WGA Inks New Independent Agreement

LOS ANGELES, January 15: The Writers Guild of America (WGA)
has scored another deal with an independent studio, inking an interim agreement
with the film, television and digital-media outfit Media Rights Capital (MRC).

“This is an exciting agreement that will open up
opportunities for writers, especially in new media,” said Patric M. Verrone,
the president of the Writers Guild of America, West, and Michael Winship, the
president of the Writers Guild of America, East, in a joint statement. “We know
that Guild members will be eager to be a part of the MRC creative team.”

MRC co-CEOs Asif Satchu and Modi Wiczyk added: “MRC operates
from two basic concepts and this agreement is a natural extension of that
ethos: we treat talent as our partners and we maximize distribution across all
digital, film and television platforms. As with all of our partnerships, we
could not have accomplished this agreement without creative talent. In this
case, we especially want to thank our colleague Seth MacFarlane for helping
pave the way with the WGA and also to the leaders of the Guild who worked with
the utmost professionalism.”

With talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and
Television Producers (AMPTP) stalled, the WGA has been negotiating with several
production houses independently. Deals have been signed with David Letterman’s
Worldwide Pants, as well as with United Artists and The Weinstein Company.

—By Mansha Daswani