WGA standoff with agencies finally coming to end

Blake & Wang P.A.

While somewhat overshadowed by the unfolding dramas hitting the entertainment industry in the wake of the global health crisis, the Writer’s Guild Association standoff with top-tier agencies over packaging has been ongoing for well over a year now. Finally, it looks like it might be coming to an end, and we certainly can’t argue that it isn’t time. BLAKE & WANG P.A take a closer look at recent developments.

This week we saw the WGA send both CAA and WME a proposal which will allow them to finally be enfranchised with the guild. If accepted, it will finally put the 18-month long conflict to bed. There is still something of a large ‘if’ around the matter, however. CAA and WME are the last 2 agencies which haven’t arrived at some form of deal with the WGA, which has been mostly successful in forcing agencies to accept a proposed end to packaging fees for writing services by a Jun 2022 deadline.

The potential deal has been a long time coming, with the crux of the issue being the need for both to reduce their ownership shares in production entities to meet the ‘20% or less’ guidelines set by the WGA. Supposedly terms were accepted last month by the CAA, but the WGA have countered that their asked-for accommodations were unacceptable, stalling the deal again. The WGA also claims a lack of corporate transparency from both agencies around their disclosure of their corporate structures, making it difficult to continue with the deal.

All the same, it does look like the 18-month standoff could well be drawing to a close in which the WGA has prevailed with its wishes to a remarkable extent. We will watch the situation as it unfolds with much interest.

What caused the demise of North Carolina as a Popular Filming Venue?

Entertainment Lawyers

North Carolina has seen a resurgence as a location shooting venue in recent years. After a boom in popularity in the early 2010’s, changing tax legislation and other restrictions saw the area lose popularity as a filming location. With 2019 and 2020 figures suggesting a strong new upswing in the state’s popularity as a film and TV hub, what setbacks occurred to kill the industry here in the first place?

2014 saw the state end legislation providing incentive funding to film crews shooting in the area. This included the Film Tax incentive, offering 25% reduction and tax credits up to $20,000,000 to productions. This was the primary cause of death for North Carolina’s reputation as ‘Hollywood on the East Coast’. It was claimed the incentive did little to benefit the state, but the jury is out on the exact figures.

The introduction of HB2, the ‘bathroom bill’, in 2016 was also seen as an unattractive rollback of diversity and equality, plunging the state into the dogbox among many industries. Estimates as high as 4 billion dollars lost to the bill over time have been floated. The bill is finally set to repeal at the end of 2020, although some argue the floated repeal is still not good enough.

So what’s bringing business back? While the devastation of the Coronavirus is not to be ignored, the way North Carolina has chosen to handle the crisis has created a space where production can continue fairly easily. Whilst urban enough to remain relevant, big cities like Charlotte are also less crowded than other production centers like NYC and Chicago, keeping crews safer. Additionally, they’ve recreated some grants and incentives that, while not quite as appealing as the original offerings, and a little more select in who they choose, have also set the stage to ensure a resurgence in the state’s popularity as a filming venue.

Blake & Wang P.A.

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Heavy is the hand that holds the…camera? The SAG-AFTRA/AEA dispute explained

2020 has been a rollercoaster year for the film, TV, and stage arts, that’s for certain. Not only have we seen strikes and conflicts from 2019 roll into the 2020 year, most notably the WGA-ATA strike, but we’ve also seen industry-wide shakeups with the Coronavirus pandemic. Perhaps it was inevitable that there would be a rise in union clashes along with the drastically altered work environments and lean pickings on offer. As one of the top entertainment law firms Los Angeles has, we’re always here to keep you in the loop- so here’s what you need to know about this latest conflict to rock the industry.

SAG-AFTRA and Actor’s Equity Association find themselves locked in a territorial battle over the filming of live theatre. For many years now, SAG-AFTRA has had jurisdiction over such recorded performances, but have offered AEA a waiver intended to help fellow actors while live-action theatre is shut down. AEA, however, has rejected the offer.

Their executive director, Mary McColl, is on record explaining the move. AEA believes this is an attempt by SAG-AFTRA to ‘claim jurisdiction in Equity workplaces.’ Far from the offered olive-branch of assistance, AEA sees this as an attempt to disrupt solidarity in the workplace, and damage employer-actor relationships, with knock-on effects to the workers.

The matter is pretty complex, and there’s more to the story than initially meets the eye- something we will be looking at in greater depth shortly. However, with the conflict currently sitting in something of a stalemate, it’s definitely a situation that entertainment law firms San Francisco-wide are going to want to keep a careful eye on. As always, BLAKE & WANG P.A will be here with all the inside information you need to stay on top of the entertainment world happenings.