WGA Cuts Deal With New Media Firm
New Media Venture Is Backed Doug Limon, producer of The OC and director of The Bourne Identity
By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 1/17/2008 5:57:00 AM MT
The latest interim agreement crafted by the Writers Guild of America is with a newly formed company, Jackson Bites, which will create "television-style programming for alternative distribution."
The company as formed by producer-director Doug Liman, who is the producer of TV's The OC and the director of The Bourne Identity, among other films.
"If the last strike is best remembered for the studios attempting to show they could create programming without writers, this could be the strike where the writers show they can do it without the studios,” said Liman. “We are at a moment of opportunity in television where we have gone from three networks to six, and from a handful of channels to a thousand and YouTube. In that environment, what matters is compelling programming – and compelling programming starts with the writer. Jackson Bites will afford writers the opportunity to create content that will be seen and enjoyed by audiences with or without the involvement of the television networks.”
The new deal is similar to those negotiated with Worldwide Pants and United Artists, among other smaller studios and producers.
WGA Expects to Reach More Production Deals
01/08/2008Striking Out on New Media
11/11/2007Striking Writers Drop Two Key Demands
01/22/2008Tentative WGA Pact Sets New-Media Residuals
02/09/2008
