Calling the newest contract offer "Minor adjustments to major rollbacks ...,' John Bowman, chairman of the Writers Guild of America's negotiating committee wasn't impressed with the lastest offer from the studios' Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
The existing contract, which represents 12,000 members, expires on October 31, and members have already authorized leaders to strike if need be. The last strike by screenwriters was in 1988, where the 22-week stoppage cost the industry about $500 million.
Studios have been speeding projects up and loading up on scripts in anticipation of the potential strike. If both sides agree to continue negotiating, WGA members could continue working while the talks went on.
Responding to the proposals on Friday, not much more was done as far as progress in the negotiations go, with only offers and counter offers thrown around and not much agreed upon.
With the next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, the day before the existing contract officially ends, both sides have agreed to include a federal mediator in hopes of making more progress.
While most of us know the key stumbling block in the agreement is residuals for DVDs, Internet and mobile, there is also the less talked about battle over unscripted programming, which the AMPTP seems to think gives them a stronger position to bargain from, and it probably does.
The studios also insist that they won't budge in reference to residuals for cross-platform content, something the WGA demands a piece of.
With not much progress being made, I'd be surprised to see this worked out by Wednesday. This may be another case where they agree to keep working in lieu of ongoing negotiations, or if they are really far apart, they may even begin a strike.
Because the studios seem to think they're in the much stronger position, this could get a lot worse before it gets better. It probably depends on how strong a position the WGA thinks their opponents really do have.
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