The WGA Negotiating Committee, on behalf of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), today issued the following statement regarding Contract 2007 negotiations:

“The Writers Guilds met today with the AMPTP and discussed issues of jurisdiction for original content for the Internet, Reality TV, Animation, and Basic Cable. The talks also were focused on contract enforcement. For the last two days, we have had substantive discussions of the issues important to writers, the first time this has occurred in this negotiation. However, we are still waiting for the AMPTP to respond to all of our proposals, including Internet streaming of theatrical and television product and digital downloads. Bargaining resumes tomorrow at 10 a.m.”

Think you know how to get the AMPTP back to the negotiating table? Want to teach Nick Counter and the rest of the AMPTP how to make a fair deal and end the strike? Okay, here's your chance.

UnitedHollywood is challenging you to shoot a video showing us how you would get the AMPTP to make a fair deal. Videos can be up to four minutes long with one condition, you must use the phrase “fighting

Two articles in the New York Times today (11/16/07) put a personal perspective on the strike. Bill Carter's "Late Shows Move to Help The Workers Not on Strike" and Jennifer Steinhauer's "Writers' Strike Opens New Window on Hollywood".

Carter reports about efforts by Talk Show Hosts to keep their staffs paid, even if they can't be on the air. Steinhauer profiles the personal stories of writers, costumers, assistants, electricians, and thousands of others who are now or who will soon be out of work.

What these stories have in common is one underlying fact: the AMPTP won't sit down with the WGA.

Notwithstanding the AMPTP's full page ads, they'd rather spend their energy and money on avoiding talking to the writers and negotiating a fair deal. And why?

The California Democratic Party is officially on record as supporting the WGA's strike action. Stating in their resolution:

WHEREAS, the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has refused to recognize the legitimate claims of the approximately 12,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) to fair remuneration through residuals on the distribution of its members’ creative endeavors on any current distribution platforms and those yet to be developed, including the monitoring and enforcement thereof; and

December 16, 2007

Dear Writers Guild of America Members,

I am writing to you on behalf of 120,000 proud members of Screen Actors Guild who stand with you in solidarity as your strike continues. We believe that now more than ever, we must remain strong and even more committed to achieving our common objectives. We are proud to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with you and SAG will be there for as long as it takes.

Your fight is our fight. Our National Executive Director Doug Allen and I are working around the clock with Patric Verrone and David Young to coordinate our strike support efforts. I'm sure you have seen some of the thousands of Screen Actors Guild members who've been walking the picket lines in Los Angeles, New York and around the country for the last six weeks.

Michael Winship, president of Writers Guild of America East, sent this message to East members today.

Fellow Members of the Writers Guild of America, East:

A very Happy New Year to you all. In spite of our current turmoil, I hope you’ve been able to find some time to enjoy and appreciate the holiday season with friends and loved ones.

I hit the wall the Friday before Christmas, momentarily

LOS ANGELES – The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have issued the following statement regarding Contract 2007 negotiations:

“The Writers Guild has reached a binding independent agreement today with Worldwide Pants that will allow Late Night with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to return to the air with their full

If you've never been in a Hollywood development meeting, one of the most frustrating things for writers about such gatherings is often the lack of consensus amongst those giving the studio notes. With so many people involved - from the creative exec, to the director of development, to the VP to the Senior VP, to INSERT RANDOM PERSON HERE - each giving their opinion and input, they're rarely all on the same page.

But have the studios brought "development hell" to the current strike negotiations?

According to a showrunner who was briefed on the situation, there is real dissension in their ranks. Each of the corporations comprising the AMPTP has a labor lawyer in the room negotiating for them (not to be outdone, Time Warner has three!). Furthermore, some of the companies are willing to make a deal today and are getting more than a little pissed at those who are holding out.

This was sent out today by the WGA:

LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK – The membership of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) today voted overwhelmingly in favor of lifting the restraining order and ending their 100-day strike that began on Nov. 5. 3,775 writers turned out in Los Angeles and New York to cast ballots or fax in proxies, with 92.5% voting

Send Pencils to Support the Writers! A Buck a Box!

.paypal-element {padding:0 0 5px 0;}What TV show are you supporting? (Optional)

Thank you for your overwhelming support in our email campaign earlier this week – councilmembers collectively received thousands of emails, and our work had a very real impact.

Now they know that people are engaged and paying attention, and we need to let them know our involvement is serious and ongoing. Although the special motion does not compel the AMPTP to come to the table, it becomes part of a “paper trail” that shows the AMPTP’s behavior, which will matter as we go up the political food chain (Congressional hearings, anyone?)

We're making a difference, and we need your help to keep it going.

This was submitted by WGA member Michael Seitzman, who is currently blogging on Huffington Post as well.

I read news today of Writers Guild member John Ridley's decision to go Financial-Core to protest the Writers Guild strike. I was angry and dismayed and my original post on the issue was full of that vitriol. I thought an edit was in order so as not to let the message to get lost in a war of

At today’s Los Angeles City Council meeting, over 300 writers and supporters came to hear Councilmember Eric Garcetti speak to the City Council about the writers strike, and the need to bring the AMPTP back to the table so negotiations can resume.
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The AMPTP did not bother to send a representative, apparently feeling that the $20 million a day damage to the Los Angeles economy is more the City Council's problem than theirs.

