Puranik exclusive deals

After two final days back at the negotiating table this week, the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers late last night reached a deal on a new three-year contract. No details of the agreement have been revealed as both parties want to reach out to respective members later today before going public, I’m told. The current contract expires May 1, which means the longer-than-expected talks leave the union having to pull together a ratification vote lickety-split. Already agreeing on everything but the chestnut issues of options and exclusivity , the two sides took an 18-day break before returning to talks at AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks on Monday. As I reported on March 6 , even with the scribes taking a stronger line than during the last negotiations and the studios/networks more divided than last time, the sides were “very close” to a deal even before they took their first temporary recess from February 15-March 4. That break came after an … [Read more...] about WGA & AMPTP Reach Tentative New 3-Year Deal

As talks are about to resume Monday on the final elements that many hope will lead to a new deal for the Writers Guild Of America, we wanted to lend some perspective and give voice to the TV and feature writers whose fortunes will be tied directly to the deal their union makes. This is the third in a quick succession of five questions we asked a panel of 10 writers. Here are their responses, and hopefully other writers will be moved to comment about the issues that worry them most as their work is monetized in this fast-changing digital age. Related: WGA: Why Gains, Lessons From 2008′s Strike Will Keep Hollywood From Another War DEADLINE: How are you feeling about the deal that the WGA is considering, and what concerns do you have that aren’t addressed in it? WRITER #1: I trust that small gains will be made and a strike will be averted and at this stage of the business that’s all that can really be expected. That is actually a success in 2014. Related: … [Read more...] about Writers Rail As Talks Resume – Third Question In A Deadline Survey

As talks are about to resume Monday on the final elements that many hope will lead to a new deal for the Writers Guild Of America, we wanted to lend some perspective and give voice to the TV and feature writers whose fortunes will be tied directly to the deal their union makes. This is the second in a quick succession of five questions we asked a panel of 10 writers. Here are their responses, and hopefully other writers will be moved to comment about the issues that worry them most as their work is monetized in this fast-changing digital age. Related: WGA: Why Gains, Lessons From 2008′s Strike Will Keep Hollywood From Another War DEADLINE: As a working writer, what is the biggest hardship right now facing you (i.e., one-step deals for feature writers, exclusivity clauses for TV writers), the one that gives you the greatest amount of worry for you and your WGA brethren? WRITER #1: I think the biggest setback from the strike was one-step deals. One-step deals were a … [Read more...] about Writers Rail As Talks Resume – Second Question In A Deadline Survey

EXCLUSIVE: Which guild will go first at the bargaining table – the DGA , the WGA or SAG-AFTRA – remains undetermined for the upcoming cycle of film and TV contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. If history is any judge, who goes first could foreshadow whether there will be a strike – or more than one strike – this year. In the end, it will be up to each guild, working in consultation with the AMPTP , to decide when, and in what order, they start bargaining. The DGA has gone first in each of the past three three-year bargaining cycles, even though its contracts expire at the same time as SAG-AFTRA’s – on June 30 – and two months after the WGA’s contract on May 1. The DGA often begins its negotiations many months in advance of the expiration of its contracts. “When it comes to making the decision about when to start negotiations,” the DGA said recently, “we are guided by one simple principle: We will only begin bargaining … [Read more...] about Going First At Bargaining Table Means A Lot, But No Word Yet If It Will Be DGA, WGA or SAG-AFTRA

With one day to go before its current 3-year contract expires, the WGA said today that its members ratified the new agreement by a huge margin — the ones who actually voted, that is. “The WGA membership overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying the contract by 98.5 percent,” the union said in a statement. Ballots were to be cast online, by mail or at membership meetings in New York and Los Angeles on April 29. Not that a lot of the union’s members turned out to actually vote on the deal that was struck on April 2 with the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers . Of the 8,218 eligible WGA voters, only 1,193 valid votes were actually cast. That’s just 14%. Of those actually voting, there were 1,175 “Yes” votes and 18 “No” votes, according to the union. Last time round in 2011 , 1,952 votes were cast with 90.7% voting in favor of the agreement. Having said that, at least the WGA revealed how many members voted. When DGA members ratified their new deal earlier this year , … [Read more...] about WGA Members Approve New Contract; Less Than 15% Of Eligible Voters Cast Ballots

