• "Box Up Personal Items When You Leave Work Thursday": WGA's Strike Checklist
• New WGA Proposal Included Movement On DVDs, New Media, Jurisdiction Issues
• IATSE Sends Warning Memo To Members
• URGENT: Talks Come To An Abrupt Halt; Thursday's WGA Meeting A Strike Call?
• DHD UPDATE: Strike Comments Starting!
• WGA Fingers Agents "Lying" To Writers
• Update: New WGA Proposal On The Table
• WGA To Offer New Proposal Tomorrow: Expect A Few Days' Strike Delay?
• Rename It The 'Fear Validation Program'
• Another WGA/AMPTP Pre-Strike Update...
• AMPTP Suddenly Feeling Teamsters' Heat
• WGA Lobbies Crews & Teamsters; The 411 On Federal Mediator
• 'Most' Hollywood Teamsters To Honor WGA Picket Lines, Says Union Insider
• AMPTP's Nick Counter Stays On Message
• Verrone Forsees 'Threats' And 'Low-Ball 11th Hour Offer' By AMPTP
• Federal Mediator Will Attend WGA Talks
• WGA/AMPTP Talks Still Going On
• Tricks & Treats At WGA Strike Talks Today (...All About The Chairs)
• Finke/LA Weekly: Strike Happy H'wood 
• AMPTP To WGA: Show Up To Hear New Offer
• SAG Emails; AMPTP Sends Letter
• WGAW Says Variety Scoop Has No Reality
• Moguls See New TV Season As Dead Already
• Strike Vote In For WGA: 90.3% Say "Yes" 
• Results From WGA Strike Vote Delayed
• WGA Authorized To Strike ... As Expected
• Wow, The WGA's Paranoia Just Worsened
• SHOCKER: Is Writers Strike Now Averted?

THURSDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Hollywood Writers Strike Called; Timing Announcement To Come Friday; Actors Agree To Walk WGA Picket Lines

I've obtained instructions issued tonight to WGA contract captains who turn into strike captains once the Writers Guild of America calls its walkout. That's right: it's not "if", but "when". Since there will be no bargaining talks on Thursday, a strike call could come Thursday night when the leadership meets with the general membership at 7 pm inside the incredibly inconvenient downtown location of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Picketing could start Friday or Monday. (See my previous: URGENT: Talks Come To An Abrupt Halt; Thursday Night's WGA Meeting A Strike Call?) Here are memo excerpts: 

Show captains need to compile a personal contact list for everyone who could participate in pickets (including actors, writers' assistants, staff and crew, etc) or other strike actions.

Showrunners and all WGA members should assemble drafts of every unproduced script and other literary material for the so-called "Script Validation Program". (Details here.)

Showrunners, hyphenates with projects in development, and other hyphenates may want to speak to or write letters to the Producers they are working with "to make clear that our mutual goal is to negotiate a fair and reasonable contract. We welcome their support toward that goal."

Before leaving their offices on Thursday, all Writers guild members should take their personal items home. "If you have an office on a studio lot, you may want to box up your personal items when you leave work on Thursday."

There will be a WGA West membership meeting in Los Angeles tomorrow night at 7 pm. At the meeting, the Negotiating Committee will update members regarding the negotiations and make their recommendation as to how to proceed. The WGAW will send out another e-mail following the meeting with up-to-the-minute information.

There will be a captains meeting Saturday November 3rd at 1 pm. Agenda to follow. captains should plan to be on call this weekend. There will be a captains orientation session Saturday November 3rd at 11 am.

"If there is a strike, submit your scripts for validation. You have 4 days from the commencement of a strike to do this. Contract/show captains become picket captains immediately. Show up for your picket shift. Your captain will advise you where/when. Report any re-writing of your material, illegal demands, pressure to cross picket lines, etc to your picket captain."

