The Writers Guild of America's recent agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is a significant achievement, securing meaningful protections for writers and setting new standards. However, the issue of deal lethargy, a quiet scandal in Hollywood, remains a pressing concern. This phenomenon, where the time between a writer's assignment and the actual deal closure can be six months or more, is a structural failure with far-reaching consequences.
Deal lethargy costs writers real money, as the delay between verbal agreements and deal closures results in a decrease in purchasing power. The WGA's minimum scale table, while fair, fails to account for the financial impact of this delay. This issue affects writers at all levels, eroding the real value of their negotiated fees. The creative toll is equally significant, as projects lose momentum and the electricity of a well-aligned creative team is dampened.
The industry's obsession with contract details and timelines for other aspects of production is starkly contrasted with the lack of urgency in dealmaking. The WGA's basic agreement assumes that time is a critical factor in the creative process, but dealmaking operates in a no-man's-land where no clock runs and no consequences attach to delays. This is a systemic problem that needs addressing.
To combat deal lethargy, the WGA should introduce a ticking clock provision. From the moment of a verbal agreement, a defined window should open, giving both parties 30 days to reach a fully negotiated deal memo on material business points. This can be extended by 15 days if needed, with a maximum of 60 days for complex deals. If the window closes without agreement, an informal arbitration process should commence, conducted under WGA auspices and fast-tracked. This approach would transform the back half of the deal-making process, just as the deal-memo clock transforms the front.
Critics may argue that this is naive, but the pre-strike scramble proved that deadlines can drive faster deal closures. The industry's ability to move quickly during that period was not due to a change in complexity but to the presence of a hard deadline with real consequences. The WGA should start the clock to ensure writers' economic security and protect the creative momentum of projects. This is a necessary step to address the systemic issue of deal lethargy and ensure that writers are fairly compensated for their work.
