Film and Digital Media @ Messiah

Word of a breakthrough came as the Writers Guild of America strike neared its three-month mark and after 11 days of low-key contract talks that followed a separate labor deal between the producers and Directors Guild of America.

The current talks were initially conceived as “informal discussions” designed to sketch the outlines of a potential settlement and to lay a foundation for the resumption of full-scale bargaining that collapsed in acrimony last December 7.

However, the latest sessions proved more fruitful than expected, evolving into substantive negotiations now expected to lead straight to a deal that would put the 10,500 striking writers back to work, the source said. According to an anonymous, but well-placed Reuters source, “they made significant progress” on Friday. The source declined to give further details.

Any deal would have to be endorsed by the governing boards of the WGA’s East and West Coast branches and ratified by the union’s rank and file.

The chief sticking point in the labor dispute has been the question of how much writers should be compensated for work distributed over the Internet and other digital media.

The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported on Saturday the last major roadblocks to a deal had been eliminated and that a tentative accord could come as early as next week.

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