The Gapp Online

[merderrox]

well, that is a little more positive.
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[Marks_Mistress]

weird though that its from E! as well.
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[merderrox]

newest news on the strike from DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY

URGENT! More About WGA Counter-Offer

United Hollywood just posted the following from WGA member Laeta Kalogridis. (It fleshes out what I reported last night, The Operative Word Tuesday Is "Haggle"):

Here's the proposal that the WGA is bringing to the room as I understand it (got this from someone on the Board):

A TIERED PAY SCALE based on the number of times something is viewed via streaming.

The AMPTP did not make an offer on downloads or (EST) Electronic Sell Through. That’s supposed to come today. Let's hope it does.

As for streaming, our proposal is X bucks a year for X number of streams. And starting very reasonably for a low number of streams. Every time the number of views reaches a certain threshold, the compensation bumps up into the next tier.

It's a simple and fair idea – as with a traditional residual structure, there is a basic payment for the right to use content on the internet. And, as the work is used more and more, different tiers of compensation kick in - as the companies make more, the content creator makes more. All we ask is that if the content is a huge hit, our compensation scales upward accordingly. The company and the content creators share in the success.

We are willing and able to negotiate on what those X numbers should be. We welcome the AMPTP cooling its hostile rhetoric, and we see no reason why cool-headed discussion can't make this system work.

WGA Releases Analysis Of AMPTP Offer

The Writers Guild Of America just sent this email to members:

December 4, 2007
Fellow Guild Members:

Rumors, half-truths, and misinformation about what is actually happening at the bargaining table fly across the internet, are posted on blogs, passed across picket lines like a game of telephone, and appear in stories and advertisements in the trade papers.

So, to clarify exactly where we are, we have prepared a report and analysis, which you can read in its entirety at: http://www.wgaeast.org/index.php/articles/1145?wgra=1#wga1145http://www.wga.org/subpage_secure.aspx?id=2628

In the meantime, here’s a brief summary:

The latest WGA proposal would cost the companies $151 million over three years. It is reasonable, serious, and easily affordable. For instance, it would cost Sony only $1.68 million per year. Paramount and CBS would each pay only $4.66 million per year. MGM would pay only $320,000 per year.

The AMPTP claims its proposal would give us $130 million over three years. Our analysis – and again, please visit the website to see for yourself – tells us their offer is worth only $32 million. But if you factor in the companies’ regressive proposal on “promotional use” (streaming TV shows and feature films in their entirety for free) writers could potentially lose $100 million in income over the course of this contract.

So while we don’t see how their proposal adds up to anywhere near $130 million, we greet their public willingness to make such an offer with real interest. If the AMPTP is serious about this figure, the WGA is confident we are closer to a deal than anyone has suggested, and we are hopeful that the companies will respond positively to our proposal, which is a serious, reasonable, and affordable attempt to bridge the gap between us.

Sincerely,

John F. Bowman
Chair, WGA Negotiating Committee
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[merderrox]

more from deadline hollywood daily

Talks Day #5: "Questions & Haggling"

I've been able to glean a little from Tuesday's resumed WGA-AMPTP talks. Both sides sounded very matter-of-fact about today's negotiations focusing on the writers' counter-offer. (See my The Operative Word Tuesday Is "Haggle" from last night for background.) strike-day5.JPGNow that the news blackout has been lifted, the AMPTP issued this public end-of-day statement: "We will spend the evening studying what the WGA had to say today, and we look forward to returning to the bargaining table tomorrow." Earlier in the day, WGA Negotiating Committee Chair John F. Bowman, on behalf of the Writers Guild of America, issued a message to members about the contract negotiations and presented a report-&-analysis.

Tonight, a WGA source says a "small group" talked about the WGA's counter-offer which Bowman had characterized as "a serious, reasonable, and affordable attempt to bridge the gap between us." Noted the WGA source, "Questions were exchanged. There was some haggling. This will continue tomorrow." Said another WGA insider, "Our negotiators have been played so often. But it's not bad. They're at least engaged." And a third party familiar with the talks emailed me, "The tone of 'haggle' is it. I'm encouraged today."

