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Originally posted by citizen:

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Originally posted by daveshayne:
There is no news....

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What about olds?

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Originally posted by MSB:
My pupils are dilapidated, but it's through their own choice... they won't attempt working or learning...just sit like little doorstops with eyes...sigh

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Originally posted by RiverFlan:
Soul? What soul?

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Originally posted by mai:
*hides in the basement

Hi Cozen!*squidges*
So who are you hiding from down here?

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Originally posted by RiverFlan:
*lowers a box of chocolate down the trap door*

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Originally posted by mai:
Huh? Um, ok. So you got any chocolate. Hiding out makes me hungry.

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Originally posted by RiverFlan:
Shouldn't that last word have begun with a different letter?

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Originally posted by mai:
dead thread maker too...
*dies (treadmill of doom will do it every time)

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Directors Guild Deal With Studios Could Point Way To Writers Pact
By Lisa de Moraes
Friday, January 18, 2008; Page C01

Your favorite scripted TV series may be one step closer to returning to production. The Directors Guild of America yesterday reached a tentative contract with the Hollywood studios that entertainment-industry navel gazers hope will serve as a template for a new deal between the studios and striking Hollywood writers.

The directors' three-year contract, made after less than a week of negotiations, ups wages and residual rates every year, establishes DGA jurisdiction over programs produced for distribution on the Web and effectively doubles the current residual rate for paid Web downloads, the union said yesterday.

It also sets residual rates for ad-supported streaming of programming and the use of clips on the Internet.

Payment of residuals for programming presented on the Web has been a major sticking point in the contract talks between the Writers Guild of America and the collection of companies known as the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

The WGA's strike against the AMPTP, which started Nov. 5, immediately plunged late-night TV shows into reruns. Sitcoms were not far behind, followed shortly thereafter by drama series, turning the prime-time landscape into a swamp of repeats and reality shows.

The strike is now in its third month. Negotiations between the AMPTP and the WGA have been dead in the water since Dec. 7, when the producers insisted the guild dump several of its proposals.

In announcing yesterday's deal, Gil Cates, chairman of the DGA's negotiations committee, crowed: "Two words describe this agreement -- groundbreaking and substantial." He said, "The gains for directors and their teams are extraordinary -- and there are no rollbacks of any kind."

The Writers Guild was more subdued, issuing a statement saying the terms of the DGA deal "will be carefully analyzed and evaluated" to see how the guild's strategies "may be affected" by the new pact.

Writers Guild enthusiasm for the new deal was no doubt tempered by memories of the '80s, when it followed the Directors Guild's lead in negotiating, badly as it turned out, with the studios on what became lucrative home-video and DVD markets.

"For over a month, we have been urging the conglomerates to return to the table and bargain in good faith," the WGA said. "They have chosen to negotiate with the DGA instead. Now that those negotiations are completed, the AMPTP must return to the process of bargaining with the WGA. We hope that the DGA's tentative agreement will be a step forward in our effort to negotiate an agreement that is in the best interests of all writers."

But the WGA wasn't the only party that took the occasion of the DGA deal announcement to, ever so politely, thumb its nose at the other camp:

"Today, we invite the Writers Guild of America to engage with us in a series of informal discussions similar to the productive process that led us to a deal with the DGA, to determine whether there is a reasonable basis for returning to formal bargaining," AMPTP members said.

According to the AMPTP, the deal with the directors establishes the precedent that "creative talent will now participate financially in every emerging area of new media" and "demonstrates beyond any doubt that our industry's producers are willing and able to work with the creators of entertainment content to establish fair and flexible rules for this fast-changing marketplace."

When it comes to ad-supported streaming of programming on the Internet, the DGA deal specifies that after an initial 17-day window for free promotional streaming, companies will pay 3 percent of the residual base for 26 weeks of streaming (about $600 for a network prime-time one-hour drama).

Continuing to stream a show for 26 weeks more will cost a company an additional 3 percent (for a total of $1,200 for one year's worth of streaming).

