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More than 750 screenwriters and screenwriters have supported the WGA's fight against talent management agencies, which are collecting packaging fees and other changes to the rules governing commercial relations between agents and writers.
The Saturday letter of support is important because of the enormous weight that top viewers and screenwriters have in Hollywood. Several viewers had recently expressed reservations about the WGA's uncompromising negotiating tactics and the potential disruption of business if no deal was reached – leading to a meeting on March 20 with several dozen spectators at WGA West headquarters. But the new missive clearly indicates that the audience wants the WGA leaders to say they represent a united front.
The signatories support the WGA's efforts to reform the industry's decades-old practices involving agencies levying packaging fees for film and television projects, as well as other issues such as than the expansion of the parent companies of the largest agencies into the production market. As described in the WGA letter, the purpose of the franchise agreement reform is to:
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"Confront conflict of interest practices: packaging costs for agencies and agencies acting as producers. Require agencies to work with the Guild to protect writers' interests by providing contracts, invoices, and other information to writers. "
The letter was sent Saturday at noon, two weeks before the expiry of the current franchise agreement, April 7. The WGA requests the elimination of agencies that collect packaging fees and a stake in affiliated production companies. feasible. The WGA and the Association of Talent Agents are scheduled to hold another bargaining session on Tuesday.
The signatories include most of the major actors in film and television, including Shonda Rhimes, Greg Berlanti, Seth MacFarlane, Jenji Kohan, Eric Roth, Barry Jenkins and David Koepp. Ryan Murphy, Chuck Lorre and Steve Levitan are notable artists whose signature was not on the letter.
There were indications of progress in the negotiating room. In a letter to his clients, Ari Greenburg, president of WME, said the parties had had an interesting exchange on the issue of packaging in the indie film industry, among other discussions during their last meeting on March 21, when ATA detailed its proposals for proposals to the WGA.
"These exchanges have only reinforced us in the idea that dialogue is the solution for this negotiation, "wrote Greenburg." Agents and writers need to engage in constructive conversations to get to the heart of these issues. "
Beginning March 27, the WGA will hold a five-day membership vote on a draft "code of conduct" eliminating agency packaging and ownership of production companies. Guild leaders said they expect the code to be approved by an overwhelming majority. If the agreement expires, the WGA will ask members to dismiss their agents if they have not accepted the new code.
At the March 21 session, the ATA made counter-proposals about agency accountability and transparency to clients, including giving the consent of the authors to decide whether a broadcast television is presented or not. Both parties made little progress over the previous five trading sessions to reorganize the 43-year-old franchise agreement.
Most television programs that use scripts are provided by agencies, who forgo the order to the customer and collect fees from the TV studio. Last year, the WGA became a particularly emotional topic, stating that agents are not motivated to get the best deals for writers when they collect packaging fees from studios.
Agencies have promoted packaging as a way to create jobs. The ATA released a report earlier this week in which it was calculated that the perpetrators would have lost at least $ 49 million a year if they had had to pay commissions on packaged issues.
For its part, the WGA released a report on March 12 entitled "No Conflict, No Interest", accusing the four major Hollywood talent agencies – CAA, WME, UTA and ICM Partners – of illegal conflicts of interest. The report contains a covert threat that the WGA would take legal action against the agencies by invoking the US Department of Justice's 1962 antitrust complaint, which forced MCA to withdraw from the company's business. agency after a decade of activity as both producer and agency. .
The full letter can be viewed here via the WGA website.
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