WGA Plans Showrunner Meetings This Week In Advance Of AMPTP Negotiations

Just hours before the WGA and the studios are scheduled to start stridulous talks on a new overall contact, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have decided to publicly play nice, firmly.

EXCLUSIVE: There was “fire and brimstone” at tonight’s WGA membership meeting – the last to be held before the start of contract negotiations with the AMPTP on Monday. The meeting, held via Zoom, was led by the co-chairs of the guild’s negotiating committee: former WGA West presidents Chris Keyser and David A. Goodman.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers exchanged proposals on Monday, as they prepare for face-to-face bargaining next week. Last week, the guild membership voted 98.4% in favor of the “pattern of demands,” a high-level summary of the guild’s top issues for a new basic agreement. The items include addressing “the abuses of mini-rooms” and increasing streaming residuals, among a dozen other issues. The proposals are far more detailed, and are not expected to be made public so as to preserve the confidentiality of negotiations.

We all love a bargain style find, and footballer's wife and fashionista Kaya Jones is no exception. Kaya, who is married to Man United star Phil Jones, was one of the glamorous ladies out supporting International Women's Day events in the city centre this week, when we headed out for our weekly Steal Their Style series.

A wax museum in Poland has captured the internet’s attention thanks to their “creepy” wax figures.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer As it prepares for tough negotiations with the major studios, the Writers Guild of America issued a report on Friday emphasizing that the entertainment business is “highly profitable.” The guild is seeking to counter the gloomy tenor of industry coverage, which tends to stress that companies are losing billions on streaming. In its State of the Industry report, the guild argued that entertainment divisions remain profitable overall, and that the companies have a “path to profitability” in streaming. “(T)he fundamental truth remains: the content writers create has tremendous value,” the report concluded. “The companies have demonstrated time and time again that they can and will capture that value, but writers and the WGA must work to ensure that success is shared.”

Claiming that “the entertainment industry remains highly profitable” while “writers have fallen behind,” the WGA made its case today for a fair contract ahead of the March 20 start of negotiations for a new film and TV contract.

Lady Gaga is now at Madame Tussauds wax museum in Hollywood.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from the “Poker Face” Season 1 finale, “The Hook,” now streaming on Peacock. “Poker Face” revealed more about the personal life of protagonist Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) than viewers learned throughout the first nine episode of Rian Johnson’s Peacock howdunit series, with the introduction of her sister Emily Cale (Clea DuVall) when Charlie needs a place to hide out after she’s accused of another murder. This is when we discover that Charlie has had a rough history with her sister, and hasn’t seen her in so long that she’s never even met her young niece, Shasta.

Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Too $hort, Warren G, Berner and DJ Drama.From July 7 through Aug. 27, the hip-hop icons are taking off on their 33-concert ‘High School Reunion Tour’ that will take them to arenas and amphitheaters all over North America.That includes three stops in New York and New Jersey.First, the sextet will drop it like it’s hot at Camden, NJ’s Freedom Mortgage Pavilion on July 30.

Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa have announced a massive joint tour titled ‘High School Reunion’ across North America.Snoop announced the 33-date run via a poster on Instagram on March 7. The tour will kick off on July 7 in Vancouver before wrapping up the run in Irvine, California on August 27.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Directors Guild of America will enter negotiations on a new contract on May 10, the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said Monday. The DGA previously stated that it would wait until “later this spring” to conduct bargaining on a new contract, saying that the studios were “not yet prepared to address our key issues.” The current contract expires on June 30. The talks will begin 10 days after the current Writers Guild of America contract expires. It is possible that the WGA could be out on strike at that point. WGA talks are set to begin on March 20.

Meredith Stiehm, president of the WGA West, talked tough about the guild’s upcoming negotiations with the AMPTP in her speech Sunday at the WGA Awards.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Warning: This story contains a graphic image. David Cronenberg has made a short film featuring female wax corpses made during the 18th century in Italy. The wax figures were intended for medical studies, in order to train surgeons prior to operating on real bodies. The Canadian director, known as the father of body horror thanks to films such as “The Fly,” “eXistenZ,” and his latest pic “A History of Violence,” has been recruited by Italian fashion house Prada to shoot the short film. It features anatomical wax works from the La Specola museum in Florence, one of the oldest scientific museums in Europe. The museum is currently being renovated and is closed to the public.

Councillors have agreed to hike council tax by nearly five per cent at a meeting where one Labour member described his Tory opposition as the ‘Tameside Trump’.

K.J. Yossman   “Doctor Who” showrunner Russell T Davies is set to exec produce a new BBC drama about the first trials for Viagra. Produced by Quay Street Productions and Boom, “Men Up” tells the story about a trial for the sex drug that took place in Wales in 1994. “Industry” scribe Matthew Barry is writing the feature-length drama, which is a co-commission with BBC Wales. Starring in the show are Iwan Rheon (“Game of Thrones”), Aneurin Barnard (“Dunkirk”), Alexandra Roach (“Killing Eve”), Phaldut Sharma (“Sherwood”), Paul Rhys (“A Discovery of Witches”), Steffan Rhodri (“House of the Dragon”), Mark Lewis Jones (“Gangs of London”), Joanna Page (“Gavin & Stacey”), Alexandria Riley (“The Pembrokeshire Murders”), Nathan Sussex (“It’s A Sin”), Lisa Palfrey (“Sex Education”), Dyfan Dwyfor (“A Very English Scandal”) and Katy Wix (“Ghosts”).

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer David Young, the chief negotiator for the Writers Guild of America West, has bowed out of the negotiations on a new basic agreement due to a medical leave. The WGA informed members Tuesday that Ellen Stutzman, the assistant executive director of the guild, will take over as chief negotiator. The move comes just three weeks before the high-stakes negotiations are set to begin with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The current three-year contract is due to expire on May 1, and writers have been agitating for significant increases in wages and residuals and for measures to address “mini rooms.” Stutzman has been with the guild for 17 years, and has been assistant executive director since 2018.

Steven Yeun is getting candid.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America asked members on Monday to vote in favor of its “pattern of demands,” the broad outline that will guide the union’s position in upcoming talks with the major studios. The bargaining is set to begin on March 20. The current contract expires on May 1. The union is looking to get better wages and a better deal on residual payments for streaming shows. An email went to the membership this morning asking for a “yes” vote on the demands. Ballots must be submitted by noon Pacific Time on March 7. Here is the full text:

Standing room only crowds gathered last night at WGA membership meetings on both coasts to discuss the upcoming contract negotiations, which are set to begin on March 20.