RKO Signs Interim Agreement With Writers Guild
Deal Clears The Way For New Screen Projects
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 1/25/2008 6:52:00 AM MT
Add RKO Productions, part of RKO Pictures, to the growing list of companies that have reached an interim agreement with the striking Writers Guild of America, officials said Friday.
The company’s current production schedule, which will be unveiled next week, includes several original screen projects, as well as the financing, production and distribution of a number of new versions of classic films from RKO’s 1,300-film library.
“The negotiation with the Guild was smooth and business like; they kept their agreement and we kept ours,” RKO CEO Ted Hartley said in a prepared statement. “It all moved ahead at a steady pace and resulted in good feelings on both sides. This now releases the pent-up energies of the talented executives, producers, and writers at RKO. We all are eager to get back to creating great films and innovative programming today.”
The deal is similar to agreements the WGA recently reached with Lionsgate, Marvel Studios, The Weinstein Co., United Artists, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Spyglass Entertainment, MRC, Jackson Bites, Mandate Films, and Worldwide Pants.
Recent RKO productions include Are We Done Yet?, a new version of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, starring Ice Cube; on Broadway, Curtains, a musical nominated for eight Tony Awards, starring David Hyde Pierce; and Gypsy, the Sondheim musical, starring Patti LuPone.
“In the past, RKO gave the world such classics as King Kong, Citizen Kane, and It's a Wonderful Life,” WGA East president Michael Winship and WGA West president Patric Verrone said in a joint statement. “Now it looks to the future, signing an interim agreement that recognizes fair and respectful compensation for writers on the Internet and in new media.”
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