skippy the bush kangaroo: we could have written this plot: wga gets screwed again

Friday, December 07, 2007

we could have written this plot: wga gets screwed again

the producers have walked away from negotiations between the wga. bbc:

talks between striking screenwriters and hollywood producers have broken down in los angeles…

with no sign of a breakthrough in this dispute over pay, each side is suggesting the other is to blame for a lack of progress in the negotiations…

the employers, the alliance of motion picture and television producers blamed the breakdown on what it called an ongoing union strategy to delay or derail talks.

but in a letter sent to its members the writers guild of america accused the producers group of dragging its heels in putting new proposals on the table.

the alliance said that wasn't the case and suggested the union had failed to respond to specific proposals regarding pay for work in new media, such as the internet.

as we reported to you earlier, the producers have hired big pr mucky-mucks fabiani and lehane (formerly left-of-center, now just greedy bastards), to spin the studio's extra-wide stance as postively as possible. and several observers thought that this very hire by the producers indicated that they had no intention of settling this strike anytime soon. nikki finke:

what's amazing about all of the above is that the amptp followed almost to the letter a script which they themselves conceived and wrote earlier in the week. i had reported thursday night that the reps for the studios and networks planned to break off today's talks. this morning, the wga issued a sternly worded statement calling out at the amptp for the plan to stop the negotiation just as it was getting go. indeed, just as i had predicted, the amptp had a news release at the ready tonight announcing why it was leaving the talks. so did iatse local boss tom short, indicating he was working in concert with the amptp tonight to blame the wga.

one thing for sure: no one can have any doubt this time around who walked out on these negotiations and who stayed in. not even professional spin doctors can change that. and it's also obvious that the concept of haggling is still foreign to both sides in this negotiation.

apparently, tho the producers did offer a slight bit of movement on streaming internet video pay, they were demanding that the writers take all negotiations for animation and reality shows off the table, as well as the "no-strike" clause, which would force writers to cross any picket lines should the screen actors guild (skippy's union) go on strike next summer. this in itself should tell you where the producers' heads are at in terms of wanting to negotiate with the various unions in town.

were lehane and fabiani involved in this plan to tease the writers with negotiations, offer disgusting terms, then pull out and blame the union? we wouldn't be surprised if they were, but we must caution that we have no proof other than lehane and fabiani's (and steve schmidt, also hired by the producers) own reputations.

Labels: entertainment, hollywood, labor, movies, television, writers strike