard this news tonight while sitting at a table at a Children's Defense Fund dinner with Lost producer Damon Lindelof and Heroes producer Tim Kring, whose Blackberries (along with other writers, producers and directors in the room) simultaneous buzzed about 7:30 with the news that "It's on." My heart it heavy. Not so much for the lack of television we fans will have to endure (we'll get to that in a moment), but for the ripple effect this strike will have on the Hollywood industry and community, trickling down from the likes of executive producers to writers to actors to caterers to dry cleaners to office-supply workers to janitors to the wives and children of all of the above. I'm not trying to get sappy here, but it needs to be said: When Hollywood shuts down, it shuts down for everyone--not just the writers themselves. I'm told that sometime in the 24 hours, WGA members will be given instructions for when the strike will begin, and handed red WGA T-shirts that they will wear as they picket. And as of this very moment, TV as we know it is no longer moving forward. It's an oddly disturbing feeling. Many of you fans have been writing in to ask: What does this mean for our favorite shows? I have to admit, I'm still wrapping my own head around it, but here's what I can tell you: The effects of the strike will be felt first for nighttime shows such as Leno, Letterman, Kimmel and (this one's hard to stomach) The Daily Show, which obviously write scripts on a daily basis. Up next, soap opera scripts will run dry. And then, somewhere around January or February, most of the series currently on the air will run out their completed episodes and be replaced by reality and news programming, reruns or that burning log in the fireplace normally reserved for Christmas day. (Whatever the nets can muster.) So, when we're talking about Heroes, Grey's, Ugly Betty, The Office, etc., you can expect to get weepy about January. But, of course, it also depends upon how long the strike lasts. It could be as short as five days or as long as the last strike in '88, five months, or even longer. From all appearances, Lost may have the best advantage of all series, given that it has been stockpiling new scripts since June and not a single episode has yet aired. At this point, 14 of 16 episodes have been written. And if the strike does last long enough to really affect other series, Lost could very well be the only quality scripted dramas on television in February (along with perhaps 24, though it's far more behind in its scripts due to a major overhaul of location and storyline). Heroes also might not have it quite so bad. This year, producers decided to break up the season into "volumes," and the first volume is set to come to an end the first week of December. It's likely that the wait for the second volume would simply extend until after the strike is over, so at least fans would have a natural break in the storyline. And then you have the more depressing scenarios. For starters, there are producers like Joss Whedon, whose new series Dollhouse has been catapulting forward with lightning speed, only to be derailed for the time being from the strike. "I will be busy picketing," Whedon told me yesterday. "I support the guild, and I think what we are doing is unfortunate, but necessary. And that means I don't get to have my fun, but that isn't the point." It's also a grim story for new series and especially Chuck and Gossip Girl boss Josh Schwartz, whose two new series have been gaining serious momentum and buzz--but must come to a screeching halt. Sources tell me that Gossip Girl lost a cover of Entertainment Weekly because of the strike (it might not be on the air when the cover would come out) and that Chuck will not receive news of a full-season pickup until after the strike is over. "I support the guild," Schwartz told me. "But it's unfortunate for everyone, all the way around." Bottom line: We'll have our shows all this month for November sweeps, then notice a noticeable dip in new programming (as usual) in December, and will really start to see the affects of this strike in January or February. So...anyone have any ideas on what we TV fans are gonna do to survive it? DVDs? Reruns? Books? Video games? Anger management? Knitting circles? I'm honestly not sure. But I do know that this strike is necessary and I personally support the writers. Here's hoping this strike ends in a swift and just manner--and before Fox brings back The Littlest Groom. P.S. If you happen to find yourself with some extra time on your hands because of said strike, or even if you remain busy as heck, please check out the aforementioned Children's Defense Fund, which is just about the most amazing charity organization and most worthy of your attention. Jane Kaczmarek, Reese Witherspoon, JJ Abrams and his wife Katie McGrath are all deeply involved and for good reason. Check out the website to find out more: http://www.childrensdefense.org/ |
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| But an extended work stoppage is likely to mean there will be no new season of 24. Fox won't start the show if its story can't be completed in the real time format (and 24 episodes) that viewers expect. |
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| They call it the toughest time for comedy writing since those three weeks back in the 1990s when Bill Clinton stopped dating Talk show host Jay Leno |
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| The Daily Show and Colbert Report are likely to be hit quickly :( :no: |
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| By now, you've surely heard about the writers' strike currently in full swing across the television and film industry in New York City and Los Angeles. And apparently, the writers are not the only ones getting in on the act. The Huffington Post is reporting that Jon Stewart of The Daily Show has committed to pay the salaries of his own writers and those of The Colbert Report for the next two weeks, so his writers won't be harmed financially by the strike during that period. Futhermore, The New York Times reports that Stewart and Colbert are planning shows that are heavy on interviews, that won't rely on writers. I think it's a grand gesture on Stewart's part to support his writers financially during this strike, and I also understand the need to keep these two shows going in some fashion, considering the current political climate (presidential elections a mere year away) that dictates most of their content. Stewart also encouraged viewers to check out content on The Daily Show's website. |
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| 'Cashmere Mafia' launch postponed Tuesday, November 6 2007, 11:21 GMT (06:21 ET) By James Welsh, International Editor ABC is postponing the launch of Cashmere Mafia because not enough episodes were filmed ahead of Monday's start of the WGA strike. So far only 7 episodes of the Lucy Liu-starring dramedy are in the can of an original 13 episode order. One of the immediate knock-on effects of the strike is that networks are looking to hold back episodes of primetime programming so that new-run episodes can be shown well into the New Year in the event of a protracted work stoppage. It is understood that Cashmere's debut will be replaced on November 29 with an expanded two-hour season finale of Dancing With The Stars; a permanent replacement has yet to be named. |
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| Talk shows hit by writers' strike US TV's two top late-night talk shows have become the first casualties of the writers' strike which is threatening to bring Hollywood to a halt. The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno both aired re-runs after their scriptwriters walked off the job. The strike has been prompted by a disagreement over royalty payments. Top-rated prime-time show Dancing With The Stars aired as usual, but its hosts had to improvise without scripts. No new negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have been scheduled after last-minute talks broke down on Sunday. 'Hunkered down' Writers want higher fees, or "residuals", derived from work released on DVD or online. The producers' chief negotiator, Nick Counter, said they were "hunkered down for a long one". "From our standpoint, we made every good faith effort to negotiate a deal, and they went on strike," he said. "At some point, conversations will take place. But not now." The writers say the next move is up to the studios. "My hope is that it won't be too long," said writers' negotiator John Bowman, who told Associated Press that the two sides were talking behind the scenes about arranging further meetings. "We have more reason to get together than not." While topical series have been affected by the dispute, most studios have stockpiles of movie and TV scripts to see them through into early 2008. But some producers have said they are not comfortable about working with these finished scripts during a dispute. Tim Kring, a producer and writer on Heroes, said he had to revise the ending of the show's 11th episode, in case it became the last to air this series. "Fortunately, we were able to hustle back," he told AP from a picket line. "The audience won't be left in a lurch." Story from BBC NEWS: |