Joel Stein dispatch: C-SPAN writer's edition?

Even if you've never been in a sitcom writers room, you probably know enough about writers to realize everyone would be late. They just recently started. I'm already bored.

There are 36 people on stage in two rows with paper placards. They're projected on a big screen in back of them. If you imagine a more boring version on C-SPAN that covered intellectual property law, then you can imagine the electricity.

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-- Joel Stein

L.A. writers convene at the Shrine

About 3,500 members of the Writers Guild of America are gathered at the Shrine Auditorium to discuss the terms of the tentative deal struck with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Projected on a screen above the stage is a picture of a circle of pencils entitled: “Stronger Together.” 

About 7:30 p.m., the meeting opened with an ovation and WGA West President Patric Verrone saying, “Good evening. Welcome to the Grammys. We have a deal! More importantly, you have a deal.” The deal, he said, took until 1:30 a.m. to come about and until about 6 p.m. tonight to get signed.

“I am personally recommending that we ratify this deal,” Verrone said.

In urging the members to accept the deal, he said that although there were concessions, “it is the best deal the Guild has bargained for in 30 years. Admittedly, the contract has some holes.”

The writers succeeded in getting jurisdiction in new media and higher pay for work distributed on the Internet. Verrone said the guild would continue to push for rights in animation and reality.

The strike isn’t over Monday, he went on to say. The decision to lift the strike will come after the members have had a chance to vote on the contract Tuesday.

“We have repositioned this Guild as a powerful player in this town,” chief negotiator David Young told the crowd before he broke down the details of the contract.

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-- Times Staff Writer

New York writers rally behind 'significant moment'

After a two-and-a-half-hour-long gathering Saturday, writers streamed out of the third-floor ballroom at the Crowne Plaza Hotel expressing optimism about the deal and pride in the guild's solidarity.

Inside, a smiling Michael Winship, president of WGA East, paced the empty Crowne Plaza ballroom with a cellphone pressed to his ear, relaying the details of the meeting to his counterpart in L.A., Patric Verrone.

After he got off the phone, Winship said the overwhelming share of the more than 500 writers who turned out for the meeting were "very much behind" the new contract.

"We had a very good meeting with the membership," he said. "We had a very lively discussion, a free exchange of ideas. At the moment, I feel strongly that it has a very good chance of going through."

Winship said the guild members had a lot of questions, and they stayed until every one had been answered.

"Basically, people wanted to have the math explained to them," he said. "I think we came away with a good deal," Winship added. "I hope the membership endorses it. We struck on the issues of jurisdiction of new media and distributors' gross, and we made advances in both those areas. So I'm happy."

If the West Coast guild concurs, the union leaders will have to decide tomorrow when to lift the strike. They could wait until the membership votes on the contract, but under the guild's constitution, that vote must be held 48 hours after the board vote, if the members vote through in-person meetings, or 10 days after the board vote, if the members vote by mail. 

"The question is, do you rescind the strike before a membership vote, and some people don't want to do that," said Warren Leight, executive producer of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."

That could mean the strike won't officially end until midweek. 

But even without a clear sense of when the labor stoppage would be over, there was a sense among the New York writers that they had reached the end of a difficult journey.

Bill Scheft, a writer for the "Late Show with David Letterman," said he knew the contract was a good one when Terry George, a member of the negotiating committee, opened the meeting by saying: "We've defeated a tradition of rollbacks that began with the air traffic controllers."

"To me, that was the most significant moment," Scheft said. "To me, this was all about, do we have a system in place [for new media] where there was no system before. And the answer is yes."

Scheft said the mood in the room was largely positive, but cautioned that "we're talking about the East."

"The Shrine, that's where the action is," he added. 

For his part, filmmaker Michael Moore came out of the meeting substantially more enthusiastic than when he entered.

"This is an historic moment for labor in this country," Moore said. "To have the writers union stand up like we did, not give back a single thing and make them give -- it was a really great moment to sit in there and listen to everything."

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--Matea Gold

East Coast writers optimistic strike is coming to an end

After about 90 minutes, East Coast writers began exiting a closed-door meeting in New York to discuss details of the pending pact -- and expressed optimism that the strike would soon be resolved.

"It sounds really positive and I think we negotiated a good deal" said Seth Meyers, one of the head writers on "Saturday Night Live." "I think we were right about the things we struck for."

Another writer, who declined to give his name but said he worked in episodic drama, said the room was filled with applause and excitement. "There a sense that we won," he said. "There's a good feeling that the strike will be rescinded sooner rather than later."

Tom Phillips, a news writer for CBS, said the meeting went very well: "I think the contract will be approved by a wide margin."

Phillip added that the reaction inside the room was mixed, with some people asking sharp questions, but said that "most people were enthusiastic."

"I think the topline is that WGA has jurisdiction for writing under new media," Phillips said. "That was basically what the strike was about. And that was a win."

