United Artists May Settle With Striking Writers, Others To Follow?

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/United-Artists-May-Settle-With-Striking-Writers-Others-To-Follow-7391.html

I don’t know if the writers' strike is about to end, but it definitely looks like the producers are starting to break. Taking a cue from David Letterman’s production company Worldwide Pants, which made a deal with striking writers independent of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers negotiators going toe to toe and getting nowhere, Tom Cruise owned United Artists is now doing the same.

Both Deadline Hollywood Daily and the LA Times are reporting that the UA is about to become the first company to reach an interim agreement with the striking Writer’s Guild of America. The deal, which they say may be signed as early as today, will enable United Artists (which is an independent production unit of MGM), to hire guild writers.

United Artists is a relatively small and struggling player in Hollywood, but the exciting thing here is that they may only be the first of many independents to break ranks. The Times says other more prolific and significant independent movie studios are also negotiating similar deals, namely Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company. If Lionsgate and TWC get something done, then that could really put some pressure on the big boys like Warner Brothers and Universal to get off their asses and settle this thing. Or at least we hope it does.

[Cha]

1. Yay! I like Lionsgate and the

Weinsteins! They've spoken out against bush and the misbegotten War On Iraq.