The DGA agreed to expand the initial 17-day window to 24 days for freshman series to help build an audience for the shows.

On electronic sell-through (paid downloads of movies and TV programs), the AMPTP has agreed to more than double the residual rate for television. The residuals for flicks will be upped by 80 percent.

"We knew that gaining jurisdiction over new-media production and winning fair compensation for the reuse of our work on the Internet were the key issues for setting a framework for the future, but we also had to secure real gains for our members in today's world," Cates said.

The DGA deal was struck after just six days of negotiations. In fairness, though, AMPTP President Nick Counter says negotiations were preceded by "weeks of tough and candid informal discussions."

"In the end, though, both parties were determined to focus on the core issues that are most important to all of us, and the result is an agreement that breaks important new ground for our entire industry," Counter concluded in his statement.

Which somehow sounds like another dig at the Writers Guild, but maybe we're just reading too much into it.

* * *

In other writers' strike news, the Recording Academy, which is still waiting to hear whether the WGA will follow through on its threat to declare the Grammy Awards a "struck" show, yesterday issued a news release with word that Beyonc¿ and the Foo Fighters would participate in the Feb. 10 trophy show.

"The work of The Recording Academy is vital to the music industry, and we have every intention of being with the entire music community to celebrate the Grammys' 50th birthday in February," Beyonc¿'s manager/dad, Mathew Knowles, is quoted as saying in the news release. "Beyonc¿, as well as my other artists Solange and Trinitee 5:7, have been asked to participate and will do so. We have an incredible Beyonc¿ performance that will be announced soon," Knowles said.

Foo Fighters manager John Silva contributed:

"There's no question that the Grammys are a highlight of every year for the industry and audiences alike, and we're thrilled that the Foo Fighters will be performing on the show."

The news release, issued by the academy with assistance from crisis-management public relations firm Sitrik and Co., comes one day after academy President Neil Portnow did that thing male peacocks do when they want to show each other what's what. In his case, it involved noting that the interim agreement the Writers Guild had been offered by the producer of the Grammy Awards, broadcast on CBS, includes the same terms as the interim deal the WGA had accepted from David Letterman's Worldwide Pants company, which produces Letterman- and Craig Ferguson-hosted late-night shows -- also broadcast on CBS.

The Writers Guild had previously let it be known it was inclined to deny the producer of the Grammys a waiver should it receive a request for one. That request was formally made earlier this week. No announcement at press time from the WGA.

* * *

The 30-million-plus people who tuned in to "American Idol" for its first Wednesday night show this TV season was nearly 7 million shy of last season's debut Wednesday but still a large enough crowd to flatten the competition.

Likewise, the number of 18-to-49-year-olds -- the hot blond chicks of the advertising world -- who caught the Dallas auditions, including "Idol" wannabe Renaldo Lapuz singing his ode to Simon, "We're Brothers Forever" (now a YouTube hit), was down 19 percent compared with last year's Wednesday opener. Still, it attracted 30 percent of viewers in that age bracket who were watching TV between 8 and 10 that night.

In contrast, ABC's and CBS's Wednesday lineups each attracted 5 percent of the 18-49 crowd, NBC 7 percent and CW just 1 percent.

The "Idol" showing was strong enough to push the network into first place for the season in that demographic derby. For the past couple of seasons Fox has broken into first place at some point during its "Idol" run, but this is the earliest that's ever happened.

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Originally posted by mai:
*dies again (IRL there is a very nasty treadmill of doom)

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Originally posted by Jadehand:
the hidey thread is all about hot tubs and cold drinks. Good music and reasonably decent people

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Directors Guild Deal With Studios Could Point Way To Writers Pact

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Originally posted by gorramgroupie:
'Who are you and how did you get in here?' 'I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.'
Police Story

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Originally posted by SimonWho:

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Originally posted by gorramgroupie:
'Who are you and how did you get in here?' 'I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.'
Police Story

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Okay, I'm afraid I can't keep it contained anymore. It was Police Squad, the show with Leslie Nielsen. Police Story is the film series with Jackie Chan.

/annoying pedant.

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