WASHINGTON -- As the writers strike grinds on, two of Hollywood's labor leaders are making a visit to the nation's capital Wednesday to discuss policy issues with policymakers.
In a whirlwind visit, WGA West president Patric Verrone and SAG president Alan Rosenberg are scheduled to meet with House and Senate lawmakers as well as members of the FCC, guild sources said.
Although the leaders are scheduled to discuss issues surrounding the use of product integration in movies and TV shows and their hope to convince lawmakers and FCC officials of the need of independent programming requirements, they also expect to get questions about the strike.
Outside of the appointment of mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez, the federal government hasn't paid much attention to the writers strike.
That doesn't mean, however, that it has gone without notice, and Verrone and Rosenberg expect the issue to come up as they make their rounds.
Product integration, the practice of insinuating name-brand products as part of the narrative, has been a contentious issue between the guilds and the studios.
In a whirlwind visit, WGA West president Patric Verrone and SAG president Alan Rosenberg are scheduled to meet with House and Senate lawmakers as well as members of the FCC, guild sources said.
Although the leaders are scheduled to discuss issues surrounding the use of product integration in movies and TV shows and their hope to convince lawmakers and FCC officials of the need of independent programming requirements, they also expect to get questions about the strike.
Outside of the appointment of mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez, the federal government hasn't paid much attention to the writers strike.
That doesn't mean, however, that it has gone without notice, and Verrone and Rosenberg expect the issue to come up as they make their rounds.
Product integration, the practice of insinuating name-brand products as part of the narrative, has been a contentious issue between the guilds and the studios.
- 11/14/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With a federal mediator joining the WGA's film and TV contract negotiations for the first time in 19 years Tuesday, Hollywood is holding its collective breath that the move will actually prove meaningful.
But while industryites are waiting to exhale, Juan Carlos Gonzalez of the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service will be watching for signs that the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers are willing to listen to his suggestions. The parties resume their film and TV negotiations at 10 a.m. Tuesday at AMPTP headquarters in Encino.
"The mediation will depend a lot on the will of the WGA and the AMPTP to make it work, and there has to be a willingness to make things work and to compromise," said Steve Katleman, a labor attorney with Greenberg Traurig in Los Angeles. "There has been such brinksmanship up to now, and it can be difficult to back down sometimes, so this could possibly provide a face-saving opportunity for one side or the other. But it's a voluntary process, and it will be all about the power of persuasion of the mediator."
That process could take awhile, warned Alan Brunswick, a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.
"Typically, the mediators don't know anything about the entertainment industry, so the parties have to spend a good amount of time educating them," Brunswick said. "The issues here are so complex, it could take some time for them to do so."
For now, WGA West president Patric Verrone told The Hollywood Reporter, it's safe to say a strike won't be called at the stroke of midnight on Halloween.
But while industryites are waiting to exhale, Juan Carlos Gonzalez of the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service will be watching for signs that the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers are willing to listen to his suggestions. The parties resume their film and TV negotiations at 10 a.m. Tuesday at AMPTP headquarters in Encino.
"The mediation will depend a lot on the will of the WGA and the AMPTP to make it work, and there has to be a willingness to make things work and to compromise," said Steve Katleman, a labor attorney with Greenberg Traurig in Los Angeles. "There has been such brinksmanship up to now, and it can be difficult to back down sometimes, so this could possibly provide a face-saving opportunity for one side or the other. But it's a voluntary process, and it will be all about the power of persuasion of the mediator."
That process could take awhile, warned Alan Brunswick, a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.
"Typically, the mediators don't know anything about the entertainment industry, so the parties have to spend a good amount of time educating them," Brunswick said. "The issues here are so complex, it could take some time for them to do so."
For now, WGA West president Patric Verrone told The Hollywood Reporter, it's safe to say a strike won't be called at the stroke of midnight on Halloween.
- 10/30/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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