TV Writers Blast Studios Again
WGA Accuses Producers of Spreading ‘Half-Truths and Misinformation’
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 12/4/2007 10:36:00 AM
Striking TV writers lobbed another shot at the studios Tuesday, accusing them of spreading “half-truths and misinformation” and disputing how much the producers’ latest contract offer is actually worth.
The Writers Guild of America, on strike since Nov. 5, sent a letter to members Tuesday afternoon even as negotiations were continuing with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
At the bargaining table, the writers were making a counter offer to the studios, in response to the deal the producers made last Thursday, mainly related to new-media residuals.
“The latest WGA proposal would cost the companies $151 million over three years,” WGA negotiating committee chairman John Bowman told his members. “It is reasonable, serious, and easily affordable. For instance, it would cost Sony only $1.68 million per year. Paramount and CBS would each pay only $4.66 million per year. MGM would pay only $320,000 per year.”
On its Web site, the WGA also posted a detailed analysis of the studios’ latest offer.
“The AMPTP claims its proposal would give us $130 million over three years,” Bowman wrote. “Our analysis – and again, please visit the Web site to see for yourself – tells us their offer is worth only $32 million. But if you factor in the companies’ regressive proposal on “promotional use” [streaming TV shows and feature films in their entirety for free] writers could potentially lose $100 million in income over the course of this contract.”
According to Bowman, “So while we don’t see how their proposal adds up to anywhere near $130 million, we greet their public willingness to make such an offer with real interest. If the AMPTP is serious about this figure, the WGA is confident we are closer to a deal than anyone has suggested, and we are hopeful that the companies will respond positively to our proposal, which is a serious, reasonable, and affordable attempt to bridge the gap between us.”
Late Tuesday, the AMPTP said it would study the proposal from WGA. "We will spend the evening studying what the WGA has had to say, and we look forward to returning to the bargaining table tomorrow," AMPTP said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, the AMPTP placed a trade ad and posted an open letter on its Web site regarding negotiations – which is what the WGA attacked as “rumors, half-truths, and misinformation about what is actually happening at the bargaining table.”
In its letter, the AMPTP said it had not made a “take it or leave it” offer and argued writers to reach a deal.
“The fallout from the WGA’s decision to strike has been strong and far-reaching,” the AMPTP said Tuesday morning. “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.”
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