"I do not think it is a good time to strike now. The issues could be resolved over the next couple of years (without strike action)," De Niro said.

He contrasted calls by SAG to strike with the deal done by the DGA on the same issues, suggesting that directors had "done their homework" to get a decent deal.

"I do not think the actors have done that," he said. "I do not know if it is the right time to be doing this at all with the economy the way it is."

Nowhere is the economy worse than De Niro's vocabulary, where contractions are going for a record $140 per barrel but which powers along nevertheless on self-effacing candor and embittering agency-hopping. And while his point of view hardly seems to embrace the AFTRA contract on which members will vote this week, he isn't to be classified in the "neutral Clooneyesque pansy" category, either, thus requiring a whole new segment of the Turf War Map for "Part-Time Directors Who'd Rather Not See The DGA Contract Rendered Worthless Three Months Into its Term." We'll get to work on a redesign straightaway.

• Article Name [Source]

For starters: "The threat of a SAG [NOUN] reached near-[ADJECTIVE] levels this week as the actor's union [PAST-TENSE VERB] continued its acrimonious stand-off with the [PLURAL NOUN] at the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers." Follow the jump for more — the fun (almost) never ends!

The week began with the latest [NOUN] between SAG and its former [GERUND] partners at AFTRA, whose recent prime-time [NOUN] with the studios was the target of a [ADJECTIVE] SAG rally on Monday. "Instead of using every day it has this [NOUN] to aggressively and [ADVERB] negotiate for its members, the SAG committee spends days in internal [NOUN], planning the 'Vote No!' campaign, staging [PLURAL NOUN], putting staff on the marching line and spending our [ADJECTIVE] money trying to defeat it," AFTRA negotiating committee chairman Matt Kimbrough said in a [NOUN].

A day later, SAG executive director Alan Rosenberg told Variety that contract negotiations had been [ADJECTIVE] since AFTRA made its own [NOUN] with the majors. A deal seems unlikely by [PROPER NOUN] 30, he added. Among the continuing [ADJECTIVE] points: new-media jurisdiction, product placement, force majeure and DVD residuals.

Meanwhile, the AMPTP is standing by its [NOUN] that SAG won't get a [ADJECTIVE] deal than AFTRA. The latest reports have the studios [GERUND] the news [NOUN] to accuse SAG of stalling negotiations until July 7, after the results of AFTRA's own vote are [PAST-TENSE VERB]. "We hope that Rosenberg's [NOUN] does not signal the intention of SAG's Hollywood leaders to bring our industry to a [NOUN]. We remain committed to [GERUND] as hard as we can to reach our fifth [ADJECTIVE] agreement of 2008 by June 30," the studios announced in a statement.

Meanwhile, SAG has yet to seek a [ADJECTIVE] authorization from its 120,000 [PLURAL NOUN]. Follow up with us again next week if/when any progress is [PAST-TENSE VERB]!

• Studios accuse SAG of stalling talks [Variety]

The AMPTP apparently relented on the issue of establishing an online clip library, which, as of last weekend, remained one of the negotiations' primary sticking points. AFTRA's members (who still need to ratify the contract) will retain consent over the usage of their work on the Web, though Variety reports that the new deal "calls for [AFTRA] and the companies to 'develop a mechanism' by which performers can provide or withhold consent for non-promotional use of clips from TV libraries."

AFTRA currently represents about a dozen prime-time shows including Curb Your Enthusiasm and 'Til Death, but that number could climb if SAG takes to the picket line this summer. And it's certainly possible: When SAG's previous negotiations broke down earlier this month, leaders cried they were within a few hours of a deal. That was later discovered to be untrue. Listen for more saber-rattling as the parties reconvene in the month ahead.

• AFTRA, majors agree deal [Variety]
• Biz watches AFTRA-studio cliffhanger [THR]

We are confronting a number of challenging issues, and a resolution may not be quick or easy. ... AFTRA members and the Industry should be able, given appropriate safeguards, to satisfy and profit from the consumers' desire to access content through legitimate New Media sources, as opposed to the unlawful and uncompensated piracy that threatens the entire entertainment industry.

There are no easy solutions, which means that our Negotiating Committee must be both innovative and pragmatic, and the Industry must also embrace a realistic approach.