Carmen Culver, a writer for movies and miniseries, called the agreement that was presented a complicated deal. "There were some parts I was very happy about and others less so," she said. "But I'm extremely proud of the guild for hanging tough. It's a great day for the labor movement. We have really stood up and said to these corporations that it all begins with the word. I think the big boys have been brought to their knees."

There was no lack of applause in the room for the negotiators and strike captains and all the work they have done. She added that most of the questions from members were about technical, complicated aspects of the deal. "You have to understand that we're writers, not lawyers."

Writers coming out of the New York meeting said that while the mood was very optimistic, they were unsure how quickly the strike would end, adding that the membership has yet to vote on the deal. There was no vote held at the meeting.

--Matea Gold

More news on the strike

East Coast writers: Let's make sure there are 'no regrets'

NEW YORK--Hundreds of writers poured into the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Times Square on a gray Saturday afternoon, eager to hear details about the tentative deal struck on Friday.

"I have some questions about it, and I'm going to go in and ask them," said Joe Toplyn, a writer for "Monk." "Mostly, I'd like a little bit more explanation of what the terms mean. I hope there are a lot of questions, and that way everybody understands what they're voting for and we have no regrets, whatever happens."

Many writers heading into the meeting voiced uncertainty about the agreement, including filmmaker Michael Moore.

"I have good feelings and not good feelings about it, and I'm going to go listen to what they have to say," Moore said as he ambled into the hotel.

Added Kevin Wade, the creator of "Cashmere Mafia": "I just got a chance to read it this morning, and I'm anxious to hear from the people who negotiated it."

Others were already decided.

"I'm in favor of it," said Peter Brash, a writer for a soap opera. "It's been a hard battle, but I think we've gotten what we could, and it's time to settle."

Claudia Silver, a writer for childrens television, said that the deal appears promising, but she wants to hear more about it.

"I think people will be happy to get the strike over if they feel the deal that they get is fair," Silver said.  "But I don't feel people are at a point where they're like, 'Whatever they say, we'll take.' I think people are going to be very sensible and stick to what they need to, and if it's not good, they're not going to take it."

Warren Leight, executive producer of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," said he believes the agreement achieves one major goal.

"The reason for this strike was to make sure we had coverage of the Internet, that it didn't become a guild-free zone, and I think we accomplished that," he said. "I wish some of the things that network programming got also applied to variety and cable."

"I think some people will push for more," Leight added. "But it becomes one of those analyses: how much more can you get for how much more pain?"

Andrew Smith, a writer for "The View," said he was suspicious of the agreement because he doesn't trust the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. But he said that if  WGA leaders recommend that  members back it, he'll go along.

"I'm broke and I want to get back to work Monday," Smith said. "Everybody had a date in their head, probably Feb. 1, that if the strike wasn't settled, they would have to do something radical, like go fi- core [declare 'financial core,' a lower level of union membership]. So I think everybody's ready. But on the other hand, I don't want the other side to take advantage of that."

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--Matea Gold

WGA pact: A rush to judgment?

On Friday afternoon, guild leaders Patric Verrone, David Young and John Bowman met with 300 strike captains in Los Angeles to present the terms of the deal,  even though the WGA constitution does not require such meetings.

When they arrived, the strike captains were given a three-page memo describing the deal and were encouraged to make public comments about the details. In addition to discussing the terms, the guild leaders also explained why they are considering lifting the strike as early as Monday — before a vote to ratify the contract has been taken.

“They want to take the temperature of the membership and feel that if the overall membership feels it’s a good deal, they’ll call off the strike,”  strike captain Sivert Glarum said today.  “And if not, they won’t call off the strike.  I think that to be expedient they’re trying to get everyone back to work and save the TV season because it might be in the best interest of everyone if we all go back to work before the vote is taken.”

Glarum, an executive producer of CBS’ “Rules of Engagement,” estimates that about 80% of the strike captains who attended think  the contract is fair and understand the need to return to work as soon as possible. But several members expressed that they felt the guild was rushing them into a decision and they did not think they should return to work until the vote has been taken, he added.

“I don’t think the guild is trying to ram a deal down anyone’s throats,” he said. “I think the guild is very interested in hearing all writers’ input and that’s why we have these meetings. Most people didn’t wait 20 minutes in line to make a public comment.  So I think, while there were some people who did bring that up, I don’t think that the was overall feeling of the room.”

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--Maria Elena Fernandez

Terms of the tentative deal

In a letter e-mailed this morning, the Writers Guild of America, East and West, alerted their members that they have reached a tentative deal. Its broad terms, which could bring an end to the writers strike that began on Nov. 5, are outlined in a summary sent out to guild members. Download the PDF

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WGA announces tentative deal

The following memo went out to WGA members early this morning:

To Our Fellow Members,
We have a tentative deal.

It is an agreement that protects a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery. It creates formulas for revenue-based residuals in new media, provides access to deals and financial data to help us evaluate and enforce those formulas, and establishes the principle that, "When they get paid, we get paid."

