DGA-AMPTP Deal Repercussions

So the Directors Guild of America has made a deal with the “evil” AMPTP, which leans heavy on the striking writers. The question remains as to whether that deal is good enough for the writers to sign onto. Variety has some of the industry reaction.

“I’m very pleased with the new agreement and I hope it helps speed up the negotiations with the WGA,” [George] Clooney said in a statement.

“I’ve read the bullet points, and it is a step in the right direction, it shows that agreement is possible, and it brings a spirit of hope that hopefully will extend to the WGA and the AMPTP,” said director Oliver Stone. “If it is not taken in that spirit, that would be most unfortunate.”

“One thing that is very clear is that with all the bad blood between the WGA and studios, the writers can strike until the end of time and they will not do better than the directors did,” said one veteran agent who crystallized the view of many dealmakers. “It is time to stop this.”

“I think this will be enough to get the deal done,” said the scribe. “Even on the most aggressive invitation-only writer discussion sites, about 50% of people think this is enough. Many of us feel that this is the deal to make and if we don’t embrace it, it’s over because people will go fi-core, immediately.”

And, the most unsettling quote:

“We knew from early on that the writers strike could get ugly, and this has got to bring a little sanity to the situation,” [Michael] Bay said. “I can’t do the movie without my writers, but I have been prepping. I’m not in the guild, but I’ve been writing every day. This strike (is) insane, and a director’s responsibility is to the 50 crew members who depend on you for their livelihoods. We’ve got battle plans ready for the possibility of an actors strike. Somehow, you’ve got to keep the ball rolling.”

He’s writing Transformers 2. Please don’t let him be the writer for Transformers 2.