Agents, WGA Make Progress in Round Two – Variety

According to sources close to the negotiations, Hollywood talent agents and the Writers Guild of America made progress at their second negotiating session on agency regulations.

The two sides met on Tuesday, two weeks after their first meeting, the two sides mutually criticized each other and the WGA organized a trio of lively meetings on the issue. Both parties issued a statement after Tuesday's talks, but sources said Variety that the session had dealt with substantive issues. No date has yet been set for a third session.

The meeting took place seven weeks before the expiry of the current franchise agreement. Over the past year, the WGA has lobbied Hollywood agencies to revise the rules applicable to agents of the subsidiaries of the two largest Hollywood agencies, WME and CAA, by moving to the production of aggressively, creating a risk of conflict of interest when the same company represents the creative talent on one side of the table and the employer on the other.

WGA's key proposals would effectively terminate all packaging contracts, in which agencies would receive initial and background fees, and exclude agencies from any financial interest in an entity or person "engaged in production or distribution of cinematographic films ".

Several presenters at the Writers Guild Awards Sunday at the Beverly Hilton expressed their support for the authors in their negotiations with the Association of Talent Agencies. Last April, the WGA informed ATA that it wanted to renegotiate the 42-year-old deal.

What is uncertain is whether members would be forced to relinquish their agents if the agencies are no longer covered by the WGA-ATA agreement, which will expire on April 6 if a new agreement is not reached.