As this is written, the WGA and AMPTP are still under a news blackout regarding the ongoing informal negotiations.

However, the NY Times just reported that "major roadblocks" have been gotten past in the negotiations, and progress will be swifter in the negotiations going forward -- with an eye toward an agreement in principle coming out of negotiations fairly soon.

UH has confirmed from

Here's the text of the AMPTP's "Joint Statement" on the front of their website. As frustrated as we all have been with the congloms -- 41 days after they walked out -- this invitation is very significant.

Nowhere in the invitation does anyone mention preconditions or thresholds for these informal talks. There are no demands here that we take "distributor's gross" off the table, for example -

Before we begin, here's a caveat: WE ARE NOT LAWYERS. WE ARE NOT BUSINESS AFFAIRS EXECS. WE ARE NOT PROFESSIONAL NEGOTIATORS.

We're a group of volunteer WGA strike captains, and we're posting our reactions to the DGA deal summary that was released today. These are our thoughts alone. They are not official, they don't reflect the WGA's opinion, and frankly, they will probably include a few

To My Fellow Members,

This afternoon, the Directors Guild announced that it would commence formal negotiations with the AMPTP tomorrow. In a joint press release with the Screen Actors Guild, the Writers Guilds, West and East, wished the DGA well and offered our hope that they achieve a fair deal that incorporates principles that will benefits all creative artists. We further stated that, while

This piece was submitted by WGA member Ron Moore, creator of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica.

At this moment, informal talks are underway between representatives of the AMPTP and the leadership of the WGA. A news blackout is in effect and there will be precious little, if any, word leaking out from the talks and we’re all going to have to get by with rumor, speculation and the precious bits

This was submitted by Phil Alden Robinson, writer-director-producer, and member of both the WGA and the DGA.

While we anxiously await the results of the "informal talks", I've been doing some hard thinking about the DGA deal. There's quite a bit in there to be pleased with - deal points that should serve us well in the future, and that never would have been achieved without our strike. But there

The media blackout continues, although it's getting hard to tell. Today's Los Angeles Times is running a front page story titled "Writers, Studios Outline A Deal."

It has some of the most detailed information to date on how the informal talks have gone so far. When we compare it to what our off-the-record sources are saying, it appears to be fairly accurate.

We'd like to highlight the

(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

UH has learned that as of yesterday, the WGA began an informal dialogue with one of the conglom bosses. The conversations were cordial and respectful on both sides.

This is the way that the DGA talks began -- with informal consultations at a high level between leaders on both sides. It is not negotiation, it's the precursor to negotiation, but the good news is that what Patric Verrone, David

The trades would have us believe that the AMPTP will start negotiations with the DGA as soon as next week, if the AMPTP satisfies "the DGA's condition that it can establish 'an apropriate basis for negotiations'."

Why sit down with the DGA and not the WGA? Only the AMPTP knows the answer to that question, but for months, Nicholas Counter has said very publicly that he preferred to negotiate

We're trying to get our hands on the deal document, which will be much more detailed than the DGA's official deal summary. There may be exceptions and special provisions (like the 100,000 unit breakpoint for television downloads and the 50,000 unit breakpoint for feature film downloads) that need to be examined more carefully. For example, in speaking about distributor's gross, the deal summary

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 email was just sent to strike captains. It contains info on the NegCom vote, the Board and Council votes, the pending vote to lift the strike, and the pending vote to ratify the contract.

DEAR STRIKE CAPTAINS,

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

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.

As Deadline Hollywood reports, the DGA announced today that formal negotiations are commencing with the AMPTP beginning tomorrow (yes, that's Saturday.)

You can see Patric Verrone's comments below; as he states and as he's said many times before, we all hope the DGA makes a deal that will get the town back to work. However, if the deal they make doesn't address the needs of writers, the WGA is

As of right now, the Moguls have broken off the talks with a very long, very prepared and very nasty statement. It's also full of half-truths and outright lies.

It clearly took someone some time to write, and a lot of thought has gone into crafting it for maximum potential dissent within the ranks. It's a PR doc, and it's very well-written. You don't create something like this in ten minutes, or even an hour. This kind of thing takes days, especially if a large group of CEO's have to sign off on it.

