Ten weeks into the strike, the Writers Guild of America is at its make-or-break point ? the point at which negotiations are settled and writers return to work and Americans to their couches or the point at which Hollywood takes this opportunity to add fuel to a fire that may burn into the summer.
The Director's Guild of America began negotiations Saturday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. While the meetings have been closed to the media and there aren't any verifiable updates from the proceedings, the DGA and Hollywood's history should hint that the two groups are close to a settlement that could soon end the strike.
DGA President Michael Apted recently told guild members he was optimistic about the negotiations' possibilities.
'We would not enter into negotiations with the AMPTP unless we were within shouting distance of an agreement on our two most important issues: jurisdiction for our members to work in new media and appropriate compensation of our work on the Internet and other new media platforms.'
The big questions on everyone's mind are 1) what is 'shouting distance' and 2) will the directors reach a solution acceptable to the writers who still rue the agreement reached in 1998 that stuck them receiving .3 percent of videotapes sold?
While screen actors have taken their support of the writers to the front lines, the directors have remained largely silent throughout the process, leaving many writers wondering where their loyalties lie.
Directors are now in a difficult position, asking them to mediate between big-time Hollywood and the 'working man' writer. With the distaste of '98 fresh on their mind, some writers point to the DGA and Hollywood's tendency to act out of their own self-interest and to neglect the writers and screen actors. It will take all but a finalized contract to make the fear of this happening again subside.
The directors, however, should not be quick to dismiss the writers' propositions as the writers' fight is closely tied to their own. Both groups are intricately tied in their resolve to negotiate just compensation for their work in the new media and DVD residuals. If that isn't enough, the 10 percent fallout in viewership seen by the major networks since the strike's beginning should motivate the directors to reach an agreement agreeable to the writers. But then again, many thought the same drop in ratings would have motivated Hollywood to negotiate with the writers before now ? so far they've been wrong.
If, however, the directors fail to reach an agreement acceptable to the writers, the WGA will reject the offer and inevitably prolong the writers' strike into the summer. What's more, they will have additional ammunition against a Hollywood often perceived as being organized against writers.
This strike is on the verge off coming to an end. Unfortunately, however, it is also on the verge of a long, downward slope.
This editorial represents the opinion of The Daily Universe editorial board. Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of BYU, its administration or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.