In the midst of the Writer’s Guild (WGA) strike, another union, The Director’s Guild of America (DGA) has begun their negotiations with the Producers (AMPTP) in an attempt to get a new deal in place long before their current contract, which expires in June, runs out.
The big difference between the WGA and DGA situations is that it looks like the DGA and AMPTP are already close to a deal, and industry experts say they expect a full deal announced within a month, maybe less. That’s good news for everyone.
Bolstering the optimism is that DGA President has publicly said that they wouldn’t even START negotiations until: “(W)e would not enter negotiations with the AMPTP unless we were within shouting distance of an agreement on our two most important issues — jurisdiction for our members to work in new media and appropriate compensation for the reuse of our work on the Internet and other new-media platforms,” Well, they’ve officially started negotiations… so we know they’re close, and all reports from both sides are that those negotiations are going smoothly.
So why are negotiations with the DGA going so well and so smooth, and the negotiations with eh WGA aren’t? One member of the AMPTP suggests one reason: “I’m optimistic,” a high-ranking industryite said. “Bottom line, I think we’ll make a deal (because) the directors will be more reasonable.”
So what does it say about the WGA strike situation if the DGA and AMPTP are able to sit down, hammer out a deal quickly and not have any of the public rhetoric volleyed around like the WGA situation? Are the AMPTP really just the big bunch of unreasonable, greedy, labor oppressing pigs that the WGA is trying to make them all out to be if the Directors Guild can just walk in, sit down and deal with them so easily???
Is the WGA suggesting that the Directors are just a bunch of idiots? That’s they’re naive?
At the same time, if the AMPTP is able to sit down the with DGA almost 6 months in advance of any potential strike… then why the FUCK can’t they at least sit down with the WGA when a strike is actually going on? Yes I know that the Producers are unwilling to budge on a couple of the extra things the writers want… but don’t refuse to sit at the table until they come off! Sit down! Argue. Scream. But at least talk. Nothing will get accomplished until you at least do that!
Anyway, the WGA is insisting that any DGA deal won’t affect them at all… but every major industry expert is suggesting otherwise. The WGA can not hold out until June for the actors to potentially join them (I suspect a deal with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) will come rather quickly after a DGA deal is reached anyway), and if the DGA do deal quickly the with producers, then the pressure will solidly be on the WGA leadership to get a deal done soon.