This all comes mere days after one of the new-media sticking points was revealed to be an online "clip library" of SAG/AFTRA members. In what they're calling an effort to curb said piracy, the studios want to make the actors' likenesses available online on a pay-per-use basis. The unions, which maintain they've had the right over that usage for decades, refuse to cede it now.

Leslie Simmons first noted the impasse last week, suggesting SAG's skittishness over AFTRA acquiescing to the producers' demands. Reardon's e-mail implies otherwise, but SAG's national executive director Dave Allen wasn't taking any chances today anyway, complaining in a SAG video quoted on Variety, "We think that's a real problem, and we suspect that the membership will agree with us."

Additionally, the actors are negotiating for the right of refusal with regard to product placement; if Robert Downey Jr. decides around the time of the next Iron Man that he hates Audis or abhors Vanity Fair, then they're as good as gone. We'd like to think that's one for the next contract (SAG returns to the bargaining table May 28), but if they really do plan to dynamite the industry, they might as well get their money's worth.

• AFTRA Negotiations With AMPTP [DHD]
• SAG hip to clip issue [Variety]

"I think it's insanity that we're not able to finish our negotiations and that the unions are being pitted against each other," [Allen] told Daily Variety. "We ought to be able to figure out a way to do this together, particularly since we've done so much of the heavy lifting. It's in the best interests of the memberships." ...

Allen warned the majors at the end of Tuesday's talks that it would become more difficult to make a deal with SAG if the guild were pushed aside in favor of AFTRA. "We'll lose the momentum we have at negotiations, and members' positions will become more entrenched," he explained Wednesday.

Dragging your cross from the prop department to the conference room isn't quite what we'd call "heavy lifting," but we admire Allen's dramatic protestations nonetheless. Especially when Fox chief Peter Chernin was on his first-quarter earnings call across town, spinning himself into a lather over the "de facto actors strike" such SAG uncertainty implies:

"It is difficult for anyone to start a movie now," because a formal strike would interrupt it, he said on his company's earnings call following improved fiscal third-quarter earnings driven by strong TV results. "It's a really bad thing for the industry," especially after an "extremely devastating" writers strike, Chernin said.

Asked about producers' strategy in their AFTRA talks compared with SAG talks, he said they are not looking for quick deals with anyone group over another. Instead, "we seek fair deals for everyone," he added.

And failing that? Get ready for American Idol: The Movie, we guess.

• AFTRA nixes SAG request for delay [Variety]

Although the guild hasn't set a strike authorization vote for the 120,000 SAG members yet, the industry continues to fret about a work stoppage. The majors have remained unwilling to commit to starting new feature productions until a SAG deal is in hand — a situation that some in the biz are calling a de facto strike.

After two weeks, the guild's been unwilling to back down from two of its initial demands — that the companies increase DVD residuals and offer a shorter period of free usage for promotional purposes for streamed content than the 17- and 24-day windows in the DGA and WGA deals. The majors have insisted they won't give in to either demand.

So what now? What else? Our money's on the vaunted SAG leadership to bitterly walk away from the table at the end of the week without a deal, prompting yet another labor cliffhanger to which union boss Alan Rosenberg will again invoke his "social justice" creds while the studio production calendar goes into lockdown. And why wouldn't he? He's an actor, for Christ's sake; the next two months of drama will be the best role he's had in years.

• SAG's Week to Decide [Variety]

They write, "By publicly naming names and encouraging people who have the power to hire writers to keep them 'at arm's length,' and saying they must be 'judged accountable, it is clear the WGA leadership is seeking to deny employment to these writers in the future. That is a direct violation of federal labor law, and as the employers of those writers, we have a responsibility to defend them and the rule of law in this case." The WGA quickly responded, saying the charges are "baseless and represent an intrusion by the studios into an internal union matter." We fear this matter will only continue to escalate, leading eventually to ugly and violent protests as the Fi-Core 28 are bussed onto studio lots to enact their basic, soap-writer's right to pen crappy dialogue involving serial-killing transexuals and the cancer-battling half-sisters who love them.

• WGA, studios return to corners [Variety]

We remain committed to ensuring that the rewards of our success are distributed fairly among all of our industry's talent, so that we all have appropriate and meaningful stakes in the outcome of our work.

