The End Might Be Near for the Writers' Strike

The 3-month-old WGA strike could end as early as Friday if the new contract is completed and approved

It's still in the outline phase, but a new contract has been drawn for striking writers, and may meet with approval as early as Friday.

The new deal is said to including resolutions to fundamental concerns, like compensation for work done for and distributed on the Internet, all of which led to the walkout and picket lines three months ago. The talks between representative negotiators from the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) seemed to have picked up speed following the recent ratification of the Director's Guild's contract, which was handled prior to its expiration, thus negating a strike. Says today's LA Times:

The tentative writers' agreement is largely modeled on the directors' pact, which doubles residual payments for films and TV shows sold online, secures the union's jurisdiction over shows created for the Internet (above certain budgets) and establishes payments for shows that are streamed on advertising-supported websites.

There are some points that remain unresolved, which hopefully will be seen to this week, and a final contract presented to the WGA for its seal of approval. No one participating in the negotiations has made public commented, as they are in a media blackout.

If the strike were to end by next week, writers, show and film employees, and anyone involved in putting on the upcoming Oscars telecast, will heave a collective sigh of relief. And hopefully, we'll get fresh, much-needed and sorely missed episodes of some great television shows, once they get back into production.

Photo by The Eye of Brad via the LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr