2-15-08
Writers Reach Deal: What does it mean for Chicago.
The Writers Guild of America strike against the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers ended this past weekend after three months, and the writers appear to have come out on top.
Writers were able to negotiate a residuals system for Internet and new media streaming for the first time—setting a precedent for decades to come. In addition, the payment system is based on producers gross incomes, so writers will get paid in timely fashion. The residuals agreement also paves the way in upcoming AMPTP negotiations with SAG and AFTRA. Actors are looking for the same form of Internet compensation.
The WGA deal does not include reality TV writers or animation writers, the latter of which is covered by the International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE). The WGA had wanted reality and animation writers to be part of the deal.
The pact with AMPTP also does not raise minimums for starting writers, particularly on basic cable.
Despite some of those disappointments, the agreement was overwhelmingly supported by writers, as it represented a move forward. The AMPTP started the negotiations last summer with the intention of rolling back existing residuals structures.
National news has focused on the strike’s devastating impact on TV, with its short turnaround times from script to production. Film studios, with longer lead times, worked through their backlog of completed scripts. Hampered mainly by the inability to revise, producers hastened to get projects in the can.
Though SAG and AFTRA appear to have mended fences and negotiate jointly with producers (see story, page 1), an actors’ strike remains a possibility. The actors’ contract is set to expire June 31. March is the unofficial deadline for studios to get films into production with the assurance that they can be completed before the contract expiration.
What Chicago has felt most from the strike has been the threat the work stoppage posed for greenlighting any of last year’s three major locally-shot TV pilots: A&E’s “The Beast,” TNT’s “Leverage,” and Lifetime’s “Family Practice.”
“We haven’t felt the impact much from the strike,” said Eileen Willenborg, executive director of AFTRA/SAG Chicago. “We’re not as directly impacted as Hollywood or New York.”
Some reports have cast the WGA strike as an opportunity for independent producers to access otherwise unavailable big-name talent, particularly in the narrowing window between the end of the writers’ strike and the end of the actors’ contract. This hasn’t panned out much locally so far. With our notoriously slow winters and small number of locally generated projects in the running for name talent, Chicago indies aren’t seeing much bounce from the strike.
Jonathan Bross, president of the Chicago/Los Angeles-based production company Velvet Steamroller, has only seen negative impact from the strike. “We have several projects stalled because of the writers’ strike,” Bross said. He added that “the potential of an actors’ strike continues to create a sense of urgency to get projects into production prior to the potential strike.”
Michigan-based producer Bob Brown, who produces film with Jeff Daniels through Purple Rose Films, and on his own through Charity Island Pictures, says he’s been unaffected by the labor strife. “As my films are financed in a non-traditional model, state film incentives are actually providing more opportunity to finance my films than the guild issues,” Brown said.
Brown found talent availability and distribution opportunities similarly unaffected. “Name talent is always available if the script and character warrant their attention,” he said. “Actors want to work and if they are indie friendly, you can always get a fair shot. The film and story speak for themselves. In the indie world, quality is always the driving force.”
The rest of the winter looks busy enough. Already in production is the George Tillman/Bob Teitel-produced Humboldt Park. In March, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale star in Michael Mann’s 30’s gangster pic Public Enemies. Also slated for March: David S. Goyer’s untitled possession horror story; Heather Graham and Lara Flynn Boyle in Baby’s Day Out; and the Billy Higgins-produced Kept for Light Tower Entertainment.
Universal’s Chicago-set ’50s blues drama Cadillac Records won’t be shooting here. That production is underway in New Jersey.