Fortunately, the three labor agreements already reached — with the DGA, the WGA, and the AFTRA Network Code — provide the new framework for our industry's economic future. We hope that our negotiations with SAG and AFTRA will bolster this new economic framework, enabling all of us to share equitably in the success of new media and to respond with creativity and swiftness to market changes. If our industry relies on this new framework, we can all avoid more harmful and unnecessary strikes.

We obviously take great joy in observing such dick-swinging, gun-pointing swagger in advance of the unions' April 15 talks — particularly the addition of "fortunately," which is the only word left from the original letter draft obtained by Defamer: "Fortunately, because we have an 11 o'clock tee time and plan to screw you anyway, we have attached 'sign-here' stickies where you should just throw your names. We've included a self-addressed, stamped envelope for your convenience. In case you happen to read the contract, please call our lawyers with any questions or impotent, thinly veiled strike threats. We've got a whole season of The Moment of Truth ready to go just in case. See you on the set! xo, AMPTP."

• Open Letter from the AMPTP [AMPTP via Variety]

· USA buys the cable rights to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (as well as those of the first three Indy installments) in a deal that could cost $40 million, depending on how much Crystal Skull earns in theaters. [Variety]
· The AMPTP says it's ready to start bargaining with SAG on a new contract, but reserves the right to walk away from negotiations in bad faith should they decide at any point that doing would be a good PR move that makes the actors seem "greedy" and "unreasonable." [Variety]

• Previously: The Strike Is Over! On Wednesday! Let There Be Rejoicing! But Not Too Much! [Defamer]

Those who don't want to kick their gloom habit cold-turkey can feel free to fret about the June 30th expiration of SAG's contract with the studios and the possible (if increasingly unlikely) walkout that could follow, or spend some time perusing today's "Was the strike worth it?" piece in Variety, which attempts to throw a sobering bucket of cold water upon those still drunk on this weekend's good news by making them consider the "here and now" losses incurred while achieving "victories in new media that may pay big dividends in the future." (Example: Did you know that some of the aforementioned showrunners may have sacrificed hundreds of thousands of dollars during the stoppage to help save writers' livelihoods in the internet age? They must be crazy!) In the interest of preserving the first days of positive feelings the industry has experienced in about fourteen weeks, can't we all go back to swigging champagne and not picking though the wreckage of the post-strike landscape, at least for the next 48 hours or so? No one wants his Monday morning hangover exascerbated by the tsk-tsking pal who insists you move the car you've parked on his lawn before your headache begins to subside.

• Showrunners back to work Monday [Variety]
• Dealmakers spurred by fear, loathing [Variety]
• TV's new developments [Variety]

Time is of the essence in getting the board to sign off on a deal with the upcoming television pilot season, and the Feb. 24 Academy Awards show, hanging in the balance.

While the negotiating committee, headed by John Bowman, is expected to recommend the pending contract, approval by the board is not necessarily a slam-dunk because it is composed of several hard-liners who may be tougher to win over.

Furthermore, any approval would come only after a formal accord is drawn up by lawyers on both sides.

Attorneys are putting in writing what guild negotiators and studio representatives verbally agreed to Friday when they bridged key differences over how much writers should earn for work distributed over the Internet.

To help thousands of still-fragile WGA members survive the emotionally harrowing week to come, United Hollywood urges writers to take a deep breath, head back to the picket lines, and hope for the best; after all, Friday's reported gains could easily be lawyered out of existence if the Guild allows itself to be distracted by premature dreams of the strike's end—or, in a far more distressing scenario, if AMPTP bogeyman Nick Counter, enraged by the speedy undoing of months of his hard work in negotiations-avoidance, somehow chews through his restraints in time to scuttle the seemingly imminent deal.

• Guild board favors deal, with caution [LAT]
• Previously: The Strike Is Over! Or Over In A Week! Or Everyone's Being Set Up For Another Crushing Letdown! [Defamer]

But despite the widespread, media-blackout-defying leaks (and mogul-supplied proclamations issued from a luxury suite at the big game in Arizona) indicating that a deal could be reached sometime this week (huzzah!), the Guild quickly cautioned its members not to blow the remainder of their strike funds on lavish going-back-to-work parties based on "rumors about either the existence of an agreement or its terms" (muted huzzah!). So until WGA leadership issues its official announcement of a new contract (to be accompanied by a photo of president Patric Verrone hugging a weeping trio of Les Moonves, Peter Chernin, and Bob Iger), everyone should resume their still-important picketing responsibilities, resisting the impulse to indulge in the occasional high-five recognizing that the end might be in sight.

