WGA, Hollywood Studios to Resume Contract Talks on Wednesday

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Directors Guild of America issued a statement of support for the Writers Guild of America on Monday, as negotiations between the WGA and the studios entered their last full week before the May 1 contract expiration. In the statement, the DGA said “we support them in their efforts to achieve a fair and reasonable agreement for their members.” “During this time of significant change for our industry, all the creative talent, artisans, craftspeople, and workers who make the films and television shows that drive our industry deserve to earn a stable living and share in the success we build together,” the DGA continued. “We all have a stake in issues like wages, streaming residuals, funding for our health and pension plans, health and safety and more. We urge the AMPTP to seriously consider the writers’ concerns and reach a fair and reasonable agreement.”

Charna Flam Veteran publicity executive Robert Crutchfield died April 7 in Rancho Mirage, Calif., after a prolonged illness. He was 85. Crutchfield began his career in Hollywood in 1959 as a contract player for 20th Century Fox after he left his job as KXYZ-ABC Radio’s youngest on-air radio DJ at the Houston station. Quickly thereafter in 1963, he was laid off after the studio neared bankruptcy due to the “Cleopatra” production. Crutchfield then switched over to MGM as an office boy and then publicist for the studio. By 1974, he moved to MTM Enterprises, serving as the VP of marketing and publicity, where he handled “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “WKRP In Cincinnati,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Lou Grant, “Phyllis,” “Rhoda,” “The White Shadow” and many more.

An oft-heard lament on the part of international distribution is that Italy is impossible to program in the summer. In 2019, there was an effort on the part of the studios and the local industry to steer the season in a different direction resulting in record results, but the pandemic halted momentum. 

began on March 20 with several issues that needed to be addressed. At the top of the list was the issue of compensation for streaming TV shows and films and the abuse of mini-rooms in which studios require writers with a TV show pitch to assemble a writers’ room at scale pay to produce scripts before the pitch is even greenlit.More than 9,000 WGA members voted on April 17 to authorize their leaders to order a strike if a deal was not met and a drastic change was not in the future.

SAG-AFTRA’s National Board voted unanimously today to approve a resolution “strongly in support” of the WGA in its ongoing negotiations for a new film and TV contract. “It is long past time for the studios, streamers, and other employers in the entertainment industry to remove roadblocks to fair and equitable wages and working conditions,” the resolution states, “and to agree to terms that reflect the unique worth and contribution of creative talent and workers, without whom the industry would not exist.”

News of a Kidnapping,” created by Andrés Wood and Rodrigo García, swept the top prizes for best picture on Saturday night at the 2023 Platino Awards, in a sign of how the global streamers – here Amazon Studios and Prime Video – have lured top-of-their-class talent in Latin America. One highlight of the ceremony, dedicated to films and TV shows in the Spanish-speaking world, was Benicio del Toro’s acceptance speech of a honorary Platino in which he reflected on being typecast for many years in Hollywood as a Latino actor.  “If I had to play stereotypes, I tried to find the character’s humanity, a sense of complicity, so that audiences felt what my character felt and whilst they’re watching, don’t forget who I am and where I come from.,” he said. “What’s important is to share more than be divided,” he added. 

An eye-catching property that you wouldn't expect to find near Greater Manchester is now on the market - and it is worth a whopping £2,495,000. The brand new five-bed residence resembles a home you would typically see in Hollywood, and it's got all the luxury features to go with it too.

Rachel Weisz is singing Brendan Fraser's praises and calling his Oscar-winning performance in «staggering good.»During the New York City premiere of her new Prime Video series, , the Oscar-winning actress glowingly spoke to ET about her former co-star. Fraser and Weisz starred in the 1999 adventure/horror film. And, ahead of the film's 25th anniversary next year, Weisz is ecstatic to talk all things Fraser, especially after such a remarkable year in Hollywood.«It's the renaissance right now isn't it, yeah,» she said.

Dakota Johnson cosied up to her Hollywood legend mum, Melanie Griffith, as she attended the Boat Rocker & TeaTime Pictures LA Screening of Slip in Hollywood.The production of Slip marked the first TV series from Dakota's production company, TeaTime Pictures. Olivia Wilde, 39, was on the celebrity guest list and attended the special screening NeueHouse Hollywood on April 18, along with comedian Mae Martin and actor Brett Goldstein, The mother-daughter duo looked stunning together as daughter Dakota, 33, donned a fully black ensemble which was complimented by mum Melanie, 65, who wore a long cream trench coat.

