WGA STRIKE CENTRAL: DAY 15
The Writers Guild of America will resume contract negotiations with network and studio representatives of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers on Monday, 11/26.
"Leaders from the AMPTP and the WGA have mutually agreed to resume formal negotiations on November 26," said a statement issued by both on Friday. "No other details or press statements will be issued."
Said WGA chief Patric Verrone in a letter to members: "We have proven that bad news won’t slow us down. Now it is equally important that we now prove that good news won’t slow us down, either. We must remember that returning to the bargaining table is only a start. Our work is not done until we achieve a good contract and that is by no means assured. Accordingly, what we achieve in negotiations will be a direct result of how successfully we can keep up our determination and resolve."
The WGA plans to continue picketing in the meantime on Monday and Tuesday, as planned, with nothing planned the rest of the week so that families can celebrate Thanksgiving.
The biggest issue remains-online video streaming compensation of programs-especially those run on free, ad-supported sites from the networks and their partners.
TVBR/RBR observation: A likely catalyst to getting negotiations back on track was many showrunners have shown allegiance with the WGA, not showing up for work on series production. This has shut down work prematurely on numerous primetime series that still have plenty of scripts. As well, more actors and politicians have been siding with the WGA, showing up picketing-including most recently Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, who made a speech on Friday.
