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CAA leader Bryan Lourd called on the Writers Guild of America to discuss with the Association of Talented Agents a revenue-sharing proposal to end the battle for packaging costs that led members of the guild to lay off in mbad nearly two months. since.
Heavy presented what some sources have described as a sincere opening statement of 10 minutes that led to a detailed presentation of the six main points of the new offer presented Friday by the ATA. The parties met for the first time since the packaging fee talks were settled and that a production disagreement with the affiliated group led the WGA's mandate to members who torch the agents. that would not respect the new rules of the guild to prevent agencies from collecting packaging fees or links with the production-distribution of companies.
Lourd's statement emphasized that agencies are willing to share 2% of their gross box-office revenues that reach profitability with lower-level screenwriters working on these programs. The goal is to spread some of the pay for successful screenwriters who otherwise would not be eligible to participate in the benefits of the backend.
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Here is the full text of Lourd's introductory remarks:
Hello.
Thank you all for being here. It's a very important moment for writers, the WGA, the agents, the ATA and all of our creative community.
It's been eight weeks and a day since the Guild asked its members, our former clients, to fire their agents. We are many, agents and writers, to think that there was a very different way to tell us about a new contract. We had a year to do it. It may not be necessary to disrupt so many lives and the ability of many to pursue their careers and pay their bills. The agency community has examined very closely, with much seriousness and effort, the role and responsibilities of agents in the lives of writers – all writers. A working group of more than 40 people has been meeting for hundreds of hours collectively to exchange ideas and debate the thought and intent of what you will hear and receive today. # 39; hui.
The ATA has never been so unified and determined to get this right with the membership of your guild. Today, we hope to turn the page. We do what no good negotiator or agent would ever advise a client
do – we negotiate against ourselves. We do this voluntarily and knowingly to meet the demand of our customers / members to place our groups in alignment. We want to go back to work for
writers. We can only do this if the leaders of ATA and WGA, willingly and enthusiastically, endorse a process and an intense and focused dialogue with the common goal of reaching a new agreement that is fair to both parties. parts. An agreement that takes into account the realities of our company.
Today, in the hope of reaching a new agreement with you, the elected and appointed officers of the Guild and all members, we respectfully request your contribution, your active efforts and your sincere participation in a process aimed at to move the parties forward. Our client writers called us – begging us to find a way to bring the parties together. We know they phoned you and met you all. They are naturally nervous and frustrated. They want to know what is the plan. What is the end goal? They want us to work together.
We ask you to work with us for as many hours as possible to create a new comprehensive contract that best serves your members now and is preparing for a rapidly changing future – a future that, I recognize, is filled with threats to the creative community's property prospects, its creative rights, its residual rights and, ultimately, its ability to earn a living by continuing its work … by writing.
We all recognize that the future of this industry, the way it earns money, and how artists are paid will look different from the past. We discussed key aspects of our offering with client writers as well as with many leaders in our entertainment community, recognizing that it takes many artists to make a project a success. The same is true for developing the right agreement. The comments we received from them are reflected in this proposal. But it is incomplete. Your contribution is missing.
Today, we are submitting proposals in the following areas:
1) The duration of our contract
2) Arbitration and the repair process in all situations
3) Sharing information and data
4) Affiliated Independent Companies
5) Film financing
6) The obligations and the process around the choice and packaging
Obviously, other discussions need to take place on other issues, but we all think that this list of six is a good starting point. Again, we recognize that many of the issues in these proposals require your input and that of your bargaining committee – this is a starting point. This is an opportunity to relaunch our discussions. Please consider them with this in mind.
In a short time, I will ask the members of our ATA working group to read these proposals out loud. Then, with your permission, David and David, we will communicate them to you in writing. Before continuing, I think it's important to emphasize how much we want to enter into a deal with you. Your actions as a guild, as disturbing as they are, must result in an agreement. Otherwise, the courts and dozens of lawyers will have to decide how we will coexist. Nobody wants to go that route, but we will do it if we all have to do it.
The ideas contained in the proposals that you will hear and see today are our attempt to start a process with you. We need your expertise and advice in the form of a meter. We believe that there are real and concrete solutions to explore, but we can not do this in a vacuum.
Some things…
We do not share your statement that we are not aligned. We agree with you, however, that an increasingly important alignment is vital and, in our opinion, our proposals meet these needs. We are making a historical offer that will provide a revenue share on the profits generated by the agencies coming from group broadcasts. We are doubling more than our previous offer. This financial proposal is specifically designed to benefit the large group of writers who contribute to packaged shows but have no main position / owner. Our proposal benefits the author who works. We have ideas on how to distribute this money fairly, but we need your input and advice to do it right, both for the writers and for the Guild.
Aside from this negotiation, we plan to maintain our previously suggested commitment to form an inclusion fund with a multi-million dollar commitment over the term of this agreement to fund scholarship programs.
debt relief, training, internships, etc., for artists in our sector. We look forward to your participation. This fund should improve the work already done between agencies and other guilds.
We have an idea on how to help the Guild and all writers in our collective and permanent quest to improve the conditions of creation, financing and work of productions generated by affiliated independent companies. Our affiliate proposals indicate that they are entities separate from us, but we strongly encourage the Guild to speak directly with them, in order to make some of the benefits they currently offer permanent, and perhaps others. We are ready to answer all your questions about property and governance. You will hear these details today. We believe that the Guild has the opportunity to make agreements with these companies that could benefit writers and contribute to future conversations about writers' rights.
We believe that the existence of these companies (and as many of them as we can all make possible and feed collectively) is essential to the artists' independence from the distribution platforms of companies where ownership and creative autonomy are quickly destroyed. The implicit strategy of these content and distribution multinationals is to drive down prices and eliminate the ownership of writers and creators. This is happening in real time, as we have been in a vacuum for two months fighting, instead of cooperating to face this real challenge.
Thank you for listening to here …
[Later, Lourd offered concluding remarks on behalf of the ATA]I suggest that we talk now or suspend so that you can meet with your group and take these proposals to your private room for an hour to discuss with your bargaining committee.
I'm sending it to all of you, leaders, bargaining committee and members. We respect your guild. We hope you respect the agents and people who have dedicated their lives to working for writers and other artists.
We are open to suggestions about a process that works for your group. Here is our new offer. Come back and tell us that you are going to counter and engage with us in a process to forge a new agreement.
Thank you.
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