As Deadline Hollywood reports, the DGA announced today that formal negotiations are commencing with the AMPTP beginning tomorrow (yes, that's Saturday.)
You can see Patric Verrone's comments below; as he states and as he's said many times before, we all hope the DGA makes a deal that will get the town back to work. However, if the deal they make doesn't address the needs of writers, the WGA is not bound by its terms.
The DGA is known for negotiating quickly; it's reasonable to anticipate they will have a deal soon. But what the terms of that deal will be, and whether it will meet our needs, we have no way of knowing.
We can be sure, however, that it will address New Media issues of both Internet jurisdiction and reuse of existing material on the internet. As Michael Apted wrote in his letter to DGA membership:
As I have stated before, we 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.
What kind of terms they'll negotiate remain to be seen. But nowhere in that letter do I see the words "3 year study."
We've been burned before by hoping so fervently for a resolution to the strike that we were blindsided when the AMPTP walked away from the table. Whatever happens with the DGA negotiation, there's one thing we absolutely must do this time -- stay calm and collected, and be ready to examine whatever comes out of these negotiations with a dispassionate eye.
Stay strong, folks.
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