Carol Lombardini: Last News

In the wake of yesterday’s upbeat news that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the WGA are heading back for talks this Friday, SAG-AFTRA’s Duncan Crabtree-Ireland says that as far as actors go, it’s still crickets from the producers.

There’s movement!

Variety on Tuesday. That is the first communication between the two sides since May 1, when talks collapsed and the WGA voted to go on strike. The WGA informed its members of the outreach from AMPTP to Ellen Stutzman, the WGA’s chief negotiator, on Tuesday evening.

Fran Drescher boarded the bus and has landed at her first picket line on the first day of the actors strike.

EXCLUSIVE: Regardless of whether SAG-AFTRA goes on strike this week, the studios have no intention of sitting down with the Writers Guild for several more months.

Last minute calls are being made by Hollywood chiefs to try and prevent an actors strike.

More than 50 Democratic members of the New York state legislature, reminding the AMPTP that companies it represents are the beneficiaries of “hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits” every year, are calling on the studios to return to the bargaining table with the Writers Guild and make a deal to end the month-long strike.

EXCLUSIVE: With the clock ticking and writers out on the picket lines all over town, the Directors Guild of America and the studios are far from even the framework of a deal.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer If Hollywood’s labor drama were a script, this would be the start of Act Two. On Wednesday, as writers walk picket lines outside the major studios, the Directors Guild of America will sit down for its negotiations on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. A deal — if they are able to reach one — could help resolve the writers strike. That’s what happened 15 years ago, when the Writers Guild of America was on strike and the directors went in for their contract negotiations. Leveraging the pressure of an industry-wide work stoppage that was in its third month, the DGA secured milestone agreements for unfettered jurisdiction over the internet and a residual formula for what was then quaintly known as “new media” exploitation of movies and TV shows.

EXCLUSIVE: “This is about setting the course for the industry for the future,” said Directors Guild of America chief Lesli Linka Glatter today on the guild upcoming talks with studios and the WGA strike that stated this week. “We’re in a team sport. We’re only as good as our teams.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer To a lot of people outside the negotiating room, a strike by Hollywood writers felt inevitable. But it didn’t feel that way inside the room. Until the last day or two, negotiators for both labor and management believed that the other side would give, and that a deal would be reached at the last moment. But picket lines in Los Angeles and New York this week tell a different story. The conflict that led to the breakdown of talks on the night of May 1 began the day before. On April 30, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers delivered a 40-page package of proposals to WGA’s negotiating committee. It did not include key elements that the Writers Guild of America has insisted are essential to sealing a new three-year contract, including a mandatory minimum number of weeks for TV writers and a minimum staff size for writers rooms.

EXCLUSIVE: While the Writers Guild of America will continue to negotiate with the studios right up to the expiration of their current contact on May 1, strike preparations are underway — but Hollywood might not see picket lines as quickly as you think.

EXCLUSIVE: The current Writers Guild of America contract expires in just over 48 hours, and the scribes and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers are taking it down to the wire in hopes of reaching an agreement.

Picket signs are being prepared to possibly hit the streets next week, but talks between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers appear to have taken a productive turn in the past 24 hours.

“We’re optimistic that we can that we can get through this in a way that’s fair to all parties,” said Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav today of  negotiations between the Writers Guild and the studios and risk of a strike by the scribes.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America officially began negotiations on Monday with the studios, as the union seeks to increase compensation and set minimum standards for the size and duration of writers rooms. Over the decades, bargaining has become a highly ritualized process, with each step carefully scripted. The guild has already told members that the initial round of talks will last for two weeks. At that point, the WGA will advise the membership on “what next steps we believe are necessary,” said writer-director Kay Cannon in a video posted on Friday. If it’s anything like the last contentious negotiation, in 2017, the guild will seek a strike authorization vote, which would give negotiators leverage for the final round of talks.

EXCLUSIVE: First among Hollywood unions this year, the WGA is going face-to-face with the studios starting Monday in what’s expected to be contentious negotiations for a new overall contract. However, the atypical pole position for the hard-hitting scribes this labor round is a consequence of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ rebuke of the DGA efforts to strike a pact a few months ago.

Just hours before the WGA and the studios are scheduled to start stridulous talks on a new overall contact, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have decided to publicly play nice, firmly.

EXCLUSIVE: The WGA is planning a series of meetings with top tier showrunners this week as it looks to rally the troops and gain support ahead of its negotiations with the AMPTP.

Disputes over residuals that flow from new revenue streams have been at the center of every major film and TV strike in Hollywood’s history. And as the WGA, SAG-AFTRA and the DGA all preparing for contract talks early in 2023 with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, residuals could again be the flashpoint for the first industry-wide strike in 15 years.

Scott Rowe has been named communications consultant for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, succeeding Jarryd Gonzalez in the role. Rowe’s appointment comes as the AMPTP is heading into what could be contentious contract negotiations next year with the WGA, SAG-AFTRA and the DGA.