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The biggest talent agencies in Hollywood have proposed to resume negotiations with the WGA to end the impasse on the effort of the guild to impose new rules on talent agents.
In a letter to WGA West President David Goodman, sent on Wednesday, UTA co-chair Jay Sures extended an olive branch and suggested resuming talks next week. UTA then sent the letter as an e-mail to its former client writers. Goodman was a long-standing client of UTA until the breach that began on April 12th.
"If this conflict really concerns the production of packaging and affiliations, we are ready to come back to the table with you," Sures wrote to Goodman. "We are open to the concepts of true revenue sharing and have already committed to meeting the requirements of explicit customer consent, transparency and accountability. To be clear, we have publicly stated that if a writer does not want his show to be packed, we will honor that. Let's put an end to this unnecessary and extremely costly litigation that is hurting your members and their agencies. "
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The WGA does not have immediate comment.
The WGA and Hollywood's biggest talent agencies have been at odds for six weeks. Since then, the guild has ordered its approximately 15,000 members to fire agents who renounce the agency's recently established code of conduct. More than 65 store agencies signed the code with Verve, a 30-agent agent, which greatly boosted the WGA when it was signed on May 16.
The WGA and the Association of Talent Agents conducted a series of negotiations in February and March to conclude an agreement on a new agency franchise contract, the first revisions of the agreement in addition to 40 years. The aim of the guild is to prohibit talent agencies from collecting packaging fees for television series paid for by the production entity. Last month, the WGA filed a lawsuit against WME, CAA, UTA and ICM Partners, claiming that packaging costs constituted an inherent conflict of interest. The WGA amended the lawsuit earlier this week to add a fraud charge to its claims.
Sures has been a key player in the discussions on behalf of the ATA. Last month, while the deadline was up for the expiry of the previous franchise agreement, Sures contacted Goodman to help arrange an eleventh hour trading session on April 5th. This meeting led the WGA to agree to postpone the implementation of the code for a week. But the parties have still not managed to agree and the code came into effect on April 12.
WGA maintains that the cost of packaging and the growing practice of parent companies of talent agencies investing in production-distribution assets constitute a breach of the fiduciary duty of agents to their clients. The guild said that ATA offers to make packaging more transparent and optional for customers, among other offers, provide no solution to the problem.
Here is the complete letter from Sures to Goodman:
Dear David-
As a long time (now a former client) UTA client, and as someone who I spoke to throughout the WGA / ATA dispute, I thought I would get closer to more to try to find a solution to this problem. disorder. It has been more than a month since we all sat next to each other at the bargaining table for what I thought was sincere bargaining in good faith.
Many of your members have said that they want us to come back to the negotiating table. They want an agreement and they want one now. Many believe that this struggle has been going on for too long with those who did not have existing jobs or global agreements feeling at a disadvantage compared to those who did. Reporting authors suffer an unfair burden. I know you have received many of these memo notes because these same notes have been passed on to me and my fellow agents with passionate calls for a new deal.
We are now at a crossroads. The complaint that your guild filed a month ago and changed this week is a reality. By law, we must respond to it and we will do it. We will be obliged to defend ourselves, to defend our reputation, our hard work and our integrity with all that we have. I know you would do the same if the roles were reversed.
We noted concerns in the areas of packaging and affiliate production and presented a comprehensive set of standards for customer representation, focused on customer choice, transparency and universally accepted standards for settlement. disputes through independent and impartial arbitration. We have never received a response to this overall proposal. If this dispute really concerns the production of packaging and affiliations, we are ready to come back to the table with you. We are open to the concepts of true revenue sharing and have already committed to the requirements of explicit customer consent, as well as overall transparency and accountability. To be clear, we have publicly stated that if a writer does not want his show to be packed, we will honor that. Let's put an end to this unnecessary and extremely costly litigation that is hurting your members and their agencies.
We should be at your side, fighting for the needs and merits of writers in your upcoming negotiations on AMPTP. With that in mind, let's move on to a smaller room next week and tackle ALL the questions. Our group will be there. Please try to get yours. If possible, let's organize next Wednesday at one of our previous meeting places. Many people are counting on us to get everyone working again. I'm waiting for your answer.
Respectfully,
Jay
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