WGA Rank and File Vote to Ratify New Contract

The Writers Guild of America this afternoon says the ballots are in and the winner is (drum roll)…the new contract! Of 4,060 members in New York and Los Angeles who participated, 3,802 (93.6 percent) voted ‘yea’ on the new deal, which runs through April of 2011, according to an emailed press release. The WGA cites five groundbreaking wins for writers, all in new media — jurisdiction, separated rights, residuals calculated based on gross, and access to information in order to monitor the emerging business of online streaming and downloads.

Now the AMPTP has to make nice with the Screen Actors Guild by June 30th. In an email response to the WGA announcement, the production association wrote: “Now that our industry is back in business, our goal is to collaborate with everyone in the industry – writers, directors, actors and stagehands alike – to produce the highest-quality entertainment products without any further interruption.” SAG is reportedly considering holding the type of informal negotiation that was widely credited with resolving the Director’s Guild of America and WGA terms.