This Modest Proposal was submitted by Andy Reaser. -JA

Last week, the studios proposed a residual fee of $250 for the unlimited
reuse of our content online for one year. Let's just assume for a moment
that such a low fee is fair. If that's really all the studios should pay to
reuse our content, then I think we should encourage advertisers to demand
something similar: $250 for the unlimited reuse of a time slot.

Under the current system, when an advertiser, Budweiser say, buys a
timeslot, they only get to play their expensive commercial ONE TIME. That
doesn't seem fair, does it? Wouldn't it make more sense for Budweiser to buy
a thirty second slot during Sunday night primetime, and then for a fee of
$250 get to use that timeslot over and over for the rest of the year?

I know such an arrangement would be untraditional. It would cripple 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.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 26, 2008

Writers Guild Members Overwhelmingly Ratify New Contract

This media advisory was just sent out by the WGA:

The Writers Guild of America will hold a press conference today, Sunday, Feb. 10, 12 Noon PST, at WGAW headquarters to update the media on important developments related to contract negotiations between the WGA and the AMPTP companies.

Scheduled to appear: WGAW President Patric M. Verrone, WGAE President Michael Winship (available via phone line

Ok, so we've finally got some answers from our sources. We'll have more as the day goes on, but here's the beginning of it:

Why aren't the writers still in the room negotiating? Why are we waiting until Tuesday to continue?

When they presented their proposal, the companies said it was incomplete. The Negotiation Committee still hasn't received the rest of the proposal, and they're waiting on the AMPTP to actually bring it. However, it's kinda hard to get excited about anything they may be bringing to the table, given the unimpressive track record they have so far.

(The post below was written by WGA Board member Nick Kazan)

If the consequences weren’t so tragic, it would be pretty comical to see the Companies mocking our Executive Director David Young for never having made a deal in Hollywood. Of course he has made deals for us, four of them (including the Comedy Central deal and the “Family Guy” game deal), but yeah, he’s never before negotiated a contract with the AMPTP.

Call me crazy, but I think that’s a good thing, because it means he’s never made a lousy deal, never made a sweetheart deal; he’s never been chummy with Nick Counter, and he refuses to bend over and give them what they want and expect. He’s not part of their club. Thank God.

Patric Verrone and Michael Winship just sent this message to the membership. The WGA is determined to stay at the table until we have a deal. If the AMPTP wants to negotiate in good faith, and end the strike, we are at the table.

Dear Fellow Members,

Before we head into negotiations this morning, we want to give you an update on where we stand.

(We want to welcome Teamster Member John Jabaley as a regular contributor to United Hollywood, and we hope to continue to add voices and perspectives from all unions.)

Last night was a literary evening at my house. After "Go, Dog, Go!" and "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" we continued the Ingalls' family saga with a chapter of "Little Town on the Prairie." After my kids fell asleep I settled down to look at the AMPTP's latest proposal to the WGA.

I really should have stuck with P.D. Eastman & Dr. Seuss. A big dog party up there in the tree is something I can believe in. But $250.00 in residuals? For a whole year? Really?

I couldn't resist grabbing a paper towel and pen to try and figure out what this proposal means for those of us below the line.

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

(The following is a post from WGA member Kevin Droney. The man made it through the '88 strike, and he knows his facts and figures.)

Why Production Crews Should Be Cheering On the Writers

I’ve talked with a few IA guys over the past few days, and they were generally unaware of a few things in their own contracts with the Alliance. To whit:

1) Their unions, including I.A.T.S.E., IBT Local 399, Studio Utility Employees Local 724, IBEW Local 40, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 78, and the Plasterers & Cement Masons Local 755… ALL RECEIVE RESIDUALS.
2) These residual payments go directly into their PENSION AND HEALTH FUND.
3) RESIDUALS earned working on shows CONSTITUTE 55% OF THEIR P & H.
4) If there are funding surpluses from residuals, retirees receive a 13th and a 14th check in that year, instead of the normal twelve.

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.”

