Now that United Artists has reached an independent agreement with the WGA that allows screenwriters to go back to work for the studio, Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner’s fledgling movie company has a slew of out-of-work writers potentially at its disposal. So, which studio will negotiate next? The Weinstein Co. received a proposal from the WGA around Christmas but has not yet begun any negotiations with the guild. In fact, it looks like Harvey and Bob Weinstein are playing a chicken game with fellow indie studio Lionsgate. Sources tell the Hollywood Insider that both companies are waiting for the other to make a deal, though Lionsgate has not received a proposal directly from the WGA. What is clear is neither studio seems all that eager to make a deal, preferring the AMPTP to handle those negotiations.
Of course, the AMPTP isn’t too keen on these deals either. They released the following statement today in response to UA’s agreement with the WGA: “One-off deals do nothing to bring the WGA closer to a permanent solution for working writers. These interim agreements are sideshows and mean only that some writers will be employed at the same time other writers will be picketing. In the end, until the people in charge at WGA decide to focus on the main event rather than these sideshows, the economic harm being caused by the strike will continue.”
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I love the Golden Globes, and now that they’ve been cancelled, I can honestly say I hope each and every writer in the Guild ends up face down in a puddle of their own waste.
The sooner the entire industry shuts down, the sooner the AMPTP will be forced to get back to the table. I guess in order to hit the studios directly by taking their moneymaking programming off the air, the WGA is eschewing the court of public opinion. (As evidenced by a previous comment — seriously, the writers are at fault for wanting a fair wage for the average writer who currently earns $.04 for each $20.00 DVD — unless there was more than one writer on the project, like on a TV show, in which case the writers all split the $.04? That’s one-fifth of a percent to the writers.)
The writers create the material that allows the stars to come and schmooze and act cute? Not the stars themselves. And wouldn’t you want the writers to be fairly compensated even at the cost of one Golden Globes if it means many more can go on in the future?
No films, television shows, etc., should be coming out without professional writers producing the material. We all need to support the WGA. Our very wealthy businessmen thinking of themselves as artistes, are fooling themselves. Hopefully, as with our politics in this country, we won’t be so ignorant as to turn our backs on the people who really are our supporters and creators.
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