The Wall Street Journal-20080112-Directors Guild to Start Contract Talks With Producers
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Directors Guild to Start Contract Talks With Producers
In a move that may put pressure on striking writers, the Directors Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced Friday that they will begin formal contract negotiations.
The talks, which were scheduled to begin Saturday at the AMPTP's headquarters in Encino, Calif., are likely to result in a rapid deal between the Directors Guild of America and the media companies represented by the producers' alliance, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
The formal negotiations are the product of weeks of back-and-forth between media executives such as Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger and News Corp. President Peter Chernin and the top leadership of the DGA to settle on parameters for the talks. The DGA has in the past resolved contracts quickly and quietly -- and long in advance of their expiration. The DGA's contract expires June 30.
The DGA and AMPTP said in their statement that they wouldn't comment on their negotiations until they have concluded.
Any deal between the DGA and the media companies is expected to pressure the Writers Guild of America to accept its terms and end the strike, which has shut down much of Hollywood since it began on Nov. 5. The WGA didn't comment on the announcement.
Meanwhile, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Friday that the Golden Globes -- which had been downgraded earlier in the week from an awards gala to a press conference covered exclusively by NBC News -- will now be open to all press. The WGA said in a statement that it no longer plans to picket the ceremony, which means that some actors might choose to attend.
NBC News still plans to televise the news conference, and will still air a prime-time special featuring interviews with some nominees before the conference, according to an NBC executive familiar with the situation.