Martin Lawrence opened up about his friend Jamie Foxx while accepting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday (April 20) in Hollywood, Calif.

Fox News and Dan Bongino have parted ways after they couldn’t agree on the terms for a new contract for the host.“Folks, regretfully, last week was my last show on Fox News on the Fox News Channel,”  the former Secret Service agent and New York City police officer said Thursday on his podcast “Unfiltered with Dan Bongino.” Bongino continued: “I want you to it’s not some big conspiracy. I promise you. There’s not there’s no acrimony.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Hollywood is a “uniquely American” construct that is deeply intertwined with the concept of the United States as a land of rags-to-riches opportunity. That’s the view shared by David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-chair of investment giant Carlyle Group, after his visit to the Hollywood hills for an episode of his new PBS series “Iconic America: Our Symbols and Stories.” “The whole culture of Hollywood is one that is uniquely American,” Rubenstein says on the latest episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business,” in discussing the episode of “Iconic America” that is devoted to the Hollywood sign. The series debuts April 26. “What we try to do in these so-called symbols of our country, is to talk about things that are really uniquely American. Obviously there’s Bollywood in India, but generally, if you think about making movies, you think about Hollywood, and a uniquely American kind of enterprise,” Rubenstein says.

Malina Saval Associate Editor, Features Entertainment attorney Craig Emanuel, Variety’s 2023 Power of Law honoree, remembers the day he got a phone call asking if he would be interested in meeting with Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson.  “I knew that they were meeting with a lot of lawyers around town, and I really didn’t think we were going to get selected,” says Emanuel. “A lot of the other law firms were boutique entertainment firms that had huge client lists.” “Months went by, and I thought, you know, nothing’s happening,” Emanuel continues. “And then Richard Lovett, president of CAA, who reps Tom and Rita, called me one evening on the phone. I was at dinner with my partners, and Richard said, ‘I’ve got some good news, you have a new client.’”

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The LA Phil has announced the full summer season for Hollywood Bowl’s sister venue across the gorge, the Ford, with a typically eclectic and cross-cultural lineup that includes Mac DeMarco, Lucinda Williams, Jorge Drexler, the Milk Carton Kids, Darren Criss, Arooj Aftab, Meredith Monk, José James, a kids’ show by the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, a dance project from Serpentwithfeet and many more attractions. The smaller-sized amphitheater is one of the most prized venues for musicians to play in Los Angeles, although the Phil’s emphasis in its four months of annual shows there is far less on commercial acts than in maintaining intriguing blend of all possible arts, with jazz, Americana and Latin and global music definitely getting a leg up on pop in the programming.

The DGA, which begins its contract negotiations on May 10, is stressing the importance of “ensuring reliable pension funding to safeguarding access to industry-leading health care.” In a video that features DGA members talking about the pension and health benefits they’ve received, the guild says that “We’re fighting for our future.”

SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios in labor talks, announced on Thursday that negotiations on a new bargaining agreement will begin on June 7. “Both the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA are approaching this process as an opportunity to engage in thoughtful and interactive conversations that result in a mutually beneficial deal,” the two sides said in a joint statement.

SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have agreed to begin formal contract negotiations on June 7. The guild’s current contract expires June 30.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Hollywood studios and entertainment unions are close to a compromise on a new California law to tighten set safety rules, which comes in response to the fatal “Rust” shooting. The compromise would adopt the film industry’s firearm safety rules, which are currently voluntary, into state law. It would also mandate specialized training for armorers and others who work with firearms on sets, according to sources familiar with the talks. The two sides have been working for more than a year on the legislation following the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in New Mexico in October 2021.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, led a delegation of lawmakers last week for meetings in Hollywood and Silicon Valley, with an eye toward gathering information on how the two California-centric industries interact with Beijing.

K.J. Yossman As negotiations between the WGA and the studios and streamers gather steam, the reverberations are being felt well beyond the confines of Sherman Oaks where the sides are sitting down to wrangle over complicated issues at stake. Thousands of miles away, on the other side of the Atlantic, questions are already being asked about what impact a WGA strike may have in the U.K. – and whether British writers, who harbor many of the same concerns as their American counterparts, could ever stage a strike. “The problems that U.K. writers and U.S. writers face are basically the same,” says Robert Taylor, a lawyer and screenwriter who also acts as a legal advisor to the Writers Guild of Great Britain (WGGB). “The things in the U.S. strike about not getting paid enough by the streaming services, the things about mini [writers’] rooms and the writers being expected to contribute for small amounts of money and then being dropped, not being taken forward into the series, it’s exactly the same in the U.K.”