The Writers Guild and studio and producers' alliance - AKA the AMPTP - ended talks late yesterday to take a four-day breather, but based on a pair of dueling press releases, the whole mess looks as bad as ever.
What a change from Monday when there was a sense - reflected mostly in the trade press and influential blogs like Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood - that this thing might actually be over by now.
In some ways, the situation looks as lousy as ever, though at least both sides are talking, which is better than not talking at all (presumably). Meanwhile, both sides ended their self-imposed news blackouts, which also (presumably) means more press releases and more recriminations. This thing is not looking good at all.
First, this key declaration from the AMPTP statement:
"The AMPTP today unveiled a New Economic Partnership to the WGA, which includes groundbreaking moves in several areas of new media, including streaming, content made for new media and programming delivered over digital broadcast channels. The entire value of the New Economic Partnership will deliver more than $130 million in additional compensation above and beyond the more than $1.3 billion writers already receive each year..."
Then this, from the writers, concerning that grandiloquent "New Economic Partnership: "Among the rumors [this week] was the assertion that the AMPTP had a groundbreaking proposal that would make this negotiation a 'done deal.' In fact, for the first three days of this week, the companies presented in essence their November 4 package with not an iota of movement on any of the issues that matter to writers.
"Thursday morning, the first new proposal was finally presented to us. It dealt only with streaming and made-for-Internet jurisdiction, and it amounts to a massive rollback."
The Guild called the producers' "intractability...dispiriting."
Both sides meet again Tuesday, and there was additional speculation - if you can believe any of that stuff now - that the producers may lay some additional cards on the table. We await.