In the meantime, the agency claims that the guild did not respond to its updated opening before a rejection: “There was no counterattack on our proposal, nor any offer to meet and engage.”
After the December 22 opening of making a deal to represent scribes for the first time in 20 months was denied by the Writers Guild of America, talent agency WME is claiming that the guild did not refute its updated proposal before the rejection.
“The WME submitted an updated proposal that made a series of concessions just four days after our hearing on December 18th. We made it clear that we want to start an additional dialogue with the WGA at any time during the holidays. We know that this is how all other agencies finally reached an agreement – they had the opportunity to have a discussion with the Guild to address their specific needs, and this is what we have been trying to do continuously in an effort to close a deal, “read a statement from a spokesman. voice of the WME.
The WME representative added: “However, instead of responding directly to us, we once again indirectly learned from media reports that our proposal was rejected through a leaked letter that the WGA Negotiating Committee sent to members There was no counter-attack on our proposal, nor any offer to meet and get involved. Although we consider this tactic to be useless to reach a resolution, we will persist in our efforts to reach a new franchise agreement. “
Meanwhile, a US district judge ruled against the agency’s offer of an injunction to prevent a boycott by the guild. A WME spokesman did not immediately respond to comment on the decision.
On December 29, the Writers Guild agency’s negotiating committee sent a note to its members outlining the reasons why it was rejecting a deal with the WME, adding: “Having been on the sidelines for the past 20 months, there won’t be any last ‘ bonuses for WME – no accommodation for the fact that they are the most conflicting of all agencies – no changes to our existing agreements that soften the protections that writers have been striving for nearly two years to achieve. “
Beverly Hills-based WME, led by President Ari Greenburg, is the last major talent agency in a standoff with the Writers Guild. The talent company, which is part of the entertainment and sports conglomerate Endeavor, is a sister to the film and TV company Endeavor Content, which has worked on 200 projects in the past year.
The Writers Guild considered the agency’s affiliation with producers to be a conflict of interest and demanded that companies representing their members reduce their shareholding in these entities to a 20% stake. The guild also called for more transparency about the agencies’ private equity owners. (The private equity firm Silver Lake Partners holds a majority stake in Endeavor, headed by CEO Ari Emanuel.)
In the Writers Guild’s WME rejection note on December 29, the agency’s trading committee said that Endeavor did not agree to put its stake in Endeavor Content in a blind trust and stated that “WME insists that they are a Silver Lake entity may together own more than 20% of Endeavor Content. “Sources close to WME dispute the characterization of the guild and claim that Endeavor and Silver Lake are willing to reduce their participation in Endeavor content to 20 Percent.
In the past 20 months, after thousands of writers separated from their agents in April 2019, the Writers Guild signed small boutiques, as well as larger talent agencies, for new deals, including Paradigm in March, UTA in July and ICM Partners in August .
On December 16, WME’s rival CAA became the last major agency to make a deal with the guild, and the deal was noteworthy, since CAA supports a production entity, a film studio and Wii TV. The agreement states that CAA, and its majority owner of private equity TPG, will divest its stake in wiip to 20 percent and provide evidence of the sale in a timeframe that has not been publicly disclosed. The guild and CAA also agreed to withdraw legal claims.
Two days after the CAA deal, lawyers for WME and Writers Guild spoke during a hearing chaired by US District Court judge André Birotte Jr., who pleaded with the agency and the guild to make a deal. “Find a way to try to resolve this,” said Birotte.
On Wednesday, Birotte denied the WME’s motion for an injunction, writing that the court “lacks jurisdiction” over the matter and that the “group boycott” organized by the Writers Guild is protected. “The defendants’ group boycott against the Plaintiff did not involve illegal acts or substantial and irreparable damage to property,” wrote Birotte.
Birotte decided that, even if the WME could establish a likelihood of prevailing in its group boycott complaint, that a federal court was unable to issue an injunction thanks to the Norris-LaGuardia Act, the almost century-old law that deprived courts of the power of enforce the union – breaking contracts. While the talent agency argued that this was not a typical labor dispute between employer and employee, Birotte replies: “Disputes over the contractual means (ie the ‘how’) of labor representation do not make this a non-labor issue. Undoubtedly, this controversy arises from a labor dispute under the Norris-LaGuardia Law. “
Upon reaching the conclusion that an injunction was beyond the scope of his powers, Birotte avoided a deeper analysis of the merits of the WME’s antitrust claims. If the talent agency can console itself with the December 30 decision, it is that it has avoided a disastrous decision by stating that it has no chance of winning a case based on the claim that writers are illegally colluding with others to harm the company’s business. WME.
17:35 PST Updated with details of the US District Judge’s decision on the WME’s offer to end the Writers Guild boycott.