February 12, 2008
WGA's Press Release
The WGA has just sent out their official press release about the end of the strike:
LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK – The membership of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) today voted overwhelmingly in favor of lifting the restraining order and ending their 100-day strike that began on Nov. 5. 3,775 writers turned out in Los Angeles and New York to cast ballots or fax in proxies, with 92.5% voting in favor of ending the work stoppage.
“The strike is over. Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work,” said Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America, West. “This was not a strike we wanted, but one we had to conduct in order to win jurisdiction and establish appropriate residuals for writing in new media and on the Internet. Those advances now give us a foothold in the digital age. Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as TV migrates to the Internet and platforms for new media are developed.”
“The success of this strike is a significant achievement not only for ourselves but the entire creative community, now and in the future,” said Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East. “The commitment and solidarity of our members made it happen and have been an inspiration not only to us but the entire organized labor movement. We will build on that energy and unity to make our two unions stronger than ever.”
WGAW and WGAE members will next vote to ratify the tentative three-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The membership ratification vote will be conducted by mail and also at membership meetings on February 25, 2008.
Posted on February 12, 2008 at 07:29 PM
STORY TIME
Strike over, Hollywood writers head back to work
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Striking Hollywood writers will be back at their keyboards Wednesday after voting overwhelmingly to end a 100-day walkout that essentially shut down the entertainment industry.
Writers Guild of America member Steven Binder shows his approval as he votes Tuesday in Beverly Hills, California.
More than 92 percent of the Writers Guild of America members who cast ballots Tuesday in Los Angeles and New York voted to end their work stoppage over residuals for writing in the digital age, including new media and the Internet. The new deal is for three years.
"The strike is over. Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work," said Patric Verrone, president of the WGA's West chapter.
Michael Winship, president of WGA's East guild, said, "The success of this strike is a significant achievement not only for ourselves but the entire creative community, now and in the future."
WGA members walked off the job November 5 after talks broke down over how writers are paid for the use of their material on the Internet and DVDs, among other issues.
"It is not all that we hoped for, and it is not all we deserve," Verrone said when a tentative deal
But he added, "This is the best deal this guild has bargained for in 30 years."
Leslie Moonves, chief executive officer of CBS Corp., told The Associated Press, "At the end of the day, everybody won.
"It was a fair deal and one that the companies can live with, and it recognizes the large contribution that writers have made to the industry."
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents production companies and media conglomerates, has had no comment on the agreement.
The vote meant that the Academy Awards ceremony on February 24 will be the usual scripted gala, the AP reported.
"I am ecstatic that the 80th Academy Awards presentation can now proceed full steam ahead," without "hesitation or discomfort" for the nominees, Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which stages the Oscars, told the AP.
As long as the strike continued, the traditional Oscars spectacular was in doubt since many Hollywood stars would not cross WGA picket lines.
It's unclear how soon new episodes of scripted programs will start appearing, because production won't begin until scripts are completed, the AP reported.
It will take at least four weeks for producers to get the first post-strike episodes of comedies back on the air; dramas will take six to eight weeks, the AP said.
Verrone said the WGA achieved two of three goals through negotiations with the studios. 
Watch Verrone explain what he thinks the strike accomplished »
The first goal relates to writers' "jurisdiction" in new media, Verrone said, meaning that any content written by guild members specifically for new media, such as the Internet or cell phones, will be covered by their contract.
The second goal relates to reuse of content in new media, Verrone said.
The agreement bases payment for reuses on a distributor's gross formula for residuals, "so that when they get paid, we get paid," he said.
It is the "first time in our history that a new delivery system pays on a residual formula superior to the prior existing system," Verrone said.
The third goal, which Verrone said the guild did not achieve, was to shore up writers' shares of the revenue from animation and reality television.
"Giving up animation and reality was a heartbreaking thing for me personally," he said. "But it was more important that we make a deal that benefited the membership, the town as a whole, that got people back to work and that solved the biggest problems in new media." E-mail to a friend 
Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/13/writers.strike/index.html?iref=newssearchWriters got what they wanted: a partnership
Both sides in the strike claim victory, but truth is somewhere in between. Patrick Varrone, president of Writers Guild of America West, announces the strike against the Hollywood studios is over.
by Michael Ventre
MSNBC contributor
updated 10:35 p.m. MT, Tues., Feb. 12, 2008
LOS ANGELES - Now that the three-month-old writers’ strike is officially over, both sides are looking ahead — and claiming victory.
The writers claim victory because they will receive more money for content streamed over the Internet and on mobile devices. The studios claim victory because they were able to shed some perceived dead weight.
But the truth is similar to the legendary Akira Kurosawa film, “Rashomon,” a title that is often mentioned whenever a situation offers more than one interpretation.
On Saturday at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, an estimated 3,000 members of the Writers Guild of America met to hear details of a proposed settlement to the three-month-old strike that has crippled Hollywood. But the atmosphere for a short period was akin to a rock concert, as most of the attendees greeted the 20-member WGA negotiating committee and a handful of board members with a standing ovation.
The WGA members present at Saturday’s meeting did not applaud every point of the proposed agreement with the studios, of course. But their initial outburst was probably more of general relief that a deal that they could live with, that was worth enduring the economic pain of the walkout and that is considered to be slightly better than what the Directors Guild of America recently agreed to was on the table.