(The following is a letter from the presidents.)

To Our Fellow Members:

Today, it is our pleasure to inform you that members of the Writers Guilds of America, East and West, have voted to ratify the MBA contract with 93.6% approval. With a total of 4,060 votes cast, the tally was 3,802 to 258. These numbers reaffirm the tremendous level of support and commitment our membership has continuously demonstrated over these last few crucial months.

We are also pleased to report that the trustees of our health fund voted yesterday to follow the recommendation in our strike settlement agreement to provide additional coverage and an extension of the earnings cycle for a full quarter (three months) to participants who would otherwise lose health coverage following an earnings cycle that included all or a portion of the strike period. Participants whose health coverage is paid for by points will only be charged points if they have ten or more points as of April 1, 2008.

This was submitted by WGA member Marc Guggenheim.

It’s déja vu all over again in Hollywood.

On October 31, 2007, the day the WGA’s contract with the studios was set to expire, the AMPTP issued the following statement to the WGA:We’ve been working hard to come up with a package in response to your last proposal. But we keep running up against the DVD issue. The companies believe that movement is possible on other issues, but they cannot make any movement when confronted with your continuing efforts to increase the DVD formula, including the formula for electronic sell-through.

A letter from WGA Board Members that was sent this afternoon to members, with even more detail on the corporations' proposal.

Fellow members:

There are a lot of rumors and questions floating around, and we’d like to address them.

HAVE NEGOTIATIONS BROKEN DOWN?
No.

DID OUR NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE ASK FOR A BREAK?
No.

THEN WHY THE FOUR DAY BREAK?
On Thursday, the studios and networks gave us some of their proposals, and said they needed more time to fashion the rest. Therefore talks were scheduled to resume on Tuesday.

THE COMPANIES SAY THEY ARE OFFERING US IS A $130 MILLION INCREASE. THE GUILD CALLS IT A ROLLBACK. WHY THE DISPARITY?

(The following was just sent to the membership from WGAw president, Patric Verrone and WGAe president, Michael Winship.)

To Our Fellow Members,

We have responded favorably to the invitation from the AMPTP to enter into informal talks that will help establish a reasonable basis for returning to negotiations. During this period, we have agreed to a complete news blackout. We are grateful for this

(This just in from John Bowman of the WGA Negotiating Committee.)

Fellow Guild Members:

(The piece below comes from a WGA member who would like to be known as "Red Sox Fan.")

The Ol' AMPTP Mindf*ck™

Has anyone noticed a pattern in the last couple weeks' worth of negotiations?

Monday is energetic and everyone's buoyed by the residual anger from the way last week ended. Tuesday there's a sense that they're "really talking." But by Wednesday, there's a creeping sense that nothing good is actually happening.

And on Thursday, the companies do the AMPTP Mindf*ck™.

First, it was the New Economic Partnership. This week it's "we're going to take our marbles and go home. Which means you can't play because we own all the marbles."

UPDATE: The Fremantle picket and rally on Friday will feature a performance by Tenacious D. Also scheduled to appear: Writer Boi. We are told more bookings will be announced.

Most Recent UH News

• Info on the Holiday Harvest Food Drive at picket sites
• E-mail from John Bowman on the current WGA proposals
• Financial details of the WGA proposals, analysis of the AMPTP's partial proposal

This was just sent by WGA West President Patric Verrone to membership:

Dear Fellow Members,

I am are pleased to inform you that this morning the WGA Negotiating Committee unanimously and unconditionally recommended the terms of the proposed 2008 MBA to the WGAW Board and WGAE Council. The Board and Council then voted unanimously to recommend the contract, and to submit it to the joint

Writers try to collect their residual payments in 2012...

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

The WGA just sent out an official email listing a few local businesses that support the strike. We captains have been encouraged to approach businesses in our neighborhoods, tell them what is going on, and ask for their help.

I'd like to expand upon the idea though: If you are a business owner who wants to offer discounts to striking writers, please consider offering discounts to IATSE members and Teamsters who may have been thrown out of work by the conglomerates' refusal to offer a fair deal. We're all in this together.