I've obtained an internal (not for public consumption) WGA account of today's negotiations and the guild's new "Comprehensive Package Proposal" put on the table:

"Today, just hours before the expiration of our contract, the AMPTP brought negotiations to a halt. The companies refused to continue to bargain unless we agree that the hated DVD formula be extended to Internet downloads. This morning we presented the AMPTP with a comprehensive package of proposals that included movement on DVDs, New Media, and jurisdictional issues. We also took nine proposals off the table. The companies returned six hours later and said they would not respond to our package until we capitulated to their Internet demand. After 3 1/2 months of bargaining, the AMPTP still has not responded to a single one of our important proposals. Every issue that matters to writers, including Internet reuse, original writing for New Media, DVDs, and jurisdiction have been ignored. This is completely unacceptable."

The producers, in turn, claim they were ready to bargain -- and had even ordered in dinner -- but the WGA side said fuhgeddaboudit.

The AMPTP issued a statement tonight and the WGA's is below that. The negotiations broke down today not because of the traditional DVD residual issue, but about residuals for the Internet such as electronic sell-through -- i.e. Internet downloads. The AMPTP keeps saying electronic sell-through is synonymous with DVDs. The WGA says they're different and wants to negotiate a new residual formula. AMPTP refuses. Everyone knows that New Media and the Internet are the overriding issues of this negotiation. And now no more bargaining is skedded because of them. (... Remember, DHD comments are turned on. Opine away!) :

"AMPTP POSITION STATED TO THE WGAW AND WGAE TODAY
BY AMPTP PRESIDENT NICK COUNTER

"We’ve been working hard to come up with a package in response to your last proposal.  But we keep running up against the DVD issue. The companies believe that movement is possible on other issues, but they cannot make any movement when confronted with your continuing efforts to increase the DVD formula, including the formula for electronic sell-through.

The magnitude of that proposal alone is blocking us from making any further progress. We cannot move further as long as that issue remains on the table. In short, the DVD issue is a complete roadblock to any further progress. 

This cannot come as a surprise. Before the negotiations began, Writers Guild of America West President Patric Verrone met with many CEOs. The consistent message from the CEOs was that, for overriding business reasons, the home video formula would not be changed.  Nevertheless, you proposed to increase the DVD formula in these negotiations.</p>

<p>We want to make a deal. We think doing so is in your best interests, in your members’ best interests, in the best interests of our companies and in the best interests of the industry.  But, as I said, no further movement is possible to close the gap between us so long as your DVD proposal remains on the table. In referring to DVDs, we include not only traditional DVDs, but also electronic sell-through -- i.e., permanent downloads. As you know, we believe that electronic sell-through is synonymous with DVD.

There are pending claims with regard to electronic sell-through that will be resolved through the arbitration process. But to make any new agreement with you, residuals for the DVD market, including electronic sell-through, must be paid under the existing home video formula.

We are ready and willing to proceed to reach agreement with you. We call upon you to take the necessary steps now to break this impasse so that bargaining can continue for our mutual benefit and the good of everyone else who works in this industry."

POSTSCRIPT: After Nick Counter presented the above position, the WGA advised us that they were not prepared to continue tonight. When asked about tomorrow, they said no, we have a membership meeting. When they were asked about Friday, they advised they would call us.

2ND UPDATE: The WGA issued this "Latest Word" tonight:

"The WGA Negotiating Committee, on behalf of the Writers of Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), has issued the following statement regarding Contract 2007 negotiations:

Today, just hours before the expiration of our contract, the AMPTP brought negotiations to a halt. The Companies refused to continue to bargain unless we agree that the hated DVD formula be extended to Internet downloads.
 
This morning we presented the AMPTP with a comprehensive package of proposals that included movement on DVDs, new media, and jurisdictional issues. We also took nine proposals off the table. The Companies returned six hours later and said they would not respond to our package until we capitulated to their Internet demand.
 
