Post Strike Aftermath-1

More from Patric Verrone on the strike, the contract and what it all means by Cynthia Littleton of Variety;

..The completion of the Directors Guild of America deal was a turning point, but more so for the AMPTP than for the WGA.

"I think that loosened up a lot of what the other side would offer," Writers Guild of America, West [President] Verrone said after announcing the results of the vote on whether to end the strike at the WGA Theater in Bev Hills. (Vid of Verrone's statement to the media is posted below.)



"If those proposals had been put before us on Dec. 7, when the AMPTP walked away from the negotiating table, we could've easily gotten a deal done by Christmas. Instead, five weeks went by while the AMPTP chose to negotiate with another union," he said.

Asked what he'd do differently if he had to do it all over again, Verrone didn't pause much before answering.

"I'd hope that we had gotten into the room with the CEOs sooner. I really think that was vital to the process to meet with decision-makers, and I hope that going forward those decision-makers are more integrally involved with these kinds of collective bargaining action. I don't know if (the strike) could have been avoided. I'd like to have thought we could have done this without a strike but in retrospect it seems it as though we had to."

..."It was a double-edged sword. They were getting pressure from the impending end of the TV season, the sinking of the pilot season and the fact that the Screen Actors Guild was going to honor our Oscar picket line. We were getting many of those same pressures. The point of true leverage for both sides really came to head right around that time -- the end of January, the beginning of February."

The DGA weighs in...

Now that the strike of 07/08 is history--I wonder what's going to happen with the put in limbo flicks like Justice League of America and the Transformers sequel...? Will JLA be put back on the fast track? Will Transformers 2 meet its June '09 release date?

These questions and many others should be answered sonner rather than later.