Writers Guild, United Artists Ink Agreement

LOS ANGELES, January 8: As the strike continues, the Writers
Guild of America (WGA) has reached its first independent agreement with a movie
studio, announcing a deal with United Artists Films.

The studio, relaunched by Paula
Wagner and Tom Cruise in 2006 in a deal with MGM, did not release
details of the agreement, but did note that it “addresses the issues important
to writers, including New Media.”

Wagner, co-owner and CEO of UA, said the deal is “important,
unique, and makes good business sense for United Artists. In keeping with the
philosophy of its original founders, artists who sought to create a studio in
which artists and their creative visions could flourish, we are pleased to have
reached an agreement with the WGA.”

MGM, which has allowed the Alliance of Motion Pictures of
Television Producers (AMPTP) to negotiate on its behalf, said it “understands
the desire of United Artists to resume its business activities, but
respectfully disagrees with its decision to sign an interim agreement with the
WGA. MGM remains committed to working with AMPTP member companies to reach a
fair and reasonable agreement with the WGA that positions everyone in our
industry for success in a rapidly changing marketplace.”

The AMPTP, too, is not happy with the guild’s attempts to
strike deals with individual production houses. “One-off deals do nothing to
bring the WGA closer to a permanent solution for working writers. These interim
agreements are sideshows and mean only that some writers will be employed at
the same time other writers will be picketing. In the end, until the people in
charge at WGA decide to focus on the main event rather than these sideshows,
the economic harm being caused by the strike will continue.”

—By Mansha Daswani