After three and a half months of bargaining, the AMPTP still has not responded to a single one of our important proposals. Every issue that matters to writers, including Internet reuse, original writing for new media, DVDs, and jurisdiction, has been ignored. This is completely unacceptable.
 
There will be a WGA West membership meeting in Los Angeles Thursday night."

UPDATE: More details about the WGA's "Comprehensive Package Proposal" presented today are here. In the meantime, there's a new blog by a member of the WGA "Communications Committee" at UnitedHollywood.com. It critiques the media coverage of this breaking story as well as imparts info.

What a major embarrassment for Variety! This afternoon, I was leaked this memo sent by the Writers Guild West president Patric Verrone to his WGAW Contract Captains vehemently denying the trade paper's supposed big strike "scoop" today:

There is an article in today's Variety written by Dave McNary titled, "Reality in Check:  WGA Gives Up on Nonscripted Effort."  The article makes a number of baseless assertions, including that our reality organizing campaign has ended and that WGA negotiators in our current MBA bargaining have decided to drop our reality proposal.  We are writing to assure you that these assertions are patently false.

According to the reporter, much of this article was based on his own analysis and speculation rather than objective fact.  We intend to make clear to Variety's editors that opinions should be labeled as such, and not printed on the front page under a banner headline.

The WGAW continues to be committed to organizing reality. In the past weeks we have had several actions, including rallies and pickets at FremantleMedia's production Temptation protesting its failure to recognize the WGA as the collective bargaining representative for writers. We have also begun a long-term struggle with that company.s other productions aimed at eliminating sub-standard working conditions.

The WGAW continues to pursue a wage and hour campaign that includes multiple lawsuits against production companies and networks, and wage and hour claims with the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement. The wage claims have been overwhelmingly successful, with a number of claimants receiving back overtime at a number of companies. These settlements have included confidentiality agreements, and as a result have not been widely publicized.  Our position that a majority of people in reality television are systematically denied overtime was boosted earlier this fall when E! agreed to pay three years of back overtime to over 100 producers.

We cannot guarantee you that we will achieve all of our goals at the bargaining table, or that our reality television organizing campaign will meet with rapid success; but we can give you our word that this Variety article does not represent the position of the WGA or our Negotiating Committee.  It is our hope that this article, and others like it that may appear, will only serve to unite writers against employers who want to deny them the ability to share in this growing global business. We are all in this together.

Patric M. Verrone,
President, WGAW

I'm told Nick Counter, the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, wants ALL of the negotiating committee members at tomorrow's Thursday's 10 am session, no matter what. (Today's and then Wednesday's sessions were cancelled because AMPTP wanted time to caucus.) That's leading the Writers Guild of America side to think maybe something's gonna give. I hear the Hollywood moguls' negotiating team is indeed working overtime to devise that new combination of alternatives and options to present to the WGA, as I reported on Monday. So they want as many from the other side as possible, not just the usual militants but also the bigtime writers/hyphenates, to hear the producers' POV in person.

Counter's side contends there were just a dozen people at Monday's session out of the 40 who should have been there, including "not a single exec from WGA East". This isn't true: WGAE was repped at Monday's session by screenwriter and Negotiating Committee member Terry George. "The WGAE has always had at least one member, and usually many more, present at every day of negotiations, despite the fact the negotiations are held in Los Angeles and all the WGAE members and executive staff live in New York or the East," the guild told me. "The WGAE has always been represented at the bargaining table and is actively involved in strategy and decision-making for this negotiations."

UPDATED: Meanwhile, the WGA West is vehemently denying today's strike "scoop" by Variety's Dave McNary anticipating that the WGA will pull the plug on its demand that producers place Reality TV show writing under its jurisdiction. See my just posted, WGA Says Variety Scoop Has No Reality. The story made sense to me, because, when all is said and done, this Reality TV issue needs to be negotiated first with IATSE and then AMPTP. Interestingly, this was an issue that the moguls told me last weekend needed to be taken off the table. But I found no evidence that the WGA was taking it off the table.

