Editorials > Strike Update: Weinstein Co. Strikes a Deal with WGA

Yesterday, we had a report that Harvey and Bob Weinstein were considering a proposal from the Writers Guild of America, and today we can tell you that the brothers have accepted the WGA's terms and will be able to get their projects back on schedule immediately. According to Variety, the Weinstein Co.'s deal is almost identical to the one the WGA worked out with United Artists last week. Dimension, the company headed by Bob Weinstein, is also covered under the deal.

Harvey Weinstein explained that his reasons for signing the deal included his "empathy for the striking writers and the hardships they've endured over the past ten weeks." If that doesn't sound like something Harvey Weinstein would say, it's because that's just Variety paraphrasing his intentions. But Harvey actually said, "If a deal with the writers can be hammered out, other guilds would follow. The price being paid by the community as a whole is unthinkable."

Jesse Hiestand, spokesman for the AMPTP dismissed the deal as a "sideshow" (read it in Darth Vader's voice for added fun):

One-off deals do nothing to bring the WGA closer to a permanent solution for working writers. These interim agreements are sideshows and mean only that some writers will be employed at the same time other writers will be picketing. In the end, until the people in charge at WGA decide to focus on the main event rather than these sideshows, the economic harm being caused by the strike will continue. 

Apparently, George Clooney is trying to save the day (as he is wont to do) by proposing a "blue-ribbon panel" of actors and filmmakers to mediate negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP. "The condition would be that no one would leave the room for 48 hours until a settlement was (theoretically) reached." Along with himself, he proposed that Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks lead the panel. Can even George Clooney fix Hollywood in two days or less when no one else has been able to in two months?

-David Morgan