The studios budged a little on some of the major points and came away having endured little damage and even polishing their images a bit. Although the negotiating committee for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had often been criticized for heavy-handed tactics and bullying attitudes, the studios sent in Fox President Peter Chernin and Disney CEO Robert Iger over the past three weeks to craft an agreement that everyone could live with.
But in some quarters the studios are being viewed as the real winners because, like a good screenwriter, they scripted how this whole affair would go.
While the writers struggled without paychecks, the studios had enough stockpiled films and programming to keep themselves afloat for weeks. In addition, they waited until well after the 60-day window for force majeure to kick in for the writers. By doing that, the studios were able to terminate lucrative production deals with many writer-producers and wipe their books of what they perceived to be dead weight.
Then, right about late January to early February — while there was still time to crank out episodes of TV series for the fall and also save the Oscar telecast, one of Hollywood’s most important promotional events — Chernin and Iger rode in like cavalry and made it seem as though their side had suddenly gotten in touch with their magnanimous inner selves.
Said one WGA member: “They played us really well.”
That might be so, but the writers came away with enough to feel good about themselves. The deal itself isn’t exactly what the union wanted. But under the circumstances, it was enough to declare victory because it was the best the WGA probably was ever going to get.
The major point of contention had been the amount of money writers would receive from movies and television shows streamed over the Internet and on cell phones and other such devices. The studios bent and the writers rejoiced, because the agreement establishes a formula for payouts from new media. The writers will get a flat fee the first two years for shows streamed on the Internet, and then two percent of “distributor’s gross,” the advertising sales received by networks, for the third year.
But the tradeoff on that point is that the WGA agreed to a 17/24 window — 17 days for continuing shows, 24 days for new shows. That means during those 17- and 24-day periods when a film or show is first put on sale on the Internet, it will be considered a promotional window for the studios and therefore writers will get no residuals until after those periods are over.
That was considered a disappointment by many among the WGA’s roughly 10,5000 members because a popular TV show or film usually sees a burst in sales when it is initially put on the market, and sales slowly dwindle from there.
Still, the WGA feels it wanted a piece of the future in the area of new media, and it got it.
The question now is whether subsequent deals with the studios will pick up from that point and get larger. For instance, the guild feels it did not get enough of a cut in DVD sales in its last contract (in this current settlement, the union backed off on its request for increased DVD payouts to its members).
But what it agreed to three years ago was consistent with a formula agreed upon in home video payouts that dates back to labor agreements made in the late 1980s and that serve as a template for home video payouts today. That isn’t ideal for the WGA. And it suggests that while the studios were willing to give in and offer a percentage of new media this time, there is no guarantee that figure will rise in future deals with the guild.
The guild also gained a victory in the area of “separated rights.” For example, if a film is streamed on the Internet and is a success, and a studio decides to spin it off into a TV series, it will have to make a separate payout to the writer or writers for that second project.
But the guild had to take something off the table that it promised its members would be in the next contract: to include animation and reality show writers in the contract. The studios held firm on that.
Still, it was that 2 percent share of revenue in the third year of the deal that justified the strike. The WGA feels it wanted to be treated as a partner by studios rather than hired hands. By getting a percentage, it got its wish.
That would explain the standing ovation and the claim of victory.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23118714/
CNN article "Strike over, Hollywood writers head back to work"
The CNN article covering the ending of the WGA strike is an effective and informative article. The article highlights the emotions of a few key individuals, different presidents of two WGA chapters. Their comments were optimistic and motivating, saying that they were excited that the writers could get back to work.
The article draws attention to the goals and achievements of the strike. Three goals discussed are first writers jurisdiction and where lines are drawn for their material. The second goal pertains to content and when it can be reused. The third goal was to increase salary, this goal was not achieved.
The article illustrates that spirits are still high. It states the overall objective was accomplished and the writers are back to work. This article is positive and has the potential to cultivate good feelings and support.
MSNBC article "Writers got what they wanted: a partnership"This article is an extremely well written one. Informing readers about the writers strike and the stipulations there with in. the article is a positive one and it illustrates the whole process of the strike.
In comparison to the first article this one does a much better job of covering the actualities. Instead of focusing on emotions and goals accomplished as the first one did, this article goes into more detail and explains what exactly was accomplished and what that means for the writers, for studios, for anticipative TV viewers at home.
The article did lack sources and attribution. So where the rest of the information was obtained is unknown. However, this article is positive and gives a satisfying outlook on outcome of the repercussions caused by the writers strike.
Press Release
My first reaction upon hearing about the writer’s strike some 3 months ago was a deviously smug one. Being a writer myself I was thrilled to find a rebellion against rights and a cry for better pay. Hoping to eventually end up in a similar agency I was more than intrigued to read about this.
The press release announcing the end of the writers strike is a very informative one, it tells about the outcome with a few detailed “here is why’s.” The articles have more sustenance to them and there is no doubt interviews are a greater driving force. However, being a news writer for the statesman myself, I can understand the second step. For me, press releases give enough information to generate the questions for my story. Press releases are an informing overview, and the follow up is where the details come.
The quotes and testimonials were fluid with the stories and gave a great feel as to what was accomplished. Overall, news was covered and details were explained.
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