Talking Points Memo Editorial Staffers Ratify New WGA East Contract

Standing room only crowds gathered last night at WGA membership meetings on both coasts to discuss the upcoming contract negotiations, which are set to begin on March 20.

Writers Guild of America East has filed its third unfair labor practice charge against Hearst Magazines as lengthy contract talks continue to drag on. The WGAE and Hearst Union claim in the National Labor Relations Board filing that Hearst “unilaterally implemented” uneven wage increases for some employees while the union’s negotiating committee was bargaining for percentage wage increases for all employees.

Rebecca Lenkiewicz will be this year’s recipient of the WGA West’s Paul Selvin Award in recognition of her adapted screenplay for She Said, the Universal film about the New York Times reporters who broke the story that exposed disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein. The guild said Thursday that she will be honored at the WGA Awards’ Los Angeles ceremony March 5 at the Fairmont Century Plaza.

After two years of collective bargaining, the WGA East has filed another unfair labor practices charge against Hearst Magazines Media – this time for giving employees a raise while in contract negotiations with the guild. The guild, which says that this violates federal labor law, represents some 500 of the publishing giant’s editorial, video, design and photo staff at more than 25 brands, including Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Popular Mechanics, Car & Driver, Oprah Daily, Seventeen, Elle, Redbook and Woman’s Day.

The WGA will hold the last of its four scheduled membership meetings about its upcoming contract negotiations Thursday: one at the Sheraton Universal in Universal City, CA and at the other at the School of Visual Arts Theatre in New York City.

MAMAMOO subunit MAMAMOO+ will make their comeback next month.On February 21, RBW Entertainment informed South Korean media outlet TV Report that the duo of MAMAMOO members Solar and Moonbyul are “preparing for a comeback with the goal of coming March”.Details including an exact release date, tracklist and album format have not been announced at the time of publishing.The forthcoming release will mark MAMAMOO+’s first comeback as a duo, and serve as the follow-up to their debut single ‘Better’ featuring rapper BIG Naughty last August. The pair are currently the first and only subunit that MAMAMOO has launched.Two months after MAMAMOO+’s debut, the quartet returned with their ‘Mic ON’ mini-album, their first group release in over a year.

Anthony Mackie picked up Steve Rodger’s iconic shield and became Captain America in the final episodes of his Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. However, is his character Sam Wilson going to follow in Chris Evans‘ footsteps and lead the rest of the Avengers?

Some 800 writers gathered last night at the Hollywood Palladium to go over the WGA’s agenda for its upcoming negotiations for a new film and TV contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The current contract expires on May 1. The membership meeting was the second over the past week — the first drew 500 attendees — with one more gathering scheduled in L.A. and another in New York later this month.

In today’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo sits down to talk about con man movies with director Benjamin Caron (“The Crown,” “Andor,” “Wallander”). The director is currently promoting his film, “Sharper,” which follows multiple con men and women in New York City who are all searching for the perfect mark and the biggest take.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Films Boutique has closed a flurry of deals on “Subtraction,” Mani Haghighi’s Iranian noir thriller which world premiered at Toronto in the competition Platform section. The Berlin-based company has closed deals in France (Diaphana in association with Kinovista), Russia and CIS (A One), Canada (Films We Like), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom), Middle East (Fron Row), Poland (Mayfly), Taiwan (Proview Ent.), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Switzerland (Trigon) and Benelux (September Films). The movie is headlined by Taraneh Alidoosti, the Iranian star of “The Salesman” and “Leila’s Brothers” and Navid Mohammadzadeh (“Leila’s Brothers”). Both Haghighi and Alidoosti have recently been targeted by Iranian authorities. Alidoosti was temporarily arrested, while Haghighi had his passport confiscated as he was about to board a flight to attend the BFI London Film Festival. 

took to Twitter in a livestream, showing themselves delivering what appeared to a Valentine to BDG chief executive Bryan Goldberg. However, the item was actually an unfair labor act charge, which the group filed hours prior.The writers’ actions come after BDG allegedly laid off 39 unit members, with three active union members — Collette Reitz, former editor at “Elite Daily;” Emma Sarran Webster, former editor at “Mic,” and Sophie Worm, former video editor at “Some Spider.” The members say the company never shared a reason for their decision to layoff the three union supporters.“These three unit members did not squarely fit into the categories BDG laid out to the WGAE representatives – or in the Company’s public messaging – regarding the layoffs.

The WGA East has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the Bustle Digital Group, claiming that three of the 39 guild members who were laid off there recently were terminated “in retaliation for their concerted, protected union activity in violation of the National Labor Relations Act.”

William Earl Variety will present Diego Luna with the inaugural Variety Virtuoso Award at the Miami Film Festival on Saturday, March 4. The award is will be presented to celebrate Luna’s excellence in acting, directing and producing over the years. “Emerging as a major force in Latin American cinema back at the dawn of our current century, Diego Luna has consistently proven the promise of his breakthrough role in Alfonso Cuarón’s acclaimed film ‘Y Tu Mama Tambien’ not only with awards-nominated work as an actor but also a growing reputation as a director of the first order,” said Steve Gaydos, Variety EVP of Global Content and Executive Editor. “Currently starring in the hit ‘Star Wars’ prequel series ‘Andor,’ Luna’s leading man credentials are vividly on display.”

Joy Division‘s ‘Atmosphere’ at their first show in 11 years, in tribute to Low’s late vocalist and drummer Mimi Parker.The band played a pair of shows at Union Pool in Brooklyn, in advance of Numero Group’s 20th anniversary concert Numero Twenty this weekend in Los Angeles. During Saturday night’s show (February 11), Codeine added the cover of ‘Atmosphere’ to their set.Parker, who formed slowcore band Low with her husband Alan Sparhawk in 1993, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in late 2020.

Chrissy Metz, best known for her portrayal of Kate Pearson on "This Is Us," can also add children's book author to her expanding resume with the release of her new book, "When I Talk to God, I Talk About You." The book, co-authored with her boyfriend Bradley Collins, a songwriter, was written while Metz was filming the final season of the TV drama. "I was shooting the last season and Bradley was in Nashville for songwriting and so we would just get together when we could over FaceTime or Zoom," Metz explained while making an appearance on "Today." The book's focus is on the power of prayer and implementing it into the lives of children.

Nearly 500 WGA members gathered today at the Writers Guild Theater in Los Angeles to hear their leaders discuss the guild’s upcoming negotiations for a new film and TV contract. The press wasn’t allowed inside, but out on the street, cheers and applause could be heard emanating from the meeting. This was the first of four member meetings that will be held this month, with two more scheduled in L.A. and one in New York.

WGA East-represented news writers and producers at HuffPost have ratified a new three-year contract. According to the guild, the pact was approved unanimously by the 91-member bargaining unit employed at the online news site.

The WGA West on Saturday will hold its first membership meeting to discuss its upcoming negotiations with the AMPTP for a new film and TV contract. Two other membership meetings are scheduled in Los Angeles later this month, and one will be held in New York.

In a show of solidarity, more than 400 film and TV writers – including Adam McKay, David Simon, Tina Fey, Alfonso Cuarón, Lilly Wachowski, John Waters and Alan Zweibel – have signed a petition calling on MSNBC to negotiate a fair first-time contract with the WGA East for the cable news network’s news writers and producers.

Podcast content creators at Crooked Media, complaining about the “degradation of our working conditions,” have unionized with the WGA East. According to the guild, an “overwhelming majority” of the podcast company’s 55 content creators have signed cards to unionize and are calling on management to voluntarily recognize the guild as their collective bargaining representative.