Breaking on a Thursday afternoon here in L.A., the Weinstein Co., becomes the first notable domino, post-UA, to settle with the WGA.
Which of the big media conglomerates will strike a deal next, or risk getting outstripped and outfoxed on the “content” side?
From the Wall Street Journal:
Writers, Weinstein Co. Near Pact
By PETER SANDERS
January 10, 2008 4:50 p.m.
LOS ANGELES — Ten weeks into the screenwriters’ strike, independent film studio Weinstein Co., is expected to announce it has reached an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America that will allow the company to restart work on new films, according to people familiar with the matter.
A deal could still fall apart, these people said, but is expected to be announced Thursday afternoon. If an agreement is struck, it is expected to be similar to the deal announced Monday by the WGA and United Artists Films, the independent studio partly owned by Tom Cruise and his business partner Paula Wagner. The UA deal was the first between the WGA and a film studio since the writers walked out on Nov. 5 after contract negotiations between them and the major Hollywood studios and television networks broke down.
A spokesman for the WGA could not immediately be reached for comment.
