WGA-Producer Negotiations See Little Progress

'Speechless'

The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers met and negotiated all last week, making some limited progress, but the parties are still stuck on payments for digital media.

A new proposal by the producers was made, and both parties were engaged in what the San Jose Mercury News calls “full-scale spin control over whether the writers were rejecting a reasonable proposal or the moguls were digging in their heels.”

Talks are expected to resume tomorrow, but momentum towards a settlement seems to have dissipated, with the writers sticking to their guns and networks lining up shows that don’t require writers.

Things are looking grim for TV lovers, with most of the top prime time series having run out of fresh episodes and NBC pulling out of the Television Critics Association press tour in January.

Out-of-work writers have turned their talent and free time to creating short-form TV that can be found on the web. The article points out as particularly well-done a series of “public service announcements” called Speechless that can be found on YouTube or at the United Hollywood website. These have been created by top-notch writers and directors, and feature known TV and film actors.