The strike is over… mostly. As predicted, this morning the WGA presented a deal to its members, recommending an end to the strike. They say, “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.” With their membership nearly as sick of this thing as we are, there’s every reason to assume the deal will be ratified by the union rank and file.
The guild believes this is a deal which ensures writers get a fair cut of new media revenues, and the studios no doubt feel this is a deal which will keep them richer than god. Part of the reason they’ll stay rich are pieces of the proposal which allow them to do things such as stream content online for 17 to 24 days without paying writers a piece of the revenue. It’s a deal which is reportedly modeled after the deal recently reached by the Director’s Guild, and that may or may not make the union’s members happy. Hopefully, happy or not, they realize they’d damn well better accept it.
In general, the LA Times reports that the preliminary agreement “includes a doubling of the residual rate for movies and TV shows sold online and secures the union's jurisdiction over content created specifically for the Web, above certain budget thresholds. Like directors, writers also would receive a 3.5% increase in minimum pay rates for television and film scripts work.”