- Silverlake Yoga is offering a 20% discount to WGA members while the strike lasts.

Regular readers of the comments section here will know "BTL Guy." He's a crew member (protecting his identity) who supports a fair deal for writers and strong unions but doesn't think the WGA leadership should have called the strike when they did. He recently sent me a Modest Proposal and has posted it on his blog, Divided Hollywood. (And yes, as much as I respect BTL Guy, that name, grrr!)

BTL

Will 1+1 someday = 2?

The WGA, the Teamsters and California State Senator Sheila Kuehl have just announced the introduction of the "Fair Market Value Bill." The bill seeks to prevent studios from selling programming to sister companies for below market value. This particular strain of Hollywood accounting is designed to shift profits away from the studios (where they must be shared with talent and producers and serve as a basis for pension and health contributions) to networks, where they may be enjoyed without the pesky need to pay one's "partners."

Press release below. We'll have more soon on the bill in particular and Hollywood skulduggery in general.

And if you're a studio accountant or lawyer looking to go all Michael Clayton on the Big Six, send us a tip or a post.

NEW BILL TAKES AIM AT HOLLYWOOD ACCOUNTING

California State Senator Sheila Kuehl Introduces Bill to End the Practice of Selling Television Series and Films for Less Than Fair Market Value

Los Angeles and Sacramento – California State Senator Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles) has introduced Senate Bill 1765, the "Fair Market Value Bill," to end the practice by some major studios and networks of “underselling” television series or movies.

(Nick Counter and the AMPTP (The Media Moguls) paid for an expensive ad in yesterday's "Variety" -- for those of you who don't work in the industry, "Variety" is an entertainment business magazine that is in the pocket of the Media Moguls.

For further information on "Variety's" biased reporting, check out Nikke Finke's post.

Since we don't have tons and tons of money like the Media Moguls do, we'll have to respond here - on the Internet - which they don't entirely own and control ( but they sure would like to).

So there's an article on the strike in the LA TIMES today (oddly enough, not buried on page 8 of the FOOD section). The focus of the story was the march on Wall Street yesterday by striking writers. The financial district picketing was intended as a symbolic gesture in the WGA's fight to get a fair share of the ever-expanding new-media revenue, especially since the heads of the big media companies have been falling all over themselves telling Wall Street how much they're already making and the billions more to come.

Will 1+1 someday = 2?

The WGA, the Teamsters and California
State Senator Sheila Kuehl have just announced the introduction of the
"Fair Market Value Bill." The bill seeks to prevent studios from
selling programming to sister companies for below market value. This
particular strain of Hollywood accounting is designed to shift profits
away from the studios (where they must be shared with talent and
producers and serve as a basis for pension and health contributions) to
networks, where they may be enjoyed without the pesky need to pay one's
"partners."

Press release below the break.  We'll have more soon on the bill in particular and Hollywood skulduggery in general.

And if you're a studio accountant or lawyer looking to go all Michael Clayton on the Big Six, send us a tip or a post.

NEW BILL TAKES AIM AT HOLLYWOOD ACCOUNTING

California
State Senator Sheila Kuehl Introduces Bill to End the Practice of
Selling Television Series and Films for Less Than Fair Market Value

The last day of official picketing ended with a high point at Fox.

Writers were joined on the picket line by many supporters. The honking at the Pico gate reached new decibel levels as crowds of picketers filled the sidewalk and waved their signs at the passing traffic.

The signs told the story: "WGA-DGA-SAG", "The House is Not Divided," "DGA-WGA Member," "Union Solidarity".

The appearance of so many SAG and DGA members made the point that even though the AMPTP spin machine works hard to create the impression that there is dissension between the unions and in the ranks of the WGA, the opposite is true.

Of course the strike has created tensions. How could it not?

There should be tensions when so much is at stake and so much has been sacrificed in the fight with the congloms. But our common interests outweigh that tension, and our solidarity is real.