NO DEAL YET BETWEEN WRITERS AND PRODUCERS

Someone has been finding it difficult dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s in the agreement between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers. A week or so ago, the industry trade publications were quoting anonymous sources as saying that the two sides had reached a tentative three-year deal and that only the i’s and t’s needed attention. But on Thursday, WGA negotiators backed off from that claim. In a message to members, Chip Johannessen and Billy Ray, who have been heading the negotiations for the WGA, and WGAW President Chris Keyser said, “Every aspect of our contract has been negotiated and agreed upon with two exceptions — options and exclusivity — which remain points of contention between us.” Those are not negligible issues, The negotiators said that they are bound up with the issues of short orders for cable, pay TV and streaming shows and unpredictable scheduling, which, they said, “have combined to create a serious problem for many writers.” And with that the two sides have decided to take another break in their talks. They are due to return to the bargaining table on March 31.