• Progress Toward Ending Writers' Strike [NY TImes]
• Contract outlined in Hollywood writers strike [LAT]
• Strike: An end in sight? [Variety
• [THR]

To Our Fellow Members, We have responded favorably to the invitation from the AMPTP to enter into informal talks that will help establish a reasonable basis for returning to negotiations. During this period, we have agreed to a complete news blackout. We are grateful for this opportunity to engage in meaningful discussion with industry leaders that we hope will lead to a contract. We ask that all members exercise restraint in their public statements during this critical period. In order to make absolutely clear our commitment to bringing a speedy conclusion to negotiations, we have decided to withdraw our proposals on reality and animation. Our organizing efforts to achieve Guild representation in these genres for writers will continue. You will hear more about this in the next two weeks. On another issue, the Writers Guild, West Board of Directors has voted not to picket the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Members of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) face many of the same issues concerning compensation in new media that we do. In the interest of advancing our goal of achieving a fair contract, the WGAW Board felt that this gesture should be made on behalf our brothers and sisters in AFM and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). Best, Patric M. Verrone President, WGAW Michael Winship President, WGAE

· Notes of cautious optimism™ have been struck by polled showrunners, though at least one quoted admits that writers may not know if the deal's new media provisions will prove fair until the buggering is already in progress: "'I can't look at that and go, "I'm being fucked"' or "That's good," " he said. 'I don't know what the landscape is going to be a year from now or five years from now. To me, the issue I always thought was the unknown. Maybe they could screw us royally, but we won't know that until it happens.'" [Variety]
· Variety analyzes the deal: "All in all, the master contract agreement...provides substantial gains in new media that will put more coin in the pockets of film and TV helmers." For a slightly different take from those whose livelihoods are at stake, here's United Hollywood's "first glance" at the deal summary. [Variety].
· We're sure that wherever he is, Orson Welles is thrilled that his name graces the title of a Zac Efron project. [THR]
· The networks, desperate for anything they can slap onto their strike-crippled schedules, are going batshit insane for celebrity circus shows! NBC's "closing a deal" for international hit Celebrity Circus, ABC wants to revive Circus of the Stars, and CBS and Fox are fighting to the death to win the rights to A Baldwin Brother To Be Named Rides An Elephant In Circles While Andy Dick Dangles From A Trapeze Above Him. [Variety]

· Everyone is Hollywood is "on edge" (about as big an understatement as we've ever read—how about "doubled over due to gut-splitting tension"?) as they wonder: Where the hell is this imminent DGA deal with the studios that will either a) contain terms just good enough to lead the way to a new contract with the WGA or b) be so unfavorable to writers that the current labor war will continue until the Earth hurtles into the sun? Relief in the form of an official deal announcement may or may not come by the end of the week. [Variety]
· Moving to cement her typecasting as a cheerleader, indestructible Heroes pom-pom girl Hayden Panettiere is in negotiations to star in an adaptation of the novel I Love You, Beth Cooper as a teenage spirit-squadder. [THR]
· Fulfilling its promise to lighten up on staff during the strike, Warner Brothers lays off about three dozen facilities employees. They are, however "very sorry for the impact this has on our nonstriking work force." [THR]

· Having quietly completed two days of negotiations over the weekend, everyone in Hollywood will be watching the DGA and AMPTP for signs that they're about to announce a deal. (Especially members of the WGA, who are praying the directors don't reach an unfavorable agreement that makes their own contract-talk suffering any worse.) [THR]
· The Producers Guild nominates The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood for its feature film award, jilting both of last night's Globes winners, Atonement and Sweeney Todd.[Variety]

But where's Johnny Depp, Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, Will Smith and Reese Witherspoon?

They've remained deafeningly neutral, as if they were thinking that if they just stayed still and quiet enough, they could wait everybody out and avoid any partisanship.

"They don't want to be branded hypocrites," muses one manager-producer. "Because they're working on movies that are [in production]. Even if there are no writers working on those movies, it's like they're still kind of crossing picket lines to work on them. . . . I think their publicists, smartly, are telling them to not take a side. Do you really gain much by taking a side?"

