Is the Writers Strike Coming to an End? Who Cares?! Marvel broke through!
Marvel has signed a deal with the WGA, but it may be moot if the talks continue to go well.
The real story is that the WGA has been trying to make interim deals with individual production companies for awhile now. They don’t want to be out of work, any more than the studios want them to be out of work; but money is king.
So that is why interim deals have been signed with Lionsgate, Marvel and RKO. These three on top of others add up to over a dozen deals done in a strategy of divide and conquer.
"Lionsgate is considered a leader in the industry and its signing an interim agreement again confirms that it is possible for writers to be compensated fairly and respectfully for their work and for companies to operate profitably," said WGA West president Patric M. Verrone and WGA East president Michael Winship.
The timing of the Lionsgate deal is definitely a good deal for the studio, considering that the largest indie studio of the lot’s Showtime TV show Weeds would normally be gearing up for pre-production right about now. In addition, it was known that they wanted to start prepping as soon as possible – in fact as early as last November – their highly praised Mad Men.
In terms of Marvels’ agreement, we know this is a good thing. Projects such as Captain America, Thor and Ant-Man can start back up again. And Variety even notes that The Avengers might get a kick-start after this interim deal.
Needless to say, the AMPTP decided to release a revised statement that just rings of hard-pressed cattiness; "These one-off agreements are meaningless because the companies signing them know they will not have to abide by their terms for very long, since they'll be superseded by whatever final industry-wide accords are reached. If companies truly had to live by the terms of these one-off agreements, we are confident none would ever be signed."
However, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers may have a point, considering that informal talks are continuing. Ever since the Directors Guild signed their new contract with the studios, the pressure has been put on the WGA to come to an agreement of its own. Their requests are still as important, but with the concessions made for the directors, people thought maybe it was time for the writers to make their own concessions.
Informal information has suggested that the informal talks – widely seen as de facto negotiations – have been promisingly productive. Hollywood holds their breath, as does the rest of the world. Could it be? Might TV come back soon? Oh how we love you TV!