Sunday, February 10, 2008

It's all over baby

Well basically. Still waiting on a few dotted i's and crossed t's by the AMPTP, but reportedly the proposed settlement between the striking WGA and the studios has come to a fruitful conclusion today. Official or not, it seems fair to say: THE STRIKE IS OVER.

As I mentioned a few days ago as this deal was looming after a tentative 'informal' agreement was reached a week ago. Care of United Hollywood, here is the letter sent out to guild members...
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To Our Fellow Members,

We have a tentative deal.

It is an agreement that protects a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery. It creates formulas for revenue-based residuals in new media, provides access to deals and financial data to help us evaluate and enforce those formulas, and establishes the principle that, "When they get paid, we get paid."

Specific terms of the agreement are described in the summary at the following link - http://www.wga.org/contract_07/wga_tent_summary.pdf - and will be further discussed at our Saturday membership meetings on both coasts. At those meetings we will also discuss how we will proceed regarding ratification of this agreement and lifting the restraining order that ends the strike. Details of the Los Angeles meeting can be found at http://www.wga.org/subpage_member.aspx?id=2763.

Less than six months ago, the AMPTP wanted to enact profit-based residuals, defer all Internet compensation in favor of a study, forever eliminate "distributor's gross" valuations, and enforce 39 pages of rollbacks to compensation, pension and health benefits, reacquisition, and separated rights. Today, thanks to three months of physical resolve, determination, and perseverance, we have a contract that includes WGA jurisdiction and separated rights in new media, residuals for Internet reuse, enforcement and auditing tools, expansion of fair market value and distributor's gross language, improvements to other traditional elements of the MBA, and no rollbacks.

Over these three difficult months, we shut down production of nearly all scripted content in TV and film and had a serious impact on the business of our employers in ways they did not expect and were hard pressed to deflect. Nevertheless, an ongoing struggle against seven, multinational media conglomerates, no matter how successful, is exhausting, taking an enormous personal toll on our members and countless others. As such, we believe that continuing to strike now will not bring sufficient gains to outweigh the potential risks and that the time has come to accept this contract and settle the strike.

Much has been achieved, and while this agreement is neither perfect nor perhaps all that we deserve for the countless hours of hard work and sacrifice, our strike has been a success. We activated, engaged, and involved the membership of our Guilds with a solidarity that has never before occurred. We developed a captains system and a communications structure that used the Internet to build bonds within our membership and beyond. We earned the backing of other unions and their members worldwide, the respect of elected leaders and politicians throughout the nation, and the overwhelming support of fans and the general public. Our thanks to all of them, and to the staffs at both Guilds who have worked so long and patiently to help us all.

There is much yet to be done and we intend to use all the techniques and relationships we've developed in this strike to make it happen. We must support our brothers and sisters in SAG who, as their contract expires in less than five months, will be facing many of the same challenges we have just endured. We must further pursue new relationships we have established in Washington and in state and local governments so that we can maintain leverage against the consolidated multinational conglomerates with whom we bargain. We must be vigilant in monitoring the deals that are made in new media so that in the years ahead we can enforce and expand our contract. We must fight to get decent working conditions and benefits for writers of reality TV, animation, and any other genre in which writers do not have a WGA contract.

Most important, however, is to continue to use the new collective power we have generated for our collective benefit. More than ever, now and beyond, we are all in this together.

Best,

Patric M. Verrone
President, WGAW

Michael Winship
President, WGAE

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Yes, the AMPTP are dragging their feet slightly on the final naggling issues, trying to squeeze their last possible cent, point, or whatnot through the door as it closes behind them; and the WGA is talking about holding a vote within the next 48 hours to ratify the terms of the deal. Generally speaking though, this deal is done. The 3 month long writers strike really finally is over. And a formal final FINAL end will probably come Monday, or early next week.

Keep an eye on TV Guide's strike watch page as they will be updating us all on the fate of our favorite tv shows as soon as they get official word. However as I mentioned most likely we will be getting the older established hits back for a few more episodes this season, and the freshman shows will have to hold off until the Fall. As for Lost, and Heroes... who can say yet. Of course rampant speculation on some of the films that could get back on track immediately has already begun, thanks to IGN and Variety. They specifically mention Angels & Demons, JLA, and Transformers 2 as properties that could possibly move forward very rapidly. I for one doubt it, but I suppose they could.

Really, at this point, we should just be happy that the strike is ending, and enjoy whatever tv and movie we do get with a minimum of griping. Even if it is more ridiculous yet so very very addictive Big Brother episodes...

At least we've got the Oscars coming up :)
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