Despite news reports about a sour meeting where neither side budged, I've heard that yesterday's session actually went pretty well. "WGA proposals were actually addressed, and people were pleasant," a source from the writers side told me. But after yesterday's talks, both AMPTP"s Counter and the WGA side issued scathing statements.

Counter said, "The WGA leadership dismissed the withdrawal of the producers' recoupment proposal as insignificant despite their claim that this was a major impediment to reaching an agreement. The WGA leadership has yet to make any movement on its own or the producers' proposals. Instead, they continue to pursue numerous financial proposals that would result in astronomical increases in our costs," Counter added. "Their proposals would also further restrict our ability to promote and market TV series and films and profhibit us from experimenting with programming and business models in New Media."

Several hours later, the WGA West and WGA East issued the following statement: "We have no intention of discussing the producers’ rollback proposals. Not now, not ever."

My spies tell me that Jeff Zucker and Ron Meyer had lunch in the Universal Studios commissary today with Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider -- and everybody was all smiles. Talk about a virtual public announcement that a reunion between the studio and DreamWorks isn't far behind! "I can't imagine GE will blow it a second time. They made an extraordinary mistake," a source told me. Meanwhile, an agent analyzed, "I wonder if this is a negotiating ploy?" Look, we all know David Geffen still has to come to terms with GE chairman Jeff Immelt and his NBC Universal errand boy Jeff Zucker, so a deal isn't yet a foregone conclusion. But Uni prez/COO Ron Meyer can facilitate the DreamWorks sale since he's longtime pals with everyone involved (and Snider's ex-boss). And we all know that Spielberg never left the Universal lot (even after DreamWorks' sale to Paramount), and it's the studio where the director has been happiest. He'd like nothing better than to call the place home again, and partner David is in the business of giving Steven what he wants. So stay tuned.

Before the writers and producers get back to the bargaining table Monday, I'd like to share with you my reporting about what the Hollywood moguls are thinking now that the Writers Guild Of America members have overwhelmingly (by 90.3%) authorized a strike to start anytime November 1st or later against the Alliance Of Motion Picture & Television Producers. I must say, what I learned truly shocked me. Just as I reported the writers' POV Friday night, I'm now doing the moguls'. Don't assume either is my own view: that if any of this thinking were rational, a labor walkout wouldn't cripple Hollywood in the first place.

First, this is where the individual moguls stand vis a vis a WGA strike. I'm told they break down into only two groups, not the three groups from last time around. So instead of hawks, moderates and conservatives, there's now only hawks and conservatives:

Hawks: Peter Chernin (News Corp/Fox), Bob Iger (Walt Disney/ABC), Barry Meyer (Warner Bros), Jeff Zucker (NBC Universal), Michael Lynton (Sony Pictures Entertainment).

Conservatives: Les Moonves (CBS), Ron Meyer (Universal), Brad Grey (Paramount), Amy Pascal (Sony Pictures Entertainment), Harry Sloan (MGM, which also reps United Artists in this), Jeffrey Katzenberg (DreamWorks Animation, and the most moderate of the bunch).

Nothing about this list should be terribly surprising. Sloan's struggling studio with all its financing and box office problems needs a strike like a hole in the head right now. Katzenberg wants to be the mogul who brokers a compromise, but his bigwig brethrens don't care to let him play the hero role. (More about Katzenberg below...) Zucker, with GE threatening to sell the entertainment unit, doesn't want to get mired into more onerous financial formulas that are going to make his business even worse. Lynton wants to be a moderate but, like Zucker, needs to lower his upfront costs and, like Zucker, answers to a very strong-willed parent company whose businesses are diversified and who demands the entertainment unit now posting a return on investment in the low single-digits to at least get back to high single-digits (since no one expects the old double-digits anymore).

