Talks between the WGA and the AMPTP will resume
on Monday, November 26th. The strike will continue during the talks.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and studio reps will head back to the bargaining table on November 26 after back-channel dialogue facilitated by Creative Artists Agency partner Bryan Lourd helped put the parties onto a more productive track. The WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) put out brief, identical statements Friday night.
No other details were provided, and a press blackout was instituted. But it's clear that the emotion-charged issue of new-media compensation will remain front and center when the talks resume.
Despite the planned resumption of talks, the WGA intends to continue its picketing and other strike activities. Negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP broke down November 4, and strike pickets took to studio gates the next day.
Picketing will take place as planned Monday and a big writers march is planned for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday on Hollywood Boulevard. No strike activities will be held the balance of the week, but that's only because none had been scheduled due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Pickets will reappear the same day negotiations resume. WGA West president Patric Verrone alerted guild members during the weekend that their picketing obligations remain in place.
"This announcement is a direct result of your efforts ... the hours you have spent on the picket lines, the days you've spent educating friends and colleagues, the boundless energy you've put into engaging with not only the Hollywood talent community but people all over the country and the world," Verrone said.
It's good news that talks are resuming. But the studios are going to have give something to the writers on the issue of Internet residuals, or the talks are going nowhere.
