Recoupment Plan Dropped by Studios

Negotiations between the major studios and the Writers Guild of America took an upturn Tuesday after the studios withdrew a proposal to pay residuals only after recouping their costs of production. The Los Angeles Times reported at its website that the Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are still far apart on a new contract. The current WGA contract expires Oct. 31. Still, the withdrawal of the unpopular proposal gave a slight glimmer of hope that the two sides could reach an agreement and prevent a strike by the writers. “In the overriding interest of keeping the industry working and removing what has become an emotional impediment and excuse by the WGA not to bargain, the AMPTP withdrew its recoupment proposal,” the Times quoted Nick Counter, the industry’s chief negotiator. However, Counter added the producers would not scale back residuals, nor were they ready to grant guild demands for higher residuals for home video and digital downloads of movies and TV shows, the Times said.