So they've been planning this for a while. Which doesn't speak to good faith in the negotiation on their side.

We're working on analysis now, as is the WGA and pretty much everyone else in town. Here's the DGA's statement:

DGA AND AMPTP REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT
ON TERMS OF NEW CONTRACT

DGA Gains Solid Wage Increases with No Rollbacks Plus Precedent-Setting Jurisdiction Over New-Media and a Doubling of EST Residuals Rate

LOS ANGELES – The Directors Guild of America (DGA) announced today that it has

This was sent early this morning to membership. The delay in publishing the deal points, we've learned, was because the companies dragged their feet enshrining some of the final details in an attempt to renege on some of what they had promised. The last-minute fight to keep that from happening took until late last night.

To Our Fellow Members,

We have a tentative deal.

It is an agreement

This was sent today by WGA Presidents Patric Verrone and Michael Winship to membership:

To Our Fellow Members,

While fully mindful of the continuing media blackout, we write you to address the rumors and reports that undoubtedly you have been hearing.

The facts: we are still in talks and do not yet have a contract. When and if a tentative agreement is reached, the first thing we will do is

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.

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

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.

The holidays are beginning. Writers are on strike. Productions are shutting down. Thousands are out of work. The talks are stalled.

For writers it doesn't feel as if the talks ever really started.

In any negotiation, it's important to see the other side's point of view, but that hasn't been very easy to do. Rollbacks of benefits. No compensation for re-use. Exclusion from future markets.

Those don't feel like starting points.

We all understand the gamesmanship that goes into negotiations. Theatrics can be expected. But reasonable people try to keep the process under control.

As they walked away from the table, the congloms slammed the door behind them, muttering darkly about unprofessionalism. But during the six weeks of the strike, the AMPTP has not yet presented a fully detailed financial proposal.

Strikes are supposed to have a sense of urgency.

The AMPTP walked away on Friday. The WGA never left the table.

The Guild has made itself crystal clear: Specific proposals have been detailed, compromises have been made, the leadership continues to be engaged in a constructive dialogue to quickly resolve the strike. The AMPTP is as clear about its position: You can't talk to writers because they're emotional and don't understand business.

With the AMPTP away from the table, the negotiation is playing out in the press. If you read Dave McNary in Variety today, there's only one answer to the impasse: the WGA has to accept the companies' demands and get back to work. The companies are too powerful, with their deep pockets and experienced PR resources. The writers' are too emotional, which is great when they're writing screenplays, but not good when you're engaged in a difficult labor negotiation.

(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.

As Patric Verrone explained today, last Thursday, the AMPTP promised to offer up the second part of their "breakthrough" proposal. A week later, they still haven't added to the initial and unacceptable offer. The back channel conversations have only increased the widely-held impression that the AMPTP wants to prolong the strike. During the week, we've heard that two PR firms specializing in crisis-management have been hired by the studios at great expense, in an apparent effort to put an avuncular mask on the scowling face of the AMPTP negotiators.

Every indication from the AMPTP is that their negotiators are getting ready to storm out of the room, exiting with their usual hand-wringing lament that writers are an unreasonable bunch of emotional artists.

The Weinstein Co. said today it is close to reaching a deal with the WGA. Company officials said they expected the interim agreement to be signed by the end of the today, Thursday.

If the deal is finalized, it would mark the second independent studio deal the WGA has reached thus far during the strike. Monday, the WGA made a separate agreement with United Artists.

More when (if) this becomes

(WGAw President Patric M. Verrone released the following statement a short time ago)

December 13, 2007

To My Fellow Members:

The AMPTP and each of its member companies have a legal obligation to bargain in good faith with the WGA. Their unilateral walkout from negotiations last Friday and their on-going refusal to bargain is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act. Therefore the WGA today filed Unfair Labor Practice charges against the AMPTP with the National Labor Relations Board.

The DGA’s announcement today that it may begin negotiations with the AMPTP in January in no way relieves the AMPTP of their legal obligation to negotiate with us. The only legal way for the AMPTP to remedy the Unfair Labor Practice charge we have filed is to return to the bargaining table.