Strike over!!!

UPDATE 2 – TV showrunners and writers who also carry a producing credit will return to work tomorrow (Monday) with regular writers getting back to work on Wednesday. I’ve heard from sources that film writers are also beginning to get back to work in a non-official kind of way…

UPDATE – Just to clarify, the strike will not technically be over until the agreement is voted on by WGA West and East members today but the deal is expected to embraced with little issue and work would resume on Monday. “The time has come to accept this contract and settle the strike,” WGA West president Patric A. Verrone told members in an e-mail early Saturday morning.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have reached a tentative deal that will end the long-running strike that has slowed the movie and TV industries. I don’t profess to know enough about the sticking points to try and explain them but you can visit the WGA site to read the entire agreement. The WGA sent out an e-mail early this morning to its members saying, “We have a tentative deal. It is an agreement that protects a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery.” The move comes just two weeks before the Oscar telecast saving the ceremony from suffering a similar indignity as the Golden Globes. What it means for TV shows on hiatus and movies that have been delayed (like JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and the DA VINCI CODE sequel ANGELS AND DEMONS) remains to be seen. The next few weeks should be interesting as everyone tries to figure out exactly what is going on and schedules begin to get negotiated. This is obviously a breaking story so stay tuned as more news develops. But first things first: let’s get “Lost” back in development ASAP!