WGA Names Negotiating Committee For Talks With Producers On New Film & TV Contract

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The WGA has appointed the members to its negotiating committee in the run-up to its talks with management’s Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for a new film and TV contract. See the list below.

The current pact expires on May 1. No date has been set for the talks to begin, and it’s not clear whether the WGA will begin bargaining before the Directors Guild, whose contract doesn’t expire until two months later. In years past, the DGA has gone first, reaching deals that have set the pattern of bargaining for the WGA and SAG-AFTRA to follow.

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In the upcoming WGA talks, WGA West executive director David Young will serve as the guild’s chief negotiator, with Michele Mulroney, Shawn Ryan and Betsy Thomas serving as co-chairs. Ex-officio members of the negotiating committee include WGA West president David A. Goodman, WGA East president Beau Willimon, WGA West vice president Marjorie David and Kathy McGee and Bob Schneider.

Preparations for the negotiations have begun as the guild continues its nearly seven-month battle with Hollywood’s talent agencies. On April 13, the guild ordered all of its members to fire their agents who refuse to sign its new Code of Conduct. During the WGA’s recent election, Goodman said in his campaign statement that the studios would be mistaken if they think they can “push us around because they think we’re ‘tired’” of battling the agencies, or that the agency campaign has weakened the guild’s resolve to fight the studios for a fair contract “if they pushed us to a strike.” A bigger share of the companies’ streaming revenues is expected to be a major bone of contention in the upcoming talks for a new Minimum Basic Agreement.

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The other members of the guild’s negotiating committee are:
Liz Alper
Arash Amel
John August
Amy Berg
Ashley Nicole Black
Adam Brooks
Francesca Butler
Patti Carr
Robb Chavis
Meg DeLoatch
Travis Donnelly
Kate Erickson
Dante W. Harper
Eric Heisserer
Melissa London Hilfers
Elliott Kalan
Chris Keyser
Adele Lim
Peter Murrieta
Luvh Rakhe
Dailyn Rodriguez
Erica Saleh
David Slack
Lauren Ashley Smith
Amy Sohn
Meredith Stiehm
Patric M. Verrone

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