I say, where's the 2nd half of the AMPTP proposal? The dog eat your homework, boys? I'll update if and when I know more.
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[merderrox]

not the most positive of news today from DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY:

Talks Day #6: WGA Presses Reality TV

The talks will resume on Thursday. But I'm told by a mogul that the reason the second half of the AMPTP proposal -- talks-day-6.JPGwhich presumably contains an offer about electronic sell-through (ESTs) -- has not yet seen the light of day is because "no one is prepared to put anything new on the table until there's movement on other issues." Oh, c'mon!

So the AMPTP had an internal meeting today about the WGA's offer on streaming. The WGA in an end-of-day statement tonight said "we are still waiting for the AMPTP to respond to ... Internet streaming of theatrical and TV product and digital downloads." The producers' end-of-day statement tonight was totally generic and undetailed.

The largest part of today's negotiations were taken over by the WGA's small group discussion of jurisdiction for Reality TV and made-for-Web content. I've learned the WGA played hardball by demanding that network and studio CEOs no longer make deals with Reality TV producers like Mark Burnett Productions, Fremantle, Endemol etc unless those companies become signatories of the WGA. This is part of the WGA's continuing campaign to ensure that Reality TV writers -- often referred to as the editors or story producers of the shows -- start to receive the same benefits and pay and protections as guild members. (Of course, further complicating matters is that some Reality TV shows have signed deals with IA, the editors guild.) It's also clear the WGA's demand today was timed to this Friday's big writers protest outside Fremantle Media headquarters.

Needless to say, network CEOs expressed disbelief and anger that the WGA would try to put Reality TV on the table today. I swear one mogul was going to have a coronary, sputtering as he charged that today's talks were "going backwards". (Did the producers not hear that Variety erroneously reported pre-strike that the WGA negotiators had dropped their nonscripted proposal? On the other hand, don't the writers consider New Media formulas a more pressing issue? Am I starting to lose the will to live?)

Interestingly, the WGA's demand that all made-for-web work be placed under the guild's full jurisdiction didn't seem to hit a nerve with either the AMPTP or its CEOs.

Updates as they come in to me.
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[merderrox]

Not very good news I am afraid guys out of Deadline Hollywood Daily.

Talks Day #7: AMPTP "Stalling Tactics"; Are The Moguls About To Quit The Talks?

EXCLUSIVE: I wish I had better news about the AMPTP-WGA contract negotiations, but I don't. To sum up, they suck. I took extra time reporting tonight, and some very surprising developments came to light. talks-day-7.JPGFor instance, Peter Chernin is privately telling Hollywood that the producers plan to quit the talks any day now. That they have no intention of coming back with another streaming proposal "until we are close". And that they'll only give a better electronic sell-through formula "at the last minute" when a contract with the writers is virtually signed.

These quiet remarks by the Fox/News Corp No. 2 are the complete opposite of what the AMPTP is telling the WGA around the bargaining table.

I'm told Thursday's talks began at 10 AM, and both the WGA and AMPTP had a brief discussion about streaming, made-for-web content pay and jurisdiction, and electronic sell-through. Then one of the negotiators from the network and studio CEOs' side declared, "The DVD formula is good for you, and you should embrace it with open arms."

The AMPTP then claimed it had "a proposal coming" supposedly based on the writers' streaming counter-proposal from Tuesday and asked the WGA side to wait around. By 5 pm, it wasn't done. Then the producers claimed they would work on the proposal at the hotel straight through midnight or later and give it to the WGA at Friday's session.

But some of the WGA negotiators hung around the hotel and, to their surprise, watched the AMPTP contingent get in their cars at exactly 6 PM and individually drive off.

(This follows what happened on Wednesday when the AMPTP negotiators asked to break early to celebrate the first day of Chanukah -- yet their official statement later claimed it had been the writers side who didn't want to negotiate late into the evening...)

chernin_1.jpgChernin, CBS' Les Moonves, and some of the other Hollywood moguls this week keep kvetching about how "frustrating" the AMPTP-WGA talks have become and how "pessimistic" they are about a quick resolution. The bigwigs have even concocted this fiction that they wanted to solve the strike in three intense days of negotiations before Christmas but now they see that's impossible because of the level of mistrust and misunderstanding around the table. My sources tell me the CEOs seem to be looking for any excuse to blame WGA chief negotiator Dave Young specifically for "blowing it".

