WGA anti-packaging lawsuit ignored by ATA on behalf of four Hollywood agencies – Deadline

A few hours after the WGA began its scheduled prosecution this morning against Big 4 agencies, representatives of UTA, WME, CAA and ICM Partners reacted in a dispute that precipitated Hollywood.

"This development is ironic given that the Guild itself has accepted the legitimacy of packaging for more than 43 years," said Karen Stuart, Executive Director of the Association of Talent Agents tonight. "Even more ironic is the fact that the law on which the WGA pursues its actions prevents the abuse of power and authority by trade union leaders, even though the Guild has intimidated its own members and brought them into conflict. error repeatedly about their lack of good faith in the bargaining room.

"Today's action confirms that the WGA leadership is on the path to chaos, which has never been the subject of negotiation," said Stuart. "Knowing that the resolution of this litigation could take months, if not years, WGA executives unnecessarily force their members and industry into long-term uncertainty. As the legal process continues, we firmly believe that, in the meantime, writers have every interest in being represented by licensed communication agencies.

"We are compassionate about our writing clients and the untenable position that the WGA leadership has imposed on them," she said. "We are ready to represent the editors with the additional protections described in the Agency's Client Representation Standards (read here) which ensure broader choice and transparency for editors."

Or, as an insider told Deadline today: "It's war!"

After several days of tension, the guild took its first legal steps on Wednesday morning, after the failure of last minute discussions with the Association of Talented Agents about the new WGA-approved code of conduct, which collapsed. April 12th.

Earning the favor of WGA members at the end of last month, the new code reverses the status quo of more than 40 years. It prohibits packaging costs and prohibits agencies from being affiliated with production entities through parent companies.

Even with personalities such as CAA's Bryan Lourd and UTA's Jay Sures in the room last Friday against David Goodman and David Young of WGA, a reasonable resolution was clearly not there.

First, a first offer from the ATA team to provide about 1% of packaging revenue to editors has been overlooked. Very quickly, the conversation and the meeting were over.

Then, as promised, the WGA asked members to start firing their agents en masse. While the confusion around what this really meant and the role that managers and lawyers could play while they were "relieved" to remedy the situation, the Guild announced today that she would seek redress in court.

Citing the anti-kickback provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, the lawsuit filed by the guild in the Los Angeles Superior Court essentially says that the packaging fees levied by the uberagencies violate state laws by fiduciary duty and federal unfair competition laws.

The civil suit seeks an injunction to prevent the defendant agencies from collecting the packaging costs. With a potential of up to hundreds of millions of dollars, the action also claims the repayment of funds that the guild claims to have been illegally collected in the decades since the signing of the agreement in favor of the company. 39, packaging, now broken, in 1976.

More than 40 years later, the Guild says its members are being scammed; ATA says the WGA leadership is only interested in a scorched earth approach.

At the same time, even though the Guild does not have enough money from Big 4 agencies to wage a protracted legal battle, there is no doubt that the vast majority of WGA members believe in the strategy implemented by the leaders.

"To date, thousands of writers have signed letters" putting an end to the services of their agents refusing to sign the new code, said Tony Segall, General Counsel for the Writers Guild of America (West), at the conference release this Wednesday at WGA headquarters, Fairfax Street.

Today, WGA and ATA did not have a new sit-down planned. Now, the only meetings can be held before a judge.