The SAG Negotiations: Why George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Others May Have Exercised a Faulty Strategy

The SAG Negotiations: Why George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Others May Have Exercised a Faulty Strategy

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(The following is an excerpt from Michael Russnow's Huffington Post piece. For the full article click here.)

I like George Clooney and I like Tom Hanks. Who doesn't? From their screen personas to their amiable chats with David Letterman. They seem like nice guys and appear committed to good works and deeds, from Clooney's work on behalf of Sudanese refugees to Hanks' paying homage to our military veterans.

However, I'm concerned about their outspoken efforts to head off a SAG strike. Not because it would obviously be preferable to avoid a work stoppage so soon after the three and a half-month WGA industrial action, but because what they appear to be doing works against the very potential for which the Screen Actors Guild was originally created.

It's all well and good to make statements of a general kind regarding the need for the conflicting parties (the AMPTP and SAG) to be bargaining at the negotiating table, but the methods these well-intentioned actors have employed seem to be of a hurrying design that, by their very nature, take the air out of the balloon of solidarity and play right into the hands of the AMPTP.

David Blum on "The Cieply Scenario"

David Blum on "The Cieply Scenario"

United Hollywood News  

We already posted our thoughts on Michael Cieply's dramatic New York Times narrative of how WGA contract negotiations got over an impasse. Now, David Blum has written a very amusing piece in the New York Press parodying Cieply's breathless style... about Michael Cieply.

With the strike now over, there is a lot of talk about "winners and losers," most of which is premature. But pieces like Blum's are useful because they examine how the story of the strike was shaped as it was going on. We hope to be running a few original pieces on this topic soon. We are editing one on the infamous legend of "the Dirty 30" for tonight. Stay tuned.

Forbes: Real Winner of the Strike is New Media

Forbes: Real Winner of the Strike is New Media

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Forbes.com has featured consistently balanced coverage of the WGA strike, rightly (in our minds!) pointing out that in a time of great uncertainty and digital transformation, Hollywood's unions and companies need to be working collaboratively to build new revenue streams.

In a piece posted on Newsweek.com, Forbes journalist Lacey Rose writes, "[T]he agreement legitimizes the new medium within the industry, guarantees the writers a stake in it and aligns the interests of everyone in Hollywood in seeking Internet success."

Rose's argument is that the conglomerates' best bet for succeeding in new media is to make it attractive for the creative professionals they rely on in traditional media to ply their trade online.

Charlie Craig, proprietor of the stellar "My Second Strike," is quoted as saying, "This deal may have saved the guild from becoming irrelevant. So was the strike worthwhile? Absolutely." And Rose concludes, "Someday soon, the studios may agree."

Getting Ready for Saturday Night

Getting Ready for Saturday Night

Rumor Patrol  

The WGAw's general membership meeting will be held at the Shrine Auditoriumat at 7pm (NOT 6:30pm as we reported earlier) on Saturday night.


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As of Thursday afternoon, we are all still waiting on specific contract language. Lawyer and blogger Jonathan Handel has pulled together media reports of alleged WGA deal points on his Digital Media Law blog. But none of the rumors or media reports mean much. If it's not in the contract language, it's not real.

We've been emphasizing all week that a strong showing on the picket lines would give the WGA's lawyers and negotiators the maximum leverage to make sure the contract language is in keeping with what the companies pledged during informal talks. And the numbers this week have been great. WGA staff estimate that over 1500 turned out for today's mass picket at Disney.

But there's another bit of leverage at the WGA negotiators' disposal: the possibility of writers all going back to work quickly. For that reason, the prospect of ending the strike quickly is very valuable. If the contract language isn’t finished in good faith, that possibility would be destroyed.

As we wrote here earlier today, the WGA constitution lays out a few timelines for when the strike could be called off. One permissible timeline would have a ratification vote completed by Wednesday.

In light of that option, many members have contacted U.H. privately or posted comments stating the importance of having time to digest the deal points and make up their minds in a responsible way. Keenly aware that there are pilots, tv shows, movies, jobs and a popular ceremony hanging in the balance, they are not asking for weeks, but rather days. When weighed against the three-year life of this contract (or possibly twenty-year life, if DVDs are any indication) 72 hours seems a very reasonable request.