Indeed, it's hard to see an upside for Julia-and-Will-level megastars in choosing a side in the ugly fight that's torn the industry asunder over the past months; even if you're banking more than $20 million plus some backend-points per picture and have accumulated a fortune that ensures your family would be financially secure even if the strike lasted into the next century, being called a "hypocrite" would still sting even the sturdiest of performers' egos. It's best, then, to avoid the picket lines entirely, bypassing the possibility that as one rushes off to "pick up some more burritos" for hungry protestors, one might suffer the psychological damage of a cynical WGA member snapping back, "Have fun being a cheap media-conglomerate whore, Reese! Keep filling that content pipeline so that we never get back to work!"

• Strike support is not on the A-list [LAT]

· The WGA and AMPTP tout their favorite year-end polls: the Guild is happy about a USA Today/Gallup survey indicating they lead the public approval race 60%-14%, while the studios prefer one that says the strike has "caused no impact on the viewing habits of 74% of Americans." [Variety]
· The producers of High School Musical hope to recreate their teen-narcotizing magic for MTV with the movie American Mall. [THR]
· Universal is "downplaying expectations" for the debut of Charlie Wilson's War this weekend, anticipating that even the combination of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts will be no match for the new National Treasure movie and the return of Will Smith's I Am Legend. [Variety]

[Photo: Southern Chocolate Fountains]

· Brad Pitt, who recently abandoned Universal's State of Play, is now "in talks" to star in Terrence Malick's Tree of Life, a move in which he could be trading a $20 million (plus gross) payday for a chance to earn "nearly no upfront money" in the name of Art. [Variety]
· The FCC votes to ease ownership regulations meant to prevent conglomerates from owning newspapers and broadcast properties in the biggest media markets. Yay for consolidation! [THR]
· Critics in Phoenix and Toronto lavish awards upon No Country For Old Men. [Variety, Variety]

But lest you think the Guild and its supporters have fallen behind in the online arms race since the dramatic unveiling of AMPTP.com, they've rolled out Nick Counter's Nickel Counter, a site utilizing animation technology so advanced the AMPTP's already-overmatched programmers have no hope of duplicating it for years.

• AMPTP.org
• Nick Counter's Nickel Counter
• Previously: A Suddenly Tech-Savvy AMPTP Adds Exciting New Feature To Website [Defamer]

CONTRACT 2007 NEGOTIATIONS STATEMENT

LOS ANGELES - The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have issued the following statement regarding Contract 2007 negotiations:

"Today the WGA filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the AMPTP for its refusal to bargain in good faith with the WGA. It is a clear violation of federal law for the AMPTP to issue an ultimatum and break off negotiations if we fail to cave to their illegal demands.

We are in the midst of the holiday season, with thousands of our members and the membership of other unions out of work. It is the height of irresponsibility and intransigence for the AMPTP to refuse to negotiate a fair agreement with the WGA. We reiterate our demand that the AMPTP immediately return to the negotiations, rather than going on vacation, so that this town can be put back to work.

The DGA announced today that it may commence negotiations with the AMPTP in January. The DGA has to do what is best for its membership, and we will do what is best for ours. We wish them well, but they do not represent writers. Our strike will end when the companies return to negotiations and make a fair deal with the WGA."

For more information about the Writers Guild of America, West, please visit www.wga.org. For more information about the Writers Guild of America, East, please visit: www.wgaeast.org.

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) represent writers in the motion picture, broadcast, cable, and new media industries in both entertainment and news. The unions conduct numerous programs, seminars, and events throughout the world on issues of interest to, and on behalf of, writers.

They've also added a fun "Did You Know?" quiz, which currently features a tidbit about the alarming rate at which reality TV is supplanting scripted series on networks' primetime schedules, a not-so-subtle "fuck you" to any scribes delusional enough to think that their shows can't easily be replaced by additional hours of Deal or No Deal or Fox's upcoming How Many Fingers Is Larry The Cable Guy Holding Up, Dummy?. We anxiously await the AMPTP's next volley in this burgeoning online turf war: an animated avatar of lead studio negotiator Nick Counter, who marches across the computer screen, throws handfuls of cash into a giant toilet, and cackles with glee about his disposal of all the funds he'd be distributing to writers if only they'd come back to work.

