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Source:
Variety, AMPTP, WGA
Posted on: Mon, Dec 10, 2007 15:02:04
Written By: Michael Dance
michaelmdance@gmail.com
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) walked out of negotiations with the Writer's Guild (WGA) this past Friday, then blamed the writers for trying to prolong the strike.
"We're disappointed to report that talks between the AMPTP and WGA have broken down yet again," the AMPTP said in a statement. "Quite frankly, we're puzzled and disheartened by an ongoing WGA negotiating strategy that seems designed to delay or derail talks rather than facilitate an end to this strike...While the WGA's organizers can clearly stage rallies, concerts and mock exorcisms, we have serious concerns about whether they're capable of reaching reasonable compromises that are in the best interests of our entire industry."
Hm. That sounds very pretty until you realize that the WGA has every reason to want to end the strike, and the AMPTP has many reasons not to. For one, they need to renegotiate their contract with the Director's Guild (DGA) soon. "[Studios] may be able to persuade the helmers to hammer out a contract that would create a formula for thorny issues such as payment for the Internet and other digital media," suggests Variety. "But it's far from certain whether the writers and actors guilds would adhere to any formula OK'd by the directors."
However, there's also a more devious reason at work: "force majeure" clauses legally allow the studios to terminate any contract they've made - let's say a three-picture deal with a filmmaker whose first film tanked - in the event of a circumstance beyond their control, i.e. the strike. The thing is, force majeure doesn't go into effect until six weeks into the strike - which will be a week from today. The money the studios recoup from terminating unproductive contracts could even balance out the money they've lost since the strike began.
For these reasons, the writers suspected that the most recent round of negotiations was just for show. ""What was so galling about Friday was that it made clear how disingenuous they were being," one WGA negotiator told Variety. "They never intended
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