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News
Weinsteins Sign Interim Agreement with WGA
Unnamed "industry executives" yawn, check watches.
by Jeff Giles | January 11, 2008
Discuss Article
Add The Weinstein Company to the list of studios that have signed interim agreements with the Writers Guild of America.

Harvey Weinstein confirmed the deal in an interview this morning, saying "It's important for the business to get the ball rolling and get back to work." According to the Los Angeles Times, The Weinstein Company's deal "mirrors the pacts that the union recently signed with United Artists...and David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Inc."

Between inking various interim deals, shrinking the Golden Globes down to press-conference size, and wreaking havoc with Oscar plans, the WGA seems to be having a pretty good week for itself -- but, as the Times notes, "Without one of the big players making such a deal, these interim agreements are unlikely to have much influence in ending the strike, according to industry executives."

Of course, that's according to industry executives -- they'd probably say the strikers were going to burst into flames from picket friction if they thought anyone would believe them -- but it's a point well-taken. United Artists and The Weinstein Company, though both certain to benefit from their WGA deals, are also two of the more hit-starved studios in Hollywood, and unless they can do better with the scripts currently deluging their offices than they did with recent releases such as Lions for Lambs and The Nanny Diaries, those smug "industry executives" could wind up being right on the money. Literally.

Source: Los Angeles Times

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Comments (1-7 of 7 posts) | Reply
BowieSwimmer
BowieSwimmer writes:
on Jan 11 2008 05:27 AM

The Weinstein Company hasn't put out a hit in months...or even a truly quality movie.
While Grindhouse is one of my favorite films of the year, it certainly wasn't a box office hit. At all.
So is this news great? Well, its great that a studios are finally trying to resolve the issue. I just wish it was a larger studio that released more quality films.

...and why is Strike (2002) the featured movie?
I mean its hilarious, I get it, but its just so [beautifully] random.


(Reply to this)
Elmeliac
Elmeliac writes:
on Jan 11 2008 06:07 AM

This whole affair is really quite terrible, 24 has come to a halt!! I need my Bauer fix ASAP!

(Reply to this)
highdough
highdough writes:
on Jan 11 2008 10:09 AM

It's interesting that the deal the WGA is offering is god enough for World-Wide Pants, UA and the Weinstein Company, yet the multinational corporations, I mean major studios won't even negotiate. Mmm.

(Reply to this)
minderbinder
minderbinder writes:
on Jan 11 2008 12:25 PM

It's not a big step, but every company that signs an agreement chips away at the AMPTP's position.

It's pretty hard for them to defend refusing to even talk with the WGA when more and more of these small companies are saying that the WGA's requests are completely reasonable and they're willing to accept them.

While UA and Weinstein haven't had a hit lately, this has the potential to be a BIG advantage for them. Since they are the only ones working on new projects, it's a chance to attract better talent than usual, and if the strike drags on long enough they could have films in the theatre with little competition from the big studios. But then again, the studios will likely give in if the strike is still going on and they run out of films to release.


(Reply to this)
airsickmoth
airsickmoth writes:
on Jan 11 2008 02:13 PM

Maybe if Warner switched sides we could declare this war finally over. I mean they do seem to have a lot of effect on battles of will recently.

(Reply to this)
lamer
lamer writes:
on Jan 12 2008 12:37 AM

In reply to this comment (#1454610)
You mean in the same way as the HD-DVD/Blu Ray incident?

...guess you aren't too far off.


(Reply to this)
Matanuki
Matanuki writes:
on Jan 12 2008 06:03 PM

In reply to this comment (#1454170)
You know something, Mindbender, I wouldn't mind if the bigger studios suffered the ultimate cost of their stubbornness. If they disappeared altogether and the smaller companies who can concede to the notion of offering writers respect took over the entire business. F**k em all, I say if they won't negotiate. We'll see how well they do in the box-office without writers. I laugh at the thought.

(Reply to this)
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