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The majority of the 95% vote in the WGA referendum on imposing a new strict code of conduct for talented agents sends a clear signal to the industry. The WGA is gearing up for tough negotiations next year with the major film and television master film studios expiring on May 1, 2020.
Over the past 12 months, the guild has skillfully reconfigured its organizational infrastructure around the agency's franchise deal negotiations. An obscure contract that had not been touched for 46 years has become the focus of a successful WGA membership outreach campaign. This is partly due to the fact that the guild has decided to reform the basic agreement of the director of artists from 1976 to the nearest base – a steady stream of complaints from members about apparently systemic abuse of the television production process, a creative model of compensation invented by William Morris. Agency at the time of the radio.
Whatever the impulse, the result is clear. The WGA has outperformed talent agencies to define the terms of the debate over packaging fees and agency-related production projects. This means that the guild has shown great strength in the industry just as it prepares to argue for talks toward a new minimum basic agreement covering film work. and on television.
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The timing and trajectory of the agency franchise reform is a reminder of how the WGA inflated the membership base in 2006 with its accelerated campaign to organize reality TV producers. WGA's strike against UPN's US "Top Model" galvanized members a little over a year before the guild triggered the 100-day strike that began in November 2007. It also coincided with the arrival of David Young as Executive Director of WGA West. . Since the beginning of his term, Young has taken a more aggressive approach in negotiations with institutional Hollywood, to the frustration of many industry players and to the delight of its members, at all levels of the industry. pay scale of the Hollywood writer.
Renowned scribes have used the megaphone of social media to rally support for writers to link their demands and demand reforms, or even to rally support among those who have long had friendly and highly profitable relationships with their agents. The tone of anti-agency rhetoric and comments from the creative community was seen as uncompromising personal staff by many agents who have contributed to the careers of leading presenters and writers.
The high participation rate in the membership vote gives the guild the impetus to impose its own code of conduct on talented agents, if the guild and the negotiators of the Talent Agents Association fail to hear this week on a new deal. The current agreement expires at midnight Pacific time on April 6. Unlike a collective action involving the studios, there is not much certainty about exactly what will change on April 7th.
Will the guild urge members to break their links with agents who will not sign the code? Will the members control themselves? Will employment opportunities and transactions stop, as agencies say? The guild's stated project of creating digital databases to serve as a clearing house is seen as a target even by many WGA supporters. At the same time, organic social networks do not fail to connect Hollywood writers.
The real factor X at this stage is whether the guild and agencies have the stomach and resources to wage a costly legal war about their differences. If agencies hope to avoid litigation, they will surely be forced to find a larger concession than the current offer for the packaging process to be a matter of membership or withdrawal for editors with a greater transparency. There is a great school of thought on both sides of this struggle that the true parameters of an agreement will only come a few hours before the deadline.
Regardless of how the battle for agency franchise deals unfolds, the Alliance of Film and Television Producers is aware. The spirit of solidarity and loyalty reigns among WGA members at a time when industry in general is disrupted by massive upheaval and consolidation. Although studios seem to play a bigger role than ever before in labor discussions, as the number of large employers dwindles, the WGA is rebuilding its arsenal with the ground boots and fists on it. air.
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