As for Chernin, Iger, Barry Meyer, Moonves, and also Zucker, they actually welcome a strike because they believe the 2007/2008 TV season is dead on arrival anyway. So many new shows are tanking in the ratings and/or going over budget and/or having production problems (Fox's Back To You, Nashville, K-VILLE; CBS' Kid Nation, Cane and Viva Laughlin (UPDATE: the first scripted new show of the season to be killed); NBC's Journeyman, Life and Bionic Woman; ABC's Cavemen, Big Shots, Dirty Sexy Money, and Pushing Daisies.) Even returning hit shows are losing their Nielsen luster (NBC's Heroes, ABC's Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy, CBS' CSI:Miami and Cold Case) that they feel this is as as good a time for a strike as any. As one mogul told me, "We can get rid of the overhead and regroup and rethink everything. If we were having a great year, it might be different. But we're not, and this is like an automatic do-over." As Les Moonves last week told his personal publicist (or is it apologist?), Bill Carter of The New York Times, "I'm not concerned about the state of CBS. I'm a bit concerned about the state of network television generally."

I found this news really surprising because of the willingness of the network moguls to so readily give up eyeballs that may never return to broadcast television. Didn't any of them notice the Halo 3 phenomenon? But even more shocking because the WGA's TV writers who make up the vast majority of the guild membership have been clearly operating under an illusion. (This won't be the first time for that by either side...) As I wrote Friday night, intense pressure is coming from the TV writers to strike sooner rather than later in order to hurt the primetime business to the greatest extent possible. They argue that waiting until January 1st would allow most shows to bank 6 to 8 more episode scripts, and the only real way for the WGA to wield palpable power is to shut down the TV season as soon as possible, even by November 1st. Now I find out that this will play into the hands of the TV moguls who certainly sound ready to give up the season entirely. It's useless to point out that the last strike was in March 1988, lasted 22 weeks, and cost the industry a half-billion bucks. Because the answer I get back from the moguls is that they've now mastered the programming "art" of cheap reality TV and game shows. (See my previous, Strike Vote In For WGA: 90.3% Say "Yes")

Here's another shocker: there are no meetings planned by the moguls for the moguls. And none have been held to date. Lots of communications by telephone. But no brainstorming sessions like the ones held at Katzenberg's house when he headed Walt Disney Studios. The moguls were supposed to "stand by" for a meeting sometime in the next few days. But now that looks unlikely, I'm told.

At the same time, the moguls are convinced they're losing the PR war in the pre-strike period. Because I understand the studio and network bigwigs thought their renouncement of residual rollbacks was a "really big deal" concession that would get the writers in a positive frame of mind. I'm told the moguls were genuinely shocked at the WGA spin to members that it wasn't much of a concession since it never should have been on the table in the first place -- and there are dozens and dozens of other AMPTP-proposed rollbacks for the guild to still worry about. "Right now, the attitude is that we made a major move, and they're kicking sand in our face," a mogul told me.

So some of the moguls want to come up with a way to get their unfiltered viewpoint across to the WGA. Katzenberg is the most vocal about this, floating the idea of "putting a face out there to show we're human". Suggestions include holding a press conference, sending one or several studio and/or network bigwigs to the negotiating sessions, or starting a so-called "mogul blog" to focus on the strike. Or maybe creating a Q-&-A session with those moguls who feign sincerity better than others and posting video of their conversations on an AMPTP web page.

The moguls also have spent the past five days "devising our own alternatives" to present to the WGA. The problem, say the bigwigs, is that "no one at the WGA has come to us with a formula" and "without residuals, the WGA is having a hard time articulating what they really want." In other words, the bigwigs are looking for all the i's dotted and t's crossed specifics of, say, a New Media plan that would give writers a share of digital revenue before they can even consider it. So the moguls and their business side people and their negotiating committee are "looking at different packages, putting alternatives and options and combinations together" so something new is on the table for Monday's session or soon after. "We're trying to narrow the issues to those issues that really matter," a source told me. "As cavalier as some of the hawks and conservatives are, the goal is really to avoid a strike." 