Garcetti introduced an emergency motion asking for both parties to resume bargaining, and to come to a just and fair deal as quickly as possible. He also pointed out that the writers are still at the bargaining table, ready to negotiate, and called specifically on the AMPTP to return as well.

For those of you who missed this news, here is the announcement from Friday about bargaining with individual companies. Since the AMPTP has so many competing agendas and can't reach consensus, perhaps its individual members will consider their own self-interest and negotiate their own deals.

A Message to the WGA Membership from its Negotiating Committee

The political website moveon.org has started a petition to bring back "The Daily Show":

Why are The Daily Show, Colbert Report, and other TV shows in re-runs? TV studios are refusing to pay writers fairly--causing them to strike.

The studios will make over $120 million in ad revenue this year showing TV programs on the web. But they want to give writers a one-time payment of $250—that's right, $250—for unlimited use of their content online. This unbelievable greed is keeping Jon Stewart and his team off the air.

Can you sign this petition to the studio executives--and then ask all your friends who love "The Daily Show" to sign it too?

A compiled petition with your individual comment will be presented to the major studio executives.

Statement from Chief Negotiator David Young and the WGA Negotiating Committee.

We have attempted to negotiate with the AMPTP companies since July. First they ignored our opening proposals. Then they told us we had to choose between their two horrible proposals. Then we removed DVDs from the table. Their response was to walk out of negotiations and tell the press that we were the ones who walked. Last week they presented us with another set of ultimatums. They didn’t even wait for a reply but broke off negotiations and walked out again.

There is a strategy at work here.

In any negotiation there are bottom line goals and “fringe” goals. The AMPTP wants to make the WGA reduce our demands to the bottom line so we’ll negotiate down from an acceptable deal to a bad deal If we do this, as we did with DVDs, you can be sure they would not hand us the deal we want. They would simply try to further wear us down.

Picketing is long and tedious work. It's not something that any of us want to be doing, and after a few weeks of it, it's natural to ask, "Is this doing any good?"

Yes, it is.

Everyone's already heard that the AMPTP is returning to the table to negotiate with us, and a big part of the reason for that is the labor stoppage. Today, MediaWeek is telling a new side of the story. The strike is about to hit the TV networks in the wallet:

Media buyers, in light of the Writers Guild of America strike, say they might be a month away from asking the broadcast networks to renegotiate their upfront packages or give them cash back.

The networks have a clock on them, and the experts don't think reality programs will be able to bail out their schedules:

This letter was just sent out to SAG members by Doug Allen (Executive Director and Chief Negotiator) and Allen Rosenberg (President). Emphases in red are from us at UH -- LK.

Dear SAG Member:

Everyone hopes the WGA strike will end with a fair deal for the writers. There has been much speculation about the impact on the WGA strike of the tentative agreement between the Directors Guild of America

Today, we received some solid information regarding the timetable the DGA is setting for its talks. Michael Apted, president of the DGA, and Gil Cates, their NegCom chair, issued a statement:"Because we want to give the WGA and the AMPTP more time to return to the negotiating table to conclude an agreement, the DGA will not schedule our negotiations to begin until after the New Year, and then, only if an appropriate basis for negotiations can be established."The rest of their statement is strongly worded and reflects the same frustration the WGA and the rest of Hollywood is feeling right now. The WGA wants a fair and reasonable deal. The DGA wants a fair and reasonable deal.

STATUS: False.
Several people called and/or emailed under the assumption that because negotiations had resumed, all the showrunners were back on the job. I'm guessing the origin of this rumor was a post on Variety's Scribe Vibe blog from the 26th: Many of TV's top showrunners headed back to the office this week, resuming their non-writing chores (such as editing, supervising post production, etc.). One studio exec said "more than half" of his series' showrunners were back at work, both on the comedy and drama side.

This is excerpted from the email that Warners strike captain Brian Hartt sent to other captains this week, with permission. Brian is an Emmy-nominated writer who coordinates all of the Warners picket teams, as well as being the showrunner on Mind of Mencia who helped get 4 West Coast and 2 East Coast shows on Comedy Central covered by the WGA contract . His tireless work and dedication are inspiring.

As I'm sure you all know, the AMPTP walked away from the table Friday.

You all should have, by now, gotten John Bowman's response to the "nice try" press release by the company's lap dog. Let me stress something that John mentioned - their press release came out minutes after they walked away.

I miss the Golden Globes. The fans miss seeing their favorite stars win awards for their favorite movies and tv shows. The Writers' Guild Awards have also been downgraded to a news event. All the writers who were nominated deserve their moment in the spotlight. And the Academy Awards... That's threatened too. Added to all the economic difficulties created by the strike, why not just let the

This is the letter that was just sent to the membership:

AMPTP BREAKS OFF NEGOTIATIONS

Today, after three days of discussions, the AMPTP came back to us with a proposal that included a total rejection of our proposal on Internet streaming of December 3.

They are holding to their offer of a $250 fixed residual for unlimited one year streaming after a six-week window of free use. They still insist on the DVD rate for Internet downloads.

They refuse to cover original material made for new media.