Meredith Stiehm Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Leaders of SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s Teamsters Local 399 showed their support for the WGA on Monday, posing with WGA leaders shortly before the 11 a.m. start of the Writers Guild’s contract negotiations with producers at the AMPTP’s headquarters in Sherman Oaks.

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.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Accepting the Writers Guild of America award for original screenplay on Sunday night, Daniel Kwan skipped past the typical thank-yous to his agent and manager and instead shouted out his strike captain. “Get involved,” he told the crowd. “If you don’t have a captain yet, go find one… Let’s go give ’em hell.” It was a fitting capstone on the event, which at times felt more like a labor rally than an awards show. The WGA is set to begin negotiations with the major studios in just two weeks, and the possibility of a writers strike may be as high as it’s been since the last work stoppage in 2007-08.

The upcoming contract talks between the WGA and the AMPTP were evidently in the ether during the WGA Awards on Sunday.

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.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Meredith Stiehm, president of the WGA West, got right to the point in her remarks Sunday at the guild’s 2023 award ceremony. With contract negotiations less than two weeks aways, Stiehm rallied the troops about the need for solidarity, and she emphasized the guild’s role as serving as the “good sheriff” helping to tame the Wild West for writers. The guild, Stiehm told the crowd at the Fairmont Century Plaza, is “walking around like Gary Cooper — low key but watchful, vigilent and a little swagger.” The guild is “looking to keep the peace” but is devoted to enforcing the rules established by its contracts. “The guild says there are rules, there are laws,” she said referring to a fight that the WGA recently settled over $42 million in residual payments owed to guild members.

Writers Guild of America has completed its pattern of demands for its upcoming contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios in labor talks. The pattern of demands, which has been obtained by TheWrap and can be read below, has been sent to members WGA West and WGA East for an approval vote.

reported the news of the Amazon settlement.In early August, the WGA said it had secured $42 million in unpaid writer residuals from Netflix after an arbitration ruling was handed down regarding the Sandra Bullock horror film “Bird Box.”“Netflix argued the WGA should accept a substandard formula the company negotiated with DGA and SAG-AFTRA. After a hearing, however, an arbitrator determined differently: that the license fee should have been greater than the gross budget of the film,” read the WGA West memo from president Meredith Stiehm and other leaders.

“Netflix argued the WGA should accept a substandard formula the company negotiated with DGA and SAG-AFTRA. After a hearing, however, an arbitrator determined differently: that the license fee should have been greater than the gross budget of the film,” read the WGA West memo from president Meredith Stiehm and other leaders.

The Writers Guild Theater, which has been open for screenings since April, is implementing a proof-of-vaccination-and booster-policy as the latest Covid-19 subvariant, BA.5, surges across L.A. County.

The WGA’s historic reshaping of the talent agency business will take full effect at the end of business today, after which agency packaging fees will no longer be permitted under the guild’s franchise agreement.

The WGA West is calling on Hollywood to consider not shooting films and TV shows in states that ban abortions. The move comes in the wake of a leaked draft opinion by a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade and let states decide whether to ban abortions.

Women and minority film and TV writers have made “significant” hiring gains since 2010, according to the WGA West’s latest Inclusion & Equity Report, which found that the percentage of screenwriters employed under the guild’s contract who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) has quadrupled over the past 11 years.

Malina Saval Associate Editor, FeaturesAfter another politically and socially turbulent year, the Writers Guild of America is ready to celebrate the best that its members have to offer, while reflecting on the ever-changing social and entertainment landscape.The WGA’s annual awards event, a joint venture between WGAW and WGAWE, will be held on Sunday, March 20th, and similar to last year, will be handled as a virtual event. With COVID still firmly lingering in the space of the populace, the guild’s priorities have naturally shifted in ways that couldn’t have been anticipated, while still staying true to its collective core values.This year’s WGA film award nominees represent a roster of high-caliber talent.

The WGA West is calling on Hollywood to reconsider filming in Florida if Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed by the state’s legislature last week.

The Writers Guild of America has resolved its dispute with Constantin Film over foreign residuals and contributions to WGA benefits, and guild members now have the go-ahead to resume working with the “Resident Evil” production company.As part of the deal Constantin has agreed to pay $1.1 million in residuals that are owed to writers.

The WGA has told its members not to work for Constantin Film Development, the powerhouse German production company behind such films as the Resident Evil franchise, Downfall and The Baader Meinhof Complex.

Meredith Stiehm, running unopposed, has been elected president of the WGA West, becoming only the third woman to ever hold the guild’s top elected office.

Saying that “this may be my last official request as President of the WGAW,” David A. Goodman is asking members to take a quick survey about the current status of their representation by agents and managers. Goodman’s term ends on September 21, when he’ll be succeeded by Meredith Stiehm, who was one of the leaders in the WGA’s historic campaign to reshape the agency business.

Meredith Stiehm won’t take office as the next president of the WGA West until next month, but she’s already looking ahead to the 2023 film and TV contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Running unopposed in the guild’s upcoming election, she says in her official campaign statement that she’s ready for a “fight” with the major studios over a bigger share of steaming revenue and to achieve a long list of other economic gains for writers.

Meredith Stiehm is running for president of the WGA West. Currently a member of the local’s board of directors, she was one of the eight named plaintiffs in the WGA’s historic legal battle that reshaped the talent agency business.

By Nellie Andreeva