Just this week we have seen the final holdout, WME, agree to the WGA’s proposed working terms. Aimed to address both packaging fees and the commercial interest of talent agencies in production companies, this historic (and long-drawn-out) dispute/agreement returns the agency industry to a place it has not been for decades- and could have intriguing knock-on effects down the line. BLAKE & WANG P.A entertainment lawyer San Francisco analyze the situation.
It’s possible that the DGA’s recent coming-out in favor of the WGA argument was an influencing party in WME finally dropping its antitrust suit and returning to the negotiation table with the WGA. Or perhaps the argument and court posturing have simply run their course, with even the courts suggesting they would prefer to see mediation over litigation. With both threatened court actions finally put to bed and a productive agreement reached, this represents the culmination of an action begun in the far-back mists of April 2018. While it’s been frighteningly close to 3 years coming, now it has finally arrived, what does this mean for the talent agency industry as a whole?
Firstly, we return to a 10% commission structure that hasn’t been in play for many years. As was always the intent behind the WGA’s campaign, they wish for writer’s agents to ‘only make money when (their) client does.’ With the juicy allure of packaging fees and incentives created by owning in-house production entities gone, it will certainly be a different world for talent and the agencies that represent them.
Hopefully, we will also see relations between the WGA and the Association of Talent Agents return to normal. The forerunners for WGA ire in April 2018, the ATA refused to negotiate with the WGA, which in turn led to the individual agreements reached between agencies and the WGA. We may even see SAG-AFTRA, who haven’t dealt with the ATA since a similar, earlier, dispute, return to the table with them.
It’s not rare for strikes and disputes to have a long-term impact on the industry, of course. Yet this is a major defanging of some critical conflicts of interest in the industry, and will undoubtedly have a profound impact on things to come. BLAKE & WANG P.A entertainment lawyer San Francisco will be watching carefully.
Film and Television 