Strike Watch: Final Days

From Creative Screenwriting Magazine:

WGA Strike Timeline, Part 3: The Final Days

By Peter Clines

Creative Screenwriting presents a summary of the last third of the 14-week work stoppage that all but crippled Hollywood. Included are a few incidents that weren't linked to the strike when they happened, but probably should've been.

Monday, Jan. 7-With the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers still refusing to negotiate, the WGA signs an independent deal with United Artists, to the reported displeasure of UA's parent company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The same day, the Consumer Electronics Show kicks off in Las Vegas. Attending are digital media executives from Disney, Paramount, Fox, and Warner Bros., who take part in a panel discussing the strategies with which Hollywood studios are approaching digital media. Also attending the conference is Beth Comstock of NBC Universal, who goes on record saying her company plans to make one billion dollars in online revenue in 2008.

Jan. 8-Faced with picketing writers and a boycott from actors, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announces that the Golden Globes ceremony has been cancelled and will be replaced with a formal news conference

Jan. 9-Citigroup and Prudential withdraw advertisements from the Golden Globes night press conference. A Wall Street Journal article discusses advertisers' worries that a similar fate awaits the Oscars.

Jan. 10-NBC is criticized on several fronts for turning the Golden Globes news conference into a thinly disguised Access Hollywood special.

Actor Tom Hanks goes on record in support of the WGA, asking the AMPTP to resume talks and "get down to honest bargaining."

Jan. 11-ABC and iTunes offer free downloads of Lost "recaps," four- and eight-minute clip shows that let viewers get caught up on the show. And while ABC cancels almost three dozen writer and director contracts under force majeure clauses, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing from Disney announces that CEO Robert Iger will receive an 11% increase in compensation (for a 2007 total of $27.7 million). Under the terms of the financial plan put forward by the WGA (and rejected by the AMPTP negotiators), Disney would only pay writers an additional $6.25 million per year.

With the AMPTP still refusing to negotiate, the WGA announces it has signed an independent deal with the Weinstein Company.

To keep reading...

Jan. 12-At a Citigroup conference, CBS chief Les Moonves says he has been trying to restart talks between the AMPTP and the WGA. He also says the strike will not have a negative effect on his network, since any loss in ratings or ad revenue will be offset by the savings of not producing original programming at this time.

Jan. 13-The Golden Globes press conference takes place. No writers or actors attend. Below-the-line crew members protest outside the event, demanding that talks resume and the strike be ended.

Tuesday, Jan. 15-More television studios invoke force majeure clauses, though none sever as many contracts as ABC did the previous week. Several directly blame the ongoing strike. Altogether, more than five dozen contracts with writers and directors are cancelled in less than a week.

At the Mac World Expo, Steve Jobs announces the new iTunes online movie rentals service, having secured deals with numerous studios, including 20th Century, Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, and Sony. The service will allow customers to download or stream movies directly to their iPhones, iPods, or the upgraded Apple TV.

Jan. 16-Warner Bros. places its big-budget film Justice League on "indefinite hold," citing an inability to do further work on the script or get certain tax breaks for filming in Australia.

Jan. 17-After six days of official negotiations, the Directors Guild of America announces a tentative deal with the AMPTP. The WGA assures its members that the negotiating committee, WGAW Board of Directors, and the WGAE Council will examine and evaluate the deal in the hopes that it will serve as a foundation for their own deal when and if the studios agree to resume talks.

Interpret LLC, a media consulting firm, announces the results of a national survey showing that 94% of Americans are aware of the WGA strike, 27% are watching less television because of it, and only 7% support the studios.

Jan. 18-Singer-actress Beyonce Knowles announces she will cross WGA picket lines to perform at the Grammy Awards if the show is not granted a waiver. In contrast, several other singer-actors, including Jon Bon Jovi and Justin Timberlake, say they would not attend the event if it is picketed.

Monday, Jan. 21-The WGA informs strike captains that informal talks will resume this week after a series of phone calls with Peter Chernin, president of News Corp, who helped broker the DGA deal.

Jan. 22-The WGA releases a point-by-point analysis of the DGA deal, which exceeds the AMPTP's offer to the WGA by $9 million over three years. The deal still falls well below the terms sought by the WGA.

Fox and the CW announce they are abandoning plans for several television pilots, while Jeff Zucker announces plans to cancel the majority of proposed pilots for NBC Universal. Zucker cites the writers strike, as well as the economic climate.

