As Talks Stall, Writers Guild Prepares Plan to Leave Talent Agencies En Masse
Jeremy Fuster
The Writers Guild of America has turned down an offer from Abrams Artists Agency to drop packaging fees, ending a chance at a possible thaw in the impasse between the writers and Hollywood agencies.In April, WGA implemented a new code of conduct for agents designed to end practices it says are conflicts of interest: Packaging, where agencies bundle talent and projects together and bring them to studio as a package, for which the agency collects a fee; and affiliate production, in which a studio partly owned by the agency is involved in a packaged project. When the code of conduct went into effect, writers were required to fire any agent or agency who refused to comply.Since then, talks between the WGA and the Association of Talent Agents (ATA) have failed to bring any progress. But in its proposal, made public Monday night, Abrams broke ranks with other ATA-affiliated talent agencies by offering to end its involvement in package deals and affiliate productions. To date, only one ATA agency, Pantheon Talent, has signed the WGA’s code of conduct. Abrams would have been one of the largest agencies to date to reach an agreement with the WGA since the walkout.However, Abrams said it would not formally sign the WGA code of conduct, citing objections over sharing of information, among other complaints. Instead, Abrams wanted the WGA to agree to an amended version of the 1976 artists’ manager basic agreement (AMBA), which the WGA terminated in April to push for the new code of conduct. The proposed new version would have an additional page of amendments that would include the elimination of packaging fees.Also Read: WGA Sends ATA Cease and Desist Letter Over Antitrust PracticesAbrams’ refusal to sign the code may have contributed to WGA’s decision. In a letter provided to TheWrap, WGA executive director David Young said that 73 other agencies — all of whom except Pantheon are not ATA-affiliated — have already signed on to the code.“…under the favored nations terms of our agreements with the 73, if I go backward and make a deal with you that has lesser terms than the deals we’ve made with the signed agencies, the WGA will have to give your deal to all 73! You can see that we’d never do that,” Young wrote.“We’re in a three-month struggle to get a deal that supersedes the 1976 AMBA, not one that uses it as a benchmark,” he added.Also Read: CAA Follows UTA and WME, Claiming Writers Guild Boycott Violates Antitrust LawsIn a written response to Young, provided to TheWrap, Abrams chairman Adam Bold said he is “disappointed, sad, and perplexed” by WGA’s decision.“I expected that we would have a common goal, which was to put people back to work in the interim while the litigation is going on, but instead it seems that the WGA has other priorities. I don’t have the desire nor the resources or energy to spend trying to engage in negotiations on the sort of agreement that a union makes with the trade association,” Bold wrote.“I’m not a labor negotiator. I’m not pretending to try and solve the bigger issue. Instead, I thought that I had a reasonable and fair workaround for our clients and staff to earn a living until they work out those bigger issues. We simply took the agreement that had been in place for 42 years and made an addendum removing the most contentious and egregious issues.”In recent weeks, UTA, WME and most recently CAA have filed lawsuits accusing the guild of violating antitrust laws. In its lawsuit, filed Monday, CAA said that the guild boycott is not ordinary labor union activity and “vastly” exceeds any exemption from the antitrust laws that the WGA may have for its ordinary activities as a labor union.For its part, the guild on Friday sent a cease and desist letter to ATA, accusing the organization and its member agencies of engaging in “collusive actions” and “anticompetitive behavior.”Read David Young’s full letter below:Adam-I appreciate your effort but I hope you understand that we cannot agree to what you are proposing.There are many reasons, but a fundamental one is that we’ve now negotiated a whole, new AMBA with many terms that are better than the old agreement. We opened the contract after 43 years because writers don’t like it . We cannot make an interim deal that takes us back where we were in 1976.Another thing I want you to know is that we’ve currently signed 73 agencies to the new agreement; there are 27 remaining AMBA signatories with whom we have not reached a new deal, including Abrams. Under the favored nations terms of our agreements with the 73, if I go backward and make a deal with you that has lesser terms than the deals we’ve made with the signed agencies, the WGA will have to give your deal to all 73! You can see that we’d never do that.We’re in a three month struggle to get a deal that supersedes the 1976 AMBA, not one that uses it as a benchmark. The agreement that I sent to you incorporates many changes from the original Code of Conduct of a few months ago, the result of negotiating discussions over the months with both the ATA and many individual agencies that have already signed.If you want to get on the phone to discuss this, let me know. Best-DavidRead original story WGA Says No to ‘Interim Deal’ With Abrams Artists to Drop Packaging At TheWrap
After Tuesday’s meetings between the Writers Guild of America and the Association of Talent Agents ended without progress, WGA released a new action plan for a mass-exodus from agencies, while ATA accused the guild of misleading members “with false information and horror stories” and warned of lost jobs and compensation.
The two groups met ahead of a four-day WGA member vote on a new code of conduct for talent agents designed to bring an end to package deals. If approved, the code would go into affect April 7 — one day after its current agreement with ATA expires — at which point guild members would be expected to immediately fire any agent or agency that doesn’t agree to comply with the code.
In its action plan to its members, WGA says it will create a standard termination form to allow writers to leave their agencies without contacting their agent directly, which the guild will send to agencies in bulk. WGA says it will also post a list of agencies and agents who agree to comply with the proposed code of conduct.
In addition, WGA says it will launch an online database to connect writers looking for work with producers and executives who are hiring.
“We know we cannot replace agents. There will be difficult moments. But our goal is to get through staffing season and whatever period of time it takes to make a fair deal with the agencies […] Our industry will not grind to a halt. Studios and producers will still need writers. Writers on staff and working on projects will still go to work. Feature scripts will still get sold, and TV shows will still get staffed. Our ideas and our words will still have enormous value, and the work we all love to do will continue.”
Meanwhile, in its statement the ATA accused WGA of avoiding “meaningful negotiations,” and warned that the code of conduct, if passed, would force writers to pay “$49 million in commissions each year or cost all artists upwards of $110 million in additional commissions per year.”
“WGA leadership should want to engage on the two key issues of packaging and affiliate production. So far, they have not. Instead, they continue to mislead their members with false information and horror stories,” ATA said.
The statement also said that over 100 of the ATA’s member agencies have pledged to refuse compliance with the WGA”s proposed code of conduct.
The WGA responded by accusing ATA of not moving off the ultimatum it set last month that the guild must be willing to compromise on packaging fees — or “conflicted practices,” as the guild called it — as a precondition to further talks.
“Right now, seven weeks into these discussions, the agencies will not even agree to give the Guild information that would help writers get paid on time,” the guild said. “They have stood on their principle of ‘choice,’ which is, in reality, a demand to negotiate writer-by-writer, rather than acknowledging the Guild as the representative of all writers and their proper negotiating partner.”
“We hope to make a deal before expiration, but we won’t be intimidated by another threat from the agencies. Their ‘your Guild won’t negotiate’ stance is a calculated negotiating ploy, but it will not substitute for serious conversation about the damage inflicted on writers by conflicted practices. We stand ready to talk.”
The WGA authorization vote on the Code of Conduct will open on Wednesday and continue through March 31.
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