Criminal Minds: Here is the latest word from the WGA. Lets hope that things progress quickly over the next few weeks and that the writers of Criminal Minds are back to writing wonderful episodes of Criminal Minds for us soon!
To Our Fellow Members,
As you know, the Directors Guild announced yesterday that it has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. We are waiting for the full terms of the deal to be made available so that we can carefully analyze and evaluate the language and numbers. Until then, members can review the DGA's press release at http://dga.org/negotiations/index.php .
The East Council, the West Board, and the Contract Negotiating Committee will all be meeting soon to discuss the DGA deal and our next steps. We also will be scheduling a membership meeting to inform you and hear your questions and concerns as more information becomes available.
This is a critical juncture in our struggle. As this process unfolds, we ask for your patience. No matter what you think of the DGA's tentative agreement, what is most important is that the Guilds East and West continue to work together in order to achieve our goal: a fair and just agreement for writers.
For more than a month we have been urging the media conglomerates to return to the table and bargain in good faith. Now that negotiations with the DGA are finished, the AMPTP has reached out to us to begin informal talks. We are committed to moving the process forward to achieve the best contract possible.
Know, too, that we have signed four more agreements with important, independent feature producers. They are Mandate Pictures, Bob Yari's Sixth Floor Literary Properties, Overt Operations/Anonymous Content, and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. Each of these deals returns more people to work and provides further incentive to the conglomerates to settle our contract soon.
All WGA East members are invited to a large rally on Friday, January 25th at the Time Warner Center, Columbus Circle, from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Additional picketing information for next week can be found at www.wgaeast.org.
We look forward to working for you and with you as we move towards a successful resolution. We are all in this together.
Best,
John F. Bowman
Chair
WGA Negotiating Committee
Michael Winship
President
Writers Guild of America, East
Patric M. Verrone
President
Writers Guild of America, West
