Talks between Hollywood writers and studios have collapsed,
dashing hopes of an imminent resolution to a 5-week-old strike that
has upended the entertainment industry, sources close to the talks
said on Saturday.
Striking members of the
Writers Guild of America, West rally in Hollywood, California Nov.
20, 2007.
It comes after eight days of contentious negotiations that
yielded very little, if any, progress, said the sources who refused
to be named.
Both sides issued statements, accusing the other of stalling the
negotiations.
At the talks, studio officials submitted additional proposals to
the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in hopes of ending the 33-
day-old writers' strike.
In a letter to writers, Patric Verrone, president of WGA, West,
and Michael Winship, president of WGA, East, said they want to see
negotiations continue without interruption through Christmas and
New Year's holidays, but the Alliance of Motion Picture and
Television Producers (AMPTP) blocked progress of the talks.
"The Writers Guild will remain at the table every day, for as
long as it takes, to make a fair deal," they wrote.
They also told guild members that producers were prolonging the
strike by refusing to make any new offers.
"For one, we've heard that one or more of the companies are
prepared to throw away the spring and fall TV season, plus
features, and prolong the strike. Aside from the devastating effect
this would have on the unions, workers and their families in this
industry, it would certainly explain the AMPTP's refusal to put any
new proposals, even a bad one, on the table," they wrote.
But the AMPTP insisted the guild letter contains a series of
factual mistakes.
The AMPTP, which represents the studios, said it was "puzzled
and disheartened by an ongoing WGA negotiating strategy that seems
designed to delay or derail talks rather than facilitate an end to
this strike."
"The producers did present a new proposal, the New Economic
Partnership, which would increase the average working writer's
salary to more than 230,000 dollars a year. The WGA's organizers
have rejected the proposal, preferring instead to focus on
jurisdictional issues in the areas of reality and animation
television," according to the AMPTP's statement.
Producers also accused WGA organizers of spending "relatively
little" time at the negotiating table.
The strike began Nov. 5, with the dispute focusing on how to
split up new media revenues as digital technology and the Internet
transform the way entertainment is delivered to viewers.
The WGA's chief negotiator, David Young, said in an interview: "
What they want us to do is give up our future, particularly in new
media .... The other side doesn't view us as partners, they just
view us as someone they can play with."
If talks don't resume soon, the strike will have far-reaching
consequences across Hollywood and for many businesses throughout
the region that depend on the industry.
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(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2007)
