Lionsgate, Marvel Score WGA Deals

LOS ANGELES, January 25: Two more independent studios,
Lionsgate and Marvel Entertainment, have entered into interim agreements with
the Writers Guild of America, following similar moves by United Artists,
Worldwide Pants and Spyglass Entertainment, among others.

Other outfits that are able to get back to working on new TV
and film content include MRC, Jackson Bites, Mandate Films and Sidney Kimmel
Entertainment.

Commenting on the Lionsgate deal, Patric M. Verrone, the
president of the WGA West, and Michael Winship, the president of WGA East, said
in a joint statement: “Lionsgate is considered a leader in the industry, and
its signing an interim agreement again confirms that it is possible for both
writers to be compensated fairly and respectfully for their work and for
companies to operate profitably.”

Upcoming television series from Lionsgate include season
four of Weeds for Showtime, the second
season of Mad Men for AMC and a
new show for NBC, Fear Itself.
Films coming up from the studio include Rambo, The Eye, Tyler Perry’s
Meet the Browns, Forbidden Kingdom, My Best Friend’s Girl, Punisher 2, Saw 5 and The Spirit.

Marvel Studios, meanwhile, a division of Marvel
Entertainment, is getting back to work on Captain America, Thor,
Ant-Man and The Avengers. Verrone and Winship commented: “Marvel is committed
to fairly compensating their writers and now they can move forward with their
planned production schedule.”

For
full coverage of the writers strike click here.

—By
Mansha Daswani