John Wells on the DGA deal

Courtesy Craig, we have John Wells on the DGA deal. I agree on a lot -- holy shit, distributor's gross? really? -- and differ in opinion only slightly. Wells has a much better read of the death of the broadcast rerun. I hadn't considered that context. He also covers the Internet Side letter, which I didn't realize also fell under the DGA deal. Which is why he is a huge smarty-pants producer and Guild negotiator, and I am a shmuck with a hobby website.

I'd like to see us backdoor in that sweet sell-through bump in EST onto DVD's -- that is, go to 3.5% of 20% after the first hundred thousand DVD's sold (or, hey, a million. pick a number). It would be consistent with redefining DVD's and sell-through as the same "concept" which will help us dodge tech-specific issues in the future. Ain't gonna happen, but they opened the door back when they wanted us to redefine EST as identical to DVD's, we're just walking through. (ooo, Law&Order-speak)

It'll be interesting to see what the sticking point is if/when we get back to negotiating. I would laugh (or at least chuckle darkly) if I wind up giving up on my beloved DVD bump and Craig becomes the holdout when the studios try to hold on to separated rights.