There’ll be fireworks but no fire, and there will be a deal in the end. That’s the word I’m hearing from both sides out of the WGA ’s contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers after two days of talks . No one is commenting publicly, but I’ve learned that besides presentations from both sides during the opening days, there’s palpable unease in the room at AMPTP HQ thanks to the multimillion-dollar rollback proposal producers sent the WGA more than a week before negotiations began. “There’s a feeling of, Why did you have to insult us?’” a WGA insider told me over the producers’ request for $60 million in rollbacks from the health and pension plans, residuals and targeted screenplay minimums. “Once again it makes us the least favored child of the guilds.” Some on the other side of the table don’t disagree with that assessment. “Those were ridiculous proposals meant to appease the people at the top, not anyone in the room,” a well-placed … [Read more...] about WGA Contract Talks Brittle In Opening Days Over “Ridiculous” AMPTP Proposals

EXCLUSIVE: It’s a happy Fourth of July in Hollywood. After nearly two months of talks and three last-minute 24-hour extensions, a tentative agreement has been reached on a new three-year SAG-AFTRA film and television contract. Terms were not announced. Here is the sides’ verbose joint statement: “Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) today reached tentative agreement for motion picture production. Negotiations, which began on May 5th, resulted in a new 2014 Producers-SAG-AFTRA Codified Basic Agreement and an industry-wide 2014 SAG-AFTRA Television Agreement as the successor agreement to Screen Actors Guild Television Agreement, Exhibit A of the AFTRA National Code of Fair Practice for Network Television Broadcasting, The CW Supplement, and the basic cable agreements. The terms of the new agreements will be presented to the SAG-AFTRA National Board of Directors at its … [Read more...] about SAG-AFTRA, Producers Reach Tentative Agreement On New Film & TV Contract

EXCLUSIVE : Starz is developing The Comedown , a comedic drama series based on Rafael Frumkin’s book by the same name, sources tell Deadline. The project hails from Regina King ’s Royal Ties Productions and Freddie Highmore ’s Alfresco Pictures as well as TriStar Television, a division of Sony Pictures TV where The Good Doctor star Highmore has had an overall deal. A rep for Starz declined comment. Written by Gretchen Enders ( WandaVision ), The Comedown is a darkly comedic, multigenerational drama that explores delineating lines of race, class, religion, and time, through the story of two very different Cleveland families – one Black, one white – whose lives become intertwined one fateful night when a drug deal goes dramatically wrong and a mysterious yellow briefcase disappears. Highmore and Claire Londy executive produce through Alfresco Pictures alongside Enders as well as Regina King and Reina King of Royal Ties. Enders most recently was co-executive … [Read more...] about Regina King & Freddie Highmore Executive Producing ‘The Comedown’ Series Adaptation In Works At Starz

Ashim Ahluwalia, known as a director of edgy films such as John & Jane and Miss Lovely that have premiered at Toronto and Cannes film festivals, is not an obvious choice to direct a young adult drama series for Netflix . But when local production house Bodhitree Multimedia approached him with a proposal for a Hindi remake of Spanish show Elite , he jumped at the chance. “I’ve always been interested in making something on teenagers, especially wealthy urban teenagers, because that’s a world that I know,” says Ahluwalia, who grew up in the tony neighborhoods of south Mumbai. “I went to a school that was very different to the school in Elite , or in this series, but had the same elements of class conflict. So while I’d never thought about doing a series before, I thought this would be an interesting project to do.” Created by Carlos Montero and Dario Madrona, Elite follows three scholarship kids from a modest socioeconomic background who get placed in an … [Read more...] about Ashim Ahluwalia On Portraying The Extremes Of India’s Wealth Gap In Netflix Young Adult Drama ‘Class’