Writers Strike: Will the WGA do a Deal with Lionsgate or TWC?

A friend asked an interesting question: Will Lionsgate make an interim deal with the WGA, a la David Letterman's Worldwide Pants? The Letterman deal, signed just days ago, was reportedly on the terms the Guild has been demanding - and that the major studios rejected as economically unreasonable.

Such a deal - or perhaps one with The Weinstein Company (TWC) - would be a natural way for the Guild to take the pressure of interim deals to the next level. This time, the majors would be looking not at a tiny company in a specialized corner of the business, but at a mini-major - a true competitor, ready to make films and television programming with the best writers in the business. It'd be the difference between a cat at the door and, well, a lion at the gate.

Will this happen? I don't know. But - when I asked a WGA spokesman whether the Guild had discussed the matter, or was in talks with Lionsgate or TWC (or planned any), his response spoke volumes: "I can neither confirm nor deny." He then added a smiley face.

[Update - Since this article was published, the WGA has reportedly done such a deal with United Artists. Perhaps Lionsgate or TWC will be next.]

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Comments

[eanderso]

02:02 PM on 01/04/2008

This is more like it! This is EXACTLY what I was hoping would happen...I knew there were companies out there that didn't feel that the WGA terms were unreasonable, and all it takes are a couple of mini-majors doing these deals before everyone else starts following suit.

[westwind]

06:07 PM on 01/03/2008

Good to hear. The more of these deals that are signed, and the larger they become, the more readily the general public will be able to see how the greed of the corporations is preventing a fair and reasonable settlement. If what the WGA was asking for was unreasonable, no company would make a deal with them.