Directors Impatient to Get to Bargaining Table
The Directors Guild of America will only delay its contract renewal talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers until after Jan. 1, giving writers and producers about 15 days to restart talks, Daily Variety reports.
The Writers Guild of America asked the DGA to hold off talks, as writers were fearful that a directors’ deal with the AMPTP could undermine the writers’ contract demands, the newspaper says.
Behind-the-Scenes Players Pushing to Renew Talks
Back-channel efforts are taking place to jump-start contract talks between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, Daily Variety reports.
An assortment of players, including agents and showrunners, are trying to convince WGA heads to whittle down their contract demands and focus mainly on new-media residuals, the paper says.
Writers Guild Awards Going Forward
The Writers Guild of America is moving forward with plans for its awards show after announcing award nominees on Wednesday, Broadcasting & Cable reports.
Among the nominees are FX’s “Damages,” Comedy Central’s “The Sarah Silverman Program” and NBC’s “The Office,” the newspaper says.
The WGA Awards will be handed out Feb. 9.
Globes Viewing Options to Reel in Guild-Conscious Nominees
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is looking a different angle in order to bring in stars for the Golden Globes if the Globes don’t receive a Writers Guild of America waiver, the Hollywood Reporter says.
If the waiver doesn’t happen, the Globes would put stars in the position of crossing a picket line, which the organizers are reluctant to do. But the HFPA is considering giving stars the opportunity to come out in support of the writers at the Globes, HR says.
That pitch would put Globes broadcaster NBC in a difficult spot, as stars receiving awards might use the time to rail against the networks, the Reporter says.
Writers Disrupt ‘Last Call’ Taping
Writers Guild of America writers snuck into a taping of “Last Call With Carson Daly” and disrupted the taping by shouting during an interview with NFL veteran Jerry Rice, Deadline Daily Hollywood reports.
The interview was disrupted more than once, and reports had anywhere from five to 20 writers ejected from the studio because of it, the blog says.