Writers Guild drafts hardline regulations
The WGA clearly wants to send a signal. The guild has formulated strike rules that would impose an exceptionally aggressive stance on its 12,000 members.
In addition to a ban on any guild-covered work in features and TV, a draft recap of the WGA rules said the guild plans to prohibit any writing for new media and declare that writers can't do animated features -- even though that realm is not under WGA jurisdiction.
The WGA didn't specify what the penalties would be for violating the rules. It's also asserting that nonmembers who perform banned work during a strike will be barred from joining the guild in the future.
Guild hasn't issued the regulations officially and will probably not do so until after it obtains strike authorization from members next week. Deadline for ballots is Oct. 18 -- 13 days before the current WGA contract expires.
But news of the rules began circulating Wednesday as the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers met in the afternoon in their eighth face-to-face session; they plan to resume talks this ayem. The two sides have achieved no progress during the previous sessions and have simply blamed each other for taking untenable stances.
The two meetings this week have focused on the WGA's proposal to double DVD residuals. In a statement after Wednesday's session, AMPTP president Nick Counter said the meeting consisted of discussions on "discrepancies in the data presented by the WGA."
In response, the WGA opted for a civil tone, saying, "We appreciate the AMPTP's offer to provide economic data to back up their arguments regarding the homevideo formula. We look forward to continuing the discussion of this critically important topic."
Earlier Wednesday, WGA West prexy Patric Verrone and exec director David Young painted a gloomy picture of the state of the talks in a 90-minute visit to ICM offices. The duo expressed frustration during the confab, characterizing the AMPTP's reaction as disrespectful to the guild's proposals -- which include spelling out rules for new-media work, doubling DVD residuals and expansion of jurisdiction in animation and reality.
Counter has returned fire repeatedly, accusing the WGA of being strike-happy and unprofessional. The AMPTP's refused to revise its initial proposal for a revamp of residual payments so that talent would receive money only after basic costs have been recouped.
In a membership meeting Tuesday night at the Century Plaza hotel, Verrone indicated he believes some progress has been achieved outside the negotiations via back channels and expressed hope that the AMPTP will take the residuals revamp off the table.
He also stressed during the session -- attended by about 100 writers --- that WGA leaders expect that SAG will be able to make a better deal with the AMPTP than the DGA.
Both the Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild contracts expire June 30, but the DGA's expected to go first in negotiations -- perhaps as early as next month.
Variety