• AMPTP.org [via Scribe Vibe]
• Previously: The New, Vastly Improved AMPTP Website [Defamer]

· Bad news for TV journalists in search of free booze and awkward cocktail-party conversations with the stars of series they've previously trashed: The Television Critics Association winter press tour is officially canceled due to the writers strike. Is there no end to Hollywood's suffering? [Variety]
· During last night's live finale of The Hills, LC made the happy announcement that some non-Guild writers will be finding work scripting eight bonus episodes MTV will tack onto the end of the hit series' third season. [THR]
· The post-negotiation-walkout shit-flinging between the Guild and the studios has begun in earnest. "They lie. And then they lie again. And then they lie some more," says the president of the WGA East in decrying the AMPTP's fear-mongering, divide-and-conquer tactics. [Variety]

We wholeheartedly agree that our browsing experience has been appreciably enhanced by this recent wave of changes; whereas our previous visits had been mirthless affairs offering little more than the drab presentation of bellicose public statements, they've spiced things up with a gallery of rejected logos, helpful facts illustrating the rationale for some of the organization's positions ("Six out of 10 non-Judd Apatow movies never recoup their original investment," "Many writers are Jewish, or Jewish-ish") and a pulse-quickening online photo spread of heartthrob lead negotiator Nick Counter. Check it out before a humorless domain name registrar and a phalanx of studio lawyers ruin all the fun!

• AMPTP.com
• AMPTP.org

· As predicted, the AMPTP broke off negotiations late Friday, following the exact script the WGA described in their press release issued earlier that ill-fated day, blaming writers for stalling and demanding that the Guild drop some of its proposals before they'd return to the bargaining table. The WGA's John Bowman sets the scene in the writers' post-breakoff statement: "As we prepared our counter-offer, at 6:05 p.m., Nick Counter came and said to us, in the mediator's presence: "We are leaving. When you write us a letter saying you will take all these items off the table, we will reschedule negotiations with you." Within minutes, the AMPTP had posted a lengthy statement announcing the breakdown of negotiations.

We remain ready and willing to negotiate, no matter how intransigent our bargaining partners are, because the stakes are simply too high. We were prepared to counter their proposal tonight, and when any of them are ready to return to the table, we're here, ready to make a fair deal." [WGA.org]
· In that aforementioned statement, the AMPTP promises that "under no circumstances will we knowingly participate in the destruction of this business" by, you know, negotiating. Also: The Guild is spending too much time organizing rallies and concerts, and not enough time accepting the New Economic Partnership without compromise: "While the WGA's organizers can clearly stage rallies, concerts and mock exorcisms, we have serious concerns about whether they're capable of reaching reasonable compromises that are in the best interests of our entire industry. It is now absolutely clear that the WGA's organizers are determined to advance their own political ideologies and personal agendas at the expense of working writers and every other working person who depends on our industry for their livelihoods. Instead of negotiating, the WGA organizers have made unreasonable demands that are roadblocks to real progress." A list of those "unreasonable demands" follows in an easy-to-follow, bullet-pointed format. [AMPTP.org]
· Nikki Finke has a Guild-said/studio-said narrative of how Friday's AMPTP walkout transpired, complete with competing stories of WGA negotiators' alleged anger levels and differing accounts of the force used to close doors. [DHD]
· International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees president Thomas A. Short, unhappy at the Guild's attempts to step onto his turf by trying to organize reality TV and animation, may not have the highest regard for WGA leadership, comparing them to "a huge clown car that's only missing the hats and horns." [NY Times]
· On Sunday morning, below-the-line personnel who have lost or will soon lose jobs due to the strike took to Hollywood Blvd., urging everyone to get back to the negotiating table. As far as we can tell, no scone-proferring agents fed the marchers. [LAT]
· It's Star Trek Day at Paramount's Windsor gate today, where picketers will be supported by the writers, stars, and fans of the Trek franchise. Expect a press release from AMPTP mouthpiece Nick Counter following the event, decrying Trek Day as "just another example of more counterproductive Guild grab-assing. When they're ready to pull off their pointy rubber ears and send some of their redshirts to be slaughtered at the bargaining table, we'll be ready. But you know, not before Christmas, because we want everyone to spend the holidays worrying about losing their houses." [United Hollywood]

[Image: StrikeSwag.com, which is selling the Trek shirt pictured above to support the WGA. ]

Watch how a better-coached Trevanti, once a borderline, picketer-assaulting sociopath, now stays on message and presents the studios' more-than-fair proposal utilizing memorable catchphrases and calming tones; by the end of the brief video, you'll come away wondering how Guild members can possibly keep striking when they could be back at work before Christmas, watching all that Radio Contest Winner Money stream directly into their bank accounts.