But the moguls think what else is missing is a Big Name to help solve this mess. The legendary Lew Wasserman is long gone. And uberlawyer Ken Ziffren saved the moguls' and writers' asses by ending the last WGA strike. And Bob Daly, ex-Warner Bros chairman, stepped in and stopped a WGA walkout from even starting in 2001. Who's it going to be this time around? The names I'm hearing include Daly, Ziffren or his law partner Skip Brittenham, even The Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ex-Sony and ex-Paramount bigwig Jonathan Dolgen's name has also surfaced (as one source told me, "Because in my experience he's one of the smartest guys ever with numbers. And he doesn't need charts and graphs. He's just brilliant at explaining it to people.") There's also ex-Viacom and ex-Universal mogul Frank Biondi, who knows the business inside and out and can be a calming influence. You know, and I know, the decision will be made (if at all) on the basis of who will offend the least amount of people involved.

Tomorrow, I'll file on what compromises might be in store...

1. Strike Vote In For WGA: 90.3% Say "Yes"
2. Results From WGA Strike Vote Delayed
3. WGA Authorized To Strike ... As Expected
4. Wow, The WGA's Paranoia Just Worsened
5. SHOCKER: Is Writers Strike Now Averted? 

Well, I certainly had a good laugh today at Universal's expense. How in the world can the studio expect truthfulness from a just greenlighted Kurt Cobain biopic when Courtney Love will exec produce with attorney Howard Weitzman? You know, and I know, but they don't seem to care, that this movie is gonna get crucified by critics, audiences and Nirvana fans just by involving Courtney, who owns her dead hubbie's life rights. The very idea that Weitzman has weaseled his way onto this project to "protect" his client Courtney's interests is a guffaw. It's really rare for a lawyer to snag such a credit. Then again, he's a good pal of Ron Meyer and was his exec vp after Meyer took over at MCA/Universal Studios in 1995. But my opinion of Weitzman is that wherever he goes, a foul odor follows (worse than teen spirit or studio flopsweat). That is certainly how Nirvana devotees view Love as well. The film is ostensibly based on the biography Heavier Than Heaven, and conspiracy theorists have had a field day speculating about the conditions under which Courtney gave author Charles Cross extensive interviews as well as exclusive access to Kurt's unpublished diaries. What I hate seeing here is yet another minefield of a biopic likely to blow up in everyone's faces (attached is screenwriter David Benioff of the Oscar-touted The Kite Runner). Tonight, a studio source told me: "I understand that it's a messy and complicated background, but don't prejudge it."

News reports say Microsoft, Walt Disney Co., CBS and other technology and media companies agreed on principle to prevent the unauthorized use of copyrighted videos by Internet users. The companies said in a statement today they agreed to use technology that eliminates files posted on Web sites without permission. The group also agreed to identify and remove links to sites that are mostly using content without permission, develop ways to promptly address claims that content was blocked in error, and promote legitimate online services. This is all part of the effort by media companies seeking to increase revenue from online advertising to step up efforts to prevent Web sites they don't own from using unauthorized content. GE's NBC Universal unit, News Corp's Fox and MySpace units, Viacom Inc., Veoh Networks Inc and Dailymotion SA support the initiative. But not Google, which is being sued by Viacom for copyright infringement on its YouTube video-sharing site. To avoid additional lawsuits, Google introduced this week a technology that flags clips posted by YouTube users who don't have copyrights on the content.

