Re: Letterman Pursuing a Deal With Writers
- From: Donz5 <donz5@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:43:15 -0800 (PST)
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/late-night-breakthroughs-and-breaches/
Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily
Late Night Breakthrough; Dave Cooks Up WGA Deal That NBC & ABC Won't
Enjoy; CBS Reacts By Re-Pledging AMPTP Unity
UPDATED THROUGHOUT: Sources tell me the Writers Guild Of America is
intending to grant David Letterman's independent production company
Worldwide Pants an "interim agreement" that allows the Late Show host
and his writers to return to the airwaves during the strike because it
doesn't involve CBS. This comes after Letterman's long-time executive
producer Rob Burnett, who's also president/CEO of Dave's production
company Worldwide Pants, has repeatedly tried to secure a WGA waiver
for The Late Show. (See below for details of the bills Letterman has
been paying since his show went off the air.)
This trumps NBC's announcement coming Monday that Jay Leno and Conan
O'Brien will be returning by January 7th. Presumably, ABC's Jimmy
Kimmel won't be far behind. "A major announcement will be made by more
than one network on Monday," an insider noted. But Jay and Conan, who
are just hired hands and not show owners like Dave, won't have their
writers to rely on when they come back on the air. And Dave will. The
Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, also owned by WP, would return
with writers.
Here's the statement from Rob Burnett:
"Worldwide Pants has always been a writer-friendly company. Dave has
been a member of the WGA for more than 30 years, and I have been a
member for more than 20. Because we are an independent production
company, we are able to pursue an interim agreement with the Guild
without involving CBS in that pursuit. Therefore, since the
beginning of the strike, we have expressed our willingness to sign an
interim agreement with the Guild consistent with its positions in this
dispute. We're happy that the Guild has now adopted an approach that
might make this possible. It is our strong desire to be back on the
air with our writers and we hope that will happen as soon as
possible."
This clearly is part of the WGA's new "divide and conquer" strategy
(see my previous, WGA Starting Monday Will Say To Moguls: "Let's Make
An Individual Deal". Though it's worked with Letterman, it'll be a
much tougher sell with the Hollywood moguls.
2ND UPDATE: That's why Letterman's network CBS felt the need today to
disassociate itself from his pending WGA deal today, obviously worried
that Les Moonves' AMPTP colleagues will be miffed. CBS issued this
statement this afternoon:
"Regarding David Letterman's company, Worldwide Pants, seeking an
interim agreement with the WGA: We respect the intent of Worldwide
Pants to serve the interests of its independent production company and
its employees by seeking this interim agreement with the WGA.
However, this development should not confuse the fact that CBS remains
unified with the AMPTP, and committed to working with the member
companies to reach a fair and reasonable agreement with the WGA that
positions everyone in our industry for success in a rapidly changing
marketplace."
At present, the other late night hosts -- Jay, Conan, and Jimmy (paid
the least of all and said to be close to bankruptcy) are paying for
staff to one degree or another out of their own pockets, presumably.
But Letterman isn't just doling out $300,000 a week in salary for the
non-writing staff of two shows, his and The Late Late Show starring
Craig Ferguson which Worldwide Pants also owns. Dave also pays for the
rent of the Ed Sullivan Theatre Building in NYC and insurance for 200+
workers, I'm told. "So, triple that figure and you'll be close to what
he's been shelling out a week for six weeks," a source says. "I'm
tired of everyone being lumped together for taking roughly the same
out-of-pocket hit. It's not close."
I've learned that Worldwide Pants approached the Writers Guild early
before the strike and tried to get a waiver and stay on the air. The
company's argument was that it's a small production company that
supports the WGA And that whatever deal the guild negotiated,
Worldwide Pants would adhere to. At first, I'm told, the guild thought
making side deals might weaken its bargaining position. But now that
the labor action is dragging on seven weeks without an end in sight,
the guild has rethought its position in an attempt to induce
individual studios and networks to cut separate deals with the WGA.
UPDATE: I've been trying to reach Letterman head writers Justin and
Eric Stangel (they're brothers and share that title) for comment. But
Late Show staff writer and strike captain Bill Scheft (photo right)
just told me he knew nothing about Letterman's attempt to obtain the
WGA waiver. "I got the update letter today from the WGA about separate
deals and then thought, 'If we were smart, we'd be first on that
line,' he said. "They should give Dave the waiver just for
singlehandedly keeping six shows off the air for two months and
choking off a revenue stream the networks had counted on."
I asked Scheft how he feels knowing there's even a possibility he
could return to work in a matter of days, not months. "Nikki, you have
no idea. Very emotional just to think about it. Every single day on
the picket line, every day, people from the staff come and visit us.
My goal is always to get through the visit without sobbing. A goal not
always reached."
In an earlier email exchange, Scheft told me, the WGA "can thank Dave
for the other guys staying off and paying their staffs, in my opinion.
You have to wonder if they can wield more influence as on-camera
advocates for the cause. As I have said since the beginning, Dave
Letterman on the air without writers, pissed off he has no writers,
railing nightly against network weasels and haircuts, is the greatest
ally writers can have. And he will reach a much wider audience about
the strike than we have been able to so far."
.
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