Writers strike swiftly nears a conclusion

The tentative contract gives writers a share of the
digital-media market.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Writers Guild of America moved swiftly Sunday toward a resolution of its three-month-old strike, with guild leaders deciding to recommend the contract to members and ask them to vote on a quick end to the walkout.

By calling for separate votes on ending the strike and accepting the contract, the union cleared the way for the entertainment industry to return to work almost immediately.

Membership meetings will be held Tuesday in New York and Los Angeles to allow writers to decide whether the strike should be brought to a speedy end, said Patric Verrone, president of the guild’s West Coast branch.

“This is the best deal this guild has bargained for in 30 years,” Verrone said.

The tentative contract secures writers a share of the burgeoning digital-media market, he said, including compensation for Internet-delivered TV shows and movies.

“If they [producers] get paid, we get paid. This contract makes that a reality,” Verrone said. But, he added, “it is not all we hoped for and it is not all we deserved.”

Still, the union’s negotiating committee recommended Saturday that the contract be accepted, and the West guild’s board of directors and the East Coast guild’s council agreed. They called for a membership ratification vote, which will be conducted by mail over about two weeks.

Member approval of the contract and the strike’s end appeared likely. At heavily attended membership meetings Saturday in New York and Los Angeles, there was resounding support for the proposed deal that could put TV and movie production back on track, salvage the rest of the TV season and remove a boycott threat from this month’s Oscars.

Verrone thanked television viewers who “tolerated three months of reruns and reality TV.”

The guild’s major bargaining concession to studios was agreeing to take unionization of animation and reality TV shows off the table, Verrone said. The guild has said it still intends to pursue those goals.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, said it had no comment Sunday on the guild’s actions.

Show runners — industry lingo for the executive producers in charge of a TV series — are expected to be back at work today, preparing for the return of writers as soon as Wednesday, industry members said.

Although show runners are also guild members, they are allowed to work while the strike remains in effect as long as they focus only on producer-related tasks.

The strike’s end would allow many hit series to return this spring for what’s left of the current season.

, airing anywhere from four to seven new episodes. Shows with marginal audience numbers may not return until fall or could be canceled.

A minimum of four weeks would be needed for producers to start from scratch with their first post-strike episodes of comedies and get them on the air, industry members said. A drama would require six to eight weeks from concept to broadcast.