So MySpace founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson have agreed to a new contract with News Corp after waging a very aggressive (some would term it rather fanciful) compensation proposal to owner News Corp. I reported back in June they were asking Peter Chernin and Rupert Murdoch for a 2-year deal worth $50 million total. That comes out to $25 million each, or $12.5 million a year. Plus, the pair want a development fund of $15 million to invest in internet companies. Even though MySpace is probably the most integral part of News Corp's overall corporate strategy, no one had obviously told DeWolfe or Anderson that News Corp is also one of the cheapest companies on earth when it comes to executive compensation. They know it now. I'm not yet privy to the particulars of the new contract, but I was told by News Corp insiders back then that the chances of DeWolfe and Anderson getting what they wanted pay-wise was "slim to none" and "highly unlikely". I understood News Corp countered with an offer of $15 million each spread over 2 years --- still more than every suit at News Corp except Ailes. Rupe also gave the duo equity in MySpace China, so they already got a deal unlike anyone else's. See my previous, MySpace Pair Looking To Loot News Corp. 

So this is what happens on Wall Street when the boys get angry with media stocks: they take back their toys and stomp off. Bloomberg is reporting that Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest shareholder in New York Times Co., sold its entire 7.3% stake today, sending the stock to its lowest price in more than 10 years. This extreme move follows an unsuccessful 2 1/2-year challenge by Hassan Elmasry of Morgan Stanley Investment Management to the Sulzberger family's control of the newspaper empire. (This guy has really been a thorn in Pinch's side in particular.) The clan utilizes a super-voting stock that allows them to appoint nine of the company's 13 directors. Elmasry helped convince shareholders owning 42% of the company to withhold support for directors at the publisher's April annual meeting. The Morgan Stanley stock sale hasn't been made public yet, but Bloomberg said a $183 million block trade of 10 million New York Times shares took place this morning. At one point in today's trading, the stock price fell as low as $18.24, a level not seen since January 1997. Other newspaper stocks are also trading at 10-year lows because of the loss of advertising to new media and the decline in classified ads linked to tumbling housing sales. The New York Times Co reports third-quarter results on October 23.

Not just at the Writers Guild of America but all over Hollywood today a deep sigh of relief resounded when the news broke that the movie studios and TV networks withdrew the proposal to let them recoup certain costs before making residual payments. This huge concession occurred one day after the trades were filled with pessimism because the WGA's new hardline strike rules had resulted in a declaration of war from the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers president Nick Counter.

This is exactly why I have been delaying any posting of strike news until today. Because there's been so much huffing, and puffing, and most of all bluffing going on that it's been near impossible to get a real sense of where things stood. You can't believe the posturing from the WGA side, just as you can't believe anything said by Counter. The truth lies in the executive suites and palatial homes of the top Hollywood moguls, who have been letting their labor lackeys keep track of the negotiations to date and don't even have a meeting planned amongst themselves for another week. Let's not mince words: They're the ones who are really going to decide if this strike gets averted, and we all know it. And today's news means that's increasingly likely.

Jeez, I'm sick to death of hearing the Hollywood bigwigs repeat that old saw about residuals supposedly said by Lew Wasserman to the effect that "My plumber doesn't charge me every time I flush the toilet".  Yeah, and years ago a lot more screenwriters in the motion picture business were regularly employed than, say, the Top 25 working today. Go back and read my Screenwriters In The Shit column in LA Weekly from a year ago to know just how horrible things are out there for formerly successful scribblers. They're selling the family home, taking kids out of private school, moving out of Los Angeles because their film careers are over. For these so-called schmucks with Underwoods, residuals are keeping the mortgage paid and food on the table. The same is true, of course, for writers in television. Which is why any change in the formula for sharing profit from homevideos and television reruns and pay television between the writers and producers became a huge sticking point in the contract talks with that October 31st deadline fast approaching and a strike authorization pending. Now, the AMPTP expects the guild to dump its demand for doubling DVD residuals in exchange for at most a mild cost-of-living increase adjusted for inflation. Finally, there's progress.

Remaining issues that need to be ironed out for the 12,000-member Writers Guild include New Media compensation. Look, that's a fairly simple one to solve. Since nobody yet has a handle on how much money the Internet, mobile phones and the next tech and toys will yield, create a blue-ribbon panel to study the matter. Let it report back in two years' time when all the guessing finally firms into realistic estimates. Then fight it out.