• The AMPTP explains their latest proposal... [United Hollywood]
• Previously: One Studio Head's Heartfelt Strike Appeal [Defamer]

· Remember all the "cautious optimism" that was sweeping Hollywood as the Guild and studios got back to the bargaining table, spurred on by rumors that the dispute might get wrapped up before Christmas and the still-fresh memory of the sweet, lingering taste of picket-line churros consumed while marching for the cause? Now that the Guild has actually seen the AMPTP's proposal, that optimism is being downgraded to "sinking feeling this thing might drag on for a while." Says the WGA press release issued late yesterday: "Among the rumors was the assertion that the AMPTP had a groundbreaking proposal that would make this negotiation a 'done deal.' In fact, for the first three days of this week, the companies presented in essence their November 4 package with not an iota of movement on any of the issues that matter to writers. Thursday morning, the first new proposal was finally presented to us. It dealt only with streaming and made-for-Internet jurisdiction, and it amounts to a massive rollback....

The AMPTP says it will have additional proposals to make but, as of Thursday evening, they have not been presented to us. We are scheduled to meet with them again on Tuesday.[...] The AMPTP's intractability is dispiriting news but it must also be motivating. Any movement on the part of these multinational conglomerates has been the result of the collective action of our membership, with the support of SAG, other unions, supportive politicians, and the general public. We must fight on, returning to the lines on Monday in force to make it clear that we will not back down, that we will not accept a bad deal, and that we are all in this together." [WGA.org]
· In an update entitled WHERE WE STAND, the AMPTP reveals that it spent most of its free time away from the bargaining table workshopping positive-sounding names for a new proposal with its PR firm, proudly announcing it's offered the Guild participation in a New Economic Partnership that will deliver Incredibly Generous Additional Compensation to the Cherished Content Partners upon whom the studios already lavish $1.3 billion for their services. How will those greedy scribes be able to say they're interested in an equitable solution if they don't accept this More Than Fair Invitation To Unlimited Prosperity? An excerpt from their statement: "While we strongly preferred to continue discussions, we respect and understand the WGA's desire to review the proposals. We look forward to resuming talks on Tuesday, December 4. We continue to believe that there is common ground to be found between the two sides, and that our proposal for a New Economic Partnership offers the best chance to find it." [AMPTP.org]
· United Hollywood admires the balls it took to sell the Partnership with a smile: "Turns out their exciting, groundbreaking proposal is... a residual rollback. And not just any rollback, one of the biggest in the history of the Guild. Then, stunningly, the companies have the balls to say their plan gives us more compensation. Well, I'm sorry, but If you take away a dollar and give me a nickel, the nickel ain't a raise. Somewhere, Nick Counter's first-grade math teacher is embarrassed. So we decided to do some math of our own: We broke out the cost of the WGA's current proposal to the conglomerates into yearly figures. We found that the TOTAL payment yearly — the total that ALL the companies would make under our proposals — is $50.54 million. And that, we realized, is about one-third the budget of TRANSFORMERS. We are asking IN TOTAL, for the equivalent of the cost overrun on a summer event movie." [United Hollywood]
· The "AMPTP" takes yet another stab at getting their message onto the YouTubes. [YouTube]
· In perhaps the most depressing development following the last four days of negotiations, over at the Reporter, the bickering silhouettes have resumed their tug of war over the giant pencil. [THR]

• Complete StrikeWatch Coverage [Defamer]

After luring unsuspecting writers back to the bargaining table with the tantalizing promise the dispute might be resolved before Christmas, evil studio mastermind Nick Counter will unveil the Striketron 5000 to stunned Guild negotiators, a Final Draft-proficient automaton that will immediately render their creative services unnecessary, and which is programmed to accept across-the-board residual rollbacks without any resistance whatsoever.