But the truth is this: the Hollywood moguls have not delivered on their promises. And Chernin's statements make clear they never had any intention of doing so right now. Days are passing, and the AMPTP still hasn't come back with a counter/counter-offer to the WGA's counter-offer to the AMPTP's offer on streaming. Days are passing, and the AMPTP still hasn't come back with the 2nd half of its New Media proposal presumably containing ESTs. Days are passing, and the AMPTP and WGA are still paralyzed on Internet issues, which is why they moved way down their list to the subject of Reality TV jurisdiction. Sure that angered the CEOs who own a network -- and I think it was a giant mistake by the writers' negotiating team to get off New Media and onto that. But it came up because of the AMPTP's stalling tactics, and the two sides had to jawbone about something.

In conclusion, I wouldn't be at all surprised if, as soon as Friday, the AMPTP walks out of the talks with a news release in hand that it's all the WGA's fault.

And I now predict the CEOs will make a big public show of deciding to open talks with the Directors Guild right away and thus try to screw the striking writers. (That's already begun -- today's Los Angeles Times virtually announces it in roundabout fashion by noting that 300 director-writers today begged their DGA to hold off...)

And I predict the AMPTP won't return to negotiations with the writers until February at the earliest after declaring force majeure. Please, oh please, prove me wrong.
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[merderrox]

newest on the strike from deadline hollywood daily . . . things are not sounding to promising, i am starting to really believe we will be left until next fall with the whole merderrose haning over our heads:

WGA
Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) President Patric M. Verrone and Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) President Michael Winship today issued the following message regarding the AMPTP-WGA negotiations which appear to be breaking down. (For background, see my previous, Talks Day #7: AMPTP "Stalling Tactics"; Are The Moguls About To Quit The Talks?):

Dear Fellow Members,
Before we head into negotiations this morning, we want to give you an update on where we stand. On Tuesday, after the companies had requested a four-day break so they could work on their proposals, we returned to the bargaining table. We presented a counter proposal to their streaming proposal of November 29. They presented no new proposals. On Wednesday, the AMPTP again had no new proposals, but they did have detailed questions about our streaming counter proposal and other aspects of our overall proposals – and from the give and take of those discussions, we felt that they might finally be ready to engage in serious bargaining. They told us they would have new proposals for us Thursday. On Thursday, we met at 10am, and they told us their new proposals would be ready shortly. At 5 PM, they told us their proposals still weren’t ready, that they would be working on them late into the night, and that we should come back this morning at 10am. The fact that we saw everyone from the AMPTP leave the building by 6:45pm is not a promising sign, but we will be at the table at 10 AM this morning, ready to receive their new proposal.

We’d like to address some of the disturbing rumors and back channel communications we’ve been hearing. For one, we’ve heard that one or more of the companies are prepared to throw away the spring and fall TV season, plus features, and prolong the strike. Aside from the devastating effect this would have on the unions, workers, and their families in this industry, it would certainly explain the AMPTP’s refusal to put any new proposals, even a bad one, on the table. Also, highly placed executives have been telling some of our writers that the companies are preparing to abruptly cut off negotiations. They say the companies plan to accuse the WGA of stalling and being unwilling to negotiate, and that the companies will use that as an excuse to walk out.

The Writers Guilds of America, West and East are going on record now that any such claims are absolutely untrue. We have been at the negotiating table every day, willing to bargain. Furthermore, we hereby challenge the AMPTP to negotiate in good faith, day and night, through the Christmas and New Year’s holidays – whatever is necessary – to get this done and get the town back to work. The Writers Guilds will remain at the table every day, for as long as it takes, to make a fair deal.

Thank you for your patience, support, and solidarity through these difficult times. Please come to the Freemantle rally today. We remain all in this together.
Patric M. Verrone
Writers Guild of America, West
&
Michael Winship
President
Writers Guild of America, East
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[merderrox]

newest info . . . it just all sounds very negative. . . i truly fear this strike will not end anytime soon.

Judge AMPTP's Ultimatum For Yourselves

I've been given a copy of the presentation made to the WGA negotiating team today by Carol Lombardini, AMPTP's exec vice president for business and legal affairs. (Be sure to see my 3RD UPDATE of TALKS DAY #8 for detail and background):

AMPTP STATEMENT DURING WGA NEGOTIATIONS
Held on December 7, 2007
The second group of proposals listed under the topic “Rejections” represents those proposals that are an absolute roadblock to any further progress in these negotiations. We have had some frank discussion with you about some of these proposals over the past three days. Unfortunately, these discussions have only reinforced our conviction as to how far apart the parties remain. These proposals are completely unacceptable in their present form, or in any altered form. They include:

W-12 a), your Fair Market Value proposal. We remain steadfast in our conviction that fair market value should be determined by the marketplace itself, not by a third party. The notion of appointing an arbitrator or developing a legal system to ascertain monetary values in our business is utterly unacceptable.

