Could the End of the WGA Strike Be in Sight?
Good news today as the Director’s Guid of America (DGA) reached an agreement with the AMPTP. Their agreement could act as foundation for the WGA to resume negotiations with AMPTP.
According to a statement from the DGA, the new tentative agreement includes:
- Increases in wages and residual bases for each year of the contract
- DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Internet
- A new residuals formula for paid Internet downloads (electronic sell-through) that essentially doubles the rate currently paid by employers.
- Residual rates for ad-supported streaming and use of clips on the Internet
This is less than the writers have asked for, but more than they are getting now. Cross your fingers that they are willing to resume talks and get this thing settled sooner rather than later.
Should an agreement be reached in the next week or so, it is possible that some shows could resume production and bring 4 or 5 more new episodes to the season. Other, more production-intensive shows (like our beloved Heroes) still might not return until next season.
Let’s hope this is a step in the right direction for all concerned!
January 18th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
So, is it “save the cheerleader, save the series?”
January 21st, 2008 at 7:51 am
[...] Agree to Resume Talks with AMPTP by Debbie Following last Thursday’s announcement of the new Director’s Guild of America contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, the Writer’s Guild of [...]
January 21st, 2008 at 9:05 am
I’m hopeful that they will be able to work this out quickly, but in looking around the internet, I see there are still many in the WGA who aren’t impressed with the DGA’s agreement. So we’ll see…
February 5th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
[...] this past weekend (besides the New York Giants winning the Superbowl) would be the rumor that the WGA strike may be coming to an end very soon. Word is that the AMPTP and the WGA have come to agreement on [...]