Friday night, Hollywood was in feverish anticipation of the impending Saturday meetings between the Studios and the WGA (Writers Guild of America). Saturday afternoon after meeting, a tentative deal was in place. WGA leaders informed members during a briefing Saturday night that they would have 48 hours to vote on the new terms once the board has ratified the contract. On Sunday the WGA officially endorsed the deal urging their members to vote in favor of the deal.
Then the WGA backed the deal to end the Hollywood strike, voting unanimously and calling an immediate halt to picketing and paving the way for writers to return to work by mid-week, leaving and official end to the bitter writers’ strike appears all but assured. Even crotchety Michael Moore was pleased with the results. “The fact that it was a bunch of people that got beat up in school because they like to sit around and write in their journals is kind of impressive,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, as we reported earlier, Nikki Finke, one of the leading writers on WGA strike developments seemed rather annoyed on Thursday afternoon when ex Disney CEO Michael Eisner declared that the strike was basically over. “It’s over. They made the deal, they shook hands on the deal. It’s going on Saturday to the writers in general,” he said speaking live on CNBC’s “Fast Money.”
Finke – possibly so vexed that she didn’t break this news – originally wrote. “A bunch of idiots on the Internet suddenly think the writers strike is over just because Michael Eisner today says it is,” then once she realized Eisner’s claim had some creedence (afterall the proposed offer did go to the WGA on Saturday), she softened her tone (but as usual, Google cache never forgets your original words). “A bunch of idiots” quickly changed to “A bunch of Internet sites,” and she took the opportunity of her tweaked posts to take more jabs at got-their-first Eisner. “[Perhaps] Eisner was trying to manipulate the price of all that Disney stock he owns?”
Sour grapes much?