Finally, the studios and networks need to do something bold to get the guilds off their backs and stem a revolutionary revamp of residuals and New Media payments. Producers need to help the WGA's and SAG's eroding health care plans by bumping up contributions or finding some financing mechanism to shore up benefits.  

Don't get me wrong. The moguls are now ready for a strike, even though the WGA's quick-on-the-draw timing to cripple TV pilot season and next year's movies did catch the studios and networks by surprise. The majors are quietly announcing no more overtime as well as hiring freezes, which are expanded to include no more temps, contractors, or consultants (excluding those approved in conjunction with capital projects). And producers have started making quiet calls to convince certain writers to finish scripts or start new ones as "consultants". Others in Hollywood are tightening their belts as well. Agencies are cutting expenses even deeper and warning secretaries and assistants there could be layoffs or a total shutdown. Some tenpercenteries are even bandying about that dreaded term "force majeure" to avoid having to pay agents if a long strike drags on and on. And all the ancillary businesses that depend on Hollywood will be hurt; they'll disappear altogether or get bought out at bargain prices.

Finally, I don't care if the moguls don't want Warner Bros' Barry Meyer or News Corp's Peter Chernin, both of whom have taken a clear leadership role behind the scenes, to drag them out of the muck and mire. I don't care if the producers don't want to take up Jeffrey Katzenberg's offer to play the hero. (Heck, he's got to find something challenging to occupy his time since DreamWorks Animation only makes at most two films a year.) I don't even care if the moguls call in that Republican louse Arnold Schwarzenegger to mediate with the guilds. (After all, Hollywood Democrats contributed to his re-election campaign. It's time to call in a favor.) All I care is that no strike happens. Because I'll fucking lose my mind if I have to post a labor story daily starting October 31st. That I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Universal Pictures promoted and expanded responsibilities for two execs. Adam Fogelson has been appointed President of Marketing and Distribution, and Eddie Egan has been promoted to President of Marketing. In his newly created position as President of Marketing and Distribution, Fogelson assumes executive oversight of Universal’s domestic marketing and distribution divisions. Additionally, Fogelson will supervise the marketing and distribution of Rogue Pictures, the studio’s specialty genre label. He will report to Marc Shmuger and David Linde, Uni Pictures Chairman and Co-Chairman, respectively. Egan now directs all aspects of marketing for Universal's domestic feature film releases including creative advertising, media, publicity, promotion, digital marketing and administration. He will report to Fogelson. In case you were wondering, Nikki Rocco continues in her long-term agreement as President of Distribution, a post she's held since 1996 when she became the first female executive to hold this position at a major studio.

Today's news that CBS Inc has extended CEO Les Moonves' contract through September 2011 has set off a spate of rumors that Sumner Redstone will resign soon. I find that hard to believe since the old coot keeps claiming at age 84 he'll live forever and they'll have to carry him out of his Viacom office feet first. Or was it that people merely misinterpreted the headline saying "Redstone Re-Signs Moonves"?

Redstone is linking Les' compensation to stock performance. Moonves gets an option to buy 5 million CBS shares over four years. He'll also receive $7.6 million a year in restricted stock. Moonves's salary rises to $3.5 million a year from $3 million, excluding $2.9 million in deferred pay. CBS is also providing Moonves with unspecified incentives to stay with the company beyond his employment contact. Moonves has overseen a 22% rise in CBS shares since the company split from Viacom in January 2006. CBS has more than tripled the quarterly dividend to $.25 a share from $.07 and repurchased at least $3.1 billion of stock.

Moonves' new contract comes after Redstone cut his own salary and linked his total pay to the stock price at Viacom Inc. CBS rose 7 cents to $29.36 at 4:17 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 5.8% this year.