Striking writers reached a deal with studios
The Hollywood directors’ union reached a contract deal with major film and television studios on Thursday, the union said, in a move likely to turn up pressure to settle a 10-week-old strike by screenwriters. The tentative pact between the Directors Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers was reported five days after the two sides opened formal talks. The Directors Guild’s existing contract covering 13,000 members, including directors, assistant directors and unit production managers, expires on June 30. The Directors Guild has a history of reaching swift labor pacts with the studios, but the latest deal has drawn unusually intense scrutiny because of its implications for ending a strike by the Writers Guild of America.
Under the terms of the deal, directors will be granted rights for residual payments for content that is downloaded or streamed over the Internet. The writers’ guild expressed hope that the producers-directors agreement would move forward their own efforts and called on the producers to return to the negotiating table. Now that those negotiations are completed, the AMPTP must return to the process of bargaining with the WGA,” the union said in a statement. We hope that the DGA’s tentative agreement will be a step forward in our effort to negotiate an agreement that is in the best interests of all writers.” The group said they would analyse the terms of the deal and discuss with members the next step in negotiations. Gil Cates, chair of the directors’ negotiations committee, called the deal “groundbreaking and substantial”. The gains in this contract for directors and their teams are extraordinary,” he said. Thank God, we’re all already desperate to see next episodes of our favourite shows.
Source: Reuters
Comments(39)
Oh well I was kind of enjoying watching Hollywood tear itself apart and losing millions of dollars.
yeah! at last …
well, i for one am happy. maybe this will cut down on the lame reality shows..
woot!
The Headline is wrong.
It’s about time. With this in place writers should definitely improve their scripts
improve? no it has nothing to do with that, they’re just greedy. The whole point about being a writer, is to get your baby on the big screen for millions of people to watch and appreciate.
Tim Kring and Heroes, Jon Cassar and 24. They are whining cuz they get less then they believe they should. So far all they’ve managed to do is postpone their tv shows for a bit more money, the scripts won’t get better, not at all, it’s just now, you’ll see the tv shows.
So much for the ‘love of the art’ eh? I’d think that their art on the net reaching people that normally would not be able to enjoy their shows would bring a warm feeling to these already millionaires hearts.
I suppose, I expect to much out of humanity.
Uhm, Directors Union (DGA) is not the Writers Union (WGA).
I for one am glad they are making some headway here, i miss 24 and cant wait for its return, i dont even blame them for striking….things should be fair for all not just for the few
its always the greedy rich people that want more
DIRECTORS – not – WRITERS made a deal – WRITERS are still on strike
finally…..
OK folks. This is proof that most people just read the headlines – so when the headline is misleading – many people become misinformed. I’m pretty sure both of the last two writers strikes lasted over 20 weeks – enough to virtually kill a TV season. Buckle up as its going to take a while yet – especially with a scrooge like Sumner Redstone holding the reins at Viacom (for example).
Solution – watch Canadian, British and Australian TV – a lot of which is pretty darned amazing:
You like 24 – watch Spooks / MI5.
You like Desperate housewives – watch MVP.
You like The Office – Watch The Office (hehe)
You like heist films – Watch Hustle
You like things like CSI, Without a Trace, etc – watch The Border, Intelligence
…and so on.
Do a little research on some of the shows (i use TV.com) you still see in torrents and you might be pleasantly surprised.
Hope this is at least a little consolation. I for one believe that the trend of shows formally ending their seasons prematurely is going to continue and it’ll be spring before this is over. Its a BIG BIG issue.
This better all end freaking soon! I miss TV!
Very, very misleading title…
why did they not change the title?
personally i hope the writers strike lasts long enough to bring hollywood to it’s knees. anyone who says that the writers are the greedy ones, doesn’t understand the situation. the studios and producers make craploads of money off of distribution and advertising. the writers only get a small percentage of that. they just want a bigger piece of the pie. who can blame them? when is the last time a producer ever created something really cool? discuss…
The writer’s are striking because currently they get paid NOTHING for content used on the internet.
When people go to the ABC site and watch a streaming episode of “Lost” the writer gets zip, while the producers and ABC make lots of money from site advertising because they’re getting millions of website hits.
I hardly think it’s “greedy” to want to get paid for your work if everyone else is making money off of it.
Yes @14! We should go watch shows thats are OFF-SEASON right now!! How smart of you!
sarcasm*
I been watching older series I missed… one of which is Firefly… that show is just freaking amazing. I remember going wtf old western vibe in the future??… damn was I wrong… to bad it only lasted 13ish episodes.
