Mike Scully: Questions and Hope as Negotiations Resume

The following was submitted by WGA member and long-time "Simpsons" writer Mike Scully. -JA

To My Fellow WGA Members,

Opinions regarding how writers should react to the DGA/AMPTP agreement seem to fall into two camps: “It’s a good deal! Take it!” or “It’s a terrible deal! Reject it!” I believe there are also many writers who fall into the “Undecided” category, so at the risk of showing off the knowledge I acquired during my one day of attendance at Holyoke Community College (sadly, not a joke), I will just list a few thoughts that crossed my mind after reading the bullet points of the DGA deal over and over until my head hurt (in other words, twice) and leave the number-crunching and legalese to our representatives:

1. Regarding the 17-day "promotional use" window: Will the networks sell ad time for these "promotional" uses? If they don't, will they be profiting from a second wave of "product integration" money during this 17-day window? Personally, I don't think running an entire episode as a "promotional" tool is smart business for the writers or the studios. Movie studios don't run their films free of charge for two and a half weeks, in the hopes that it will translate into paying customers later.

In my opinion, promotional use should have a limit of 3-5 minutes of program content, just enough to get the viewer to sample the show. However, if an entire episode is going to be made available, it should not contain any ads and should be limited to a window of no more than 48 hours. If they are being paid for promotional use, so should we.

2. How will the Internet be policed? "The Simpsons Movie" is currently the number one download rental on iTunes, but I have no idea if that means it's been downloaded five thousand times or five million times (and I'm one of the writers and producers of that film). How will we get accurate figures so we know we're being paid correctly?

3. $250 for a year’s use of a TV episode was a shockingly low offer. $1200 for a year is an ever-so-slightly-less shockingly low offer. Also, if $1200 is for a one-hour show, is it 50% less for a half-hour? Regardless, I don't think these payments will replace residuals immediately as some are predicting, but over the next five years, a huge negative impact on TV writer residuals seems inevitable.

Like all of you, I want to go back to work, too. (I have four kids in college and my attempts to convince them that the DeVry institute is as good as any Ivy League school have failed miserably.)

However, unless you have the answers to the above questions and understand every other aspect of the DGA agreement, we should not be encouraging our leadership to approve or reject the deal. We simply don’t yet have the proper information to form a knowledgeable opinion. We’re certainly entitled to ask questions (and have been encouraged to do so by our leaders), but we can’t make critical long-term financial decisions based on bullet points, or the overzealous recommendations of those who may have something personal to gain by us settling quickly.

The WGA and AMPTP are partners in the entertainment business. This relationship has produced many successful films and television shows together (and maybe one or two that weren’t so good), but the bottom line is they need us and we need them. In any business relationship, there are going to be disagreements – sometimes big ones. I believe this labor dispute got uglier than either side anticipated, but now it feels like everybody is ready to put the bad blood behind them and hammer out a deal. Both sides have good reasons to want to be back in business together again. The fact that talks are resuming is a good sign for writers, studios, networks, and everyone who makes their living in Hollywood.

When a deal is finally reached, will we get everything we want? Of course not. (The AMPTP won’t either.) Striking doesn’t guarantee winning, but I’d rather go down fighting for what I feel we deserve than giving it away out of fear.

Our leadership has done a great job of unifying a divided, demoralized guild that was so used to coming up short in negotiations that we had started to accept it as a way of life. They have brought pride back to our profession and shown us that we have the power to improve our lives. Aligning us with SAG was a brilliant and empowering move, and we should not make any deal without consulting SAG first because they have been so supportive of our cause.

The DGA benefited by our stand and, to their credit, hesitated before they started negotiations. When they finally went in, they were aware the outcome would be scrutinized by everyone in town and I think they did a good job making gains in areas where they wouldn’t have been allowed to without the actions taken by the WGA and SAG.

Normally, the talent unions are only concerned with their own members’ agendas, but things are different this time and hopefully, this is the beginning of an era where the unions have learned that their real strength comes from working together with, instead of apart from, each other.

Every union starts a strike strong and unified, but it's even more important that we finish strong and unified. Three years will go by quickly, and we will be back at the bargaining table again. If the AMPTP’s last memory of us is that of a fractured guild, filled with dissension and in-fighting, that’s how we will be treated in all future business dealings.

If we are patient and continue to display the solidarity that’s been so impressive to me, while our leaders resume bargaining with the AMPTP, it won’t be long before we're all back to work doing what we love: complaining about how much we hate writing and asking "Where the hell is lunch?!"

Mike Scully