WGA Writer’s Strike Officially Over

The Writers Guild Of America strike lasted exactly 100 days. According to Variety, members of the WGA voted last night to end the strike on its 100th day, finally allowing Hollywood to begin gearing up its production engines once again.

The WGA West president announced the news around shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. 92.5% of the 3,775 ballots cast were in favor of ending the 100-day strike, with 3,492 members voting yes and 283 hold outs ready to go the distance and continue the work stoppage that began Nov. 5 (my birthday incidentally).

In brief remarks to reporters in New York, WGA East president Michael Winship reiterated that the hard-fought contract includes landmark gains for writers in new media, and that the guild achieved its primary goal of establishing a new-media compensation formula that will pay writers a percentage of revenue generated by distribution of their work in the digital realm.

“We’re receiving a percentage of the distributor’s gross,” he said, “which is very real money, as opposed to what people refer to as creative or Hollywood accounting.”

Once the announcement was made that the vote was in favor of ending the strike, writers were free to go back to work “immediately” and it is believed that some writers did, indeed, begin working Tuesday night. Many more will begin work today in the hopes of getting many of televisions most popular shows back into production and back onto the air with new episodes before the generally accepted end of the season in May.

Hollywood’s labor pains may not be over, however. The contract between studios and the Screen Actors Guild is set to expire in June, said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney with the Los Angeles firm of Troy Gould and a former associate counsel for the writers guild.

“The signs are mixed whether this is going to be another difficult negotiation,” Handel said. “The actors face all of the new-media issues that the writers and directors faced.”

The settlement of the WGA strike, however, is seen as a positive sign that the studios and the actors will be able to come to an agreement easier now.

---

Movies, Television
WGA strike