Jan. 23-The WGA begins informal talks with the studios. At this point, AMPTP negotiator Nick Counter, long judged by the Guild as one of the major impediments in the meetings, has been effectively marginalized by Peter Chernin and Robert Iger. Both sides agree to a media blackout as negotiations continue.

Jan. 24-With official negotiations still not underway, the WGA announces independent deals with both Marvel Studios and Lionsgate. Lionsgate is the first distributor to sign an interim agreement with the Guild. At this point, 10 companies have signed such deals.

Jan. 25-The WGA announces an independent deal with RKO Productions.

Monday, Jan.28-A Unity Day rally held at Fox studios is attended by over 1,000 members of the WGA, SAG, and Teamsters.

The WGA grants a waiver to the Grammy Awards, allowing writers to work on the show.

Jan. 29-SAG leaders send an email to members cautioning them that the DGA deal with the AMPTP may not be the "solution" many news sources are referring to it as. The DGA responds almost immediately, accusing SAG of interfering with the WGA's current talks with the studio moguls.

Jan. 30-In a show of good faith toward the resumed talks, the WGA cancels a Wall Street event that had been intended to showcase for investors the Guild's analysis of the strike's financial impact (specifically on the CBS network), in hopes research analysts would lower investment ratings for network stock.

Jan. 31-The WGA announces independent deals with Overture Films, Intermedia Film, and The Film Department. United Artists, taking advantage of its interim contract with the WGA, signs Oscar-winning writer-director Paul Haggis (Crash) to produce two films a year.

ABC begins airing the new season of Lost. The first episode is available for viewing on the network's website the same night.

Feb. 1-WGA members present Bandaid, a musical benefit for the Industry Support Fund, created by guild members to help non-writers financially affected by the strike.

Feb. 3-The WGA announces independent deals with a number of New York-based indie film studios, including GreeneStreet Films, Killer Films, Open City Films, and This is that.

Monday, Feb. 4-The WGA negotiating committee announces to members that progress has been made, but several key points still need to be addressed in the ongoing negotiations. Meetings are set for the upcoming weekend to discuss the state of the talks with the membership.

Feb. 5-The WGA announces that a deal has been brokered with the AMPTP. The proposed contract will be presented to the membership and discussed at the weekend meetings. The negotiating committee will take no further action without feedback from the writers.

Jon Stewart steps down as Master of Ceremonies for a February 7 event to honor Viacom chief executive Sumner Redstone. Stewart gives no reason for the sudden change of heart. Bloomberg reports that Disney first-quarter profits beat estimates, with cable revenues increasing by 13% and sales rising 9.1%.

Feb. 6-Vanity Fair magazine announces it will cancel its annual post-Oscar party as a show of solidarity with writers. Editor Graydon Carter says, "Whether the strike is over or not, there are a lot of bruised feelings. I don't think it's appropriate for a big magazine from the East to come in and pretend nothing happened."

United Artists, taking advantage of its interim contract with the WGA, signs a first-look deal with screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects).

Feb. 7-The WGA holds a mass picket at Disney studios. On CNBC's Fast Money, former Disney CEO and failed internet entrepreneur Michael Eisner voices his opinion that the strike is over.

Feb. 8-The New York Times publishes an article by Michael Cieply explaining many of the behind-the-scenes negotiations that supposedly took place to speed along the WGA talks. Mentioned prominently is United Hollywood founder Laeta Kalogridis. Kalogridas refuses Cieply's request for an interview, denies her importance, and later cites many of the inaccuracies in Cieply's article.

Feb. 9-With a possible end in sight, WGA members meet on both coasts to discuss the deal currently on the table. Several pros and cons are brought up, chief among them the 17-day "promotional" window for studios to stream material online without paying writers. Overall, both meetings go positively, and the consensus is that the deal is worth taking. A 48-hour vote is announced to decide if the strike will be lifted.

Feb. 12-By an overwhelming 92.5%, the Writers Guild East and West members vote to end the strike. President Patric Verrone announces the end of the 100-day labor action and declares it a success.

While the gains and losses of the strike are still being debated, it's hard to argue with the impact it had on the Hollywood landscape. The WGA labor action provided crucial leverage for the DGA and SAG negotiations, forced studios to reconsider business practices that had been accepted for decades, and proved that writers still have a surprising degree of power in the industry-enough to bring it to a virtual standstill. We can only hope these lessons will be brought to bear three years from now, when the next contract is negotiated.