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Directors have a deal


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they used different tactics. The WGA hard line approach enabled the DGA to get more out of their informal meetings. Now the WGA just entered into informal talks, using the DGA's casual approach. Round and round it goes when will we get back to work nobody knows.

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Copied from an NAB email newsletter I get:

 

News Corp president Peter Chernin and Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger reportedly were slated to meet informally today with WGA West president Patric Verrone and executive director David Young to talk about resuming contract negotiations and ending the writers strike. The informal talks could signal a lessening of tension between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which negotiates on behalf of the major studios, this article says. The Wall Street Journal (1/21).

 

Hang in there Annie!

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I guess I'm kinda confused because I'm still hearing that SAG might strike in June....what next?

I'm not sure what you mean. The DGA made a deal, so a strike wouldn't really be an option. Maybe I'm missing something... Where did you hear that?

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Pfft, I don't know. Just...around. I've talked to so many people about the strike, I lose track of who told me what! Well, I guess we'll just have to keep waiting it out. How long before you think LA will be back to business? I'm still planning to go out there but don't want to waste my time waiting for them to pick up the pieces.

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The AMPTP and WGA are entering into informal discussions today as a prelude to formal negotiations. The WGA removed the animation and reality provisions which had been stumbling blocks to resumption of talks so there is reason to be hopeful for an end to the strike sooner than later.

The DGA has a tentative deal which won't go in front of their membership until Jan. 26.

SAG contract expires June 30.

The likelihood that the rank and file of the DGA will vote to ratify their contract is high. The DGA contract is only a jumping off point for the WGA. There are many issues for the WGA and the AMPTP yet to resolve, but at least they are getting together in the same room.

The AMPTP would like to salvage the Oscar telecast scheduled for Feb. 24 so there are hopes that the deal will be made by then. That is a month away so there is a decent chance that could happen.

If the WGA finds common ground and negotiates a contract then the chances of SAG striking are slim.

If a deal is made in February some kind of pilot season will take place.

I believe that the current TV season is history, even if the strike is settled by Feb. 24, but that is just my opinion.

So best case scenario the town is back to work in late March - April.

If the talks between the WGA and AMPTP fall apart then I think the strike will go into May thereby scuttling the 2008 pilot season. I believe (again, just my opinion) that the AMPTP will want to settle with the WGA before SAG's contract expires because in 3 years they don't want the WGA, DGA and SAG to all have their contracts expire at the same time.

With that scenario one is looking at work opportunities being few and far between until TV season gears up again in July-August with networks forgoing pilot season per se, picking up a few of their best pilot scripts and going straight into short order production(6 episodes) and renewing many of this past season's shows, the ones that didn't completely tank in the ratings.

All of the above is but an "educated" guess.

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The DGA has a tentative deal which won't go in front of their membership until Jan. 26.

The likelihood that the rank and file of the DGA will vote to ratify their contract is high.

Good point Paul. The membership still needs to vote of course.

It would be a very bad thing if the membership voted down the new deal I think, although that does seem unlikely.

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Thanks for clarifying some of that, Paul. I seem to have found shelter from the storm in the form of a part-time job as a film camera repair tech (see? No Starbucks!) so honestly it's not an issue for me at this point. I decided that moving to LA any time soon would undoubtedly cause my head to explode from stress, and that I wasn't really up for staying in New York either...so this job came up as a possibility in Savannah, GA and I figured what the heck, it's not like I'm selling out of the business or something. So what's everyone else doing these days? I worry about all my friends out in LA!

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