WGA and AMPTP in Last Minute Negotiations

Posted on November 4, 2007

The WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are still talking as of late Sunday afternoon, in a last-ditch effort to avert the strike and reach a deal. The federal mediator, Juan Carlos Gonzalez, called the meeting and is trying to get the two sides to come to an agreement.

The top CEOs had so far refused to participate directly in the talks, but that has changed, which is a hopeful sign.

Sunday's last-ditch effort focused on those viewed as voices of moderation, such as "ER" showrunner and former WGA president John Wells. Conversations among key players from both sides focused on exploring possible concessions in hopes of luring the WGA back to the bargaining table and away from picket lines. Among key players pushing to jump-start the bargaining process -- CBS topper Les Moonves, Disney's Robert Iger, Fox's Peter Chernin and Warner Bros. Barry Meyer.
In a potentially positive development, the closed-door talks were still in progress more than five hours later. The move came with WGA members told that they're expecting to spend at least 20 hours a week on picket lines. The WGA East was planning to begin pickets at Rockefeller Plaza outside NBC this morning; the WGA West had announced a dozen high-profile locations for picketing including CBS Radford, CBS Television City, Culver Studios, Disney, Fox, Hollywood Center, NBC, Prospect, Paramount, Raleigh, Sony, Sunset Gower, Universal and Warner Bros.
With a strike potentially causing a major disruption to daily business, key players on both sides were seeking not to craft an entire deal but to simply delay the strike for a few days in order to give negotiations another chance. And the major focus appeared to be to get talks moving without the relentless saber-rattling that's dominated for the past year.

If the walkout is delayed by a few days, that would be a sign that a deal is close to being reached. In the meantime, the WGA has sent emails to its members telling them what to do tomorrow morning and where to picket on the East and West coasts.