Directors Guild Jumps Over WGA
While Writers Sit, DGA Set To Begin Negotiations With Studios Jan. 12
By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 1/11/2008 9:26:00 AM
The
will leapfrog the Writers Guild of America, launching contract negotiations next week with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers before a deal is struck with the WGA.
The move evokes echoes of the 1998 strike. While the writers were on the picket lines, the directors forged a pact which writers have characterized as a bad deal.
Traditionally, the writers and directors contracts are comparable in compensation. With a director's contract in place, the WGA felt its negotiating position was weakened and soon settled with terms similar to those accepted by the directors.
The DGA and AMPTP will begin talks Jan. 12 at the AMPTP's home turf, its offices in Encino, Calif. The two associations have agreed that neither will talk to the press until negotiations are concluded.
The WGA, which has been on strike since last Nov. 5, said it wished the DGA well in its talks, but added in a statement that writers hope the directors "achieve a fair deal that incorporates principles that will benefit all creative artists. The DGA has to do what is best for its membership, but it is important to remember that they do no represent actors and writers."
In other strike related news, the DGA announced that it will not picket the Golden Globe Awards announcements on Jan. 13.
Pickets had been planned to protest the fact that NBC, which was licensed to televise the awards gala, was going to bar other TV media from the press conference on Sunday. But NBC has backed away from that policy and the announcement press conference will not be open to competing outlets.
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