Hollywood Writer’s Strike Nears End

Written by: Tony Lazlo, CC2K Staff Writer

Finally, we have some good news from the Hollywood writer's strike: It's almost over.

Maybe. The WGA still has to accept the terms offered by the producers, but if this goes through, we could see the strike end by week's end.

Under the new deal, writers will get double the residuals they had been receiving for content sold online. Writer and producers also worked out a deal for content streamed and shown online, though the details are not yet public.

From the L.A. Times:

Hollywood's striking writers and major studios reached the broad outlines of a new employment contract, resolving key sticking points over how much writers should be paid for work that is distributed over the Internet, people familiar with the negotiations said today.

The progress moves the two parties closer to forging an agreement that could bring an end to a 3-month-old walkout.

A final contract could be presented to the Writers Guild of America's board as early as Friday, according to three people close to the talks who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. The strike would not be called off until the board ratifies a new contract.

Attorneys from the studios and the guild were meeting over the weekend to discuss contract language for the proposed agreement, which would need to be ratified by the union's 10,500 members.

Representatives of the Writers Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, declined to comment, citing a press blackout.

Under the deal, residual payments received by directors for films and TV shows sold online will double. The union also won jurisdiction over shows created for the Internet and established payments for shows that are streamed on advertising-supported Web sites.

Way to go, writers!