wga Blog and Journals

If all goes according to plan and the WGA approves the contract set forth by the producers, the 14 week long writer's strike will be over! The WGA tentatively approved the deal and is holding an emergency meeting later today to have it's members vote and to make an announcement.



For those of you who've been following this, the disputed issue was over payments and residuals for online content. Patrick Walsh at Cinematical explains it well:

• The main sticking point of the deal -- as discussed in this week's edition of "The Write Stuff" -- was that the studios wanted to stream programs on the Internet for a period of 17 - to -24 days without paying residuals to the writers. That clause still stands in the agreed upon deal, and it appears both sides have realized that there has to be some give-and-take with any deal. At yesterday's meeting, WGA West Executive Director David Young explained to members that the AMPTP was unwilling to budge on the free streaming period due to concern about declining television ratings, and his explanation pleased most of the writers.

Bummer. To me, the writers got screwed. Everyone knows how fleeting attention is on the internet. Who really views internet content 17-24 days after the fact? Only those who aren't cool and don't pay attention to the net, that's who!

But really, if the writers are happy, then I'm excited to see them get back to work, as well as all the peripheral jobs that have been lost because of this.

So what does this mean for you? Writers begin work as early as today (unofficially), but in full force by Wednesday. Movie productions will resume immediately and TV shows should be able to finish out their seasons. (OMG LOST AND THE OFFICE. THANK GOD.)