WGA: AMPTP ad is misleading
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- The Writers Guild of America said the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers made misleading statements in a new ad about WGA demands.
"The AMPTP has been making some misleading statements. I want to make sure you know the truth," David Young, executive director of the Writers Guild of America West and chief WGA negotiator, wrote in a message posted on the WGA Web site.
"They say writers are already paid residuals for digital downloads. That's true. We are paid one-third of 1 cent per dollar made by studios for digital downloads. ... This is a paltry amount for work that we have created. We are asking for 2.5 cents per dollar, which is what we currently make on ad-supported TV programming."
The AMPTP also said writers were paid $260 million in residuals in 2006.
"This was our contractual share of a record-setting $20 billion the studios earned from reruns of the work we created. The companies' rollbacks would cut our residuals in half," Young said.
"The AMPTP has a large advertising budget and we can expect them to issue many more misleading statements," said Young. "We know, however, that the truth will prevail."
AMPTP: WGA is creating new blacklist
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Producers and networks say the Writers Guild of America is using scare tactics to keep members from crossing picket lines during the Hollywood writers strike.
"The WGA is using fear and intimidation to control its membership," said Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers President Nick Counter in a statement posted on the organization's Web site. "Asking members to inform on each other and creating a black list of those who question the tactics of the WGA leadership is as unacceptable today as it was when the WGA opposed these tactics in the 1950s."
The AMPTP said the statement was a response to comments by Dan Wilcox, the chairman of the WGA's Strike Rules Compliance Committee, regarding guild regulations requiring members to "inform the guild of the name of any writer you have reason to believe is engaged in strike-breaking activity or other scab writing."
The WGA said Counter's charge "is as offensive as it is untrue."
"To accuse the WGA of blacklisting, when it was we who suffered the most from it in the past, is simply Mr. Counter's desperate attempt to divert attention from the fact that it was he who walked out of the negotiations, and it is he who refuses every day to return to the table," the guild said. "The WGA has an offer on the table and is ready and willing to meet with the AMPTP any day, anywhere."
Jay-Z's 'American Gangster' No. 1 album
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Rapper Jay-Z's latest album, "American Gangster," has debuted at the top of the U.S. album charts, Billboard.com reported Wednesday.
This marks the recording artist's 10th No. 1 album on The Billboard 200.
Jay-Z and Elvis Presley are tied for second place for the most No. 1 albums on the chart. Only the Beatles have more, with 19 No. 1 albums.
Coming in at No. 2 on this week's album chart is last week's top-ranking CD, the Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden," followed by Garth Brooks' "The Ultimate Hits" at No. 3, Chris Brown's "Exclusive" at No. 4 and Carrie Underwood's "Carnival Ride" at No. 5.
Rounding out the Top 10 are Josh Groban's holiday album, "Noel" at No. 6, Britney Spears' "Blackout" at No. 7, Taylor Swift's self-titled album at No. 8, Angels & Airwaves' "I-Empire" at No. 9 and Cassidy's "B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story" at No. 10.
Album sales are up 7.5 percent from last week and down 16.8 percent from the same week in 2006, Billboard.com said.
People names Damon 'Sexiest Man Alive'
NEW YORK, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Hollywood actor Matt Damon has been named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive -- an honor previously bestowed upon Damon's pals George Clooney and Brad Pitt.
"You've given an aging suburban dad the ego-boost of a lifetime," Damon told People.
The 32-year-old star of "The Departed," "Syriana," "Good Will Hunting," "Dogma" and the "Bourne" and "Ocean's" trilogies, has joked for years about his campaign to win the title, while Clooney and Pitt have repeatedly told the press they think he deserved the honor.
Also on People's sexy man list this year are Pitt, Damon's longtime friend and collaborator Ben Affleck, Dave Annable, Javier Bardem, Patrick Dempsey, Johnny Depp, Adrian Grenier, Will Yun Lee, Shemar Moore, James McAvoy, Ryan Reynolds, Will Smith and Justin Timberlake.
