DAY 5 NEGOTIATIONS: AMPTP TO COMPLETE PROPOSAL, WGA TO MAKE COUNTER OFFER (DHD, VAR, THR)

By Nancy Vialatte

Today marks a return to the negotiating table for the AMPTP and the WGA. The writers are expected to make a counter proposal to the one the AMPTP made last week while the latter group is reportedly going to make the second-half of its original proposal.

DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com reports that the writers� negotiating team have agreed they will accept the approach of the networks and studios and use a flat rate �with modifications� while trying to come to terms with the producers on streaming.

The flat rate may wind up being a good change-up in the long-term. As an AMPTP insider explained to me, �The reason we went with a flat-rate for streaming is because they�re always complaining about our funny accounting, so we thought rather than give them a percentage of a percentage of funny accounting, we�ll give them a flat rate.� (DHD)

Still, on Monday, WGA West president Patric Verrone underscored the guild�s displeasure with the AMPTP�s proposal for a fixed $250 annual residual on streaming video for one-hour network dramas.

�We have to get a better proposal on the table,� he said.

Today marks the first session since Thursday�s talks adjourned amid a welter of accusations from both sides after the studios and nets offered a so-called New Economic Partnership that the WGA dismissed a few hours later as inadequate and insulting. Company execs went on the warpath over the next few days, privately characterizing the guild�s tactics as indicative that the union was not interested in making a deal. (VAR)

An ad running in today�s trades, however, seems to do away with the rancor and presents a softer side of the AMPTP. In the ad, the group says its proposal isn�t a �take-it-or-leave-it offer�It is designed to allow both sides to engage in the kind of substantive give-and-take negotiation that can lead to common ground. The WGA leadership asked for five days to respond. So with the ball in the WGA�s court, we look forward to what they have to say when we meet today.�

�This is not a zero-sum campaign where there is one winner and one loser,� the ad continues. �We need the writers and the writers need us. And we need to work together if we are to navigate the rapids of this increasingly complex, high-tech economy.�

For its part, the guild also sent out an email from WGA West board member Tom Schulman predicting that the companies will continue to present a confusing picture to members. (see related story)

The guild�s formal response to management�s latest proposals will be scrutinized for any sign of new flexibility on the labor, notes the Reporter citing a top studio exec.

Barring such evidence, studio chiefs are likely to start considering whether it�s time for the AMPTP to turn its attention away from talks with the WGA and toward starting early contract talks with the DGA, the exec said.

With the press blackout lifted last week, several top company heads called members of the Fourth Estate on Friday. The intent seemed to be to convey management frustrations with the guild and its chief negotiator, WGA West executive director David Young, says the Hollywood Reporter.

�I do think this whole thing calls into question David Young�s ability to make a deal,� a top management exec said. �He has no experience in these sorts of negotiations, and so perhaps there is something to that theory that they�re not capable of making a deal.

�You can say what you want about the AMPTP, but for 20 years they�ve been able to make a deal,� the exec added. �The fact is that you have to wonder about the current leadership at the WGA and its ability to get something done here.�

WGA negotiating committee chairman John Bowman rejected the notion that guild negotiators are too inexperienced or unskilled to construct a deal with the AMPTP.

�From my sense, the problem with the negotiations is that (the AMPTP) never wanted to deal with the Internet, and they are only now really coming around to the fact that they have to,� Bowman told the Hollywood Reporter. �But it is something that they do repeatedly, trying to make this about personalities. It�s not about personalities.�

Meanwhile, a Hollywood mogul, summing up the negotiations thus far, told Nikki Finke �We�re tough, and they�re stupid.