Showrunners back to work Monday

While WGA votes, writers to resume producing
By CYNTHIA LITTLETON, DAVE MCNARY

For the first time in more than three months, TV showrunners are heading back to the office on Monday with the rest of the scribe tribe due back Wednesday.

The development came with the ruling boards of the Writers Guild of America unanimously approving the tentative deal with the majors, triggering a vote by members that will conclude Tuesday night on whether to lift the strike order. Ballots to ratify the new three-year deal will also go out in the next few days with a 10- to 12-day return period.

WGA West president Patric Verrone confirmed at a Sunday news conference at WGA West headquarters that scribes who also have producing responsibilities on their shows will be allowed to return to work on Monday.

Verrone said that the WGA's leadership opted to take the issue of ending the strike to the members because of their heavy involvement in supporting the job action. "They were the public face of the struggle on a daily basis," he added.

Citing gains in new media, Verrone proclaimed that the deal's the best that the WGA's negotiated in the last 30 years and that the strike was the most successful work stoppage in the United States during the 21st Century. He also praised a trio of moguls - News Corp. president Peter Chernin, Disney topper Robert Iger and CBS honcho Leslie Moonves - for their efforts in hammering out a deal.

Verrone noted that the involvement of CEOs in recent weeks had enabled both sides to move toward an agreement, in contrast with the unproductive negotiations last year. "We spent about three months getting nowehere," he added.

Negotiating committee chairman John Bowman told the news conference that the strike was necessary to achieve key gains in jurisdiction over new media and tying new media residuals to distributors gross.

Given the overwhelming support for the deal expressed by WGA members at meetings in Gotham and L.A. on Saturday, it's expected that the strike will be in the past tense by Wednesday.

Industry sources also report that the WGA contract reached with the majors is expected to include a provision that will allow scribes who were force majeured from ongoing series to return to their old jobs. Insiders cautioned, however, that some issues regarding that deal point are still being worked out by guild and studio lawyers. The contract does not address those who were force majeured from overall deals and other contracts if they were not working on a series that will resume production.

The TV biz was hit last month with a wave of firings and terminations of more than 70 writing and producing deals by the major studios as they invoked the force majeure provisions allowing them to terminate those contracts as a result of the prolonged strike.