Directors Make Tentative Deal With Studios

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By Gillian Reagan

January 18, 2008 | 10:10 a.m.

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As noted yesterday, the Directors Guild of America announced an agreement with studios on a new deal, turning the heat up on the striking writers to negotiate terms. The three-year DGA deal addressed some of the writers' key concerns, including advances in payment for programming on the Internet.

Variety reports:

Minutes after the DGA deal was announced, the moguls asked WGA leaders to start informal talks that could lead to the end of the strike -- noting that such informal talks had helped lead to a deal with directors.

“We hope that this agreement with DGA will signal the beginning of the end of this extremely difficult period for our industry,” the moguls said. “Today we invite the WGA to engage with us in a series of informal discussions similar to the productive process that led us to a deal with the DGA to determine whether there is a reasonable basis for returning to formal bargaining.”

The move by the moguls may also smooth the path to a WGA deal by creating a de facto set of negotiations under which the major points would be hammered out before a return to formal bargaining with the AMPTP. Such a step could heighten chances for a WGA deal given the hostility that dominated last year’s negotiations.