Wow, more illiterate dribble from RLSLOG. Directors != Writers. I know this site has trouble with spelling and grammer, but now your reading comprehension skills are suspect. Martin, you should probably kill yourself too.
settle in and keep striking, by the time you reach agreement, i’ll have forgotten about the shows i used to miss
@charlie toman, you are the world’s biggest crap, congrats
Come on Martin the news is “Directors Guild reach tentitive deal with the studios” – Not as you report “Striking Writers reached a deal….”
For gods sake just cos it looks good as a headline and isnt true doesnt stop you from posting it as news huh?
The news here is that the people will be TALKING again soon rather than sitting about waiting for one side to cave.
For anyone who reads this that thinks that the writers are greedy – you are a dumbass !
There work is being sold and they are not getting paid.
They took a percentage cut when VHS first came to help promote it and dvd sales etc now are still at the cut rate from the 80`s.
They want what they deserve for the show that they make.
A show is only as good at the advertising revenue it brings in – some are great, some are good, some are crap – like music whats good sells and what promoted the hell out of every mug buys or watches.
This has shown that the big shots are too greedy – they need to save the Oscars before they are embarrassed TOO much.
Pay the writers a far cut – then we can get all out fav shows and films back on track.
Oh yeah, I had forgotten about this…
We better get more than 6 eps of lost or ill be PISSED!!
and i want more office/earl/prison break/ 24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but hey i like the idea of having survivor/amazing Race/ big brother come back so soon
Maybe it will be good to watch “unscripted” reality shows for once with this going on.
We (the WGA) have not even started to negotiate. The Directors (DGA) have caved, er, settled.
After the strike they still getting noting for all the 1000s of downloads of this site, so next thing is that they will strike again to get sites like this offline
finally!!
I say fire the writers that really suck and keep the ones that actually know how to write a show. For a example, get people from japan that write anime shows. Some of them are truly genius.
@ Charlie Toman
I just wanted to point out that your punctuation and spelling are pathetic, you halfwit. “Grammer”? Really? Jesus, how pathetic you are.
you create something, you get paid for it… Once! why the writers want more for something they have already written and people have already seen (on free tv btw) bewilders me? why the hell are producers and the likes getting paid for stuff on the net? did they create it?, did they put it there?, did they play ANY part in physically uploading the program to the website? if someone bought my art from me and proceded to put it on a wall in the local library should i demand money from the library for allowing people to look at it or should i stand at the door and take it from them on the way out?… or should i do what im here to do and GIVE it to the world?, i mean.. it is art after all.
you get paid for what you write for not for what you want afterwards take your pick writers: do you want to write for “movies” “TV” “books” or “the internet” one or all it dosnt matter just decide BEFORE you start writing, so i dont have to write crap like this
worst headline ever
Well, all that is said is that Directors are now happy…but unless the writers also get a deal we’re still not gonna see our shows back!
I guess I’m gonna get back to my readings then…
@31
What does that have to do with anything? The issue isn’t the quality of the writers, it’s that the writers don’t get royalties from online media.
Personally, I’m rooting for the WGA. I’m also boycotting shows that have been forced back on to the air without writers (like the Daily Show). I suppose it’s the socialist in me.
@21 torch,
Don’t forget Serenity, the Firefly movie. Plus, there’s a 3-issue Firefly/Serenity comic that bridges the gap between the end of the TV show and the movie. It’s called Serenity, Those Left Behind. I’ve also heard mention that Whedon wants to continue the story in comic form, since it’s pretty obvious that there won’t be any more movies.
edit the headline you knucklehead. the DIRECTORs union reached and deal NOT THE WRITERS. why are you posting this when you clearly don’t have a clue about what you’re talking about?
stick the the rips kiddie, journalism is not your forte.
@ hmm
You have no idea what you are talking about but it still doesnt stop you from having an opinion huh? TV FILM and MUSIC are what they call intellectual property in this instance its something that can be made money off off.
Unlike a painting or a chair – You dont charge someone every time you sit on their chair or look at their painting is your argument? Stupid and completely wrong anyway.
In the real world that is one where we dont share stuff online –
Everyone gets their cut each time –
When a show or film is shown on tv it generates revenue and the same goes for shows online that have ads.
When a dvd or video is sold it makes money and everyone gets their cut – the same with a music cd.
The argument here is that the writers / creaters of stories are being ripped of with a small percentage than is fair after taking an agreed paycut years ago.
The guys in charge dont think they should get paid for shows that generate revenue online at all.
This of course is a rip off and the
Anyone with any sense can see its not fair and the guys in charge are just greedy.
Again here is a link to explain if you can be bothered to link it rather than post fake headlines….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ55Ir2jCxk
Arguing that black is white is never a good idea – no matter how much you believe it you can still be completely wrong