Directors Guild Signs Deal With Producers
The Directors Guild of America has signed a tentative contract agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers today after five days of negotiations, Daily Variety reports. This news turns the heat up on the Writers Guild of America, as the directors’ contract may act as a mold for future talks between the AMPTP and the WGA, Daily Variety says. The Wall Street Journal reports that the contract is a three-year deal, and that the contract tackles new-media issues of compensation for materials re-used on the Internet. Writers have been on strike since November over disputes regarding Internet residuals.
(Updated 2:30 PM)
Directors Guild Deal Has Hollywood on Edge
The Directors Guild of America is expected to sign a contract agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, which would act as a model for the Writers Guild of America contract, Daily Variety reports.
Agents, writers and insiders alike are concerned that the WGA leadership will reject the terms of the DGA’s contract immediately. Reports are circulating that some writers will adopt financial-core status and resign from active membership in the Writers Guild that happens, the newspaper says.
WB Chops Three Dozen Facilities Jobs
Warner Bros. Studios has laid off about three dozen facilities jobs due to the writers strike, the Hollywood Reporter says.
WB wouldn’t expound on its statement about the layoffs, but about 1,000 facilities workers received notices in November that they could be laid off if the writers strike continues, the newspaper reports.
Editorial Cartoonists Take Swipes at Colbert, Stewart
Liberal editorial cartoonists Ted Rall and Matt Bors took swings at Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart for crossing the Writers Guild’s picket lines to return to work, Editor & Publisher reports.
The return of the hosts of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” and “The Daily Show” upset the cartoonists because of the lack of outrage in what they call the liberal media over the strike-breaking move, the newspaper says.
—Andrew Krukowski