Your Reality Program proposals, W-13 a) and b), are a clever disguise to what amounts to a top-down union organizing campaign. And those proposals, by applying the terms and conditions of the MBA to reality programs, render those companies already signatory to your Agreement unable to compete in the development and production of this type of programming.

Your presentation on December 5th of an added piece to the Reality Program proposal only widened the gap between us. Your proposal sought to bind the networks, who do not even sit at this bargaining table, to a contractual provision which prohibits them from doing business with those who do not offer the same pension and health provisions as set forth in the MBA. Surely you knew that even if any of us had the authority to make such a commitment, the idea of forcing the networks not to do business with a certain category of producers would be wholly unacceptable to us.

Your Animation proposal, W-14, is likewise unacceptable. As you know, there is another union which has long had jurisdiction over the work you are now seeking to cover by your proposal. We believe that it should be up to the writers in this field, using the procedures carefully established by Congress in the 1940s – in the same legislative act that validates the very existence of Writers Guild of America, East and West – to express their desire as to whether they wish to be represented by the WGA or that other union. It is not for us as Companies to usurp the secret ballot democratic election process established by the National Labor Relations Act by agreeing to another top-down union organization proposal.

Your Industry Standards proposal, W-15 a) – the simple statement here is that we will not allow a provision in a labor agreement to dictate those with whom we can do business. Your Sympathy Strike proposal, W-22, asks us to allow you to strike because of the existence of a labor dispute with another group. We cannot entertain that principle. The bargain we strike must include an ironclad pledge of labor peace for the term we agree upon. No exceptions will be entertained.

Lastly, we cannot agree to any new residual formula based upon the concept of “Distributor’s Gross.” That is, any residual formula that requires payment to be made based upon the receipts of an entity other than the signatory Company is unacceptable to us. Our agreement to share revenues with you must be limited to those revenues actually received by the signatory Company.

Your determination to continue to pursue these initiatives prevents us from making any movement in any other area. Therefore, unless you advise us immediately that these proposals are withdrawn, we see no purpose in continuing these talks.
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[merderrox]

WGA files federal charges: i

See WGA's Documents Filed With NLRB



Posted by Nikki Finke on Thursday, Dec 13th, 2007 at 06:07PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
WGA Files Federal 'Unfair Labor' Charges Against AMPTP Which Brands Them 'Baseless & Desperate'

(Keep refreshing for latest breaking news...)

On a day when most of Hollywood (and myself) were out from behind their desks making plans for the upcoming holidays, the WGA was busy filing charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the AMPTP "for its refusal to bargain in good faith with the WGA. It is a clear violation of federal law for the AMPTP to issue an ultimatum and break off negotiations if we fail to cave to their illegal demands. We are in the midst of the holiday season, with thousands of our members and the membership of other unions out of work. It is the height of irresponsibility and intransigence for the AMPTP to refuse to negotiate a fair agreement with the WGA. We reiterate our demand that the AMPTP immediately return to the negotiations, rather than going on vacation, so that this town can be put back to work. The DGA announced today that it may commence negotiations with the AMPTP in January. The DGA has to do what is best for its membership, and we will do what is best for ours. We wish them well, but they do not represent writers. Our strike will end when the companies return to negotiations and make a fair deal with the WGA.”

The WGA move not only took Hollywood by surprise, it put the Hollywood moguls on the defensive. Immediately, the AMPTP fired back with this statement: "The WGA's filing of a complaint with the NLRB reminds us of the old lawyers' adage: When the facts are on your side, argue the facts. When the law is on your side, argue the law. And when you don't have either the law or the facts on your side, you pound the table. The WGA has now been reduced to pounding the table, and this baseless, desperate NLRB complaint is just the latest indication that the WGA's negotiating strategy has achieved nothing for working writers."


if you want to see an actual scan of the filed charges go to www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com
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