posted 04-17-2001 09:00 AM            

The Writers Guild of America will resume negotiations with the film and television companies today in a last-ditch effort to reach an agreement on a new contract. The talks are expected to last at least two weeks, going right up until the May 1 expiration of the guild's current pact -- and possibly beyond, if the two sides are making progress toward a deal.

The WGA and the companies previously met for six weeks under a self-imposed media blackout, but WGA leaders recessed the talks March 1 so that they could lift the blackout and talk to their members -- and the media -- about the status of the talks.

During the past six weeks of no bargaining, both sides did a lot of talking to the
media about how difficult and intransigent the other side is being. They even
talked occasionally to each other.

When negotiations resume today, the "cone of silence" will once again descend over the bargaining table as both sides have again agreed to a media blackout during the remainder of the talks.

Talk, in this case, is not cheap. To find an elusive deal and avert a strike, the two sides will have to close the $100 million gap in their respective bargaining positions. By Hollywood's standards, $100 million over three years is not a lot of money, but if the producers give it to the writers, they will have to give similar increases to Hollywood's many other guilds and unions, which could easily set the companies back half a billion dollars over three years. DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg has said that that would "bankrupt" the industry.

The WGA also is asking for improvements on a wide range of creative-rights issues that would give screenwriters more access to the filmmaking process. The two sides have agreed that they have made considerable progress on many of these issues, but one area of disagreement -- the WGA's demand for a sharp reduction in the number of "film by" credits that are given to directors -- appears insurmountable in these talks.

The WGA maintains that this "vanity" credit, which almost always goes to the director of a film, diminishes the contributions that writers and everyone else makes to the filmmaking process.

Even so, this no longer appears to be a strike issue. For while the Directors Guild of America remains adamantly opposed to any real concessions in this area, the WGA, in a nationwide media blitz on the alleged unfairness of these possessory credits, has largely succeeded in accomplishing its goal -- to discredit the "film by" credit in the eyes of the public and make it more an object of derision than a badge of honor.

posted 04-17-2001 09:46 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by jherikai:
...has largely succeeded in accomplishing its goal -- to discredit the "film by" credit in the eyes of the public and make it more an object of derision than a badge of honor...

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YES YES YES!

posted 04-18-2001 06:46 PM            

Here's how they handled the credits:

Screenplay by...

Directed by....