Specific terms of the agreement are described in the summary on our website and will be further discussed at our Saturday membership meetings on both coasts. At those meetings we will also discuss how we will proceed regarding ratification of this agreement and lifting the restraining order that ends the strike.

Less than six months ago, the AMPTP wanted to enact profit-based residuals, defer all Internet compensation in favor of a study, forever eliminate "distributor's gross" valuations, and enforce 39 pages of rollbacks to compensation, pension and health benefits, reacquisition, and separated rights. Today, thanks to three months of physical resolve, determination, and perseverance, we have a contract that includes WGA jurisdiction and separated rights in new media, residuals for Internet reuse, enforcement and auditing tools, expansion of fair market value and distributor's gross language, improvements to other traditional elements of the MBA, and no rollbacks.

Over these three difficult months, we shut down production of nearly all scripted content in TV and film and had a serious impact on the business of our employers in ways they did not expect and were hard pressed to deflect. Nevertheless, an ongoing struggle against seven, multinational media conglomerates, no matter how successful, is exhausting, taking an enormous personal toll on our members and countless others. As such, we believe that continuing to strike now will not bring sufficient gains to outweigh the potential risks and that the time has come to accept this contract and settle the strike.

Much has been achieved, and while this agreement is neither perfect nor perhaps all that we deserve for the countless hours of hard work and sacrifice, our strike has been a success. We activated, engaged, and involved the membership of our Guilds with a solidarity that has never before occurred. We developed a captains system and a communications structure that used the Internet to build bonds within our membership and beyond. We earned the backing of other unions and their members worldwide, the respect of elected leaders and politicians throughout the nation, and the overwhelming support of fans and the general public. Our thanks to all of them, and to the staffs at both Guilds who have worked so long and patiently to help us all.

There is much yet to be done and we intend to use all the techniques and relationships we've developed in this strike to make it happen. We must support our brothers and sisters in SAG who, as their contract expires in less than five months, will be facing many of the same
challenges we have just endured. We must further pursue new relationships we have established in Washington and in state and local governments so that we can maintain leverage against the consolidated multinational conglomerates with whom we bargain. We must be vigilant in monitoring the deals that are made in new media so that in the years ahead we can enforce and expand our contract. We must fight to get decent working conditions and benefits for writers of reality TV, animation, and any other genre in which writers do not have a WGA contract.

Most important, however, is to continue to use the new collective power we have generated for our collective benefit. More than ever, now and beyond, we are all in this together.

Best,

Michael Winship
President
Writers Guild of America, East

Patric M. Verrone
President
Writers Guild of America, West

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'Big Love' creator: 'This may be it'

Will Scheffer, co-creator of HBO’s “Big Love,” said he and his partner Mark V. Olsen are eagerly anticipating diving back into work after this weekend, when many in the industry expect the WGA strike will be resolved.

“I do think there’s a great amount of excitement and optimism, people feeling like this may be it,” he said.

The Writers Guild is holding meetings Saturday with its membership in Los Angeles and New York to discuss the tentative deal that's been hashed out during the last few weeks, and union leaders promise they won't take action on the agreement until they hear from the rank-and-file.

Scheffer said some writers will be willing to accept whatever deal is put before them in order to end the strike, and others won't accept “anything less than 150% of what we’ve been struggling for.”

But the vast majority feels that “if our leadership is presenting this to us, we really believe in them and we’re ready to support them and get back to work,” Scheffer added.

The “Big Love” writers were in the midst of drafting the first six episodes of the show’s third season when the strike was called in early November.

“We have to get back on our feet and catch up and remind ourselves what we were writing,” said Scheffer, who added that they will probably end up reworking quite a bit of the original material. “That’s an interesting effect of the strike: That forced downtime changes your creative mandate in a way that never would have happened had there not been a strike.”

“Things kind of have a way of shaking down,” he added. “In the shower, you get new ideas. We’ll revisit all the scripts. There will be some minor changes and maybe a few major changes that we didn’t expect that kind of presented themselves.”

Ready to get back to work at Silvercup Studios

NEW YORK -- Among those eagerly awaiting the end of the strike is the staff at Silvercup Studios in Queens, where “30 Rock,” “Gossip Girl,” “Cashmere Mafia” and “New Amsterdam” were shooting before the labor stoppage.

“We’re anxious to have them come back and get to work,” said Alan Suna, the facility’s chief executive.

Throughout the strike, the massive studio complex sought to backfill its empty stages with commercial shoots but still had to contend with unused space.

“We’ve cleaned and painted and spruced up a variety of things that we otherwise don’t have an opportunity to do until a hiatus,” Suna said. “If they called us right now and said they’d be here in five minutes, we’d be ready for them.”

Ramping production back up will take some doing, however. Silvercup allowed the shows to keep their main sets up, but they had to break down their swing sets before they left.