Writers endorse new three-year deal
Verrone: 'Contract is a new beginning'
In an anticlimactic finale to the bruising 100-day strike, 93.6% of scribes voted to back the three-year pact.
A total of 4,060 votes were cast, nearly 40% of the ballots sent out. The number of ratification votes cast was significantly lower than the 5,506 ballots cast in October's strike authorization vote.
The WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers opted Tuesday for low-key and criticism-free statements -- a sharp contrast from the fiery blasts that emerged regularly during the strike.
WGA West president Patric Verrone said on Tuesday, "This contract is a new beginning for writers in the digital age ... It ensures that guild members will be fairly compensated for the content they create for the Internet, and it also covers the reuse on new-media platforms of the work they have done in film since 1971 and in TV since 1977. That's (It covers) a huge body of work that will continue to generate revenue for our members for many years to come as it is distributed electronically."
The AMPTP issued a brief statement: "Now that our industry is back in business, our goal is to collaborate with everyone in the industry -- writers, directors, actors and stagehands alike -- to produce the highest-quality entertainment products without any further interruption."
WGA East president Michael Winship called the new pact "groundbreaking on many levels."
"Not only does it establish Writers Guild jurisdiction in new media, it gives writers the same separated rights provisions in new media enjoyed by the creators of original TV and motion picture scripts, as well as residuals for the reuse of movies and television programs on the Internet and in new media," Winship said. "Those residuals will be based on distributor's gross' -- real money for our members -- that we'll be able to audit and monitor more effectively than ever before."
Verrone and WGA East prexy Michael Winship told members Tuesday that they'll need to be vigilant to assure that writing for the Internet's performed under a WGA contract. And they said the same sort of vigilance will be needed to assist SAG and AFTRA members.
"They are about to go through a similar process to the one we experienced," the duo said. "Their support of our cause was invaluable. We must use all our efforts and experience to support them as well. Further gains that they can achieve will have an immediate, positive effect on our contract."
The WGA's gains in new media largely mirrored those achieved by the DGA, which ratified its deal a week ago. The least popular aspects of the WGA deal were the lack of gains in cable and the inability of leaders to shorten the DGA's 17- to 24-day promotional window in ad-supported streaming of TV shows.
In its announcement Tuesday, the WGA singled out five key gains in the contract:
Establishing WGA jurisdiction over writing for new media
Giving writers "separated rights" in new-media content (separated rights are the contractual rights traditionally enjoyed by writers of original television and motion picture scripts)
Establishing residual payments for new-media reuse of covered material, including Internet downloads and ad-supported streaming of feature films and TV programs.
Establishing "distributor's gross" as the basis for calculating new-media residual payments.
Creating meaningful access to information and auditing tools that will allow the WGA to monitor the development of new-media markets.
SAG, which was the WGA's closest strike ally, was the first showbiz union to issue a statement Tuesday via president Alan Rosenberg: "We applaud the WGA's solidarity and the dedication of their membership in the struggle to achieve an agreement that serves the interests of professional writers."
Verrone and Winship also said the guild-industry health plan has agreed to a three-month extension of eligibility for members who would have lost coverage on April 1 because they did not meet the plan's 12-month earnings threshold of $30,823 as of Dec. 31. About 250 members are set to lose eligibility on that date -- about 40% higher than the usual number.
Verrone and WGA West exec director David Young had said repeatedly before the strike that members would retain their eligibility throughout the strike -- even though the plan had not agreed to such a provision (Daily Variety, Jan. 31). Typically, about 5,500 WGA members are covered by the health plan.
The vote had been viewed as something of a formality since the WGA's ruling boards voted on Feb. 10 to unanimously back the deal. WGA leaders told their members at that point that the pact was the best that could be achieved, while admitting that the deal fell short in key areas -- with no jurisdiction gained over reality TV and animation, for example.
Over 92% of members then voted over the next two days to end the strike (Daily Variety, Feb. 13).Term of the agreement is retroactive to Feb. 13 -- the day after the writers stopped striking -- through May 1, 2011.
Much of the town's focus has shifted over the past two weeks to upcoming negotiations with SAG and AFTRA on their film and TV contract, which expires June 30.