• STRIKETRON-5000 [FriendSpaceBook.com via United Hollywood]

· With talks between the WGA and AMPTP resuming this morning, a Variety strike poll reveals that respondents believe that the Writers Guild is doing a much better job of "representing its side of the battle more forcefully and more clearly" than the studios. Indeed, the Companies might have to resort to having lead negotiator Nicholas "J. Nicky 3" Counter star in his own "Studio Boi" video if they hope to keep pace with their adversaries' latest, cutting-edge attempt at virally spreading their message. [Variety]

· An insider tells Nikki Finke that that a deal is "already done, basically" and that it's possible the strike could be over by Christmas. Then again, today's revived negotiations could fall apart out of spite once the studio team hears Writer Boi's boast that "I got a housewife/but she ain't desperate/cause she knows Marc Cherry is handling shit," not wanting anyone to think that the Housewives showrunner has clowned them at the bargaining table. [DHD]· Picket lines: impressive displays of writer solidarity, or well-catered, amusingly themed sidewalk cocktail parties? Why can't they be both? [NY Times]
· Today's featured piece on Unintended Causalities Of The Writers Strike looks at below-the-line personnel who have been laid off (or are waiting to be laid off) as more productions shut down. [LAT]
· United Hollywood takes on the trolls it believes the AMPTP has dispatched into its comment threads to call into question its heartwarming Thanksgiving story of the 7th grader who joined the picket line. [United Hollywood]

• Complete Strikewatch Coverage [Defamer]

• "Speechless" #3: Sean Penn [DHD]

· At yesterday's Solidarity March of 4,000-plus WGA writers, sympathetic members of other unions, and various Hollywood Blvd. vagrants swept up in the spirit of protest, Guild negotiating committee chair John Bowman invited the studios to be more Santa Claus than Scrooge. (Cute!) Notes of cautious optimism officially have been struck: "We're entering the holiday season — a season of charity and of Scrooge. Please, AMPTP, don't be typecast. Let's get this done by Christmas." [Variety]

· Also on the "cautious optimism" (the buzz phrase of this holiday weekend) front, CBS's Les Moonves and the heads of Warner Bros. were the first to issue easily customizable AMPTP form letters expressing a warm, publicity-friendly desire that the warring factions can finally achieve peace: "These differences are substantial, but we continue to believe that with hard work, patience and understanding from both sides, they can be overcome." [Scribe Vibe]
· If the strike drags through the end of the month, it could deprive the L.A. economy of $200 million. However, we're not sure if that estimated amount accounts for revenues from the bulk purchase of baked goods by local talent agencies that could offset some of the financial hit. [THR]
· On the other hand, if you think of the hit to the economy as just $21.3 million per day, it really doesn't sound that bad, does it? [LAT]
· Some writers are conflicted, according to the LAT: should they secretly be working on scripts so that they're not at a disadvantage when the strike ends, or should they embrace this Guild-enforced period of procrastination (ah, the sweet release of not-writing!), no matter the personal or creative cost? [LAT]
· CBS Paramount Network TV prefers the term "hiatus" to "layoffs" when temporarily putting employees of its struck shows out on the street. [THR]
· Strike FashionWatch: The hottest trend at yesterday's rally (OK, it's just one person, but these sensations get started by a single, bold tastemaker): Solidarity ass-stickers:

[Photos: Barbara Green]

• Complete StrikeWatch Coverage [Defamer]

· In the last theme-picket before striking writers get a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, the WGA has invited " members of the Service Employees International Union, California Nurses Association, Teamsters, actors, musicians, elected officials, and union supporters" to join in today's Solidarity with Writers march on Hollywood Blvd. (With a special musical performance by Alicia Keys!) There was no formal announcement of the involvement of local celebrities Sexually Harassed Spider-Man or Britney-Loving Superman, but we can still hope the rally's vist to the Chinese Theatre superheroes' stomping grounds brings them out in a show of support for the writers' cause. [WGA.org]

· At yesterday's Fox picket line, recently or soon-to-be laid-off assistants turned out to march with their co-workers and bosses. And at a lemonade stand set up by two terminated Shark assistants, one writer stuffed a $100 bill in their full donation jar, exceeding the suggested, topical "8 cents (non-negotiable)" rate of contribution. [Scribe Vibe]
· Meanwhile, the Get Back in That Room layoff list is up to 456 names. [Get Back in That Room]
· Knowing that renewed negotiations await after the long weekend, the mood at the Warner Bros. and Fox picket lines was "more upbeat and optimistic," replacing last week's prevailing feelings of despair, foreboding, and inevitable doom. [