WGA To Resume Talks

Spurred by the new contract for the Directors Guild of America (DGA), the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) will begin informal talks with studio CEOs, perhaps as soon as Monday, reports the The Hollywood Reporter.

The striking WGA, which hasn't held a negotiating session with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers since December 7, will study terms of the DGA contract all weekend, according to an insider source who wished to remain anonymous.

The WGA negotiating meeting is set to meet Saturday and again on Tuesday, with the WGA board scheduled for Tuesday night.

The 3-year directors deal has received positive reviews from top writers and negotiating-committee members, who say it’s a good step towards their main goal: securing fair pay for work distributed over the Internet, cell phones, digital video players and other devices.

Among other things, directors managed to double the residual payments they currently receive when movies and TV shows are sold online. That’s astounding when you think that as recently as a few weeks ago, studios vowed to never raise the rate. Some analysts estimate that movie download revenue will rise to nearly $2 billion by 2011.

The directors agreement also extends to Web shows, both original works and those derived from existing scripted TV shows. One recent example is Quarterlife, the $5-million-plus Web series created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, producers of the hit television series thirtysomething and films such as Blood Diamond.