Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Chris Keyser, the co-chair of the Writers Guild of America negotiating committee, said in a video message Friday that the WGA is prepared to fight alone if necessary.
Keyser said that the guild, which has been on strike since May 2, is “girded by an alliance” with SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America.
But he promised that even if both guilds reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers this month, “We will fight on.” “Any deal that puts this town back to work runs straight through the WGA and there is no way around us,” Keyser said. “We are strong enough — we have always been strong enough — to get the deal we need with writer power alone.” The DGA has been negotiating a contract since May 10, and has only a few days left before SAG-AFTRA is scheduled to begin its talks next Wednesday.
The WGA has been sending out messages this week that a DGA deal should not be expected to resolve the writers’ strike. The WGA is keen to avoid a repeat of the 2007-08 strike, when the directors got a deal that became the template for the writers’ agreement.
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