The Writers Guild of America late Friday told its 15,000-strong membership of television and movie writers to fire their agents after it was unable to convince the majority of Hollywood’s talent agencies to halt practices the union alleges are unethical and illegal.
Taking center stage in the disagreement are the lucrative fees that agents receive from striking side deals with Hollywood studios. However, writers also want agencies to cease their recent efforts to produce their own content. The WGA says both practices are rife with conflicts of interest.
The fees in question are for so-called packaging, which is when an agency bundles various clients such as writers, directors and actors and sells it as a whole to a studio. Typically, when an agency packages talent for a show or a movie, it waives the 10% commission it would otherwise charge its clients. The WGA contends the sometimes high packaging fees collected by agents are to the detriment of writers.
The two sides extended talks about a week ago, giving the industry hope that writers and agents would reach a compromise.
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