WGA presidents Patric Verrone and Michael Winship have stated that no action will be taken until some consensus emerges among the membership. We have faith that they will do that. When they say they will let the membership decide, we take them at their word.

Should it become clear on Saturday night that the memberships in New York and LA need a day or two to digest the deal points, we think they will respect that. Likewise, if it's clear that the majority of members strongly supports the contract, we could be back at work on Monday.

The WGA is a democratic union. We argue, we criticize, we make one another crazy. But during this strike, we have stood together with unprecedented and historic unity. We can make it a few more days if necessary.

No one inside or outside the union has forced us into anything, and that won't change now.

Fact Checking the NYT

Fact Checking the NYT

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While it's flattering that the New York Times would try to bestow such importance on Ms. Kalogridis and -- ahem -- "her friends," Michael Cieply's breathless account misses something obvious. A strike does not come to a possible (repeat, "possible") ending thanks to one person or even one website, no matter how awesome the website.

The outcome of a strike is determined by the strikers. By the sacrifice of thousands who march and pour their emotion and time into the fight.

When the strike ends, it will be because the union as a whole decided to end it. This struggle is about the sacrifices of many, not the phone calls of a few.

Hope and Strategy: How to Handle the Rest of This Week

Hope and Strategy: How to Handle the Rest of This Week

Other Media Coverage  

While the weekend and Monday saw rumors of "the strike's over," some caution has finally entered the dialogue. Here is the opening of Variety's main strike article today:

"As the lawyers work overtime to hammer out the details, scenarios are emerging that could -- underline could -- bring an end to the WGA strike by as early as next week.
Insiders are strongly warning that many aspects remain to be ironed out in the contract being drafted between the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, and that the process could be derailed by even a seemingly small dispute over contract language."

The LA Times ("Guild board favors deal, with caution") reports that the WGA board is "holding off on giving its blessing [to any deal] until it sees the exact language in the contract." And Nikki Finke ("Strike Status Report") writes,

"[T]here are genuine concerns that the negotiating committee and the board may not approve the deal, even though Verrone, Young and Bowman are behind it. (Though the votes do not have to be unanimous.) There are also genuine concerns that the WGA membership may not approve the deal -- like what happened during the 1960 strike."

So, yeah. Strike's not over. How can we get there? It all comes down to contract language.

All of the above media accounts are based on off-the-record information. U.H. has collected very reliable info, some shaken loose with the assistance of alcohol, but we will not report it lest we risk even the appearance of breaking the ongoing news blackout. Unlike other media outlets, the security guard at WGA headquarters greets this one as, "Oh, hi. You again."

Until actual contract points are announced in preparation for Saturday's membership meeting, we should not draw any conclusions about where we stand. Clearly, there are leaks going on. But leaks serve the AMPTP more than the writers. It's in the AMPTP's interest to have everyone thinking it's safe to tune out. (On Sunday, my 93-year-old grandfather told me, "So! I hear the strike's over!") If the writers aren't paying attention or maintaining strength, the AMPTP's lawyers will attempt to water down the contract language from whatever the CEOs agreed to in principle.

There's no conspiracy behind this, it's simply the culture of Hollywood business affairs. Lawyers for the conglomerates score points by whittling down deal points. (That’s why I never start working w/o a signed and executed longform contract. -LK.)

The spin the AMPTP hopes to spread is nicely represented in this illustration whipped up by WGA supporter and graphics genius Rubberpoultry during yesterday's U.H. Live broadcast:



After everything that workers in the industry have sacrificed, it would be catastrophic to see a possible conclusion to this strike derailed by a membership that's no longer paying attention or overaggressive factions trying to rush a delicate undertaking. Of the latter possibility, Nikki writes: "[N]ow is the time for everyone to back off. That's right, BACK OFF. And to let the WGA leadership talk to its board and also its membership without outside interference." Allow me to second that. I'd prefer not to be writing a post like this again in six months.

Now's the time to stay strong, show our solidarity and stay focused. So far, so good: Over 1,330 picketers took to the lines Monday. Let's keep it going.