Studios Urge Writers Guild To Cut Short ‘Disastrous’ Strike
Negotiations Resume Tuesday
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 12/4/2007 1:03:00 AM MT
With negotiations set to resume today, TV and movie studios implored writers to work with them to reach a deal rather than risk even more disastrous “economic disclocation” from a prolonged strike.”
“This is not a zero-sum campaign where there is one winner and one loser,” the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said in an open letter on its Web site, a message that was also printed in a trade ad today. “We need the writers, and the writers need us. And we need to work together if we are going to navigate the rapids of this increasingly complex, high-tech economy.”
In its statement, the AMPTP said, “We choose to remain hopeful, because the alternative is simply too bleak to contemplate. It is in this light and spirit that we look forward to the WGA leadership’s response today. Just saying ‘no’ is not an option. Together, we must find a way to say ‘yes.’ We hope that kind of progress can begin this week.”
The letter comes as the Writers Guild of America is expected to sit down with the AMPTP at the bargaining table for the first time since last Thursday, when the scribes blasted a new offer regarding content on new-media platforms that the producers had put on the table. Published reports said that the WGA will present a counter proposal today.
The WGA strike, which started Nov. 5, has entered its fifth week, and has already derailed production on TV shows and movies.
“The fallout from the WGA’s decision to strike has been strong and far-reaching,” the AMPTP said Tuesday. “But what we have witnessed so far is just the tip of an iceberg of economic dislocation if an agreement cannot be reached before January. A long strike is bad for writers and producers alike. But it is disastrous for the thousands of workers and businesses who will lose income and livelihoods even though they have no direct stake in the outcome of this dispute.”
Saying it had not made a “take it or leave it” offer, the AMPTP estimated that its proposals would give writers more than $130 million over the three-year contract, on top of the annual $1.3 billion in payments they currently receive.
“Our proposals included new offers in new media: compensation for streaming video, jurisdiction over certain new media content and residuals for content delivered over alternative digital channels,” the AMPTP said in its open letter. “These proposals are in addition to payments currently made to writers for paid digital downloading.”
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